Hawaii Honeymoon

Hawaii Honeymoon packages, Hawaii Honeymoon Vacations, Kauai, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Big Island Bride & Groom Guests & Gifts Log In | Sign-Up -- Shopping Bag | | What do you think? What product attribute is most important to you when shopping for a small kitchen appliance (e.g. toasters, coffeemakers, etc.)? Style/Design Price Brand Name Number of Features Quality Hawaii Lush greenery, sparkling ocean, and spectacular sunsets... say "Aloha" to the honeymoon of your dreams in Hawaii. Click to View Top Honeymoon Spots Kauai Lanai Maui Molokai Oahu Things to Do The Big Island Featured Destinations W Honolulu-Diamond Head Hawaiian hospitality with contemporary styling and signature service - W Honolulu. Like no place on earth Hilton Waikoloa Village ® presides majestically over 62 spectacular oceanfront acres along the sunny Kohala Coast. -- Hilton Hawaiian Village ® Beach Resort & Spa offers the perfect mix of exceptional hotel accommodations and classic Hawaiian hospitality. MAUNA KEA BEACH HOTEL Legendary for its classic island charm on the famed Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, this luxurious hotel overlooks the spectacular Kauna'oa Bay. Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa Find the perfect hotel for your honeymoon! Select Region Hawaii Ideas & Advice Cooking up Romance in Oahu Honeymoon Hints Etiquette For Honeymoon and Alternative Registries Find Your Hawaiian Style: Match An Island To Your Personality Honeymoon Hints Best Spots For Weddings in Hawaii: The Big Island Top Golf and Leisure Sports Honeymoons in Hawaii The Top 5 Most Romantic Beaches Hawaii Is For Lovers: Romantic Excursions Around the Big Island Packing for Your Tropical Honeymoon The Magic of Maui Hawaii's Top 5 Most Romantic Hideaways What's Hot for Your Honeymoon The Top 10 Hotels in Hawaii The Top Romantic/Fantasy Honeymoons in Hawaii The Top Spa/Relaxation Honeymoons in Hawaii see all Paradise Awaits : A jewel box of sensual delights and romantic activities reward your imagination and spark your passion on heavenly O'ahu . Romance blooms on the Magic Isles of Maui, Molokai and Lanai Discover the adventure . Kauai - Hawaii's Island of Discovery. Beautiful swaying palms overlooking the glistening blue ocean, plan your wedding at Hilton Waikoloa Village ®. -- Choose a Beachfront Wedding or the new Ocean Crystal Chapel at Hilton Hawaiian Village ®. Great Deals Honeymoon on the Beach Book a tropical beach getaway now. From coast to coast, domestic and international - hotels.com has a beach deal that's right for you. Book a celebrity styled destination wedding by Preston Bailey , exclusively at Sandals & Beaches Resorts and receive a special keepsake gift (promo code: WM201). Reserve yours now! All-Inclusive in Los Cabos from $1,850 Enjoy 5 nights luxury accommodations at The Westin Resort & Spa, Los Cabos for $1,850 per person. Pampered in Puerto Vallarta from $1,525 Enjoy 5 nights at the spectacular oceanfront Westin Resort & Spa in Puerto Vallarta with daily breakfast and dinner, couples massage, dolphin encounters and more for $1,525 per person. Romantic. Secluded. The Westin St. John . Experience the ultimate in romance at The Westin St. John with seven nights deluxe accommodations, couples massages, a bottle of champagne upon arrival, full daily breakfast, and more. MAUNA KEA BEACH HOTEL Golden sunsets and swaying palm trees make Mauna Kea Beach Hotel the most perfect and romantic paradise on the Big Island of Hawaii. Experience our Romance Package and enjoy luxurious accommodations, exquisite dining and warm island hospitality. Sponsored Links buy a link PHOTO CREDITS: Susan and Andrew: John Riedy Debbie and Ivan / Rebecca and Alan: Stewart Pinsky Katie and Greg: Robert Evans

Air Hawaiian

