Archive for the 'Maui' Category
Oahu, Hawaii: Flight and hotel packages from $399
October 14, 2009 5:58am
When planning a short hop over to Hawaii, it’s never a bad idea to peruse any specials Pleasant Holidays may be offering. The popular travel agency regularly has well-priced flight-and-hotel packages available to the islands.
Deal: For certain dates this fall and winter, those departing from Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) can get round-trip airfare on United Airlines and three nights accommodation (based on double occupancy) in Honolulu for as little as $399 per person, excluding most taxes and fees.
Past offers of this kind have featured budget hotels like Castle Maile Sky Court — where rates are currently as low as $64 per night, pre-tax — on its lowest price tier.
But this special is all about Starwood hotels, and the cheapest hotel in the packages that I’m seeing currently (though this is subject to change) is at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, more moderately priced in comparison, where fall rates start at around $119 per night. Read the rest of this entry »
$5-million settlement reached in lawsuit over flash-flood tragedy at national park in Hawaii
October 3, 2009 5:31pm
The U.S. government agreed to pay $5 million late last month to settle a lawsuit filed by Holly Brown, a Louisville, Ky., doctor, and her son, Clayton, after the deaths of her 39-year-old husband, Kevin, and 8-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, during a flash flood at Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui in April 2003.
Brown said the family of four had checked at a nearby ranger station just before going hiking along Pipiwai Trail on the southeast side of Maui, according to a report on the website of the Courier-Journal. Even though there were dark clouds, the ranger did not issue a flash-flood warning, court documents said.
The family followed the path to an overlook above 184-foot Makahiku Falls and then decided to walk to the bottom. Kevin and Elizabeth were crossing the stream when they were suddenly overtaken by a 6-foot wall of water. Their bodies were never recovered.
Hawaii roundup: Hawaiian Airlines’ $50 credit offer; new Maui and Lanai sub-and-snorkel package; robotic dinosaurs arrive in Honolulu
September 27, 2009 12:07pm
– Hawaiian Airlines is giving away $50 “eCertificates” for use on future travels. Here’s the skinny: Book a flight between the mainland U.S. and Hawaii for travel between now and Dec. 11, and you’ll receive a $50 credit to your HawaiianMiles account, which can be applied to any transpacific flight that you book for travel between Jan. 11 and March 11. You must book your initial flight before Oct. 7 to take advantage of this offer.
– Visitors to Maui can now take advantage of a new marine package that features two unique touring experiences for one discounted price. With Atlantis Submarines, you get a submarine ride off Maui, descending to 150 feet. With Maui Adventure Cruises’ Lanai Dolphin Adventure, you cross the Maui channel to Lanai aboard a 49-foot boat, and then get to the serious business of snorkeling. Booked together, the sub-and-snorkel package costs $159 per adult and $80 per child, pretax. Read the rest of this entry »
Hotel-review site Oyster.com launches Oahu pages; more Hawaii coming soon
September 23, 2009 1:28pm
Dreaming up a trip to Oahu, I come across special rates of $189 per night at Hilton Hawaiian Village. My conditioned first stop is TripAdvisor, where traveler-written reviews of this hotel include lots of raves and some cautions. Of course, with user-generated reviews, you do some wading and sifting, not always sure whose advice to take and whose to toss. Some of the tips seem relevant to my potential stay, and others don’t. But all in all, I get an interesting lay of the land here, from a range of perspectives.
Then I go to Oyster.com, a relatively new hotel-review website, which Travel blogger Jen Leo covered just after the website’s launch in June. The site, packed with reviews by undercover journalists and about a gazillion photos, launched its reviews on Oahu late Tuesday. In the footsteps of its predecessor destination pages (Aruba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Miami, New York, Las Vegas), the lengthy, thoroughly detailed pages — with a well-organized layout for easy perusal — lure me in immediately.
Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hawaii’s largest hotel resort, ranks as one of Oyster’s list of best kid-friendly hotels on Oahu. And at the top of this hotel’s review page, I get a concise pros and cons list. As the mother of a toddler, I immediately focus on the calm beach and lagoon, as well as the noted animals (parrots … and penguins?). Among the cons, the fact that the hotel is a ways to Waikiki restaurants, and the supposed crowds at the resort, give me pause and get me to keep reading. Read the rest of this entry »
Top 10 snorkeling spots: Catalina, Hawaii and more
September 22, 2009 8:56am
Grab your goggles and flippers and head for Lover’s Cove on California’s Catalina Island, which rates among the top 10 places to snorkel in a list compiled by Coastal Living Magazine. Papalaua Wayside Park on Maui, Hawaii, was another entry on the magazine’s list in the July-August issue.
The snorkeling spots, compiled by underwater photographer Tanya Burnett-Palmer, are all in the U.S., Central America and Caribbean. The complete list includes Dean’s Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas; Buck Island, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; Crystal River, Fla.; Rockhouse, Negril, Jamaica; Pigeon Cay, Honduras; Stingray City, Grand Cayman Island; Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Belize; and Bimini Islands, the Bahamas.
