Maui Snorkeling

Maui snorkeling tours Home Snorkeling Trips Snorkel Reservations Maui Links CALL TOLL FREE: 1-888-983-8080 or direct 1-808-244-1979 Morning Molokini & Turtle Town Adventure *Whalewatching included on Snorkel Trips, Dec.-Apr.* Lani Kai departs Maui's Maalaea Harbor slip #76 daily at 7:00am for Molokini Crater Marine Preserve and "Turtle Town"* INCLUDED: Continental breakfast Beer, Wine, Mai Tai's Soft Drinks Deli-style buffet lunch Snorkel equipment Optical masks Boogie boards Ski belts OPTIONAL: Underwater cameras Snuba Wetsuits T-shirts Hats Fish Identification Cards Once underway, you will be treated to a delicious continental breakfast. Upon arrival to the Molokini Marine Preserve the crew will pass out the complimentary snorkel gear and flotation devices as well as give a brief lesson/refresher course in snorkeling to anyone who requires it. ...then into the water! After your Molokini snorkeling adventure, you are invited to relax as we take a swift cruise to Maui's now famous Turtle Town * where green sea turtles, moray eels and other exotic marine life abound. Here you'll find some of Hawaii's best underwater photographic opportunities. While at Turtle Town you'll enjoy a sumptuous deli-style lunch and ice cold beverages before returning to Maalaea harbor. This 5 hour snorkel trip treats you to some of the best underwater snorkeling Maui has to offer. Fun for all ages and skill levels! Check-in/boarding: 6:45am daily Returning: 12:00 noon Price: Adults (ages 13 and up) - $88.00 Children (ages 5 to 12) - $58.00 Age 4 and under - FREE *INTERNET RESERVATIONS RECEIVE A 15% DISCOUNT OFF OF THESE PRICES! all prices plus tax (7.166%) Alternate snorkel sites may be chosen at Captain's discretion. Home Snorkeling Trips Snorkel Reservations Maui Links Afternoon Snorkel *Whalewatching included on Snorkel Trips, Dec.-Apr. Lani Kai departs Maui's Maalaea Harbor slip #76 daily at 1:00pm for three fabulous hours of snorkeling and whalewatching INCLUDED: Beer, Wine, Mai Tai's Soft Drinks Deli-style buffet lunch Snorkel equipment optical masks Boogie boards Ski belts OPTIONAL: Underwater cameras Snuba Wetsuits T-shirts Hats Fish Identification Cards Depending on the weather, the captain will lead you to either the world renowned Molokini Crater or secluded Coral Gardens. Both dive sites provide excellent opportunities for snorkelers of all skill levels. From late December through early April, humpback whales can often be seen en route, and Lai Kai's knowledgable crew will be glad to share information with you about these awesome 40-ton leviathans. This 3 hour snorkel experience is perfect for those who prefer to sleep in! Check-in/boarding: 12:45pm daily Returning: 4:00 pm Price: Adults (ages 13 and up) - $44.00 Children (ages 5 to 12) - $33.00 Age 4 and under - FREE *INTERNET RESERVATIONS RECEIVE A 15% DISCOUNT OFF OF THESE PRICES! all prices plus tax (7.166%) *Alternate snorkel sites may be chosen at Captain's discretion. Home Snorkeling Trips Snorkel Reservations Maui Links Private Charters Want the boat all to yourself? , private charters are great for conventions, family reunions, birthdays, weddings or a romantic getaway. We can cater to your special needs! Just Call Us: 1-888-983-8080

Hawaiian Clothes

Honolulu Star-Bulletin Business — ADVERTISEMENT — Sunday, October 17, 2004 DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Yoshi Takahashi amuses his friends Kimi Toi and Michi Ogino with a wetsuit that's a little too small at the Xcel store in the Ward Village Shops. Hey! Big spenders New research shows just where tourists drop their money during stays in Hawaii By Allison Schaefers aschaefers@starbulletin.com ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRYANT FUKUTOMI / BFUKUTOMI@STARBULLETIN.COM China / South Korea travelers » More than 50 percent of these Asian visitors are first-timers and about a quarter of them come as part of a package tour. » Most come to visit friends or family (more than 28 percent), on business, or as part of a stopover, as stringent Visa requirements and a lack of flights has made Hawaii a difficult vacation destination. » In terms of activities, they are statistically similar to Americans, but plan to spend more money. » Most