I've visited Hawaii more than 40 times and I know ALL the tips and tricks for planning the ultimate Hawaii family vacation! I offer free Hawaii planning email courses. I also send weekly emails on Fridays where I share my top things to do in Hawaii with kids, the best family resorts in Hawaii, and my ultimate packing lists! Mahalo!
Trick-or-treating in flip flops
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Aloha Reader, There is something funny about Halloween in Hawaiʻi. Mainland Halloween means sweaters, cold noses, and bundling costumes under coats. In Hawaiʻi, you might be trick-or-treating in a costume and slippers with the trade winds blowing. If your family happens to be on the islands this week, you are in for a treat. Each island celebrates in its own way. There are pumpkin patches and fall festivals, keiki costume events at shopping centers, and haunted houses for older kids who want a real scare. I put together a roundup of Halloween events and things to do in Hawaiʻi by island, so check dates with each event before you go. And if your kids love a good ghost story, Hawaiʻi has plenty. There is Emma, the friendly flapper said to haunt the ʻĪao Theater on Maui. There is the Lady in Waiting at the Honolulu airport. And there are stories tied to places like ʻIolani Palace and the Pali Lookout. Some of these stories are just for fun. Others, like the huakaʻi pō, or night marchers, are rooted in Hawaiian culture and are taken seriously by many Hawaiian families. I think that is worth sharing with kids too. They are not Halloween decorations. They are part of a living culture, and respecting them is part of being a good visitor. Here are the 10 spookiest haunted places in Hawaiʻi if you are in the mood for a chill this week. Aloha, Marcie P.S. Wednesday is National Chocolate Day, and Hawaiʻi is the only state in the U.S. that can support commercial cacao farming. My son once called the Lavaloha chocolate farm tour near Hilo "the best thing EVER." High praise from a 5-year-old. |
Aloha! I'm Marcie with Hawaii Travel with Kids
I've visited Hawaii more than 40 times and I know ALL the tips and tricks for planning the ultimate Hawaii family vacation! I offer free Hawaii planning email courses. I also send weekly emails on Fridays where I share my top things to do in Hawaii with kids, the best family resorts in Hawaii, and my ultimate packing lists! Mahalo!
Aloha Reader, The first time I took my oldest son to Maui, it was early October and he was a toddler. I was learning the island in real time while juggling two very important schedules. His nap time. And my snack time. That trip was full of what I call type 2 fun. More fun in hindsight than while you are living through it. I learned a lot on that trip, and every trip since has gone smoother because of that trial and error. Mostly I learned that Hawaiʻi trips rarely go exactly as planned. I...
Aloha Reader, If you've ever opened Viator or TripAdvisor looking for one activity in Hawaii and closed the tab twenty minutes later because there were four hundred options and no idea which ones were actually worth it, this email is for you. These are all tours and activities I've personally done and genuinely loved, one from each island (and a couple extra), so you can skip the scrolling and just book. On Oahu, the Kualoa Ranch UTV Raptor Tour is one of the most fun things I've done on the...
Aloha Reader, I'll admit something. For a long time, I've been self-conscious about filming videos in my house here in the Seattle area. It felt like a mismatch, me talking about black sand beaches and shave ice while sitting in a room that looks nothing like Hawaii. I'm not in the islands 24/7, so I had to figure out a way to make the content still feel right even when I'm filming from home. So I carved out a corner of my home office and turned it into a little Hawaii backdrop. I spent a...