The place to dicuss local topics and to meet others in your area.

Aloha, from the Big Island (Hawaii)! This place rocks so hard! Come visit me!

:hi: Hi way over there. :D

Aloha from O'ahu! :D

Hi there :) I am from England but am planning a visit. Could I ask a question?

Which Island is the best for vegetarians? I see that you have loads over there in general. Thanks in advance

I found this, thought it might come in handy for someone visiting...

http://hawaiihealthguide.com/healthtalk/display.htm?id=173

Hi there :) I am from England but am planning a visit. Could I ask a question?

Which Island is the best for vegetarians? I see that you have loads over there in general. Thanks in advance

My wife and I have been to Maui 5 times. I'm vegan, she's lacto-ovo. We love it so much we haven't been able to bring ourselves to try another island. It's such a wonderful place and a great place for vegetarians to visit. We're from the Chicago area, and 2 of our most favorite restaurants are on Maui:
VEG OUT vegetarian in Haiku, and Maui Tacos (several locations) for cheap, fresh, Mexican fare with a unique Hawaiin twist. Other favorites: Polli's in Makawao has many items including their incredible vegan fajita's, BJ's pizza in Lahaina for a nice dinner with terrific local entertainment/musicians/singers, Cheez Burger in Paradise also in Lahaina has a good tofu burger, Bella Luna in/near Wailea for a beautiful sunset dinner, China boat in Kahana. In Paia there's a place (used to be called Pic-Nics) that has a terrific spinach-tofu burger, and they'll put together a picnic basket for you to take for a day trip.
And our favorite of all is Curry-in-a-Hurry in Kahului for all veg Indian cuisine
run by a wonderful couple Hans and Lori Lee. They are a must-see if you go to Maui.
http://www.curryinahurrymaui.com/
And next to Curry-in-a-Hurry is one of several Down to Earth stores
http://www.downtoearth.org/ a vegetarian grocery chain with a carry-out buffet/deli.

One more thing, last we knew Dr. Michael Klaper http://www.vegsource.com/klaper/ was still on Maui.
Well that's just off the top of my head.
http://www.vegetarianusa.com/city/Hawaii.html

Thank you so very Michael and jj1! I will have a read through and look at the links. I really appreciate it. :)

veg*ns have it relatively easy here. There are lots of options everywhere. Vegan, naturally, could be a little more challenging...

Hi there :) I am from England but am planning a visit. Could I ask a question?

Which Island is the best for vegetarians? I see that you have loads over there in general. Thanks in advance

I vacationed on the Big Island in 2004, and had a great time. I hate eating out night after night, so I found a hotel with kitchens in the rooms. I planted myself in Hilo (the 'wet' side of the island) and took many hiking day trips. I visited the local farmer's market, and bought some bizarre stuff you can't find on the mainland. I found the Kona side of the island (the dry side) to be a bit too much like any other beach-oriented place I've been, so thankfully I didn't stay too long on that side. If you decide to vacation in Hilo, send me a PM and I'll give you some hints on where to stay/what to do.

Have a great trip!
:sunny:

I love Hilo!! (I live here :D) :sunny:

Chicago meetup at Wonder Randy's!

:p

Come on over! :sunny: :sunny:

(*Jumps from cold, grey, wet Washington into "Hawaii" thread to absorb a little sunshine and warmth - oh - and to meet WonderRandy of course too!*)

A little extra sunshine for ya...

:sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:

I'm in this thread cos it was snowing here today, then hail. Utterly grey Uk

I need a little sunshine, too. Ahhh...that feels good! :cool:

it's actually cold and rainy here today... it's been raining for days on end...

I vacationed on the Big Island in 2004, and had a great time. I hate eating out night after night, so I found a hotel with kitchens in the rooms. I planted myself in Hilo (the 'wet' side of the island) and took many hiking day trips. I visited the local farmer's market, and bought some bizarre stuff you can't find on the mainland. I found the Kona side of the island (the dry side) to be a bit too much like any other beach-oriented place I've been, so thankfully I didn't stay too long on that side. If you decide to vacation in Hilo, send me a PM and I'll give you some hints on where to stay/what to do.

Have a great trip!
:sunny:

Thanks so much for your advice and about PMing you. As soon as I get my trip together I may well do that. Thanks so much

Dunno if any Hawaii folk are interested but Dr. MacDougal is gonna be there and his lectures are FREE!

(Usually around here it's like, 15$ to hear him).

He has AMAZING things to say about the health aspects of vegetarian/veganism...

Hawaii Talks are Free and Open to the Public

Wednesday, April. 5, 7 PM - Cameron Center Auditorium
95 Mahalani Street, Wailuku, Maui,
"Truth or Dairy"
Contact: Laurelee Blanchard (808) 575-7694

Tuesday, April. 11, 7 PM - Castle Wellness Center, Kailua, HI
"Molecules of Life"
Call (808) 263-5400 to register (required).
Seating is limited.

