{"id":557,"date":"2016-02-21T03:59:26","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T03:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/sarah-wilsons-healthy-hawaii-guide\/"},"modified":"2022-08-08T23:21:18","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T23:21:18","slug":"the-healthy-hawaii-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/the-healthy-hawaii-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Wilson’s Healthy Hawaii Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some folk people travel to see art. Or museums. Or they travel for the shopping. Others for the piazza people perving. Me, I travel to be well \u2013 to eat great food (see my Hawaiian Food Guide<\/a>) and get into the outdoors.<\/p>\n

And so it came about I realised I needed to get myself to Hawaii<\/a>. It\u2019s a veritable outdoorsy fantasyland for all kinds of next-generation wellness endeavours. Inspired to set off on your own DIY health retreat? Here\u2019s what to look out for in Oahu and Kauai (where I visited).<\/p>\n

Hike and hike some more.<\/h2>\n

I research most of my trips by Googling \u201cbest hikes in the world\u201d. This approach has seen me head to Sierra Nevada, New Zealand, Iceland and Canada.\u00a0Turns out one of the best (and most adventurous) hiking spots on the planet is Kauai, one of the quieter Hawaiian islands. Thus, I had to go to Kauai!<\/p>\n

That said, pretty much every hike in Hawaii is spectacular with views that seem like they\u2019re straight from Jurassic Park or some tropical romantic comedy (probably because, um, they are). Want to give hiking a go? A few tips from my experience:<\/p>\n

Kauai:\u00a0<\/strong>There are great trails all over Kauai. Around the western side, the Waimea Canyon State Park has plenty of different options, from canyons to swamp trails. Make sure you do the Canyon Trail for a good overview; and if you have time head up to the end of the road (in Kokee State Park) to do the Alakai Swamp Trail. For Kauai hiking, be sure to buy a copy of the Kauai Island Atlas and Maps guide put out by Environmental Designs. It\u2019s $8 from the Kokee Lodge and Museum (in Waimea Canyon). It\u2019s the best resource by far.<\/p>\n

Oahu:\u00a0<\/strong>For a fun workout, definitely do the Koko Head Crater Tramway hike \u2013 1048 steps straight up. It\u2019s about 15 minutes from Waikiki and will get your blood pumping.\u00a0The best resource for hikes on the main island is unrealhawaii.com<\/a>.
\n<\/p>\n

Surf Waikiki. Even if just once.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You kind of just have to do it. If you\u2019re not a surfer, it\u2019s possibly one of the best places to give it a crack. Rent a looooong board outside The Royal Hawaiian Resort<\/a>\u00a0and catch some easy waves with a view back to the iconic beach.<\/p>\n

Stand Up Paddle (SUP) trickery<\/h2>\n

Hawaiians SUP to chill out after work, before work, while not working\u2026they SUP like the rest of the world boot camps and have been doing it since the 1950s. Definitely give it a go when on the islands. Take it one step further and try SUP Yoga<\/a>, which was also \u201cinvented\u201d in Hawaii, or night SUP<\/a>, timed to take advantage of a fireworks display.
\n<\/p>\n

Kayak adventuring<\/h2>\n

I like to kayak with a destination. At Lanakai on Oahu\u2019s windward side I set off in a double with a packed lunch provided by\u00a0Kailua Beach Adventures<\/a> (I did a self-tour, but they also run 5-hour guided adventures) to two small islands off the coast. Why Lanakai? It\u2019s meant to be one of the best swimming beaches in Hawaii. And there are turtles (I saw several the size of picnic tables!). Also, it\u2019s not a tourist area, so it\u2019s quieter and more authentic.<\/p>\n

Do a helicopter experience<\/h2>\n

I don\u2019t normally go for these kind of touristy things, but I 100 per cent recommend forking out $245 for a spin around Kauai. It was an amazing way to see all the hiking destinations I\u2019d just traversed from above. I went with Island Helicopters<\/a>, departing from Lihue Airport, because they\u2019re the only outfit that land you at the Jurassic Falls (where spectacular scenes in the movie are shot; I haven\u2019t seen the movie).<\/p>\n

Expedia compensates authors for their writings appearing on this site, such compensation may include travel and other costs<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paddle boarding, hiking and home cooked meals \u2013\u00a0Sarah Wilson checks out Hawaii’s healthy sides.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,6,2,3,14,20],"tags":[139,58],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-destination","category-experiences","category-explore","category-interests","category-usa","tag-hawaii","tag-tips","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSarah Wilson's Healthy Hawaii Guide - Expedia AU Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Paddle boarding, hiking and home cooked meals \u2013\u00a0Sarah Wilson checks out Hawaii's healthy sides.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.au\/stories\/the-healthy-hawaii-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sarah Wilson's Healthy Hawaii Guide - 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