Maui Airports*Maui Hawaii Airports*Hana Airport*Kahului Airport Maui Airports Hana Airport The Hana Airport is located about three miles from the hotel and is serviced by regularly scheduled Pacific Wings Airline flights from Honolulu and Kahului. The hotel provides complimentary transfer when advised in advance of arrival. Kahului Airport Kahului is the major airport for Maui and is about 57 miles from the hotel. The airport is serviced by direct flights from the Mainland by major airlines and Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines. The Hotel is a scenic, two-hour drive away on the famous Hana Highway . Honolulu International Airport Regularly scheduled inter-island flights are available through Aloha and Hawaiian airlines. Pacific Wings has several regularly scheduled flights directly into Hana. Car Rentals All major car rental companies are available in Kahului. Dollar rent-a-car is located in the Hana Airport or a car can be reserved through the hotel. Driving directions are available at the counter from the Car rental companies. Flying into Hana In addition to driving the famous Road to Hana, guests can fly into Hana. The Hotel Hana-Maui provides complimentary shuttle service to and from the Hana Airport, located approximately 3 miles away. Advance notice is required. Below is a summary of available flight services. The information is current as of August 7, 2005. All rates and schedules are subject to change without notice. Air Links Charter your own flight, choose your own schedule, and avoid the delays of the main terminal. Spacious seating, air conditioning and large windows make for an enjoyable flight experience. Phone: (808) 871-7529 or (800) 496-7529 (toll-free) One-way Charter Rates (tax not included) Hana <--> Kahului $450 Hana <--> Kapalua $650 Minimum/maximum of 9 persons per Charter All Tours and Private Charters are flown with weather permitting All Tours and Private Charters operate Tuesdays thru Saturdays only Reservations should be made 2 - 4 days in advance Check-In Time is 30 minutes prior to Departure Children 0 - 2 yrs -- No Fee Photo ID required for Check-In For your safety and comfort, hats and oversized bags are not permitted in the Aircraft No Scuba Diving 24 hours prior to departure 72 hour Cancellation Policy Inter-island Carriers Pacific Wings Schedule Phone: (808) 873-0877 or toll free (800) 575-4546 The only regularly scheduled air service into Hana from Honolulu and Kahului. Hana <--> Honolulu $82.78 plus tax per person, one way Hana <--> Kahului $82.78 plus tax per person, one way *Rates subject to change, please check directly for current rates. Mokulele Flight Service Phone: (808) 326-7070 or toll free (866) 260-7070 Offering occasional service to and from Hana. Advance reservations are required. Convenient 35-minute non-stop flights from Kona/Hana, Kahului/Hana and return. Rack Rate: Kona <--> Hana Kahului <--> Hana $90.00 per person one way *Rates subject to change, please check directly for current rates. Ask about Lehua Supersaver or our Ohana (family) rates. Charter Rates: start at $700.00 per tour with a two hour minimum requirement. Seats (4) passengers. 48 hour notice of cancellation required. Check-in 30 minutes prior to departure. Hawaii Air Taxi Phone: (808) 329-7157 or Toll free (866) 799-8294 Offering occasional service to and from Hana. Two weeks advance booking required. A 35 minute non-stop flight from Kona/Hana, Hana/Kahului and return. Rack Rates: Minimum of (2) people based on availability. Kahului <--> Hana Kona <--> Hana $110.00 per person one-way Charter $900.00 & up one way Charter Rates: Smaller Plane (1-5 passengers) $450.00 & up Larger Plane (1-7 Passengers) $850.00 & up *Rates subject to change, please check directly for current rates. 72 hour notice of cancellation required Charters: Air Maui Phone: (808) 877-7005 Charter Rates: Hana <--> Honolulu $4,410 one way Hana <--> Kahului $1,470 one way *Rates subject to change, please check directly for current rates. Planes seat up to six passengers (depending on luggage) Reservations must be made one week in advance Air Maui also offers helicopter charters Paragon Air Phone: (808) 244-3356 or Toll free (800)-428-1231 Contact: Nik Charles - nik@paragon-air.com Rates: Kahului <--> Hana $400.00 & up one way Honolulu <--> Hana $900.00 & up one way *Rates subject to change, please check directly for current rates. Early bookings recommended. Private tours available on demand. Seats 6 passengers. 