Aloha and welcome to a quick tour of Hawaii. I'm not going to spend much time on one of my signature stories this time 'round but will provide a bit of insight into what I thought of the islands.
We visited 3 islands: Oahu, Hawaii and Maui.
Oahu is where you'll find the city of Honululu and is the only reasonably populated place in Hawaii. However, the island isn't quite as exciting as the other 2. If you're looking for a Gucci bag or the North Shore, then you need to go to Oahu. Otherwise, skip it. [And by all means, don't get suckered into snorkeling in Hanauma Bay.]
Oahu Pics
Magnum's House
Waikiki
North Shore
Hawaii (aka The Big Island) has a lot going on. We spent some time diving, snorkeling and hiking the volcano. We did two dives both at Eel Gardens. My overall take on diving in Hawaii (after only 4 dives so take with a healthy dose of salt) is that it's a decent place to dive but not really world class. One dive that is a must is the manta ray dive. These great beasts (8-12 foot wingspans - you can't really tell from the pics but they're bigger than you) congregate off the Kona Coast to feed in the evening. It's a spectacular experience to sit down to dinner with these guys. Snorkeling off the Kona Coast was world class - Captain Cooks was the best spot but Kahaluu Beach was also pretty good (and lots of turtles). Hiking the volcano was a bit of an adventure. We hiked out to the lava - 3 hours there and back. However, I was a bit taken by the idea of watching lava flow down the volcano and set us off after a stream of lava coming down the hill. It started getting dark and we had to head back. On the way back we hit the edge of a lava cliff that materialized out of the dark. We had flashlights but it's tricky stuff this lava so you have to concentrate on the next step, plus it was just about pitch black by this point. Backtracking, we made our way around it and the rest of the way to the ranger station in the dark. Needless to say 5-6 hours on hardened lava flows leaves your feet bruised and blistered.
Hawaii Pics
Captain Cooks
Kahaluu Beach
Manta Dive
Volcano (Pu'u O'o Vent)
Maui has its own fun and we explored various aspects of it: the beaches, diving, whale watching and snorkeling at Molokini Crater. I also tried some poi (the local sweet potato that's purple instead of orange) with curry sauce...mmmmmm. The most exciting aspect of diving off Maui (at least in my mind) is running into a humpback whale. Unfortunately, we didn't have the pleasure of making one's acquaintance. We stayed in Lahaina - a nice little town on the NW coast.
Movies
A ray in an aquarium in Waikiki
The North Shore
An aerial view of the Pu'u O'o Vent [beware long download, 5 MB]
Lava - snap, crackle, pop [beware long download, 5 MB]
Turtles are fun
Turtles are still fun