The outdoor lounge for Huggos, the Kona institution, On the Rocks serves up tasty food, cocktails, and draft beers right on the coast. Some of the seating is even right on the sand. A great spot for happy hour or a casual dinner.

A neat spot with a relaxed vibe offering local brews.

Perched on a deck above the ocean, Magics offers a welcoming atmosphere, neat views, and tasty sandwiches, salads, and seafood. It also has a full bar with good signature cocktails and beers on draft.

This small spot makes some of the best shave ice in Hawaii, as well as ice cream and milkshakes.

Operated by a rum distillery, this bar/restaurant offers excellent cocktails and a menu of tasty Hawaiian food.

Waterfront Restaurant in Lahaina and a good place for lunch – try the poke appetizer and kula pie dessert especially.

This restaurant right on the coast offers steaks, pastas, and seafood, alongside tropical cocktails, beer, and wine.

Located right on Mauna Lani beach, Napua is a great option for a delicious dinner with an ocean view. The restaurant serves tasty food and creative cocktails in this tranquil spot.

Shaved ice can be found all over the Maui. This is our favorite.

Located at the beautiful Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, Meridia is overpriced, but the food is good. The restaurant serves up tasty Mediterranean-influenced dishes above spectacular Hapuna Beach.

Located close to downtown Wailea, Monkeypod, located next to one of the trees it’s named after, is a fun restaurant located a short drive from the beach, offering local Hawaiian dishes, fresh fish, wood-fired pizzas, and island-inspired cocktails served in some extra fun glasses.

This casual restaurant is a great spot for a quick bite. The food includes yummy salads, sandwiches, and pizzas. Drinks include an extensive beer list, cocktails, and a smaller selection of wines.

The Seafood Bar and Grill is aptly named; it offers tasty seafood and sandwiches as well cocktails in a tiki lounge atmosphere.

This Waimea spot offers tasty locally-brewed beer alongside scrumptious burgers, sandwiches, and tacos.

Roadside stand which is actually more like 2/3 of the way to Hana. Awesome banana bread, shaved ice, and pineapple smoothies.

It’s hard to beat dinner and drinks right on gorgeous Waikoloa Beach.

There are VERY limited dining options in Hana and this is probably your best bet unless you want to dine at a food trucks or a chain.

Some of Kauai’s most beautiful beaches, and the island’s best spots for relaxing, swimming, and body surfing are in the area around Poipu.

Great on calm days. Not a lot of parking but not a lot of people either.

These are great beaches in Makena state park in south Maui. Big Beach is, well big, but also beautiful. It offers good body surfing at times but the waves can get too big to make it safe. Little beach is a short walk over trails though lava on the right end of big beach and […]

10-15 minute hike only swimmable on calm summer days. It even has a waterfall .

Nice  snorkeling in calm seas. Near the St Regis

Lovely often secluded beach. Steep rocky sometimes slippery trails may be why. Tranquil beach accessible by a half-mile trail, with native vegetation, clear water & snorkeling. The public access trail is in front of building A at Sealodge and takes 15 minutes to walk. The trail goes down a ravine with some wood steps at […]

A great beach with great snorkeling on the right side near the lava rock. There are many, many people here, mostly served by giant resorts. There is pay public parking at the Sheraton (this is the side of the beach you want). Whalers village mall is right adjacent to the middle of the beach and […]

A beautiful dairy farm located on the scenic slopes of Haleakalā. Take a tour, meet the goats, and sample some delicious cheeses.

Hanalei is the Hawaii of your dreams –  a gorgeous spot but not necessarily the best for swimming much of the time. Pounding shore break and backwash a lot of the time in the winter. Popular with surfers. There are several areas around the bay with access The “town” consists of beach houses Black pot beach […]

Lovely beach within walking distance (along the shore path just past Napili Kai condos / Merriman’s) of Napili condos. This is usually calm and has great snorkeling as well. Not better than Napili bay, but a lovely different option.

