Poipu Kauai Vacation YouTube Video

This blog post is sponsored by Hawaii Affordable Vacation Rentals

Aloha Hawaii beach lovers,
I guess from time to time we will get back to our discussion which of the Hawaiian Islands is your favorite Hawaii vacation destination.

When taking short breaks from the Big Island, we love to go on vacation to Kauai. So when we found this Kauai video on youtube it brought back great memories of our last Kauai vacation. We spent a week in Kapaa on Kauai and had the most wonderful time. As the island is really small, we spent some special time on the white sand beaches of Poipu with lots of sunshine (remember Kauai can be quite rainy at certain areas).

Hey Hawaii beach bums, enjoy a visit to Poipu beach on Kauai with this youtube video (thanks to its creator!).

As usual, let us know what you think. Mahalo and aloha, Pua
Highlights Kohala Coast and Hawaii Hot Picks

Tags: best hawaii vacation, hawaii attractions, surfing in hawaii, hawaii vacation

News Flash from Hawaii Vacations

News Flash for our Readers from Alaska who want to travel to Hawaii!!!!

As we are not Donald Trump or Oprah or any of those celebrities in Hawaii, here is some real news: Hawaii Vacations has just informed me that beginning Feb. 20th the new Hawaii charter fares for 2007 will be available. They offer air/room/car packages or just air fare if you have friends on the Hawaiian Islands. This service is offered through Hawaiian Airlines from Anchorage to all islands.

Are you tired of snow yet? Maybe its time to check with
Hawaii Vacations.

Aloha Pua Kohala Coast Vacation Accommodations
p.s.
If you missed our post on Cheap airfares to Hawaii, here it is again Flight Specials to Hawaii and Maui.

Tags: hawaii vacation, hawaii flight specials

Celebrities in Hawaii

Now, we know that we are too late with buying a unit at the Donald Trump Tower on Waikiki Beach Walk, we should ask ourselves why is it that not only we regular people get attracted to Hawaii but our so much admired celebrities as well.

Let’s start with the legend Elvis Presley. Elvis loved Hawaii. From his first visit in the late 1950's till his final vacation in March of 1977 he would visit Hawaii on many occasions. In addition to his three movies in Hawaii (‘Blue Hawaii’, ‘Girls Girls Girls’ and ‘Paradise Hawaiian Style’), he also came to Hawaii for live performances, the one most well known being the show "Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii" on January 14, 1973.

Like many (first time) visitors Elvis fell in love with the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands and the hospitality and aloha spirit of the people of Hawaii. The Islands are a true paradise for people in search of sun, white sandy beaches, surfing and beautiful nature scenes. Hawaii would become
Elvis Presley’s favorite vacation destination and he would enjoy many vacations there.

Quite a number of modern celebrities own a second (or third or forth?) home in Hawaii. It’s not always just because they love Hawaii and like to spend their vacation there but when one considers the $700million dollar, which Donald Trump made in November 2006 with his Waikiki Trump Tower project - guys, there is nothing there yet, but it still sold out!! - you know why Oprah is investing big time in Hawaii property and real estate.

I won’t forget the moment (must be some 8 -10 years ago) when I was working out at the gym at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and was watching the Oprah Show to make time go by faster. People in the audience asked Oprah what she thought was a good money investment and where to buy real estate, she’d openly share her belief that Hawaii, any piece of land or home or house, would be the best investment. I don’t know how many people in the audience had the money to follow Oprah’s perfect advice. Those who did invest in Hawaii real estate, made a fortune over those past years with real estate values in Hawaii going through the roof.

That’s just what Oprah did in the past few years, following her own advice or the one of Bob Greene, her personal trainer turned property manager who planted the idea that she might buy land on one of the islands. A spokesperson for Winfrey's production company, Harpo Productions, confirmed in 2002 that Oprah made several acquisitions on Maui, among those were 102.09 acres which she bought for $11.68 million.

Did you watch the Oprah show where Oprah shared her new home on Maui with her audience or maybe you got a glimpse of Oprah’s Maui Home in the O magazine?! Beautiful, magnificent, everybody’s dream house!!! Once an ordinary little gray ranch, Oprah's Hawaiian home has been transformed into the perfect 21st-century farmhouse, with great pieces of folk art, beautifully embroidered curtains, comfortable furniture, and inviting colors with very positive energy.
Visit Oprah’s Hawaii Home in Maui.

Last but not least, Hawaii has become not just the filming location of one of the most watched TV series ‘Lost’, it has been and it is the ‘playground’ of modern celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan. What else can I say?

The closest I ever came to meet a celebrity in Hawaii was when I was on the set of filming the pilot for new Hawaii TV series (sorry forgot the title) on a Kona Beach and I managed to squeeze my cheap camera into somebody’s hand to have a photo taken of Bo Derek and myself. Guys, I swear I can prove it! I still have the photo, no digital image though. By the way, the series never made it past the pilot. Too bad! I would still walk around proudly showing the photo of Bo Derek and myself!
Feel free to share your encounters with celebrities in Hawaii, real or not. Let’s have some fun! Mahalo and aloha, Pua Vacation in Hawaii like Donald Trump – but cheap
p.s.
For those who love to read some real gossip about Celebrities in Hawaii, go to the bottom of the right side bar where you find links to Britney Spears in Hawaii, Paris Hilton in Hawaii & Lindsay Lohan on Maui. Warning - this is straight from the Paparazzi!

Tags: celebrities in hawaii, donald trump in hawaii, oprah's house in hawaii

Donald Trump in Hawaii

Donald Trump in Hawaii
Or How to make 700 million dollars in 8 hours?

