Now that you are traveling all the way to Hawaii, you should know the meanings of a few Hawaiian words just in case you need to use them.

Are you ready for a quick vocabulary lesson?

aloha = greeting used to say hello or goodbye.

honu = turtle

kahuna = Hawaiian priest

lei = garland of flowers, leaves, nuts, or shells

luau = feast

mahalo = thank you

nani = beautiful, enjoyable

wikiwiki = quick, fast

Practice: "Aloha, my big kahuna friend saw a wikiwiki honu at the evening luau. Wow. Can you give me one of those nani lei? Mahalo."

Come see Stitch and Adam in action.

Golf Link with Important Details

There are 15 beautiful golf courses on Maui. The best is the Plantation Course at Kapalua, famous as home to the Mercedes Championship every January. Second-best is the Bay Course, also at Kapalua. A close third best are the North and South courses at Makena (Maui Prince Hotel). The Kaanapali North and South golf courses are less challenging. Wailea Gold, Emerald and Blue are also top courses. Wailea Gold is home to the Champions Skins Game held every February.

To play, you must have reservations at all of these popular courses, especially for the early morning tee times. You can make reservations for the Kapalua courses up to 25 days in advance, by calling (808) 669-8044. Call early in the morning for the best choices, since they start answering the phone at 6 AM Hawaii time. If you’re playing at the Wailea courses, the phone number for reservations is (808) 875-5111, and for Makena it’s (808) 879-3344 (reserve those tee times up to 30 days in advance). Kaanapali courses take phone reservations up to 3 weeks in advance at (808) 661-3691. Wailea (www.golfbc.com), Kaanapali (www.kaanapali-golf.com) and Makena (www.makenagolf.com) also allow online booking 30 days in advance. For the Kapalua courses online, it's 25 days in advance (www.kapaluamaui.com). The three Wailea Courses, particularly the Blue (which also has nice wide fairways), have better rates booking on line (www.golfbc.com). But all of the courses mentioned in the above paragraph are expensive (Between $100-$150 range).

You are paying a lot of $$ to play golf in Maui, so you MUST bring your A-game. Here are some GOLF TIPS just for you. You can thank me later.

CHEAPER GOLF OPTIONS AVAILABLE AT PUBLIC COURSES: The courses away from the tourist areas are much cheaper and most are also easier. Waiehu Municipal has some of the best views on the island, as three holes are adjacent to the beach. Waiehu Muni golf course is a couple of miles northwest of Wailuku on Highway 330. If you go right of the fairway on the 6th, 7th or 8th holes, be prepared to take a sand wedge with you. On the 15th, there is a downhill tee shot which looks as if you would hit it into the ocean. It doesn’t have the conditioning that the major resort courses do, but it’s much cheaper for the budget golfer, has some great scenery and is quite “forgiving” for the average golfer.

Another good value and somewhat forgiving are Pukalani Country Club, Elleair Maui in Kihei and The Dunes at Maui Lani in Kahului.

The other more budget course is Kahili Golf Club (formerly Sandalwood), which is on the Honoapi'ilani Highway at Waikapu, just south west of Wailuku. Coupons for these courses are often available in the various on-island tourist magazines. And almost all Maui's golf courses, both expensive and inexpensive, offer a large discount if you are willing to play "twilight" starting after 1 or 2 PM.

Please bear in mind that you don’t have to stay in a Kapalua hotel to play golf at the Kapalua courses, or in Wailea to play the Wailea courses: you can stay any place and play golf anyplace. However, you do get a small discount on golf at the course affiliated with the hotel you stay at.

Besides the Haleakala's summit in Maui, is the narrow, corkscrew Hana 'Highway'. This 2.5 hours (50 miles) drive has 617 curves, 54 one-lane bridges, dozens of waterfalls, and beautiful landscape.

The drive can be quite challenging due to all the curves on the road. Take it slow!

To ensure success, you should fill up your gas tank the night before and start your drive no later than 7:30 am. This way, you will beat all the tourists & tour buses. See photo above, it sux to drive on the Hana Highway when it is crowded and it also sux to be in the backseat of the car. You want to be the only car on the road.

There is really nothing much to do/see in Hana but it is what you will see on this drive that is amazing. Be sure to bring a couple of bottles of water, some snacks, a video camera and a digital camera to document your drive/trip. After you are done, you just turn around and drive back.

View Hana Highway from the sky.

Advice: The Garden of Eden Maui on the Hana Highway cost $10 to enter. Quite the tourist trap. I would save the $20 bucks for lunch instead.

There are so many different activities/things for you to do/enjoy in Maui. Look for coupons on-line or in discount booklets to save a few bucks (the savings can add up to a lunch or a dinner later).

From ocean discovery ($45), to helicopter tour ($125), to horseback riding, morning mountain bike tour ($65), to just plain & simple relaxing by the ocean and watch the Hawaiian sunset (free). Yes...you will enjoy that very much!

Watch this video if you want to learn how to SURF in Hawaii.

We are mailing you a Maui Best Guidebook by July 11th, 2008. Review your guidebook for all the 'Best Of' things to do in Maui. We shall see you in Oct. Mahalo!

7 Suggestions: You should bring the following things with you from the mainland. 1.Flip-flops/beach shoes 2.(Guys)Bring a pair of pants 3.Sunglasses 4.Digital Camera with charger/batteries 5.Extra swimsuits 6.A light jacket if you want to see the sunrise at the volcano summit 6. A pair of comfortable shoes or sneakers 7.The flight is pretty long *(bring PSP or I-Pod).

Maui fashion tips from the Four Seasons Resort.

Ocean Warning: As beautiful as the Pacific Ocean is, it can be dangerous at times. Before entering the water, look for any occurrences of occasional larger-than-normal waves that could knock you down. Never ever swim alone and be sure have a swimming noodle ($2) with you if you are not a very strong swimmer. If in trouble, DON'T PANIC. Relax and swim sideway slowly to shore. When in doubt, don't get in the ocean at all!

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