NOTE: Our crime rate is quite low, but as in any tourist area where there's a large mixture of "haves" and "have-nots", thievery can be a problem. Hawaii has one of the highest costs of living in the country and one of the lowest wage scales. It's a good idea to leave your expensive jewelry home. If you must bring it, wear it, or leave it in the hotel safe. If you have a ground floor unit where you're staying, don't go off and leave your dive gear drying on the lanai (porch). Someone walking by just might find a nice new regulator or wet suit just too irresistible. A bit of common sense can avoid a whole lot of problems.
WEATHER
Kona's weather is some of the finest in the world. Protected from the trades by the mountains, we're usually cooled by breezes off the ocean in the day and off the mountain at night. Summertime temperatures run 10 to 15 degrees higher than wintertime. Although the Hawaii Visitors' Bureau (HVB) swears that it never goes above 90, we've seen it hit 98. The lowest temperature we've seen was up at Tom’s house (about 4500 ft). It was 56 one COLD winter morning. Don't laugh, we're all freezing if it drops below 75. We get SO much sympathy from divers coming in from cold northern areas, especially Alaska and Canada. On an average summer day, temperatures range from 80-95 during the day, and 70-80 at night. In the wintertime, average temperatures are 70-85 daytime, 60-75 nights. Coolest months are January and February; hottest August through October. All the temperatures are very dependant on your elevation, with cooler temps the higher you go. The normal daily pattern is clear, sunny mornings, clouding over in the afternoons, clearing again in the evenings. Almost all our rain conveniently falls at night. We rarely lose a day of diving to weather, but sometimes to high surf!
FLOWERS
Those of us who live here often take them for granted, but they're everywhere. Plumeria, hibiscus (our state flower), bougainvillea, and poinsettia are a few. Royal Poinciana trees in magnificent full bloom in the summer color the town with huge clusters of orange orchid-like flowers. So while you're here, take lots of time- just to smell the flowers.
VOG
Living on one of the world’s most active volcanoes has its plusses and its minuses. On the plus side, it can be exciting. On the down side is Vog. Our Kilauea Volcano has been continually erupting since January 1983, making it one of the most active volcanoes in the world and producing 1600 metric tons of sulfur dioxide and other chemicals per day, much of which ends up over Kona in the form of Vog, which is Volcano Smog. Some people are highly sensitive to the stuff and will have sore throats & unexplained sinus problems. Other people don’t even notice it. Needless to say, the HVB is not going out of its way to publicize this. Usually, antihistamine and/or decongestants are plenty to handle it. Of course, if you are visiting from Los Angeles, the air on our worst day is about as bad your best days in the valley.
LANGUAGE
English is the main language spoken here (a relief to those who've spent a lot of time diving the Caribbean), although occasionally you may have a hard time recognizing it as such, as some locals speak Pidgin English. The Hawaiian language has only 12 letters, 5 of which are vowels, which is guaranteed to give your tongue the feeling that it's being twisted around as you try to pronounce the place names- most of which are in Hawaiian. Then there are all the words that have been borrowed from the various languages that make up Hawaiian culture and replaced less colorful or useful English words. A super quick course:
The 7 consonants are h, k, l, m, n, p, w (which is pronounced like a v unless it is the first letter in a word).
a=”ah”; e=”ay”; i=”ee”; o=”oh”; u=”oo” as in “moo.”
“ai” and “ae” are almost always pronounced as “eye.”
“au” is like “ou” in “mound” or the “ow” in “cow.”
A glottal stop (') between 2 vowels means that they're supposed to be pronounced separately. When all else fails, listen carefully to a local pronouncing something. Many words have been "Anglicized". For instance, Keauhou is pronounced "Kay'-ah-hoh". Napo'opo'o is simplified to "Na'-poh-poh”.
Luau-"lue'-ow"- a traditional Hawaiian feast.
Lua- "loo'-ah"- is the bathroom. Locals just LOVE to confuse people on those. As you usually need the second after you've been to the first.
Wahine-"wah-he'-nee" is a woman
Kane- "kah'-nay" is a man. This should ensure that you use the right lua after the luau. Are you thoroughly confused?
Haole-"how'-lee'- originally meant foreigners. Now is used exclusively to refer to Caucasians.
Kama’aina-"kah-mah-eye’-nah"- a local person, or someone who's been here a long time.
Malahini-"mah-lah-hee'-nee"- is a newcomer.
Lanai-"lah-neye' " is a porch.
Kai-"keye" is the sea, ocean
Makai-"mah-keye' "is to or toward the sea. Thus DIVE MAKAI- Dive to the Sea. LIO KAI - seahorse.
Mauka-"mou'-kah" -towards the mountains. You'll often hear the expressions "I live up mauka" or "It's on the makai side of the road" as directions are often given with reference to the mountains or the ocean.
Puka-"poo'-kah"- hole
Pu’u-"poo'-oo" -hill or mound.
Hale-"hah'-lay"-house or home
Pau-"pow" –finished, as in “I'm all pau!”
Pau hana- "pow hah'-nah"- finished work- you'll hear people going for a pau hana drink.
Pupu-"poo'-poo"-snack or hors d'ouvres.