72-hour notice required for cancellation of any Hana departure reservation. A one-week cancellation policy for all charters. Any cancellations received within the one week prior to the charter will not be refunded. Sunshine Helicopter Phone: (808) 871-0722 Helicopter charters are available to carry six passengers without luggage (each piece of luggage counts as one passenger) and are $3,500 one-way. Book Rooms or Packages Online Join Our Mailing List Tell a Friend About us Request a Brochure Hana Highway Airports About Us : Contact Us : Sister Resorts : Awards : Media : Travel Agents : Guest Comments : Links : Mailing List Maui Airports. Hotel Hana-Maui and Honua Spa are about three miles from the Hana Airport. The hotel offers complimentary transfers. Kahului Airport is a two-hour scenic drive away on the famous Hana Highway. Fly into Hana. In addition to driving the Road to Hana, guests can fly into Hana. The Hotel Hana-Maui provides complimentary shuttle service to and from the Hana Airport. Find information on Air Links, Pacific Wings, Mokulele Flight Service, Hawaii Air Taxi, Air Maui, Paragon Air and Sunshine Helicopter. FREE counter and Web statistics from sitetracker.com

Hawaiian music is Don

Eye of Hawaii - Hawaiian Music M usic is just about as important as food in Hawaii. You will never go to any gathering where music is not heard. It is part of island life. And this is an aspect of Hawaii you do not want to miss out on. Don't let the fact that some of it is in a language you don't understand scare you away or make you feel like an outsider. It's beauty and joy and humor will transcend this if you let it. For many people Hawaiian music is Don Ho, ukulele and steel guitar. They have only heard the hotel music of Hawaii. But there is much more. The traditional ki ho'alu (slack key) and falsetto style is still alive, actually enjoying a renaissance, but then so is all music of the islands. There is Hawaiian reggae, called Jawaiian, as well as pop and rock performers. Some of these artists, like Keali'i Reichel and Hapa, and recently Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, have made some inroads on the mainland. Below I've listed some of my favorites to get you started on your way to appreciating the new and traditional sounds of Hawaii. The Ka'au Crater Boys Basically the guitar and ukulele duo of Ernie Cruz and Troy Fernande z, aided by various sidemen, doing upbeat and catchy pop/country/jawaiian, in other words, good-time music. Tight harmonies and arrangements but the outstanding feature is Fernandez' incredible, hot-licks ukulele. My favorite album, On Fire , featuring North Shore, Opihi Man, House at Pooh Corner and the incredible title song. Hapa Anothe r incredible duo, Keli'i Kaneali'i and Barry Flanagan, joined by superior studio musicians and several well-known friends. The word "hapa" in Hawaiian means half, but is used to describe a person of half Hawaiian, half haole heritage. This music is just that. If you are an acoustic guitar fan you're in for a real treat. Beautiful, haunting melodies and harmony as well as thoughtful lyrics, some in Hawaiian, some in English. I highly recommend both of these albums. Also, Hapa always provides excellent liner note and lyrics with translations so you can listen to a song sung in Hawaiian and get the full impact of what these talented musicians are saying. This music is a rare expression of the real Hawaii, updated and modernized, but faithful to the roots of Hawaiian music. These two albums shown here, the self-titled Hapa , and In the Name of Love are must-haves. I like too many songs to pick favorites, but one standout for pure imagination is In the Name of Love (yes, the U2 song) wherein they combine Martin Luther King's famous speech with an oli, a Hawaiian chant. Gives me chicken skin every time. Keali'i Reichel Where does one start with this phenom? Reichel has almost single-handedly brought Ha waiian music, real Hawaiian music, into the mainstream. A tremendous showman, gifted singer and player, he is backed by lush arrangements and flawless production. His style is quite varied, b ut he always includes and oli and sings some songs in Hawaiian and some in English. He even covers some show tunes periodically, but his tender, sincere ballads will always be my favorites. I also appreciate this man as a human being, especially for his selfless devotion to