The article says Catalina’s Lover’s Cove is a “protected area [that] sports kelp forest, rock reef, and a menagerie of cool-water inhabitants. Guides and operators can help you in by boat, or try heading out on your own from the Pebbly Beach access stairs; just don’t forget your flag marker.”
—Rosemary McClure, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Photo: Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas is prized for its snorkeling. Credit: Bahamas Ministry of Tourism
Hawaii: Hotel deals worth island-hopping for
August 9, 2009 10:45am
The recession may be bottoming out, they say? Well, then, get yourself to Hawaii before everyone else begins rushing back for their much-needed vacations. Hotels are, and have been, offering astounding incentives to get you visiting the islands sometime in the remainder of this year. Following are a handful of great deals that have come across my desk of late (prices below are pre-tax):
During the annual Kona Coffee Culture Festival due to hit the Big Island Nov. 6-15, host hotel Keauhou Beach Resort, in Kailua-Kona, is offering rooms for $119 per night, with breakfast included. Call in this reservation, asking for the “KCCF” rate.
Aston Hotels & Resorts are having a sale, with rates starting at $113 per night at the budget Aston Paki Maui in Lahaina. This is for stays of at least two consecutive nights between Aug. 24 and Dec. 21. Ask for the “fall specials.” I found this rate for a one-bedroom garden-view unit in mid-September, with the “best daily web rate” for a comparable room being $156. Read the rest of this entry »
Pleasant Holidays offers cancel-for-any-reason coverage
August 6, 2009 10:26am
Pleasant Holidays, the giant package-tour operator based in Westlake Village, this week began offering cancel-for-any-reason coverage to customers who book its trips to Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean and Costa Rica.
Unlike its regular Protection Plan, which refunds trip deposits if you cancel for reasons such as illness, death or job loss, the new Cancel Anytime Protection Plan Plus covers you for virtually any unforeseen cause, said Jack E. Richards, president and chief executive.
The downsides: Cancel Anytime Protection costs more (starting at $119 instead of $89 per adult) and reimburses you for only 80% instead of 100% for many of the covered causes. And of course, as with all such plans, there’s plenty of fine print.
For plan details, visit Pleasant Holidays’ website, call (800) 448-3333 or contact your travel agent.
— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor
Photo: Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve in Hawaii. Credit: Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times
Hawaii roundup: World’s biggest telescope planned for Mauna Kea; two top surf towns; USS Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor arrival
July 23, 2009 8:40am
> The Big Island’s Mauna Kea was picked this week as the future site of what will be the world’s largest telescope. The Thirty Meter Telescope will enable “astronomers to detect and study light from the earliest stars and galaxies, analyze the formation of planets around nearby stars, and test many of the fundamental laws of physics,” according to a news release.
The telescope will be the 14th atop the 13,796-foot, astronomically popular Mauna Kea summit, which already holds the biggest telescopes internationally and beat out a site at Cerro Armazones in Chile for the next world-title-holder.
The new addition is not without its objectors. “Mauna Kea is considered sacred to Native Hawaiians, while environmentalists have raised concerns about how the project will affect rare native plant and insect species atop the volcano,” reported the Honolulu Advertiser.
> Santa Cruz, Calif., may be riding the top spot on Surfer magazine’s recent “Ten Best Surf Towns in America” piece, but Hawaiian waters have by no means been left in the dust. Read the rest of this entry »
‘The Bachelorette’; does Maui, Hawaii, tonight
July 13, 2009 12:00pm
If you follow “The Bachelorette,” or just want to do some armchair-traveling in Maui, tune in to the telly tonight. At 8 p.m. on ABC, a two-hour episode of this season’s “The Bachelorette,” featuring 29-year-old Vancouver resident Jillian Harris (formerly seen on “The Bachelor”), will offer us an opportunity to explore a little Maui — along with riveting drama, of course, as Jillian further explores remaining bachelors Ed, Kiptyn and Reid.
Based at Westin Maui Resort & Spa (pictured below) and Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa, the evening’s stars will begin their ventures in Kaanapali, on the island’s west side. The “Rose Ceremony” at show’s end will take place at the ocean-front Olowalu Plantation House in Lahaina.
Jillian’s private dates with each of the three men include a ropes course with Kiptyn, who, she says (on an ABC sneak preview) “seems like a perfect catch.” Read the rest of this entry »
Hawaii: Pleasant Holidays $99 companion ticket from LAX to Maui
July 2, 2009 5:48pm
I thought the last Pleasant Holidays deal was incredible — three nights including air starting at $299 — but this new one is pretty irresistible too: Get a $99 companion ticket when flying between Los Angeles and Maui, or between San Francisco and Oahu or Maui, when you buy a Hawaii vacation package.
Deal: The $99 companion-air deal requires that you buy a hotel package or a fly-and-drive package through Pleasant Holidays. I was able to find a three-night hotel package (including a car) departing Los Angeles for travel to Maui on Aug. 24 to 27 and staying at Kaanapali Ocean Inn (just a one-star). The total came to $1,114 for two, including taxes. If you stay at a three-star beachfront condo, it would be $1,241.
