Sunday, February 21, 2010

Is it a good time to travel to Hawaii NOW?

Aloha Hawaii lovers,
If you recently wondered whether it's a good time to travel to Hawaii NOW, you are not alone. Spring 2010 is looking around the corner and Hawaii spring vacation ideas are popping up in people's heads asking themselves 'When is the best, cheapest time to travel to Hawaii?'.

5 Best Reasons to travel to Hawaii NOW

1. Spring 2010 April + May Hawaii low season travel months

April and May 2010 won't be any different. With March being the last month of Hawaii high season December - March, the number of Hawaii visitors declines rapidly in April. Maybe because April is tax month and generally people are preoccupied and don't think of traveling to Hawaii in April? However, if you are looking for the cheapest travel month to Hawaii, add April or May to your itinerary options.

2. Best vacation accommodation deals for April and May 2010

Private Hawaii vacation rental owners are willing to offer you accommodation specials for low season months April, May and beginning June 2010. Keep in mind that with the Economic Slowdown, the vacation industry including Hawaii tourism was hit hard too. More Hawaii vacation rental owners are competing for less guest inquiries! A good chance for you to book a Hawaii vacation rental for an unbelievable low rate as we did in September 2009 when we paid for our 1Bd/1Ba Kihei condo 1000ft from beach $70/nt.!

3. Hawaii Hotel Specials for Spring Vacation 2010

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel offers 4th night FREE for spring 2010
If you prefer staying at a Hawaii hotel to renting a private vacation rental or condo, sign up for email specials from your favorite Hawaii hotel. I already noticed quite a number of great online specials from Hawaii hotels starting April 2010 like discounted room rates, 4th night free or resort vouchers!

4. Empty Beaches during spring months

Empty Mauna Lani Beach on Kohala Coast during low season
A lot of Hawaii visitors are not aware that a big part of our favorite Hawaii beach gets under water during the high tide winter months. Some huge swells can even occasionally 'swallow-up' the entire beach for a few days. Anyways, during the winter months Hawaii's white sand beaches offer somewhat limited space for the huge winter crowd of snowbirds. During spring months, the ocean will recede again so there is plenty of white sand beach available for much less visitors guaranteeing privacy and peace for for Hawaii vacation.

5. Empty Restaurants in Hawaii in spring

Famous Canoe Restaurant on Kohala Coast of Big Island

Honestly, restaurants can get quite busy during our our high season winter months in Hawaii. Nobody likes to wait for their food or for getting seated in a restaurant. Hawaii restaurants are no exception. Waiters at Hawaii restaurants will warmly welcome you on your Hawaii vacation in slow spring months. No waiting for seats or being served! You will really enjoy your meal and a nice hula performance with a relaxed dinner in Hawaii in April or May.

Last but not least, Hawaii car rentals are generally cheaper during low season spring months. Just make sure that no huge Hawaii event is scheduled for the time you want to travel to Hawaii. Cheap Hawaii air fares are in everybody's mind but not that easy to get. Low season spring air fares are somewhat cheaper but to catch the Last Minute Hawaii travel deals, one has to be on a flexible working schedule and not traveling with family and kids.

'Is it a good time to travel to Hawaii NOW?' What do you think? Your comments are most welcome by our Best Hawaii vacation visitors and by us. Mahalo and aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations

'Best Time to travel to Hawaii' Related Posts

Planning a Hawaii Vacation 2010
What's Hawaii like in April?
3 Reasons to visit Hawaii this summer
Is November a good time to go to Kona?

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Watch the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

Aloha Hawaii snorkelers, scuba divers and Hawaiian Sea life lovers,
We are certain you all enjoyed Lisa's 'Dolphins' in Hawaii' story. Dolphins, Humpback whales and the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle are on top of our Hawaii visitors' list when exploring ocean life in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle gets many oohs and aahs when discovered basking in the sun for a nap or some rest from all its swimming. No need to get in a scuba diver's suit or put your goggles on. Of course, watching the Hawaii Green Sea Turtle in its element, the ocean, gracefully swimming and floating around, puts an extra thrill to your Hawaii vacation.

Watching Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on Puako Beach Big Island
When encountering Hawaii Green Sea Turtles in the ocean, divers need to pay special attention to what they are not supposed to do. Bobbie from 'The Right Blue' blog had written about 'Tips for watching Sea Turtles in Hawaii' for our blog visitors. Those Hawaii diving tips are still the same valid right now. If you plan on going diving on your next Hawaii vacation, it's some useful advise which helps to protect our ocean life for many years to come.

Our today's post belongs to 'Best Hawaii Youtube Video' category. Enjoy this Hawaii video from JournOwl.com about the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle. Watch a green sea turtle swim gracefully over a coral reef in Maui.



