1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (107 page)

From dive and snorkeling tour boats you can explore the natural wonders of Kealakekua Bay.

W
HERE
: 16 miles south of Kailua-Kona.
H
OW
: Fair Wind Snorkeling and Diving Adventures, Kailua-Kona. Tel 800-677-9461 or 808-322-2788;
www.fair-wind.com
.
Cost:
from $75 for 3-hour snorkeling trip, includes equipment.
B
EST TIMES
: Storms often brew in Jan and Feb; morning snorkel cruises have the best conditions.

Where the Paniolos Roam

Waimea, Big Island, Hawaii

Sitting tall in the saddle between the Kohala Mountains and Mauna Kea, the Parker Ranch is the home of the
paniolo,
the Hawaiian cowboy. It’s among the oldest U.S. ranches, founded in 1847 by one of Hawaii’s earliest Anglo
immigrants, and at over 150,000 acres it’s also among the largest, stretching from sea level to 7,000 feet and occupying a vast swath of the Big Island’s northwest corner. Founder and patriarch John Parker came to the islands by jumping ship in 1809 as a 19-year-old New England sailor. He became a trusted friend of Kamehameha I, who hired him to shoot some of the thousands of maverick cattle that had become a nuisance in the Kohala area. Before long, Parker married the daughter of a high-ranking chief, and salt beef became the island’s top export—a dynasty and an industry had been born. In the 1830s, vaqueros from California, then part of Mexico, were brought in to teach riding and roping skills to their Hawaiian counterparts, who became known as paniolos (from the Hawaiian pronunciation of “español”). The Mexicans also brought guitars and thus sparked the musical tradition that would ultimately result in the distinctively Hawaiian
ki ho’alu,
or “slack-key,” style.

The Parker Ranch still has a cattle operation, producing 15 million pounds of beef annually, but it has also branched out into real estate, and of course, tourism. Visitors can learn about the ranch’s history in the town of Waimea at the Parker Ranch Visitor Center and Museum, which gives a glimpse of Hawaiian ranch life in the 19th century through antique tools, clothing, and a koa-wood cabin. You can tour parts of the ranch itself by horse-drawn covered wagon, by ATV, or on horseback. Paniolo guides take riders from the blacksmith shop, through old
stone corrals, and on to the racetrack where thoroughbreds once trained. The ranch also offers a paniolo-style barbecue at its Pukalani stables.

If you work up an appetite at the ranch, you’re in the right place: Merriman’s Restaurant, one of the island’s most renowned, is only 1.5 miles away in Waimea. Peter Merriman, who helped to pioneer Hawaiian regional cuisine in the 1980s, serves up such dishes as kalua pig quesadillas, organic Caesar salad with sashimi, and his signature wokcharred ahi, and the place is regularly packed.

Rodeos at Parker Ranch provide visitors with a rare glimpse into real-life
paniolos
at work.

W
HERE
: 50 miles north of Kailau-Kona. Tel 808-885-7655;
www.parkerranch.com
.
Cost:
horseback tours $79.
When:
closed Sun.
M
ERRIMAN’S
R
ESTAURANT
: Waimea. Tel 808-885-6822;
www.merrimanshawaii.com
.
Cost:
dinner $60.
B
EST TIMES
: 4
P.M
. sunset ride is spectacular; 4th of July and early Sept for rodeos at the Parker Ranch; early Dec for the annual Christmas parade.

Birthplace of Kings

Big Island, Hawaii

A Garden of Eden dense with tropical fruit trees, a smattering of taro farms, lofty waterfalls, rolling surf, and a beach of black sand, Waipi’o Valley is an alluringly scenic stop on a tour of the Big Island. It’s also the setting
for key episodes in Hawaiian mythology and history; the bones of many
ali’i
(royalty) rest in ancient burial caves in the cliffs above this “Valley of Kings,” and the dreaded night marchers, ghost armies of Hawaii’s fallen warriors, were said to emerge from the
Lua-o-Milu,
the land of the dead, through a doorway at the valley’s mouth. At the turn of the 17th century, an enormous
heiau
(temple) stood here, along with vast aqueducts and ingenious aquaculture ponds, which supported a population of 40,000 governed by a complex political-religious structure. Once the very center of Hawaii, Waipi’o witnessed royal betrayal, human sacrifices, and tsunamis over the centuries. Today, it’s a sleepy, peaceful place with fewer than 50 residents and dozens of wild horses.

Every day, from the time the sun lights up the 6-by-1-mile valley, a continuous stream of cars makes the almost 7-mile side trip from the Mamalahoa Highway to the Waipi’o Valley Overlook, perched on the side of the cliff. Many visitors come just to take in the majestic view and snap photos, others linger to explore the nearby postcard-quaint villages of Kukuihaele and Honoka’a, with their one-of-a-kind shops, inviting eateries, and charming B&Bs, or to head down into the valley. You can hike along old mule paths running past historic sites and gorgeous scenery, or take horseback trips with guides versed in the valley’s long, rich history. Several spectacular waterfalls mark white
stripes on the steep, jungled valley walls, including the 1,200-foot Hi’ilawe Falls, Hawaii’s tallest, and Nanaue Falls, the serene pool at the base of which, so the legend goes, was home to a mythical man-shark. Buried in the mud and hidden among the ironwoods about 150 yards from the beach is a seemingly random scattering of stones, part of the once great Paka’alana heiau, a royal compound and mausoleum as well as a place of refuge.