Ali'i-"uh-lee'-ee"-Hawaiian chief or chiefess. One of royal lineage.
Mahalo-"mah-hah'-loh" thank you
Nui loa-"noo'-ee loh'-ah"- very much!
what you need to know now that you are here
Congratulations! You finally made it to Hawaii. Hawaii is an amazing place and in some ways very different from the mainland, even though it is a part of the U.S. Here are some things you should know and a bunch of things it’s just fun to know. Let’s start with some of the things that make our state truly unique.
Hawaii is the only state in the union that boasts the following "onlys":
(an "*" indicates only on our Island of Hawaii)
· Land entirely of islands
· A Royal Palace
· Single, unified school system
· Increasing land areas (from our volcanoes)*
· Coffee crop - here in Kona *
· Majority of people Asian, Polynesian, Filipino or mixed.
We are also the longest chain of islands in the world, and have:
· Most southerly point in the U.S.- South Point (Ka Lae)*
· Both the largest (Mauna Loa) and most active (Kilauea) volcanoes in the world *
· Tallest mountain in the world. Mauna Kea soars 13,796 ft. above sea level, and drops 18,000 more to its base on the sea floor for a total height of over 31,000 feet*
· Most massive mountain in the world (again, Mauna Loa) - 10,000 cubic MILES, 60 miles long, 30 wide.*
Did you know you were visiting a place so unique? The state of Hawaii actually consists of 8 main islands, only 6 of which you may visit. Kahoolawe was until recently used by the military for bombing practice. Niihau, where Hawaiian is spoken as the first language, is a privately-owned ranch and populated by people of Hawaiian ancestry. 124 islands, atolls and shoals stretch northwest from Kauai. Oahu, with 75% of the state's population of over one million people, boasts the famed city of Honolulu and Waikiki Beach, the place to go for crowds and lots of action. Tiny Molokai and Lanai are relatively undeveloped rural islands. The Northwestern section of Maui around Lahaina, is heavily developed for tourism, but eastern and southern Maui are still quite rural.
And then we come to Hawaii, the Big Island, the Volcano Isle, island of unbelievable contrasts. Obviously, our favorite. You could put all the other islands together and they'd fit into the big island almost twice. We have huge mountains, deep valleys, desert, rain forest, fire and ice with active volcanoes and snow covered mountains, lush grasslands, forests, and white and black sand beaches set amidst towering black lava cliffs. Of 23 climate zones in the world, we have 21 of them. If you don't like where you are, drive for 15 or 20 minutes for a totally different environment, or an hour or so for the climate of your choice.
As the name would indicate, the Big Island is a big place with lots to do. For now, let's go to the Western side of the island and Kailua-Kona. The town of Kailua (10,000+ people) is in the district of North Kona. Without the hyphenation (Kailua-Kona) much of our mail would wind up in Kailua on Oahu.
GEOGRAPHY
Landing at Ke-ahole (Kona) Airport, your first surprising view is of an enormous field of black lava, which flowed from Hualalai (8271 ft.), the mountain above town, in 1801. Located 8 miles north of town on the coast, the airport is NOT served by public transportation. Most of the rental car agencies are headquartered there, or will pick you up, and taxis are available.
At the airport exit, turn left on Highway 19 for Kohala hotels and right for Kailua and Keauhou. If you're driving into town, look to your left for the first large group of buildings (Kaloko Light Industrial Area), which is home to the Costco that opened in 1993. Costco members, bring your cards! At the second traffic light, look to your right for Honokohau Harbor, home to most of the charter fishing fleet and our place of departure. At the fourth traffic light, turn right onto Palani Road for two shopping centers, a KTA Supermarket on your right, and the Post Office., two banks, a center with a Sack 'n' Save Supermarket, Long's Drugs, etc., on your left. Continue down Palani, which will take you through town and right past the Kailua Pier. Note the location of the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel at the bottom of the hill where Palani Road veers left and becomes Ali'i Drive. Many directions will be given in relation to the "King Kam". The "business district" of Kailua is approximately 1/2 mile long and 1 block wide. Ali'i Drive , which runs along the ocean from King Kam Hotel down to the Kona Surf at Keauhou, is lined in the Village section with all kinds of shops that are fun to browse through. Bring money!!! There's a reasonable amount of "tourist junk", but there are really quality items, too. Look for a "Made in Hawaii" label.
NOTE: Most of the shells for sale come in from the Philippines, who are just beginning to realize that they're exporting an irreplaceable national treasure.
If you are staying at Keauhou, 6 miles south of town, stay straight at that fourth light (note the next light at Henry Street- a left there will take you up to Wal Mart and our Safeway supermarket) on what is now Highway 11 and watch for the Keauhou Bay sign. The Keauhou area also boasts a shopping center on the right as you drive down the hill.
PEOPLE
Kona is populated by quite a mixture of races and nationalities, who manage to live together in reasonable harmony. This is not to say there is no racism. Remember human beings live here. If you simply remember that you are a visitor here, and treat everyone with dignity, respect, and friendship, you'll find almost everyone to be warm, friendly and helpful. Someone who displays an arrogant or patronizing attitude is quite likely to hear some eyebrow raising expressions!