plan to attend a luau and 30 percent intend to play golf, the most of any other group surveyed. United States travelers » American travelers plan to stay longer and spend the least amount of money on retail and souvenirs. » They are most likely to engage in sports like running, scuba or going to the gym, but have the smallest percentage of people who planned to swim or sunbathe. » Americans are more likely to attend a luau, go to a Hawaiian history or cultural event and buy Hawaiian clothing and souvenirs than Japan or other Asian travelers. » They enjoy shopping at convenience stores, malls or hotel stores. They are also the most likely to go to a museum or art gallery or eat in high-end restaurants. Japan travelers » More than 60 percent of Japan travelers come to Hawaii as part of a package group. » These visitors plan to stay the least amount of time and spend the most money. » They are most likely to come to Hawaii to celebrate a wedding or honeymoon than any other group. » They are most interested in going to the beach and shopping while in Hawaii, but few plan to do any activities or eat in high-end restaurants. » They enjoy shopping across the board from outlet and discount stores to designer boutiques. While tourists from Japan and the mainland still pump plenty of money into Hawaii's retail stores, a more global mix of visitors is at the heart of Hawaii's improved tourism outlook, and their preferences are worlds apart. A new cross-cultural study from the University of Hawaii is available to help retailers take stock of what tourists buy, so local stores can match merchandise with spending habits. University of Hawaii marketing professor Mark Rosenbaum and travel industry management professor Dan Spears randomly surveyed more than 1,000 Waikiki tourists to determine cultural differences regarding their reasons for coming to Hawaii, their desire to shop and what purchases they planned to make during their stay. "Not all tourists are alike," Rosenbaum said. "Your target market should greatly impact how you merchandise and what products you stock." Hawaii's retail history gives businesses strong reasons to diversify their customer base, said retail analyst Stephany Sofos. "In the 1980s, the Japanese people came fast and furious and those who didn't cater to them were left out. Now it's changing, and as visitor groups change, retailers are having to figure out what their market is from one day to the next," Sofos said. The University of Hawaii study can help tourist-dependent businesses identify how to best keep their customers happy and how to increase spending from other visitor groups, Spears said. Their research showed that Japanese tourists plan to spend $1,400 on gifts and souvenirs during their stay in Hawaii, which is substantially more than all other visitor groups. According to the study, Chinese and Koreans spend about $750 on retail items and Americans spend around $600. They also found differences when it came to purchasing local foods, clothing and engaging in outdoor activities as well as differences in why these tourists groups were coming to Hawaii. For example, Americans and Japanese came to Hawaii primarily to vacation, while the Chinese and South Korean visitors were in Hawaii primarily to visit family members. Chinese visitors can only travel for leisure to a few designations, which does not include Hawaii. "Most Japanese will spend their vacation shopping at both high-end and discount retailers," Rosenbaum said, adding that data also confirmed the love-affair Japanese have with designer items. Nearly 60 percent of the Japanese visitors surveyed planned to visit Hawaii's designer boutiques; in contrast, only 35 percent of Americans planned to do so. However, the number of Japan travelers who plan to purchase products made in Hawaii, such as coffee, food and clothing, is lower than other groups. "The Japanese are the answer to our luxury business - not our economy," Rosenbaum said, adding that purchases of locally made products create more jobs and ultimately bring more benefit to the state. Visitors, who spend about $3 billion annually on retail goods in Hawaii, make up about 15 percent of the state's $19 billion retail market, said Carol