Aren't those turtles in Hawaii a good reason to bring snorkel gear for a snorkel adventure in Hawaii? Ask locals where there is a good spot to see the green sea turtles and where it's safe to snorkel. Have fun snorkeling and watching the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles. Aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations

Hawaiian Ocean Life Related Stories

Where are the Dolphins in Hawaii?
The Humpback whales are still here
More Hawaii Humpback Whale Encounters
Humpback Whale Season in Hawaii
Whale Watch in Hawaii
Sharks, Rays and Whales on the most watched Youtube Video

Monday, February 1, 2010

Dolphins in Hawaii - A Hawaii Big Island Dolphin Story

Dear Hawaii vacation lovers,
Remember the 'mantra' we have about our Best Hawaii Vacation blog? It's all about sharing our love with Hawaii and its people with Hawaii visitors. It's those unique Hawaii stories which we hope will awaken your curiosity about the Hawaiian Islands, ancient Hawaii culture of its people and flora and fauna.

So meet a new Best Hawaii Vacation blog guest author today: Lisa Weber! Lisa lived in Hawaii for 14 years, mostly in Puna and Hilo on the Big Island. She traveled extensively with her family to every island of Hawaii and talks about her trips on her site andHawaii.com, exploring every beach and waterfall and cool-sunset-viewing-spot she could find. Here is Lisa's story about her personal encounter with wild dolphins in Hawaii:

Kayaking with Dolphins, On Their Terms - A Big Island of Hawaii Story

"Let me tell you a story about one of the most awesome experiences of my life. It happened in 1998 or 1999 at a deserted cove on the Big Island of Hawaii.My husband and I were camping. We had a four wheel drive and we liked to explore the island, so we undertook a several mile trek over old lava from Highway 11 to the ocean on a lava road in the area of Manuka in Kau.
Now, when I say road, I actually mean crudely-beaten-down-path. Basically, there was a huge field of lava, and over several years, slightly-crazy people in lifted, beaten-up 4 wheel drives drove on this lava field to the ocean, taking the way that looked the easiest, and eventually a sort of path was visible to the eye. I know we contributed to the beating down of the path with the bottom of our jeep several times as we bounced and scraped.

So, at the bottom, we had the area all to ourselves. There was a rocky cove area that will probably be a nice beach in a few hundred years, a very large heiau (ancient Hawaiian temple), and a nice grove of Kiawe trees over to the left that made shade for a campsite. This is where we set up, but we had to be careful because Kiawe thorns on the ground were big enough and sharp enough to go through the sole of any tennis shoe or slipper.

Shortly after we set up the campground, we took down the kayak from the top of the jeep and launched it into the water. As soon as we were about 20 feet away from shore we were suddenly surrounded by dolphins. They came from nowhere and literally surrounded us. They were everywhere. My husband and I were actually a little scared, not because they were aggressive, but because they were sooo energetic, and most of their energy seemed focused right on us. This was our first close-up experience with dolphins in the ocean and we weren't sure what to expect.

Imagine ... there were 15 to 25 dolphins, and they were surrounding us. They were obviously Hawaiian Spinner dolphins because several of them jumped out of the water and spun straight up, 5 or 6 feet up in the air. They would dart beneath the kayak, then spin jump up on the other side, and splash us as they came down, then they would turn around and dart beneath us again, and do it again on the other side.

Wild dolphins in Hawaii watched from a boat in Molokai
There were two babies in the group that we saw, and the babies would try to jump like the adults, but they didn't have the strength or ability yet, because they would only make it about a foot or two out of the water before splashing back down on their sides. They were very cute, and absolutely wonderful, these baby steps ... or baby jumps.

So, this went on for about 15 minutes, and then the pod made their way out of the cove. It's like they came cruising past the cove, saw us, and said to each other something like "let's go show off," or "let's go say hi." Sometimes I like to think that they were introducing the baby dolphins in the pod to humans, saying "these are humans, that's what they look like, they get all excited when they see us. They are mostly good and fine, just use good judgement about whether to get close to them or not.

We had a camera with us, but it was one of the first digital cameras ever, or maybe one of the first ones we could afford, so it didn't take very good pictures, and we forgot to take pictures for the first 10 to 15 minutes anyway. We just floated there with our mouth open saying "oh my gosh!" "look at that!" "Did you see that?!" "ooooooohhhhh!" "amazing!" and other more colorful things.

One of Lisa's Hawaii dolphin photos
It was truly an amazing and awe-inspiring experience that I will never, ever forget. We talked about it long into the night, trying to sustain that feeling of awe and wonder for as long as possible."

Much mahalo, Lisa, for this wonderful Hawaii dolphin story. To everybody of our Hawaii visitors who is wondering whether they can still experience such an encounter with the dolphins today, we say 'Yes, you can'! Maybe not with the first try but with the right preparation, patience, commitment and the right place, our unique Hawaii nature is at your finger tips. Hawaii is full of wonders, like our wild dolphins, waiting to be discovered by you on your Hawaii vacation! Aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations
p.s.
We invite everybody who wants to read more unique articles about Hawaii to visit this month's Carnival of Aloha put together by Evelyn from HomespunHonolulu.com: from 'A Love Letter to Lanai' to 'President Obama's vacation home at Kailua Beach on Oahu and much more.