This is the cove right adjacent to the Napili point condominiums. It offers amazing snorkeling. Be careful getting in (you need to get in via lava rocks) and don’t go in if it is rough. The upside: lots of turtles live here!

A beautiful bay with great snorkeling. Park near preserve signs and take the short walk through jungle to reach snorkeling. The right side of the bay is sandy but the water is cloudy from the stream.

A required stop on the road to Hana. Visit to see the beautiful black sand beach and stunning sea arch.

Waves spout up through a small lava shelf squirting through a blow hole. Makes a loud moaning / gasping sound. The scientific reason has to do with air being forced through but the real reason is a giant lizard tried to attack a man and got stuck in the lava tube…

This 173-foot double waterfall is easy to get to. In ancient times men would jump from the top to prove their manhood, which we guess worked if they survived

One of ancient Hawaii’s best-preserved prehistoric sites, Pu’uhonua O Honaunau (also called the City of Refuge) is an incredible opportunity to learn about Hawaiian history.

This unique national park protects the area around Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, two of the most active volcanoes in the world, and extends from sea level to 13,681 feet of elevation.

Lovely 151 foot waterfall with an easy to drive to overview

This beautiful salt-and-pepper beach offers some of the best snorkeling on the island (we recommend exploring the rocks to your left as you look at the ocean).

This is a small state park/wayside with picnic tables and bathrooms and offers you the easiest access to swim in the pond below waterfalls.

A beautiful beach beyond Hana with good body surfing when conditions aren’t too rough.

It may be hard to get to, but gorgeous Makalawena Beach is one of the prettiest on the Big Island. To get here, you have drive a rough road to Mahai’ula Bay and then hike about a mile and a quarter.

See a beautiful coffee farm in the mountains above Kona, learn about the coffee-making process, and sample some delicious coffee.

Large shallow bay. This has the most protected swimming on the north shore when seas are high

Picnic area, large grassy area, playgrounds, two large boulder enclosed ponds – perfect for kids. The adult pond has snorkeling

Don’t be disappointed that there’s actually no beach here; Māhukona offers some of the Big Island’s best snorkeling.

Two beautiful gardens in the Poipu region.There are guided tours lasting about two hours. Allerton is the more desirable of the two Be aware that these tours are not cheap

Lumaha’i Beach. Wide long beach beautiful beach that you access after a sort walk through a pandanas grove made famous in the movie South Pacific. Unfortunately not safe for swimming. Look but don’t touch

Worth a quick stop in Hana for the eclectic selection and arrangement of hardware next to fishing equipment and breakfast cereal. Oh and yes, you can of course gets snacks and drinks. Check out the best machete options on the wall above the register.

Get up very early to drive to the top of Haleakalā and see the sunrise and take in the gorgeous views, drive up a little later in the day for just the views, or come at night for stargazing.

Stop here on your way to Hana for incredible views and sheer Hawaiian beauty.

One of the prettiest beaches on the Big Island, Hapuna is a long expanse of beautiful white sand. It’s a great place to relax on the sand or swim, and sometimes the surf comes up enough for some body boarding.

In 1860 the residents of Hula wanted to build a church out of lava rock and intended to use coral as a bonding agent. But they were stymied by the fact that harvesting coral from the ocean took a huge amount of time and effort. As they prepared to begin building, a massive storm washed […]

100 acre homestead preserved much as it was when sugar was king. Located right in Lihue. Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, starting at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (2 hour escorted tours) $20 adults $10 children

Hanalei remains old Hawaii at its best.  The resorts are up on the bluff in Princeville, the best food is probably the food trucks and the few shops are funky mom and pop stores. Farner’s market Saturdays

In Lihue. The beach at the Marriott. Popular for swimming and beginning bodysurfing

A small town at the end of the aptly named road to Hana. You don’t need to spend much time here, but it’s a nice spot to get lunch if you’re hungry after the long drive.