promoting the Hawaiian language and the constant support he provides Na Punana Leo, our Hawaiian language immersi on program. He probably plays more free concerts to benefit our children than anyone else. And this concern for olelo Hawaii is evident in his music, which is consistantly praised for its faithful use of Hawaiian. Like Hapa, he always includes very detailed liner notes and lyrics, even explaining the kauna , the hidden meaning, of some of his songs. These are three of my favorite albums, Lei Hali'a, Kawaipunahele and E O Mai . The title song E O Mai will always be one of my favorites. I can now almost listen to it without tearing up. Don Tiki Here's so mething completely different. This band has faithfully, though with tongue firmly planted in cheek, recreated the lounge music of Hawaii that was so popular in the 50s, right down to the birdcalls. The musicianship is absolutely first-rate, and there are several guest artists like Martin Denny, king of schmaltzy piano, as well as Teresa Bright and Jimmy Borges. I can imagine being in a backyard luau in Cincinatti, circa 1953, with tiki torches blazing listening to this great stuff. By the way, the band leader goes by Perry Coma. With songs like Occasional Man, Barbi in Bali, Maidenhair Fern, Clutch Cargo Cult and Bam-Boozled you can understand why this CD is titled The Forbidden Sounds of Don Tiki . It was recorded in "pulsating polynesian polyphonics" by the way. Gary Haleamau Local Kona boy and very good musician, as well as a wonderful person. Known primarily for his almost inhuman falsetto ability, Gary is also an excellent slack key player. His music is much more in the traditional style and is almost all in Hawaiian. This is my favorite album of his, Ho'opomaika'i . Oh yeah, he also yodels like a madman. Favorite song: E Ku'u Lei, E Ku'u Ipo . The Pahinui Brothers All the brothers are great on their own, but this particular album is one of my favorites. Bla, Cyril and Martin just sound so good. This is a combination of slack key, blues and Hawaiian traditional and somehow it works great. My favorite song is Jealous Guy . Wonderful vocals. If you like this be sure and check out their huge selection of solo albums, too. And don't forget Gabby. Peter Moon Peter Mo on has been around a long time and has more albums out than I can remember. He tends to rock a bit more than a lot of his contemporaries and has a rougher, more gravelly singing voice. a good introduction to Peter Moon is his Greatest Hits Collection #1 , featuring Slack Key Samba, Slack Key Minor Blues , Unchained Melody and my personal fave, Chinatown . Israel Kamakawiwo'ole Brother Iz left us in 1997 after succombing to morbid obesity. He will always be re membered here for his warmth, his self-deprecating humor and his talent as a singer and gifted ukulele player. I remember seeing Brother Iz at the Keahole airport shortly before his death, and though he could only walk with extreme effort and even performed with oxygen, he never stopped. Recently his music has gotten some mainland attention with the release of the movie, Hannibal , in which his version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is heard. It's unfortunate that people are only now discovering this literally huge talent. He was a gentle soul and Hawaiian through and through. I love all his albums, but have picked this live one, Iz, the Man and His Music , released posthumously, because it has so many of my favorites, like N Dis Life, E Ala E and Maui, Hawaiian Suppa Man . By the way, his name, Kamakawiwo'ole means fearless eyes . We will miss him. There are dozens of other artists and groups worth noting, and new ones appearing all the time. Some others to check out are Sista Robi Kahakalau, Bruddah Walter, Willie K., Harold Kama, Jr., Walter Boy Tavares, Cecilio & Kapono, The Cazimero Brothers, Keola Beamer, Teresa Bright, Brother Noland, Ken Emerson, Fiji, Makaha Sons, Na Leo Pilimehana, Sean Na'auao, B.B. Shawn, Sunday Manoa just to name a few more. For the best on-line selection of Hawaiian music I have ever seen, plus music books and even hula info, check out this site: Mele.com Hawaiian Music Island . They should have every CD I've described and a few thousand more.