Wednesday, April 12, 9 AM - Pohai Nani Good Samaritan Retirement Community
Ruth Orcutt Bacon Auditorium
45-090 Namoku Street, Kaneohe, HI 96744
"Aging in Style, Maybe to 100" Map
Contact: Judy Knutson, Wellness Director (808) 247-6211 Ext. 1107

Wednesday, April 12, 7 PM - Ala Wai Golf Course Clubhouse, 404 Kapahulu Ave., Honolulu,
"Truth or Dairy"
Contact: (808) 944-8344 or info@VSH.org -- www.VSH.org

i will be in the Kihei area of Maui in February 07 for my wedding :cool:
the family will be there for the first 5 days, wedding on the 4th day. then we have 5 more days to ourselves. so i could use some tips on family and couple oriented things to do/see and of course restaurant recommendations :)

we're staying at the Castle Kamaole Sands, from the photos it looks gorgeous. i can't wait!
i'm going to check out those links right now. we'll have kitchens in our rooms too so will definately have to hit a healthfood store

i will be in the Kihei area of Maui in February 07 for my wedding :cool:
the family will be there for the first 5 days, wedding on the 4th day. then we have 5 more days to ourselves. so i could use some tips on family and couple oriented things to do/see and of course restaurant recommendations :)

we're staying at the Castle Kamaole Sands, from the photos it looks gorgeous. i can't wait!
i'm going to check out those links right now. we'll have kitchens in our rooms too so will definately have to hit a healthfood store

I posted some restaurant recommendations on page 1 of this thread.
The place we stay at also has a kitchen, but there are so many great restaurants to eat at, we pretty much use the kitchen for breakfast, and reheating restaurant leftovers. We highly recommend Down to Earth for grocery shopping. For general shopping, there's Safeway and a Walmart, but we like to shop with the locals at Ooka in Wailuku.
For activities recommendations:

We've done this every visit, did the sunrise one once.
A great company, and worth every penny.
http://www.mauidownhill.com/safaritours/classicday01.html
http://www.mauidownhill.com/safaritours/classicsunrise01.html

Did this on our last visit. It's like nothing else, and way better than para-sailing. The instructor even has a pet duck that flys along with you!
http://www.paraglidehawaii.com/

It can get very hot in the Kihei/Wailea/Lahaina area
http://www.maui-vacation.net/mauimaps.html
during the day because that's the leeward part of Maui, so to escape the heat head over to

-Makawao--a quaint old cowboy town with lots of artists galleries

-Haiku--eat at Veg Out

-Hana--The Road to Hana
http://www.maui-vacation.net/hana.html
The rental car companies will tell you not to continue on past the town of Hana cuz the roads are bad, but they've fixed them up since then, and we highly recommend you continue driving on past Hana and around that northern end of the island and down around and back to Kihei. If you're lucky like us, you'll leave all those other tourists behind and have a nice drive by yourselves, feel like you have the road to yourself, and see alot of Maui as it used to be. It's also much more relaxing than back-tracking your way back out on the road to Hana with all the other tourists.

-Haleakala crater--dress warm, it can get pretty chilly up there at 10,000 feet.

-the historic town of Wailuku--one of the few places where the locals outnumber the tourists, and is home to Simple Pleasures
http://www.simplepleasuresmaui.com/
run by Hans & Lori Lee, also of Curry-in-a-Hurry.

For windsurfing watching (they look like a bunch of butterflies)--Hookipa park near Paia

-For the best beaches, and for plenty of hot sun during the day, the area from Polo Beach (towards Makena) and going north towards Wailea/Kihei

cool thanks! i picked up Frommer's guide today, and forgot it at work lol. it was recommended to me and from the quick flipthrough i did there's lots of info in there and a map in the back that pulls out. that'll be handy.

we're thinking of doing the bike down the volcano thing, especially since hubby is a cross country mountain biker, he'll enjoy it. but the sites all say no beginners, and i'm afraid i might be considered a beginner. we'll see.

LF, THIS (http://www.wizardpub.com/maui/maui.html) is the guidebook you need to get. The authors live on Maui, and have identified all of the coolest places to go and stuff to do. I've read their guidebooks on all of the islands, and theirs are hands down the best of the best. :up: :up:

we're thinking of doing the bike down the volcano thing, especially since hubby is a cross country mountain biker, he'll enjoy it. but the sites all say no beginners, and i'm afraid i might be considered a beginner. we'll see.

Shouldn't be a problem. You don't need any special bike skills or experience. If you've riden a bike before then you can easily do this. I've seen people of all ages easily do this, from young kids to retirees.
99.9% of the 38 mile ride is coasting or braking, and it's on a nicely paved 2 lane road with a tour guide on the lead bike guiding the group (which is usually 10 to 12 people, single file), and a van following to block traffic. The tour guide will not go any faster than the slowest rider. and if at any time you want to you can get off the bike and ride in the van.