Top Hawaii (State of) hotels
Talking Hawaiian Honolulu
10 Reviews Ok so this tip isn't exactly about how to speak "Hawaiian" itself, but more like what to expect when hearing locals talk. I myself DON'T speak "pidgin", but i know enough words to be able to...
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Sacred Sites Kailua-Kona
7 Reviews Just to the north of St. Peter's Catholic Church on Ali'i Drive, this altar stands as a temple solely to the art of surfing. Here, offerings were made asking for gnarly surfing conditions. Even today,...
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Ceremonies Waikiki
3 Reviews 7 Feb 04 2045 Tonight we went to dinner and met this crazy middle-aged woman who was born in Australia, but raised in the US. I was given a lai (spelling??) by a big Hawaiian waitress. For good luck...
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Hawaiian Shirts Hilo
1 Review I don't think this picture has much to do with cultural tips, ha,ha.... But I liked it, and had to put it somewhere... ;-)) At least it is in the right City ;-)) .... We did stop at this store, in...
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Thurston Lava Tube Volcano
1 Review Not a cultural tip, just needed more space to show more...... This Lava tube is enormous, and although there is lighting, it helps if you have a torch. Otherwise it's difficult to see the puddles of...
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Torch Lighting Duty Oahu
5 Reviews As the sun sets in spectacular fashion to the West, a daily tradition enacts itself on beaches across Waikiki... Summoned by the blowing of a conch shell, tourists are treated to a beautiful display...
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Lava Grafitti Hawaii (Big Island)
6 Reviews The Big Island is Hawaii's place for Big Drives, so it's nice to be entertained by lava graffiti. Don't worry -- there is no paint involved. Rather, people gather up white coral stones on the beach...
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Different Cultures in Hawaii Honolulu
8 Reviews hawaii truly is a melting pot of cultures! why? since hawaii is the ONLY minority-majority State in the United States where asian-americans, pacific islanders are the majority over caucasians and...
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Hawaiian Dance Kailua-Kona
1 Review This pic was taken on my last night here. Sonja danced her Beautiful Traditional Hawaiian Dance, before the 'Hot Lava' Show began. She then wrapped her gorgeous 'Fresh Plumeria Lei' around me. She...
See All 15 Local Customs in Kailua-Kona
Music Waikiki
2 Reviews This was a concert of a Hawaiin band outside the zoo at the park. It was a great band and great time partying with the locals. Mahalo.. The banner says "THE WILDEST SHOW IN TOWN" sponsored by AT &...
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Tourist Booths Hawaii (Big Island)
4 Reviews When giving a lei in Hawaii it is tradition to accompany the gift with a kiss on the cheek. The wearer will be the center of attention and it is said that you will exprience good luck by passing your...
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Lei & Hula greeters Honolulu
3 Reviews Getting off the plane at Honolulu Airport all of us got a lei . We were told our silk leis will be a happy reminder of the Hawaiian vacation and the wonderful Island spirit of Aloha! The silk flowers...
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Kilauea Hawaii (Big Island)
2 Reviews I want to tell you a story about Madame Pele. She is the Goddess of fire who makes her home in the Kilauea Crater. When angry she vents it by spitting fire and lava, thus creating the Hawaiian...
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Leaving shoes at the Door Honolulu
3 Reviews People in Hawaii have adopted the Japanese custom of taking off your shoes at the door of a house. It makes sense when you think about what you've been walking through (ewww), and you'll feel more...
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Water Sports Hawaii (Big Island)
1 Review The outrigger canoe is the traditional boat of Hawai'i and is still quite popular. On the shores of Hilo bay you find many canoe club 'sheds' full of various length canoes. You'll also find a few on...
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Spam is bizarrely popular in Hawaii... according to the Waikiki Spam Jam website it is the Spam capital of the USA. Something to do with the War and the fact that it keeps well apparently. Sadly I was not there for the Waikiki Spam Jam event.
Special occasions like birthdays, weddings, etc., the locals tend to dress up with their nice Aloha shirts and Mumu dresses with matching leis!The leis are made of Pikaki flowers and these are very expensive. They smell so good, too!The cheaper leis are made from plumeria.There are many flower stores in Hawaii that sells this leis and can be shipped anywhere in the world!The men usually wear those necklaces made of nutshells, black in color. Leis are also worn on graduation time. They give these to the graduates as gifts. The leis are sometimes made of wrapped candies and even made for dollar bills!
Most of the locals wear slippers even when they go downtown. It is a very casual thing to do. The residents don't bother to put on their shoes. They just slip on their slippahs and off they go!This is nice because the locals don't have to deal with the change of seasons! Most of the residents don't have foot problems either!