Kauai HI Hotels Island

Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii HI - Hotels, Condos - A Guide Princeville Kauai Hawaii HI - Hotels Resorts Condos - Kaui Kauia Kauii Hawii Hawai North Shore Hawaii Hotels Guide Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii – Hotels, Condos – A Guide Hotels - htels - hoteles - hoteis - alberghi - hoteller - 12 languages Use this guide to learn about Princeville, Kauai hotels and resorts, check availability and discounts, and make secure reservations with immediate confirmation. We charge NO SERVICE FEES ... and our hotel location information and unique cost codes will save you time and money. Like this guide? Bookmark it by pressing Ctrl+D. Availability Search – Find Vacancies Quickly Club Intrawest Kauai - Princeville - $$$$$ 3970 Wylie Road, Princeville, Kauai, HI 96722 Swimming pool Overview | Map | Availability & Rates Hanalei Bay Resort - Princeville - $$$$$ 5380 Honoiko Road, Princeville, Kauai, HI 96722 Condos - 3 floors Swimming pool - restaurant - lounge Overview | More Info | Map | Availability & Rates Pali Ke Kua - Princeville - $$$$ 5300 Ka Haku Road, Princeville, Kauai, HI 96714 Condos Swimming pool - restaurant - lounge Overview | Map | Availability & Rates Princeville Resort - $$$$$ 5520 Ka Haku Road, Princeville, Kauai, HI 96722 Hotel - 252 rooms Swimming pool - fitness center - restaurant - lounge Overview | More Info | Map | Availability & Rates Pu'u Poa - Princeville - $$$$$ 5454 Ka Haku Road, Princeville, Kauai, HI 96714 Condos - 4 floors - 46 units Swimming pool Overview | Map | Availability & Rates Thanks for using our Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii hotels guide. We hope you enjoy your trip. Related search terms: hotels/motels motel hoteles moteles condo rentals condos rental condominium condominiums lodging accommodations accommodation inns inn destination destinations romantic weekend getaways getaway breaks honeymoon packages holiday package holidays vacation vacations travel best choice discount rate price discounts cheap hotels budget hotel deals dog friendly in near by nearby close to around search finder Abbreviations, variants, misspellings: hanalei north shore oceanfront beachfront hi. hawaiian northshore ocean front beach front kaui kauia kauii islan iland ilan ha ha. hawaian hawii hawai hawiia hawiian hawaiin hawiiee hawaiihotel hawaiihotels hihotel hihotels accomodation accomodations accomadation accomadations petfriendly dogfriendly MORE HAWAII HOTELS All State of Hawaii Hotels Island of Hawaii HI Hotels Island of Kauai HI Hotels Island of Lanai HI Hotels Island of Maui HI Hotels Island of Molokai HI Hotels Island of Oahu HI Hotels Aiea HI Hotels Hana HI Hotels Hilo HI Hotels Honokowai HI Hotels Honolulu HI Hotels Kaanapali HI Hotels Kahana HI Hotels Kahuku HI Hotels Kahului HI Hotels Kailua-Kona HI Hotels Kamuela HI Hotels Kapaa HI Hotels Kapalua HI Hotels Kapolei HI Hotels Kaunakakai HI Hotels Kihei HI Hotels Kohala Coast HI Hotels Koloa HI Hotels Kona HI Hotels Lahaina HI Hotels Laie HI Hotels Lanai City HI Hotels Lihue HI Hotels Maalaea HI Hotels Makaha Beach HI Hotels Mauna Loa HI Hotels Napili HI Hotels Poipu Beach HI Hotels Princeville HI Hotels Volcano Village HI Hotels Waikoloa HI Hotels Wailea HI Hotels Wailua HI Hotels Waimea HI Hotels All State of Hawaii Hotels USA Hotels - all states World Hotels - all countries Who We Are Our Privacy Policy No Service Fees Fewer Advance Charges Some Surprising Deals ! Hotel & Air Travel Packages Compare Car Rentals Order Free Travel Guides HOTEL COST CODES $ = Under $60 $$ = $60-99 $$$ = $100-149 $$$$ = $150-199 $$$$$ = $200 + AOM, Rack, Special, & Traveler's Discount Rates are for everyone. TIPS & SUGGESTIONS Tip 1 – Make reservations early. Some hotels cut off online reservations 1 to 3 days before check-in time. Tip 2 – When you make a reservation, you will receive a confirmation email. Print a copy of this message to take with you ... and don't delete the original email until you have completed your stay and know you have been billed correctly. Tip 3 – Our hotel cost codes are based on the lowest peak season rates available to all guests. We do offer discount rates for corporate and government employees, AAA and AARP members, seniors, and other special groups. But we do not base our cost codes on these discounts. Off-season room prices may be much lower than our cost codes indicate. This is especially true for coastal hotels during the winter. 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Hawaii Volcano

