Hawaii Travel Guide

Of the main islands, Kauai, with tiny Niihau to its leeward side, is the oldest and northernmost. As you travel south down the island chain, you'll find Oahu and Maui, with Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe clustered in the leeward waters. Hawaii, or the Big Island, is the most southerly point in the U.S. The Hawaiian Islands are volcanic in origin, with active eruptions continuing on the Big Island. Oahu, where Honolulu is located, holds pride of place as the political, economic and population hub of Hawaii. In relation to Oahu, the other islands are sometimes referred to as the "Neighbor Islands."

In January 1778, British explorer James Cook and his two ships reached Kauai. (This may have been the first Western contact with Hawaii, though another theory holds that a Spanish ship may have visited the area in the 1500s.) Cook's party traded with the locals and reported that the Polynesians were fascinated by anything made of iron. Common nails became valuable items for trade, and sailors used them to woo Hawaiian women, from whom they received a very cordial welcome. Unfortunately, this contact passed venereal disease to the Hawaiians, the first of many Western ailments that would devastate the population.

When Cook returned to the islands the next year, things didn't go as smoothly. A dispute arose when Hawaiians on the Big Island at Kealakekua Bay, Kona, took one of the ship's small boats. Violence broke out, and Cook was killed. The islands were known in the West for many years by the name Cook gave them, the Sandwich Islands (after the Earl of Sandwich, Cook's benefactor who financed his voyages of exploration).

At roughly the same time that Europeans first came in contact with Hawaii, internal politics and warfare were also redefining the islands. Each island was ruled independently until King Kamehameha I (1753-1819) united them by force. The continuing presence of Westerners played a role in the wars: The armaments of the newcomers were a decisive factor in Kamehameha's victory. Greater encroachment by outsiders took place in the 1800s, with two rather divergent groups—Calvinist missionaries and whale-hunting seamen—leading the charge.

In the mid-1800s, another group, sugar planters, became a force in Hawaii. They gained control of large parcels of land, imported foreign workers and eventually, in 1893, orchestrated the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch. The Hawaiian Islands were annexed to the U.S. in 1898, though the island election approving annexation excluded most native-born Hawaiians. In 1941, the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base on Oahu brought the U.S. into World War II. Following the war, the movement favoring statehood gained strength, and on 21 August 1959, Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state.

The Hawaiian Islands' sugar plantations were prosperous until the industry's decline in the mid-1990s. Since then, crops have diversified. Plantation land now grows coffee and tropical fruits. Tourism has also become a major industry for the state.

The little lizards that scurry around (and sometimes up walls) in your lodgings are geckos. They're good reptiles to have around, being quite adept at eating bothersome insects.

Almost none of the tropical fruits and flowers associated with Hawaii, such as orchids, plumeria, pineapple, avocado, papayas and mangoes, are native to the islands. They were all introduced from outside countries.

In November 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a formal apology to the Hawaiian people for the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian monarch.

Hawaii has some 300 endangered plants and animals—about one-third of all federally protected species in the U.S. Both its state mammal (the humpback whale) and state bird (the nene) are endangered.

The slinky sound of the steel guitar was born in Hawaii. Originally known as Hawaiian guitar, this style of playing is said to have begun when an islander slid a metal railroad tie along the strings. Hawaiian guitar music became wildly popular in the U.S. in the early 1900s, and the steel sound was soon adopted by country music, where it is most often heard today. The Hawaiian slack key guitar style is another of the island's musical innovations. It uses a standard guitar tuned in a distinctive key.

The humuhumunukunukuapuaa is the official state fish. The name means "fish with a snout like a pig."

It's relatively easy to pronounce Hawaiian words correctly. Hawaiian is similar to English, except that W in the middle of a word is pronounced like a V, and every vowel is pronounced (though sometimes they're slurred together if spoken quickly). If the same vowel is separated by an apostrophe, be sure to pronounce it twice.

Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. where coffee is grown commercially.

Measured from the seafloor, the Big Island's Mauna Kea (13,769 ft/4,268 m) is actually the tallest mountain in the world.

Hawaii is the only U.S. state that has royal palaces—including Iolani Palace in Honolulu and Hulihee Palace in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island.