Your online source and guide to Maui - Kauai - Oahu - and all the Hawaiian Islands!
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Maui - Land of the Sun - The demi-god Maui is a household name from Tonga to the Society Islands, to the Marquesas to Hawaii. Something of a trickster, Maui had a place in his heart for mortals and is celebrated throughout the Pacific for such feats as giving fire to humans (after stealing it from its supernatural guardians) and fishing the islands of the Pacific from out of their watery depths.
Hawaii - Land of Open Spaces - Legend has it that two deities — the volcano goddess Pele and the demi-god Kamapuaa (the latter of whom could control the weather) — struck a deal to make the vast Big Island of Hawaii's west side so dry, and its east side so wet. The story's short version is that, after a battle, the pair divided the island in two, with Pele taking the western half and Kamapuaa, the eastern.
Kauai - Land of Beginnings - While Kauai's reputation as home to the wettest spot on Earth — Mount Waialeale, averaging 485 inches of rain per year — has lead to its popular designation as "The Garden Isle," the island has another, older name: "The Separate Kingdom."
Lanai- Land of Adventure - If you're looking for nightlife, Lanai may not be your best choice. Alternately known as Hawaii's "Most Secluded Island" and "The Pineapple Island" (it once hosted the world's largest pineapple plantation), Lanai is home to a mere 5,000 residents — the vast majority of whom live in the cool heights of Lanai City overlooking the vast, red-dirt fields below.
Molokai - Land of Sanctuary - Once a pu'uhonua (place of refuge) for defeated warriors and those who had violated the strictures of the Hawaiian kapu system (that which is prohibited or sacred), Molokai has long been a land of special power. Like all such sanctuaries in Polynesia, Molokai was not protected by physical force, but by mana — that is, spiritual power.
Oahu - Land of Contrasts - From ancient stone heiau (temples) to 21st-Century high-rises, Oahu is an island of endless contrasts. Geographically only the third largest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands, it is nonetheless home to nearly three-quarters of the state's 1.2 million residents — 370,000 of whom are concentrated in urban Honolulu, the ultra-modern, south-coast cityscape kama'aina (residents) refer to simply as "Town."
Niihau - Land of Hawaiiana - Home to approximately 250 native Hawaiians, Niihau is the smallest of the populated Hawaiian Islands. It is also privately owned: Offered for sale by King Kamehameha IV in 1863, the island was purchased by Elizabeth Sinclair for $10,000. (Sinclair reportedly chose to buy the island over other choice pieces of real estate such as Waikiki, Pearl Harbor and the island of Lanai.) Mrs. Sinclair and her adult offspring turned the entire island into a cattle and sheep ranch before moving back to Kauai.
Kahoolawe - Land of Renaissance - Originally named after the Hawaiian god Kanaloa, the island now known as Kahoolawe has long lived a rough existence. According to one legend, the island was once at the heart of a disagreement between two goddesses — which, as the story goes, led it to be cursed into desolation.
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