Hawaii's Volcano Quake And Tsunami Man- MidWeek Cover 01-19-2005 | Midweek.com Hawaii's Volcano, Quake &Tsunami Man Brian Yanagi By Alice Keesing Volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Thats quite an explosive trio and its up to Brian Yanagi at state Civil Defense to prepare Hawaii for the trio of natural disasters. The dynamic nature of his charges has earned the former naval intelligence officer the nickname of Mr. Shake n Bake. On the serious side, its his job to make sure they dont become massive killers. Yanagi would never say it, but there have been frustrating times in recent years trying to keep the public alert and prepared for such devastating disasters. While tsunamis are the No. 1 natural disaster killer in the Islands, a whole generation has grown up without experiencing one. The it wont happen to us mindset has taken hold. But oh, how things have changed since Dec. 26. After the Indian Ocean earthquake and South Asia tsunami, Yanagi and other tsunami experts have been in hot demand. I have been getting multitudes of international, national and local media calls about Hawaiis tsunami preparedness program, Yanagi says. The focus may be on another part of the world right now, but its also time to shake up Hawaiis attitude to the killer waves. Tsunamis killed 221 people and injured hundreds more in Hawaii in the 20th century compared to seven people killed by hurricanes. And Yanagi worries that with todays densely populated coastlines, the potential for death and destruction is even greater. There has been an unusual period of quiet in recent times, but the oft-repeated line in tsunami circles is that its not a matter of if, but when. I would say that Hawaii is more susceptible to destructive tsunamis than the Indian Ocean countries, Yanagi says. Thats because Hawaii sits in the middle of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically volatile circle ripe for the earthquakes and underwater landslides that can shift the huge amounts of water that trigger tsunamis. The location that most worries Yanagi is the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska an earthquake there could spawn a tsunami that races south across the Pacific at 500 mph and reaches Hawaii in just five hours. Other areas the experts keep an anxious eye on are Chile and Japan. And then theres the potential danger of locally produced tsunamis. An earthquake on the Big Island could spawn a tsunami that sweeps ashore and through the islands in a matter of minutes. The real sleeper is Mauna Loa, Yanagi says. When it erupts, the strong earthquake shaking could generate a tsunami. Thats the one we need to keep an eye out for. Experts predict Mauna Loa will probably erupt in the next five years. The good news is that Hawaii is the most tsunami-prepared state in the nation and many are turning here for a role model in the wake of the recent tragedy. But given that, experts still agree there is a lot more that could be done even here. Yanagi and others hope the South Asia tragedy will provide the impetus for more resources to keep improving the system. In particular, Yanagi would like to see the number of tsunami detection buoys in the Pacific increased from six to as many as 30. Its those eyes in the ocean that help the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center predict the arrival of killer waves. Civil Defense also has spent years producing detailed checklists and developing response plans. When Civil Defense needs to spring into action, its hobbit-hole type bunker burrowed into the wall of Diamond Head Crater is full of ceiling-to-floor charts and maps, communication systems, an emergency radio broadcast facility, a generator and even bunks and supplies so the operation can continue 24 hours a day. Its part of Yanagis job to keep all that information up to date with the latest scientific information and to drill and drill and redrill the response plans. This is what Yanagi wants you to know:When the sirens sound, turn on your radio for the Civil Defense message. If its a tsunami warning, check your phone book to see if you are in a tsunami evacuation zone. If you are, get to higher ground. In the case of Waikiki, where an en masse evacuation would only result in traffic gridlock, the advice is to evacuate vertically get above at least three stories. People outside of the tsunami evacuation zones should just stay put, Yanagi says. Dont get in your car because youll just contribute to the traffic. Parents should also know that DOE schools are prepared to walk their students out. They practice and drill this. So parents dont need to rush down to pick them up. The situation becomes more urgent in the case of a locally produced tsunami. Things will happen so fast that there may not be time for a warning siren. If the ground shakes severely, or the ocean recedes or you hear the sound of a freight train coming for you, says Yanagi, thats Mother