Access to the sand beach is limited by the steep road into the valley, a brake-burning 25 percent grade that can be attempted only in a 4WD vehicle. And the ocean here is dangerous; only experienced surfers can negotiate its powerful waves and currents. Safer activities include picnicking, sunbathing, and beachcombing.

The Kaluahine waterfall is just one of Waipi’o’s beautiful cascades.

W
HERE
: 50 miles north of Hilo.
H
IKING
: Hawaiian Walkways offers a 4-mile Waipi’o Valley Rim Trails Tour, tel 808-775-0372;
www.hawaiianwalkways.com
.
Cost:
$75.
R
IDING
: Waipi’o Na’alapa Trail Rides conducts 2-hour tours on horseback, tel 808-775-0419;
www.naalapastables.com/waipio.html
.
Cost:
$89.
W
HERE TO STAY
: The Waipi’o Wayside B&B Inn, tel 800-833-8849 or 808-775-0275;
www.waipiowayside.com
.
Cost:
from $99.

Frolicking in the Autumn Mist

Kauai, Hawaii

The most dazzling beaches in Hawaii are strung out like jewels in a necklace along 7 miles of Kauai’s north shore. One of the finest and most famous is Hanalei Beach, where Puff the Magic Dragon frolicked in the
autumn mist in the 1962 hit by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Hanalei is the archetypal Hawaiian beach paradise, featured in countless travel posters: razor-straight cliffs, laced with ribbonlike waterfalls, tower some 4,000 feet in the background as gentle waves roll in to the golden sands of half-moon Hanalei Bay. The place owes some of its natural beauty to its age: An ancient sunken valley that indents the coast a full 1 mile inland, it runs 2 miles end to end, with coral reefs on either side and a patch of coral in the middle. Protected from the strong currents that make waters dangerous elsewhere on the north shore, in winter and spring the bay is Kauai’s surfing central, with a wide variety of breaks that attract everyone from beginners to experts. Swimming is excellent year-round (especially in summer, when Hanalei Bay is as placid as a lake), and thanks to a sunken ship that belonged to the
early 19th-century King Liholiho, the bay is popular with divers too.

Just west of here is Lumahai Beach, an idyllic crescent of luxuriant sand framed by lush vegetation and lava-rock cliffs, where Mitzi Gaynor washed Rossano Brazzi right out of her hair in the 1957 classic
South Pacific.
Nearby, the National Tropical Botanical Garden’s Limahuli Garden sits at the foot of steepled cliffs. Spread over 1,000 acres of tropical valley, the garden is noted both for its beauty and for its focus on the conservation of Hawaii’s indigenous plant species.

Dramatic vistas are the backdrop to the luxurious Princeville Resort, home of the Princeville Resort Kauai Hotel. Set into the side of a cliff overlooking Hanalei Bay, the hotel is built in tiers leading down the bluff, with the lobby entrance on the ninth floor, the beach down at the bottom of the elevators, and 252 breezy guest rooms in between. On the grounds is the Princeville Golf Club, one of the state’s largest and most challenging golf destinations, with four different courses designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. Just three miles away is the tiny town of Hanalei, full of appealing boutiques, restaurants, and inns, and the Wai’oli Mission House, a time capsule preserving mid-19th-century Hawaii. Built in 1836 for New England missionaries, the two-story house has a lava-rock chimney and koa-wood furniture.

At the Princeville Hotel, relax in a hammock overlooking Hanalei Bay and the Bali Hai cliffs.

H
ANALEI
B
EACH
: 30 miles from Lihu’e.
L
IMAHULI
G
ARDEN
: Haena. Tel 808-826-1053;
www.ntbg.org
.
When:
Tues–Fri.
P
RINCEVILLE
R
ESORT
: Tel 800-826-4400 or 808-826-9644;
www.princevillehotelhawaii.com
(golf, tel 800-826-1105 or 808-826-5070;
www.princeville.com/play
).
Cost:
rooms from $500; greens fees from $125.
W
AI’OLI
M
ISSION
H
OUSE
: Hanalei. Tel 808-245-3202.
When:
closed Fri and Sun.
B
EST TIMES
: summer, when the north shore beaches are generally calm; winter for surfing.

A Bird’s-Eye View of the Garden Isle

Kauai, Hawaii

The oldest of the main Hawaiian islands, lush and timeless Kauai is essentially a single massive volcano rising 3 miles from the ocean floor. Two-thirds impenetrable, it has provided a scene-stealing vision of
tropical paradise for many Hollywood movies and TV shows, including
Jurassic Park, Blue Hawaii, King Kong,
and
Fantasy Island.
More rain falls here than in the rest of Hawaii—Kauai is known in Hawaiian lore as the birthplace of the rainbow—and it’s so extravagantly covered with flowers and dense vegetation that it seems like one vast botanical garden, thus the nickname “The Garden Isle.” The people here, who make up just about 5 percent of Hawaii’s population, live a mostly rural and old-time Hawaiian life, in which natural beauty is the focus and small-scale development is the norm. County ordinance even requires that no building be taller than a coconut tree.