Ryan and I visited Hawaii over Thanksgiving with my dad, two siblings, and my brother’s girlfriend. I can only rave about Maui, as that’s the only island I’ve visited so far, but wow was I impressed. I would offer a travel guide, but I think I would need another visit (or two) to give recommendations other than some breakfast spots we frequented. ☺️Instead, here are 7 reasons that you should give Hawaii a try for your next vacation!
1. Safety + No Need for a Passport
This is my number one reason to travel to Hawaii and that’s not by chance. I’ve traveled to a number of different tropical places and have always been instinctively hesitant about conversion rates, language barriers, and getting ripped off (to be clear, this happens in the U.S. too). I was shocked by how gorgeous and tropical one of our own 50 states is and felt so at ease using my own language and currency. At this point, Ryan had still not been out of the country, so I was so nervous that he would expect all of the wonderfully American treatment we were getting when we went on our Jamaican honeymoon. (spoiler—he did fine within the walls of our Jamaican resort)
2. Exotic Wildlife
If you check out our short family video at the end of this post, you’ll see our glimpse of two whales just out in the ocean one night! For people who frequent Hawaii, this is normal, but it was so amazing for the roomie and I to see as first-timers. We didn’t take any video cameras with us on our half-day of snorkeling, but we saw plenty of beautiful fish, an eel (!!), and snorkeled right over the top of sea turtles just living their lives around the islands. It was an INCREDIBLE experience for us all—even with chilly water. We snorkeled with the Pacific Whale Foundation, which we all highly recommend. Amazing staff, breakfast and lunch provided (see photos below), multiple snorkel spots, and we learned a ton about their efforts to protect and save marine wildlife! Amazing.
3. Fresh Juices
Guava juice, I love you. At every breakfast there’s a number of yummy juices to choose from, but guava and pineapple were two that always stuck out to me. I am a huge juice fan (and wine fan, just FYI), so this was exciting for me, but in general I thought it was so cool that their juices were different than mainland ones since they have different crops growing there! So fun. Ryan loved the pineapple; I loved the guava.
4. Contrasting Landscapes That Will Blow You Away
Have you seen Moana? That’s all very realistic. The ocean is, obviously, a dream. The beaches I saw were lovely with real sand—not rocky, pebble sand. There are plenty of different spots with cliffs or big rocks that the waves would crash into (and you could walk out on, at your own risk). THEN, you drive a little bit or in some places just turn away from the beach and find yourself in a full-on tropical jungle. It’s incredible! Lush green everything with vines engulfing parts of the landscape. It’s hard to describe, but I tried to show it off in our little family vacation video at the end of this post.
5. Gorgeous Rainbows
We were in Hawaii during a rainy time of year, but from what I understand, it’s pretty common for little showers to come and go in Hawaii. They’re quick and light, for the most part, and they don’t ruin a day by any means. However, these quick rain showers mean tons of opportunities to see stunning, fully-developed rainbows. I’ve seen rainbows at home, but in Maui they were often double rainbows and you could frequently see the entire thing—as in both ends. They would appear randomly and they always impressed me. ☺️
6. Amazing Food
Admittedly, we didn’t even touch on the full scope of life-changing food in Hawaii because we never even ordered sushi! The seafood, obviously, couldn’t be more fresh and is available everywhere. The breakfasts are so yummy—I had a dutch oven pancake with huge chunks of banana throughout and a caramelized bottom that changed my life (I’m not dramatic, right?). Lastly, the fruit. So good! We’d highly recommend going to the grocery store and checking out what’s available and the crazy prices. Makes it super easy to figure out what is locally available and what is imported. Get yourself a bunch of pineapple!
7. Vibrant Sunsets + Sunrises
I have seen plenty of pinky sunset pictures from Hawaii on my social media feeds and they’ve always looked cool, but there’s nothing quite like seeing one in person. People stop in their tracks when all the beauty catches their eyes. Sunsets perfectly wrapped up wonderful days on the island, but I would like to make a case for sunrises. The roomie and I are not morning people—even if we’ve traveled to a very different time zone, we’ll still refuse to get up at an early hour. It’s just who we are! That being said, we slept with our windows/doors open each night to hear the ocean and see it in the morning, which was the very best decision. I would sit up in bed and watch as the pinky sky intensified into deeper hues and was absolutely in awe (then I’d go back to sleep for a bit). Experience the sunrises. They are out of this world.
Things I Will See/Do in Maui Next Time:
- Hike! There are multiple hiking options and I would love to challenge myself with them.
- Road to Hana. We listened to the rental car agreement that forbade the Road to Hana, but apparently we’re the only ones that obey that part. Next time!
- Mama’s Fish House. This restaurant serves whatever fish is caught that day and each item on the menu, apparently, says where it was caught and by whom! Such a fun concept.
- See a Waterfall! We didn’t even see one–and there are many!–but I saw so many other beautiful things that I didn’t even feel like I’d missed out.
- A Better Luau. We didn’t go to the greatest one. It was cool! But I’d like to go to a more intimate one with better drinks.
- Komoda Bakery. We drove all the way up into the mountains for the homemade cream puffs and long johns served at this ancient bakery, but it was closed. I need the baked goods!
- Drink More Mai Tais! 💁🏻♀️Since we weren’t ever at a traditional resort, I do feel like we missed out on opportunities to drink allllll the Mai Tais. We did make our own Piña Coladas daily, though. 😉
- Sunset Cruise. With just Ryan and I, I’d love to sip some cocktails, have dinner on a boat, and watch the sun set on the ocean. Bonus points if we saw dolphins!
Have you ever been to Hawaii?! If so, I would love to know where you went and what your favorite part of the trip was. I’m already craving another trip there and having sincere conversations about how we could afford to live there. 😂Keep my daydreams going with some recommendations and inspiration in the comments.
Anna, The Kaas family is going to Oahu in June. We can’t wait. I enjoyed your writing.