Natures way of warning you to get to higher ground. One of the nightmare scenarios for people like Yanagi and one that tragically occurred in South Asia is when people go down to look at the seabed that can be laid bare by the strong undertow-type forces that can precede the wave train. Animals sense danger and they run away, but when humans sense something unusual, even dangerous, they tend to wander down in harms way, Yanagi says. Now (after all the footage from South Asia) theres really no excuse for people to be wandering down to the ocean in the event of a tsunami. Hawaii tsunami expert Walter Dudley credits Yanagi and Civil Defense with efforts to educate the public on the dangers of tsunamis. The division teamed up with the Pacific Tsunami Museum and the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes to distribute thousands of DVDs trying to debunk the myth that a tsunami is a surfable wave. Theyve been very, very proactive in that sense, says Dudley, author of Tsunami! and an oceanography professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Worrying about impending threats has been the story of Yanagis career. Although to start with, he used to worry about manmade threats rather than those from Mother Nature. Yanagi grew up in Kaimuki, a childhood that he wryly says was spent trying to stay out of trouble and earn good grades to please his parents. His dad was Stanley Maui Yanagi, who was head of the Carpenters Union for 25 years in the 40s and 50s when Hawaii was becoming unionized. After graduating from Kalani High (where he was class president), Yanagi received a Congressional nomination to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., from U.S. Sen. Spark Matsunaga. He earned his oceanography degree before going on to serve as a naval intelligence officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway . Yes, it was real spy stuff, he says. Yanagi lived with Top Gun aviators and briefed them on Soviet Union and Middle Eastern intelligence operations. This was during the edgy times of the Iranian hostage crisis, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war. Yanagi had top-secret security clearance a real eye-opener to the world. The news only reports the tip of the iceberg, he says. I got to see the whole iceberg, what was really happening with politics and the military in the world. After retiring from the Naval Reserves, Yanagi went on to teach algebra and trigonometry at Hawaii Pacific College in the mid-80s. He then worked as a public relations consultant to Turtle Bay Resort promoting golf tournaments, including the inaugural Senior Skins Legends of Golf Tournament featuring Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Sam Snead. (Yanagi is a keen weekend chaser of the little white ball himself.) He joined the state Civil Defense Division in 1990. Last year he won the state defense departments employee of the year award. Thats pretty impressive when you consider the size of this department; thats thousands of people, says Civil Defense spokesman Ray Lovell. Hes very dedicated to what hes doing, Lovell adds. He realizes that the work he does, that were dealing with real life-and-death stuff. That has been driven home by what we saw in the Indian Ocean. We cant let down. When you spend your day thinking about killer waves that could descend within a matter of hours, it probably pays to have some light relief in your life. For this self-described middle-aged DINK (double income no kids), that relief came with an adventure into acting that started in the mid-90s. He got the bug when The Phantom of the Opera appeared at the Blaisdell. You just see how much fun these people are having on stage, Yanagi says. Its one of the great escapes you can have in life. Youre being another person for a while in your life. Its very invigorating. So he sings? Well, yes, badly, but I do sing. And Im trying to dance without falling over myself, he laughs. Yanagi has performed in half a dozen musicals, starring in Flower Drum Song with KHNL-8 anchor Jodi Leong, South Pacific with American Idol s Jordan Segundo and My Fair Lady with KHON-2s Tina Shelton. But these days, Yanagi is more involved with events on the world stage, organizing a visit to South Asia with an international team of scientists. They will be analyzing the damage caused by the tsunami. That information will help prepare Hawaii better for the next destructive tsunami, he says. Like others, Yanagi has been touched by the human tragedy. Even he is floored by the magnitude of the event. It just personally commits me more to this cause of saving lives and reducing property damage. To do that, he says, he needs people to pay attention and be smart too. MidWeek Home Page