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Tags: Airfare Sales / Five Airfare Sales / Oahu / Hawaii / → All Tags
Our Top Five Hawaii Fares of The Moment
We already complained that winter is dragging along when we suggested where to get away overseas. However, maybe you want to stay in the nifty fifty since you’re still going strong on your Obama high. What’s a better option than Hawaii?
Of course the economy has been in the toilet, so the demand for a tropical vacation has been on the decline. For those with a jar of coins at home, it’s time to cash them in and book that trip to Honolulu. Things have been heading south since late last year, and if you can act quickly, you can get a good deal before spring starts.
Tags: Hawaii Surf Schools / Hawaii Travel / Surfing / Oahu / → All Tags
Surfing In Hawaii :: Pipeline From The Sideline
We've brought you all the places where lei-wearing surf novices, fanny pack-toting tourists and five-year-olds can paddle over the gentle undulations of the ocean guided by the gentle hands of a seasoned instructor. But that's not really surfing, now is it?
The Banzai Pipeline, known as "Pipeline" or "Pipe", is a reef break located off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on Oahu's North Shore. It's that place where one can find the world's best surfers gliding through tunnels of sea. It's the pinnacle of surfing, says local surf shop owner James Cuizon:
Pipeline is the best surf spot in the world. It's the standard against which others are measured.
Visitors on the way to surf class can get schooled by the masters. Just gazing from the beach at those who stretch the boundaries of human strength and agility is a lesson in itself. The Pipeline challenges the world's best surfers to, you know, not die. So amateurs need not apply. It's a man versus nature face-off, and the odds are stacked squarely against man:
A good day at Pipeline means an encounter with fellow surfers who can be as friendly as pitbulls with migraines, and waves that can shatter boards into kindling. And then there's the reef. At Pipeline there can be 10-foot waves blasting over just three feet of water, so if you fall on the reef or get caught inside the break, you're lucky if you come out merely sliced up. In 2005 alone, Pipeline claimed the lives of two expert watermen, Tahitian surfer Malik Joyeux and photographer Jon Mozo.
Go straight to our Hawaii Surf Schools Map.
Related Stories:
· Hawaii's Gnarliest Surf Spots [MSNBC]
· Hawaii Surf Schools coverage [Jaunted]
· Oahu coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Hawaii Pictures]
Tags: Oahu / Jellyfish / Beaches / Animals / → All Tags
Box Jellyfish Invade Oahu Waters
West Oahu is experiencing a box jellyfish invasion. Lifeguards say they normally count about 40 box jellyfish on the western shore, but Wednesday they counted over 500.
The box jellyfish's sting attacks the heart, nervous system and skin cells. Stings are so powerful that victims have been known to go into shock and die of heart failure before they even have the chance to reach the shore.
The pale blue creatures routinely appear eight to 12 days after a full moon. Lifeguards will warn the public if there have been sightings. As of Thursday, Oahu's west and south shores are under a box jellyfish advisory. To find out the current beach safety conditions, consult the official Hawaii beach safety guide.
Sheila Beal is editor of www.GoVisitHawaii.com.
Related Stories:
· Oahu Stories [Jaunted]
· Hotels in Hawaii [HotelChatter]
[Photo: Honolulu Government]
Tags: Hawaii / Oahu / crime / violence / → All Tags
Tourism CrimeWatch: Oahu's Violent Crime Rate Jumps
[Ed. Note: Alex Salkever is the founder/editor of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama.com]
A fatal shooting on the North Shore across from popular tourist and surfing beach Log Cabins has raised the tally of brutal murders within the past month on Oahu to four. Most of the killings have been brazen acts of violence, including two shootings in full public view and one fatal beating at a popular West Side beach park perpetrated against a tourist from the East Coast by a former All-State football player.
Not to be alarmists or anything but Oahu and the Hawaiian Islands have long enjoyed a reputation as a safe haven from violent crime. Sure, everything in a rental car or a beach bag / backpack was fair game for thieves. But no one died. Apparently, that's no longer the case.
In the latest FBI crime survey, violent crime on Oahu is up by 10 percent. A spate of public beatings have also hit the island in recent years. Like the case of the White House aide who got his nose busted outside a Waikiki night spot -- a crime that, to date, has not been solved (to the best of my knowledge).
The cops say Hawaii is safe but they also say they are severely understaffed. The tourism people say visitors are safe as kittens. Overall, Hawaii is still a pretty safe place. But Oahu, at least, is clearly trending in the wrong direction. Perhaps these crimes can explain Hawaii's slipping hotel occupancy rate?
[Photo: imylthinle]
Related Stories:
· Hawaii Hotel Occupancy Plunges Further [HotelChatter]
· At the Risk of Ticking Off a Lot of People....Beat Someone Up in Hawaii and Get Out of Jail Free [Hawaiirama]
