Research at Stanford University has revealed that coral off Makapu’u on Oahu’s southwest coast, is much older than previously believed.  Gold coral (Gerardia) found there may in fact be more than 4,000 years old.  These corals have stood place in the central Pacific long enough to store a vast history of change in the ocean. [...]

Our thanks to Arthur Frommer, the curmudgeonly original travel evangelist, who has written positive comments about Beat of Hawaii many times over the past year. Arthur likes our similarly sassy, irreverent and candid perspectives which we share from our home state of Hawaii. This week, Arthur wrote an article on his blog that contrasts us [...]

Two of our readers, Aleksandra “Aleks” Witkowska and Paul Tomaszewski, recently took a break from their Chicago winter and vacationed on Big Island and Maui.  We’ll be featuring their trip report in two segments along with our thoughts.  First up is the Big Island. Hilo scores as their favorite town in all Hawaii. “The Zen [...]

Hawaiian Airlines has just kicked off the latest airfare battle between the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.  As a result, you can expect to find reasonable prices all summer from Portland and Seattle to Honolulu and Kahului.  This represents a savings of about $200 over previous pricing during peak summer travel. While the best pricing isn’t [...]

There are a couple of nasty little facts about Hawaii that you may not be aware of.  In case you should encounter these skin irritations, the photo depicts some of our favorite cures. As you know, everything grows well here, from vegetables to flowers to fungus.  Sometimes too well.  Sorry to say, even as a [...]

Updated:  When I checked, the only Hawaii hotels I found of interest at the $99 rate were the Aston Maui Kaanapali Villas and the Aston Kauai Beach at Makaiwa. Frankly, however, I would consider neither to be 4-star.  The link at the bottom of the $99 deal page was not working, so perhaps check later [...]

As I’ve repeatedly said, the review sites became ripe for fraud due to their fast-waxing prominence together with the dire financial state of the travel industry.  Here are two recent examples: More bad news at Expedia’s TripAdvisor and Cruise Critic. Cruise Critic, a part of Expedia’s TripAdvisor brand, has recently come under fire for assisting [...]

Recently, a 33 year old Japanese visitor drowned in the Wailua River, while kayaking with a tour group on Kauai.  On the same day, the Fire Department also rescued two more visitors on the Wailua River (not with the tour group), and another visitor at nearby Wailua Beach, after being swept out to sea. What’s [...]