Pregill, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii. The islands drew 6.4 million visitors last year, about two-thirds of them from the mainland. "Shopping is the third largest expenditure, next to food and lodging, for visitors," Pregill said, adding that about 20 percent of visitor expenditures can be attributed to shopping. "That's huge when you consider that shopping is a discretionary expense," Pregill said, and is an important part of a visitor's experience. But to make Hawaii shopping attractive to visitors it has to be distinctive, said Frank Haas, marketing director for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "You can shop in Hong Kong and Las Vegas; what we need to know is what's distinctive about shopping in Hawaii," Haas said. As Oahu's visitor market stays strong, many retailers are going to take advantage of more visitor-based opportunities, said Jeffrey Hall, senior director of research at CB Richard Ellis. "There's huge amount of interest in redoing resort retail, especially in Waikiki," Hall said. According to market reports, Waikiki has a high number of retail vacancies, but in three to four years the sector will be more bullish as Waikiki renovation projects come to fruition, Hall forecasts. "The Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center is rapidly changing. The Beach Walk and the International Market Place projects are just getting under way," Hall said. "Expect that in a few years Waikiki will be an entirely different place." Any shift in visitor demographics changes the way businesses advertise their products. "It's important to know who is coming and what you need for inventory," Pregill said. "Inventory is a huge expense and no one wants to be stuck with goods that no one want to buy." That's where the Rosenbaum and Spears study comes in, said Anne Murata, marketing director of the Festival Cos., which manages the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Murata said she purchased the study because it's the first retail survey in Hawaii that breaks data into small categories such as visitors' reasons for traveling to Hawaii, ability to spend and where they spend their money. Retailers are especially interested on the data about Chinese and South Korean visitors, she said. While Chinese and Korean visitors have more in common with Americans in terms of overall spending, their spending habits are very similar to the Japanese visitor market when it was new, Murata said. In the 1990s, when the Japanese tourism boom to Hawaii was growing, the state's largest industry went to great lengths to cater to their needs. Japanese signs ruled Waikiki marketing; but then the bubble burst and retailers had to regroup to stay in business. "We've been trained to think only in terms of U.S. westbound and Japan travelers," she said. "But our retail market is becoming increasingly global and we're starting to see more travelers from China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the U.S. East." Japanese visitor arrivals to Hawaii, which peaked at 2.2 million in 1997, fell to 1.3 million last year in response to a weakened Japanese economy and geopolitical troubles. Retailers say the market has rebounded, but it's time for those eyeing Hawaii's improved market to use the isles' changing tourist patterns to help determine what's in store. Although the China travel market to Hawaii is small, representing less than 1 percent of Hawaii's total visitors in 2002, state officials have identified it as a market with enormous potential. New research shows that Chinese tourists are now the biggest spenders in the Asia-Pacific region by average credit card transaction size, according to a study released by Visa. The report, published last week in the Financial Times, said Chinese cardholders on average spent $253 per transaction while traveling. The World Tourism Organization has also estimated that China will produce 100 million outbound tourists by 2020 and members of Hawaii's public and private sector want their share. "Just like we geared retail to the Japan market in its heyday, someday I expect we'll see retail signs in Chinese and Korean, too," Murata said. According to the Rosenbaum and Spears survey, the Chinese, enjoy