Hawaiian Islands
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Hawaiian Islands -- Six main islands including Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai and the Hawaii (the Big Island).
Hawaii is the only island state in the United States.
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We'll start on the island of Oahu, not necessarily because it is my favorite, but because it is the most popular.
Here you see the famous Waikiki Beach. Honolulu is the state capital as well as Hawaii's largest city.
Some of the highlights you must see are the Polynesian Cultural Center, the famous surf on the North Shore, and Pearl Harbor. |
The island of Oahu, known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the State of Hawaii. The island is home to about 900,000 people. Today, Oahu has become a tourism and shopping haven as over five million visitors flock there every year to enjoy the quintessential island holiday experience that the Hawaiian Islands and their multicultural people now personify.
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The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727.2 square miles. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest island in Maui County.
Three other islands, Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai, also belong to Maui County. Together, the four islands are known as Maui Nui. |
The island has experienced rapid population growth in recent years with Kīhei one of the most rapidly growing towns in the United States. The growth is occurring because many people, having visited Maui, decide to move or retire to the island. Showers are very common; yet while some of these are very heavy, the vast majority are light and brief – a sudden sprinkle of rain and it's over. Even the heaviest rain showers are seldom accompanied by thunder and lightning. Summer is the warmer season; with an overwhelming dominance of trade winds.
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Kauai is the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of 552.3 square miles, it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago.
There is no known meaning behind the name of Kauai. Native Hawaiian tradition indicates the name's origin in the legend of Hawaiiloa — the Polynesian navigator attributed with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. |
The city of Līhue, on the island's southeast coast, is the seat of Kauai County and the second largest city on the island. Kapaa, on the "Coconut Coast" about 6 miles north of Līhue, has a population of nearly 10,000, or about 50% greater than Līhue.
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Molokai Island is ranked # 10 among the 111 island destinations of the world with pristine breathtaking tropical landscape, environmental stewardship, rich and deep Hawaiian traditions, and visitor-friendly culture.
Molokai is an island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of 260.0 square miles, making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. |
Historically, a small north shore colony on Molokai Island, Kalaupapa, was a refuge for sufferers of Hansen's Disease, also known as leprosy. Hansen's Disease is a bacteria-caused ailment which has been cured since the 1940s with the use of modern antibiotics. There are no active cases of Hansen's Disease on Molokai Island. Those who continue to live in the Kalaupapa colony are descendant families of the previously afflicted disease patients.
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Lānai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation.
The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement. The island is somewhat comma-shaped, with a width of 18 miles in the longest direction |
Lanai has been under the control of nearby Maui since before recorded history. History seems sometimes to have forgotten little Lanai. The first inhabitants of this island may have arrived as late as the 1400s. According to the Hawaiian legends, man-eating spirits occupied the island before that time. For generations, Maui chiefs believed in these man-eating spirits.
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The Island of Hawaii (called the Big Island or Hawaii Island) is a volcanic island and is the largest island in the United States and larger than all of the others combined.
Hawaii was the home island of Kamehameha the Great, who by 1795 had united most of the Hawaiian Islands under his rule after several years of warfare and conquest. |
The Big Island is famous for its volcanoes. Kīlauea, the most active, has been erupting almost continuously for more than two decades. At the coast where the lava meets the ocean, one can sometimes see billows of white steam rising from off the shoreline. At night, the lava lights up the steam to give an orange glow. When the molten lava makes contact with the ocean, the sea water turns into steam, and the sudden cooling of the lava causes the newly formed lava rocks to explode and crack into small pieces. The broken up lava is further ground into black sands along the shore by the ocean waves. Black sand beaches are common on the Big Island.
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