In the summer, with calm seas there is a pool to swim in on a lava shelf with an inlet to the sea. In the winter do not go (many people have drowned here). Even in the summer only go in calm seas and watch for rogue waves.

Hawaii is perhaps the best place in the world to see manta rays. You’ll cruise to the ideal spot to see the rays and hang onto a lighted float while the rays swim and swirl around you. A truly magical experience.

If you love sailing this is a great way to get out on the water. Most of the other whale watch trips are by power boat, which is fine for seeing whales but there’s something really relaxing about sailing and this boat spends their time under wind power.

Visit Haleakalā at night to avoid some of the crowds and check out the cosmos through the mountain’s famously clear air. Be sure to dress very warmly.

Molokini is a small island visible from wets Maui. It has incredibly clear waters and thus is a destination for MANY snorkel trips. There are dozens of boats that can take you out there and we can’t really recommend one over the others, but grab the latest copy of Maui Revealed and make a selection.

This beautiful hike offers spectacular views of Hawaii’s northern coast. Start at Pololū Valley Lookout (see map below), and hike a quarter mile and about 300 feet down to the beach.

Paniolo Adventures offers excellent horseback riding trips on the slopes of the beautiful Kohala Mountain on the northern tip of the island of Hawaii.

There are quite a few zippiness which have sprung up on Maui. We did this one and had a blast. It has the advantage of (besides being fun, beautiful, and the largest on the Island) being  5 minutes from your Napili bay condo.

Lahaina is Hawaii’s historic former capital and was the hub of whaling and missionary activity. It’s a great town to wander around on foot with real charm.

Spend a fantastic morning watching dolphins frolic and snorkel off the coast of the mostly uninhabited island of Lanaʻi.

Nice hike through forest to great views. Generally uphill but not awful to the picnic table )on the giant’s chest. If you choose to proceed onto the giant’s face you’ll have great views but be very cautious as the ridge is narrow and can be slippery.

A fantastic place to snorkel on the Big Island is Kealakekua Bay, where the Captain Cook Monument stands. A snorkel cruise is one of the best ways to see it.

Kīholo Bay might be one of the most beautiful spots on the Big Island. An idyllic turquoise gem surrounded by white sand beaches frequented by green sea turtles with good snorkeling, it’s worth the trek.

Kayak up the Wailua river to secret falls. About 5 miles round trip (allow three hours) If you dot want to go as far you can canoe from closer

You can rent canoes here and paddle up to secret falls (about 10 minutes) Alternatively for a longer tour rent from Kayak Wailua for a longer (5 mile round trip) 3 hour tour

Take an easy half-mile (paved) hike to a scenic viewpoint of Kuka‘emoku (ʻIao Needle), a formation that rises 1200 feet from the valley floor.

In the morning, in good weather, take this boat tour along the gorgeous Na Pali coast. 4  hour trip with 45 minutes of snorkeling. check in at 6:45 AM for 7:30 departure from Hanalei bay Afternoon tour check in at noon but seas not as calm for snorkeling. Includes drinks, snacks, sandwich, snorkel gear

Nice condos right on a beach. If you want remote you have come to the right place – it is the only lodging PAST Hanalei Bay. Right on the beach (but the beach cis usually  too rough to swim)

Lodging right on Napili Bay. It’s pricier than some of our other listed options but is in an awesome location.

We have not stayed here – YET, but every time we have been to Hanalei we have drooled over the possibility of staying in those gorgeous houses on the beach – well here they are. There are a whole variety of options.

Kauai is the most laid-back of the main islands, and this place really drops you into that vibe. There are 61 restored plantation cottages (where the sugar workers lived). Each cottage has a kitchen and private Lanai. It’s right on its own black sand beach, has a oceanfront pool.

We can’t comment on any of these, as we’ve not stayed here. But we will the next time we drive the Hana Highway.