Most of the local women dress in Mumu - a very comfortable dress. Most of the designs of the dresses are the hibiscus flowers, palm trees, puka shells, sea turtles, etc.The dress is long with short sleeves. It is an easy cut dress that keeps the person cool the whole day long!
Most locals speak the Pidgin English so don't be surprise to hear those while you are taking the bus. There are many cultures and ethnic groups living in Hawaii and they surely changed the English language. Here are some of the words you might like to know:1. Where you went? (It means where are you going?)2. Brahdahs and sistahs -means brothers and sisters3. Pau Hana - Finished for the day4. Da kine - referring to something5. tita - referring to a female sister6. haole- Caucasian. 7. No can- unable to8. Stink eye- Dirty eye7. try - means Please Example: Try wait? 8. slippah - slippers9. no moa - no more10. Like beef? - You like to fight with me?11. Da cute - precious. Example: Oh her child is da cute!12. Howzit? - How are you?(P.S. My brain froze. I will add more later!)
While walking down the Aloha Tower, a breadfruit just fell down in front of us! I was so glad the fruit didn't fall on my daughter's head. Sierra gladly picked up the fruit! Anyway, the breadfruit tree has huge leaves and has huge fruits. The local people gather them to eat. The riped fruits get bigger. The fruit is boiled and the meat of the fruit is eaten. We dipped the boiled fruit in sugar! It is high in calories and good carbohydrates.
Relax. Slow down. Take your time. Get into local time by slowing down. Walk slower. Drive slower. This might not sound like much in the way of advise, but it's something that's hard for a lot of us mainlanders to do. In order to really see Hawaii with your eyes, ears, nose, taste and touch you have to take the time to do it. Aloha.Visit the Hawaii Shrine at to see more.Photo by Karen Byerly.
Every syllable ends with a vowel. Every consonant is separated by a vowel.Only 13 letters in their alphabet:A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W, and ‘That last character is considered by linguists to be a consonant in the Hawai‘ian language. It is the ‘okina and not just a punctuation mark. View all pictures for more Hawai‘ian grammar information.The ‘okina, or glottal stop, looks like a backwards apostrophe or an open quote that separates only vowels in words like Hawai‘i or comes at the beginning in words like ‘Ohe‘o. To produce the sound represented by the ‘okina, just say the expression uh-oh in American English. It is the guttural utterance in the middle of uh-oh that you also produce for the ‘okina in Hawai‘ian.Where there are multiple vowels together in a word and there is no ‘okina separating them, you need to remember these rising dipthongs: ei, eu, oi, ou, ai, ae, ao, and au.....
Spam is a very common food item in the Hawaiian diet. They consume more of it per capita than any other state in our great union. Since it is such a highly prized commodity, according to a show I saw on the Travel Channel, the State has a secret warehouse full of it to prevent any public panic in the rare event of a national shortage.Why not try the Spam, Sam I AM? Just try it and you will see. Try the Spam, Sam I Am. You will like it. I guarantee. I will not try it. Just let me be. I will not eat it! Can't you see? On our first trip there in 1993, I found these little cakes of rice with a slice of meat all wrapped in nori (paper-thin dried seaweed) sitting on the counter by the register of a convenience store. When I inquired as to what they were, they said it was called musubi. I thought it was interesting when the cashier said the locals eat them all the time. It's just a simple...
ABC stores is THE chain of convenience stores in Hawaii. They pretty much have anything you could possibly want on earth that weighs less than 10 lbs. And they are everywhere, at least in the more urban areas of the islands. If for some odd reason you can't find that special Hawaiian souvenir, of that particular kind of soda, of that brand of sun block at one ABC store, chances are there will be another one right down the street, if not right across the street. This is the place to go if you need that small certain something in a hurry. Well, or the other one 1 block over! :)
Halekulani Honolulu
4 Reviews and 864 Opinions Upon arrival to the Halekulani you are greeted at the desk and assigned a staff member to tour you...
Royal Kona Resort Kailua-Kona
5 Reviews and 888 Opinions The hotel room I had, had a balcony. When I looked to the right, I had a view to the ocean.
Hostelling International Waikiki Waikiki
61 Opinions
Reviews and photos of Hawaii (State of) attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Hawaii (State of) sightseeing.
Q: I was supposed to visit Hawaii in February, but had to change my plans. Now planning to visit in June. What kind of weather...
A: I like to use this site for weather predictions as the ones for my home town are scary accurate...not only can you look up a forecast on this site you can check on last...
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