Cities in Hawaii

This page tells about several great Hawaiian cities to visit. Each city in Hawaii has its own unique island style.

Lahaina, Hawaii
Seen from a short distance offshore, LAHAINA is one of the prettiest towns in all Hawaii, still recognizable as the peaceful, tropical village it used to be. Its main oceanfront street is lined with timber-frame buildings; a tall-masted sailing ship bobs in the harbor; coconut palms sway to either side of the central banyan tree; surfers swirl into the thin fringe of beach to the south; and the mountains of West Maui dominate the skyline, ringed as often as not by beautiful rainbows. Up close, however, many of Lahaina's decrepit-looking structures turn out to be mere fakes, housing T-shirt stores and tacky themed restaurants, and the crowds and congestion along Front Street can seem all too reminiscent of Waikiki.

Hilo, Hawaii
Until recently, windward Hawaii's major city, HILO, was the economic and political powerhouse of the island. It's still the capital, and home to 45,000 people, but as the sugar mills close and the significance of Kona-side tourism increases, it now feels more like a rather traditional small town. As a place to visit, it's relaxed and attractive, spread over a surprisingly large area but with an appealingly old-fashioned downtown district where you can stroll between friendly cafés, street markets and historic sites.

Kihei, Hawaii
If you've always thought of Hawaii as Condo Hell, then KIHEI probably comes closer to matching that image than anywhere else in the state. Stretching for seven miles south from Ma'alaea Bay, it's a totally formless sprawl of a place, whose only landmarks consist of one dull mall or condo building after another. That said, it can be a perfectly pleasant place to spend your vacation, with abundant inexpensive lodging and dining options and plentiful beaches. Just don't come to Kihei expecting a town in any sense of the word.

Wailea, Hawaii
Both South Kihei Road and Pi'ilani Highway end on the southern fringes of Kihei. The only road south, branching off Okolani Drive halfway between the two, is Wailea Alanui Drive, which becomes Makena Alanui Drive after a couple of miles. It's forced to run several hundred yards inland by a sequence of half a dozen colossal resort hotels, constructed on a scale to rival any in Hawaii. Neither WAILEA nor MAKENA is a town as such; were it not for the resorts, the names would not even appear on island maps. The only shops in the area are congregated in the very upmarket new Shops at Wailea mall, whose target audience can be assessed from the presence of Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and Dolce & Gabbana stores.

Kailua, Hawaii
The shorefront town of KAILUA stretches along Kailua Bay roughly four miles down from the Nu'uanu Pali lookout, and four miles north from Waimanolo. Now little more than an exclusive suburb of Honolulu, it was once a favorite dwelling place for the chiefs of Oahu, surrounded by wetlands and rich soil ideal for growing taro. Exploring the little side streets that lead off Kalaheo Avenue as it parallels the bay may fuel your fantasies of relocating to Hawaii, but inquiring about real estate prices will bring you back to reality, and any time you have here is best spent on the beach.

Kaanapali, Hawaii
When American Factors (Amfac), the owners of the Pioneer Sugar Mill, decided in 1957 to transform the oceanfront cane fields of KA'ANAPALI into a luxury tourist resort, they established a pattern that has been repeated throughout Hawaii ever since. There had never been a town at Ka'anapali, just a small plantation wharf served by a short railroad from the sugar mill at Lahaina. What Ka'anapali did have, however, was a superb white-sand beach – far better than anything at Lahaina – backed by a tract of land that was ripe for development and more than twice the size of Waikiki.

Honolulu, Hawaii
For those who love the sophistication of the city but yearn for the pleasures of nature's most abundant beauty, O'ahu is an island to return to again and again. Part of its dramatic appearance lies in its majestic highlands: the western Wai'anae Mountains rise 4,000 ft above sea level, and the verdant Ko'olau Mountains cross the island's midsection at elevations of more than 3,000 ft. Eons of wind and weather erosion have carved these ranges' sculptured, jagged peaks, deep valleys, sheer green cliffs, and dynamic vistas. At the base of these mountains more than 50 beach parks lie draped like a beautiful lei, each known for a different activity, be it snorkeling, surfing, swimming, or sunbathing.