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Hawaii: Paradise at any price
07:20 PM PDT on Monday, July 3, 2006
Every year, more than 7 million tourists visit Hawaii, the most expensive vacation state five years running. Karin Czulik / KING5.com Kauai coastline On average, you spend about $500 per day there, but our show isn't about the average vacation, but about extremes. We start with the most luxurious Hawaiian vacation possible – a vacation that's "Pure Kauai" – a 11-bedroom estate you can call home. It's a customized fitness vacation, designed to be a life-transforming experience, where you can feel Kauai's healing power in the cool, tropical breeze, in the salt of the warm ocean water, and in the unrushed way of life. At $8,000 a week, the Pure Kauai experience isn't cheap, but it is a rich opportunity to restore your spirit. But there's another way to experience Kauai – by roughing it. We took a kayak trip up the Hanalei River – a guided tour that starts at $60, and we stopped at Banana Joe's funky little fruit stand for a smoothie. Our next stop was the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge to check out the boobies – seabirds that nest there. During the winter months, you might also be able to catch a glimpse of humpback whales. While typically whale watching tours cost at least $100 per person, here you can catch a glimpse of these giants for just $3. For lunch, back at Hanalei, we checked out a joint called Bubba Burgers – another celebrity stopover. Lodging for the rich and not so rich For lodging on Oahu, we checked into some spendier places. For old-world charm, you can't beat the pink palace of the Pacific. For decades, the Royal Hawaiian has hosted presidents, kings and Hollywood royalty. The spacious King Kamehameha suite is the top of the line at $3458 per night. Down the beach, you'll find the Halekulani Hotel, home of the posh Vera Wang suite. Every single item there – from statues to toilet products – have been hand-picked by fashion designer Vera Wang. But it doesn't come cheap. The 2100-square-foot suite costs $4,000 per night. Finally, the 8,000-square foot Hapuna Suite of the Hapuna Beach Prince Resort is equipped with a million dollars worth of furnishings and artwork. It's a home unto itself featuring a gourmet kitchen, fully stocked bar, private swimming pool, Jacuzzi, three spacious bedrooms and a suite attendant. The pricetag: $7,000 per night. If all this sounds too extravagant, try a Hawaiian bed & breakfast. Within walking distance of uncrowded, white sand beaches, we found two inexpensive B&B's on Oahu's windward side: the Paradise Palms and the Manu Mele, both at $100 a night. And on Kauai, we found the Kauai Country Inn, which offers large suites started at $145. Clear water There's a way to go kayaking that's clearly better than most. Time magazine calls the transparent kayaks one of the coolest inventions of the year. These kayaks are made by Honolulu company Clear Blue Hawaii and cost over $4,000. Shopping Hawaiian style If money is no object, in Hawaii you'd shop on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki. But you can also find the Boulevard of bargains at the International Market. Budget dining Miss Hawaii, Malika Dudley, showed us her favorite cheap places to eat. One was Leonard's Bakery. Their specialty is malasadas, a Portuguese delicacy they've been frying up since 1952, and they're only 70 cents a piece. Then there's Diamond Head Cove health bar, also known as The Cove, serving the freshest fish possible. The Cove is also home of Pono, the island's most famous counting dog. But La Mer is the splurge restaurant of Hawaii. If you come, be sure to order the Kobe-style fillet of beef three ways and tell 'em Evening Magazine sent you! FEATURED LINKS: Pure Kauai Roughin it http://www.princeville.com/index-flash.html http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/wnwr/kkilaueanwr.html Luxury hotels http://www.royal-hawaiian.com/ http://www.princeresortshawaii.com/hbp/ Bed & breakfasts (Most B&B's in Hawaii don't offer breakfast due to state regulations.) http://www.paradisepalmshawaii.com/ http://www.pixi.com/~manumele/ http://www.kauaicountryinn.com/ Clear Blue Kayaks http://www.clearbluehawaii.com Aloha shirts http://www.hawaiibid.com/baileysantiquesandalohashirtsinc/ Miss Hawaii's Cheap Eats http://www.misshawaii.org/contestants/miss_kahala.htm http://www.diamondheadcove.com/ http://www.halekulani.com/dining/la_mer/ Promotional 