participating in new activities, but look for familiarity in restaurants - characteristics similar to Japanese visitors before Hawaii became a common destination, "They only want to eat in Chinese restaurants," Rosenbaum said. But, more important for retailers is that the Chinese also appear to have a taste for luxury goods. "The Chinese, like the Japanese, also want to purchase luxury goods as gifts to take home," Spears said. While retailers need accurate data to capture their audience, there is one sure plan that works across cultures, Murata said. "One thing you can always sell them is the aloha spirit - that's an approach that works with visitors from China to Lithuania," Murata said. BACK TO TOP | The Hawaii experience A new University of Hawaii study of tourist spending habits raised some interesting questions. For instance, do Japan travelers, who planned to spend $1,400 on gifts and souvenirs during their stay in Hawaii, really contribute the most money to Hawaii's economy? While Americans, who planned to spend about $600 on retail, and Chinese/ Koreans, who planned to spend about $750, lagged behind in overall spending, the data showed that these groups spent significantly more on made-in-Hawaii products. The percentage of visitors planning to buy each product: Items USA / Canada Japan China / South Korea Hawaiian coffee 53.1 38.4 70.8 Macadamia nuts 66.8 52.2 75.5 Pineapples 37.4 7.3 30.2 Hawaiian candies 35.7 12.3 35.8 Hawaiian clothing 47.3 21.7 43.4 Hawaiian souvenirs 60.9 41.1 58.5 Source: University of Hawaii marketing professor Mark Rosenbaum and travel industry management professor Dan Spears Where it all goes Percentage of visitors doing the following activities: Activities U.S. Japan China/Korea Honeymoon/wedding 6.8 18.2 4.7 Visit family/friends 13.4 3.8 28.3 Part of Packaged tour 15.8 61.3 25.5 Buying designer clothes 29.2 34.9 37.7 Golf 16.0 5.6 30.2 Tour bus 30.9 25.2 37.7 Beach 77.4 78.3 84.0 Fine dining 58.2 8.5 49.1 Culture/History 64.2 27.3 43.4 Luau 59.7 16.1 62.3 Designer boutiques 35.1 59.2 41.5 Mall 65.4 74.5 75.5 Characteristics of visitors' stays: Visit U.S. Japan China/Korea Planned Expenditures $644 $1,416 $745 Length of Stay in Hawaii 12 days 7 days 11 days Source: University of Hawaii marketing professor Mark Rosenbaum and travel industry management professor Dan Spears — ADVERTISEMENTS — — ADVERTISEMENTS — | | | PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION E-mail to Business Editor BACK TO TOP Text Site Directory: [News] [Business] [Features] [Sports] [Editorial] [Do It Electric!] [Classified Ads] [Search] [Subscribe] [Info] [Letter to Editor] [Feedback] © 2004 Honolulu Star-Bulletin -- http://starbulletin.com -Advertisement-

Maui Resort & Spa

Starwood Hawaii Hotels & Resorts Westin Maui Kaanapali, Maui Vacation | Westin Villas Make Maui your exclusive getaway with Starwood Vacation Ownership. View all news The Westin Maui Resort & Spa is situated along a spectacular stretch of the famed Ka'anapali Beach. This Maui hotel blends an endless array of activities and amenities with gracious aloha spirit, perfect for any Hawaiian vacation. Located beachfront with spectacular views of Lanai and Molokai, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa is just minutes from Maui's many attractions, yet remains a world unto itself, where exclusive services, first-rate restaurants, cultured entertainment, and thrilling diversions satisfy every interest. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 From To Maui, HI (OGG) Departing morning afternoon evening Returning morning afternoon evening Rooms 1 2 3 Service Class Coach Adults 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Children (2-11) 0 1 2 3 4 Select a Property ------------------------------ Starwood Worldwide Starwood Preferred Guest ------------------------------ Starwood Hawaii ------------------------------ Sheraton Hawaii ------------------------------ Sheratons in Waikiki Sheraton Waikiki Sheraton Moana Surfrider Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Sheraton Kauai Resort Sheraton Maui Resort The Royal Hawaiian Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa ------------------------------ The Luxury Collection Hawaii ------------------------------ Princeville Resort ------------------------------ The W Hotel Honolulu ------------------------------ The Westin Maui Resort & Spa The Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas ---