Well, enough of the Humpback whales in Hawaii for now. There is so much talk about the Hawaii housing bubble and that it’s time now to look for a home to buy in Hawaii… lowest prices within the last three years and more of those incentives to lure you into buying a house or condo in Hawaii and invest your money in Hawaii property.

I guess when you are Donald Trump, there is no such a thing like a wrong investment, despite of Rosie O’Donnell saying that he is bankrupt. As our slogan for this blog is ‘Vacation in Hawaii like Donald Trump - but cheap’, let’s see what the Donald is doing. Keep reading, as this is really getting interesting.

The much-watched Trump project broke ground in Waikiki on January 12, 2007.The Waikiki Beach Walk project is to be completed in 2009. Neither the Donald nor his all-star daughter Ivanka, who bought a unit in the tower during the record sell-out sale in November, attended the Waikiki groundbreaking festivities.

Trump announced last year his entrée into Hawaii's real estate market with building a Trump tower on Waikiki Beach, he created a buzz around the globe. He has put up similar towers in Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami Beach, Los Angeles and the Caribbean.

The project already has met with unprecedented demand. Units sold out for a total topping $700 million in just eight hours, setting world records for the total dollars and number of units changing hands at a residential development on a single day.
Buyers from Japan, China, Korea, Australia, Europe, Canada, Mexico, Hawaii and the mainland paid an average of $1.5 million for units. Prices at the Waikiki Trump Tower ranged from the mid-$400,000s for studios to more than $9 million for three-bedroom penthouses.

By the way, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann thinks that investment will be beneficial to Hawaii and its people but he also told Trump to “treat my people properly and utilize the aloha spirit in everything that you do." Trump answered: "No problem, I've done this all over the world."
Read the entire story by Honolulu Starbulletin on Trump Project on Waikiki Beach. Thinking about owning a home in Hawaii, see our Hawaii Real Estate market links or this Kohala Coast Home for Sale. This is a start. Not everybody can build a Tower on Waikiki Beach and make 700 million in 8 hours!!!

As usual, please, be invited to leave your comment. What do you think about the Hawaii Real Estate market? Is it time to invest in Hawaii properties or rather wait till prices go more down (if so)? Aloha, Pua Vacation in Hawaii Like Donald Trump - but cheap!

Tags: donald trump in hawaii, hawaii real estate

West Hawaii Today - Whale Story

'West Hawaii Today' Whale Story
What a coincidence! After we had added our post that the 'Humpback whales are back in Hawaii', we found this sad story today in West Hawaii Today's headlines. An entangled Humpback Whale was found on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island on Tuesday. As we all know Humpback whales count to the endangered species and every effort will be made to save a 40-foot humpback whale entangled in a web of fishing gear. Experts will try to free tangled humpback today.

A team of scientists and marine life experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration postponed an attempt to rescue the whale Tuesday, as they did not have local experts to free the whale. Specialists from Maui will attempt to free the whale.This is the first confirmed report of a whale entanglement in waters off the Big Island this season, said Justin Viezbicke, marine conservation coordinator for NOAA's Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. He reminded the public that humpback whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act. It is illegal to come within 100 yards of a humpback whale in Hawaiian waters without special permission from NOAA's Marine Fisheries Service. Violators face penalties up to $25,000.

Ocean Sports, a boating company based in Waikoloa Beach Resort, first spotted the adult humpback whale at 10:20 a.m. from their sailing catamaran Alala about three miles offshore of Kawaihae. Ocean Sports immediately contacted the NOAA's Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. They had also noticed that the whale was entangled in about 60 ft of fishing gear.

Read the entire story about the

entangled Humpback Whale on Hawaii Big Island. Let's hope the Maui experts will be able to free and save this 40 ft Humpback whale, so he/she can go home to Alaska with his friends soon.

Aloha Pua Vacation in Hawaii like Donald Trump - but cheap.

Tags: humpback whales in hawaii, hawaii attractions, big island vacation

The Humpback Whales are back to Hawaii!

Aloha everybody,

Since you secured your cheap airfares to the Hawaiian Islands, it's time to deal with things to do and to see on your vacation in Hawaii.

Yes, yes, yes the humpback whales are back! You just got to find them. They frolic around all the Hawaiian Islands during the winter months. We see them mostly when we at least expect them…when we are without binoculars or digital camera! So be prepared at all times for these encounters with some of the biggest ocean living mammals when you are going island exploring on your Hawaii vacation. You don’t want to miss the picture of a lifetime of a breeching humpback whale. Nothing can compare to that!

Each winter between December and March, the humpback whales migrate from Alaska to the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean around the Hawaiian Islands in order to give birth to their calves and provide milk for them. After hanging out for a few months in our warm waters, they swim thousands of miles back to Alaska without eating and defending their calves on this long journey.

Good luck seeing the Humpback whales, the gentle giants! Read more about the Humpback whales. If you want to make sure to see them close, the whale mama and her baby, sign up for a whale watch boat trip. Most Hawaii boat companies offer whale watch boat trips. Have fun watching the whales and if you have a minute, share your whale watch adventure with our Hawaii visitors here on the blog. Mahalo and aloha, Pua

Vacation in Hawaii like Donald Trump – but cheap!
p.s.

For Hawaii Big Island, we recommend Dan Sweeney’s Whale watch in Kona or Kohala Coast Divers in Kawaihae for the Kohala Coast, depending on where you spend your Hawaii vacation.

Tags: hawaii activities, hawaii attractions, humpback whales in hawaii