Hawaiian Music Page Hawaiian

Nahenahe.Net Nahenahe.Net Meta Register Login Valid XHTML WordPress Search: A little something about you, the author. Nothing lengthy, just an overview. -- Pages Aloha! NahenaheNet FAQ NahenaheNet Podcast How-To Archives December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 December 1999 December 1997 November 1997 October 1997 Categories ‘Ale’a (1) Amy Hanaiali’i Gilliom (1) Barefoot Natives (2) Brittni Paiva (2) Grammy News (15) Hapa (1) Hawai’i Music Awards (3) Ho’okena (5) Holunape (1) Irish Language (4) Israel Kamakawiwoole (1) iTunes Music Store (1) Kainani Kahaunaele (4) Kalapana (4) Kaumakaiwa Kanaka’ole (2) Keali’i Reichel (10) Kenneth Makuakane (3) Keola Beamer (8) Makaha Sons (6) Misc (75) Mountain Apple Company (4) Na Hoku Hanohano (12) Na Leo (4) New Release (3) Podcasts (26) Raiatea Helm (1) Recording Industry vs. The World (4) Rolando Sanchez & Salsa Hawai’i (6) Sonny Ching (1) Territorial Airwaves (5) The Brothers Cazimero (1) Uluwehi Guerrero (1) Uncle Willie K. 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While you’re looking at a beautiful sunset view from Kula on the island of Maui (courtesy of Scott Waters ), this is actually the dawn of a new day on NahenaheNet. I’m moving all of my content from the content management system that I’ve been using to maintain NahenaheNet for the past 6 years, Manila , to this new WordPress system. There are a lot of things about Manila that I will miss, and some things that WordPress can do better. It was a tough decision, but necessary and timely for other reasons. You can visit the new NahenaheNet blog at http://www.mauicast.net/nahenahe/ and perhaps you would like to bookmark that page. This page will remain here at http://www.nahenahe.net/ , and will contain periodic changes and important notices. 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Hawaii vacation rentals ,

Kauai, Hawaii Vacations and Rentals by Suite Paradise - Accommodations at Kauai condos and resorts Specializing in Kauai, Hawaii vacation rentals , condos and vacation homes at some of the most beautiful resorts in Hawaii, Suite Paradise welcomes you to the islands. Each vacation package features high quality accommodations carefully selected and meticulously maintained by Suite Paradise -- at deeply discounted rates. View sample rate guides for each accommodation, and for even greater savings , click on the book online link to check availability or make a reservation. As a Suite Paradise guest, you'll enjoy the carefree resort lifestyle for which Kauai hotels are famous, along with the extra privacy and spaciousness of a vacation rental or home. Book online now for our lowest rates! or call 1-800-367-8020 | 1-808-742-7400 International Toll-Free Phone Numbers Inquiries & Brochure Request Poipu Beach on Kauai, Hawaii's sunny south shore Suite Paradise focuses on providing fine Kauai, Hawaii vacation accommodations at Poipu Beach , rated one of America's top beaches. Guests have access to discount travel packages , low-cost airfare, rental cars, Kauai golf resorts , outdoor adventure activities and groceries delivered prior to arrival . Our vacation rentals are highly recommended by travelers. Over 50% of guests are returning visitors and their friends, indicating an astounding level of satisfaction. See what previous guests have to say about their Kauai, Hawaii vacation experience Heavenly Kauai, Hawaii Vacations for Less Poipu Kai Resort Kiahuna Plantation Nihi Kai Villas Whaler's Cove Poipu Crater Resort Poipu Shores Poipu Kapili Lawai Beach Resort About Kauai Activities Kauai's Beaches Golf Weddings Honeymoon Map of Kauai Map of Poipu Beach Special Offers Guest Services Things to do on Kauai Guides & Info About Us Terms & Conditions Testimonials Inquiries & Brochure Request Contact Us About Suite Paradise | Email Us | Inquires & Brochure Request | Privacy Policy | Site Map © 1998 - 2004. All Rights Reserved. Suite Paradise - High quality Kauai vacations - Fine beach resorts. Everyone welcome.