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The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Army secretary wants to move more quickly on an agreement for Hawaii live-fire training lands
The U.S. Army's top civilian leader said Tuesday that he wants to move more quickly on an agreement that will allow the military to continue using the only large-scale live-fire training range for ground forces in Hawaii. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said he discussed the issue during a meeting with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Monday. The Army leases a key part of Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island from the state and its contract to do so expires in 2029. It wants to be able to continue using the land so it can quickly send troops from Hawaii to Asia and the Pacific, something that is growing in importance as China becomes more assertive particularly regarding Taiwan. A May public hearing on whether to extend the lease generated hours of testimony against allowing the Army to stay. Many Native Hawaiians and environmental activists upset with the U.S. military's history of damaging Hawaiian lands with target practice and fuel leaks said they wanted the Army to return the land to the state. Driscoll told reporters the Army needs the Pohakuloa land, which sits on a rocky plateau about 6,200 feet (1,890 meters) above sea level between the Big Island's tallest volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. 'The world is changing. We all know this. The threat in Indo-Pacom is more real than ever before,' Driscoll told reporters, referring to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which overseas military operations in Asia and the Pacific. He said he wanted a more aggressive timeline 'to bake out these negotiations in the coming months, rather than waiting until 2027, 2028 and 2029.' 'This land matters the United States Army. We have got to be able to train here.' Driscoll said. Driscoll said he asked Green's office to give the Army a list within the next few weeks of things the Army can do to help the community. 'What we are hoping to do is figure out ways where we, the Army, can continue to contribute to a community that has given so much to our Army and so much to our nation, while at the same time acknowledging the very real world threat that we are facing in the Indo-Pacific,' Driscoll said. The Army says other live-fire training areas in Hawaii are too small to accommodate battalions and brigades. And commanders say they wouldn't be able to deter potential adversaries in the Indo-Pacific if they have to spend extra time transporting troops to the region from U.S. mainland training ranges. Green said he spent significant time on Monday speaking with Driscoll and his team. "We will be exploring possibilities on the military leases together in the coming days and weeks, and he now better understands how important it is to us to work together for the good of Hawaii's people and our land, while we all work together protect our country,' Green said in a statement. The governor said he updated Hawaii's congressional delegation on the meetings. Green said he would get the community's input 'as we move forward.' U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat whose district includes rural Oahu and the Big Island, has said she wants the military to help increase Hawaii's housing supply and bolster Hawaii's water and sewer infrastructure. Driscoll visited Hawaii during a Pacific trip that will also include stops in Australia and the Philippines. He spoke to journalists in front of two HIMARS rocket launchers, which are designed to deliver precision strikes to long-range targets. Hawaii-based soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division are due to receive 16 of the launchers, which the U.S. also supplied to Ukraine to help it defend against Russia's invasion.
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Army secretary wants to move more quickly on an agreement for Hawaii live-fire training lands
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii (AP) — The U.S. Army's top civilian leader said Tuesday that he wants to move more quickly on an agreement that will allow the military to continue using the only large-scale live-fire training range for ground forces in Hawaii. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said he discussed the issue during a meeting with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Monday. The Army leases a key part of Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island from the state and its contract to do so expires in 2029. It wants to be able to continue using the land so it can quickly send troops from Hawaii to Asia and the Pacific, something that is growing in importance as China becomes more assertive particularly regarding Taiwan. A May public hearing on whether to extend the lease generated hours of testimony against allowing the Army to stay. Many Native Hawaiians and environmental activists upset with the U.S. military's history of damaging Hawaiian lands with target practice and fuel leaks said they wanted the Army to return the land to the state. Driscoll told reporters the Army needs the Pohakuloa land, which sits on a rocky plateau about 6,200 feet (1,890 meters) above sea level between the Big Island's tallest volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. 'The world is changing. We all know this. The threat in Indo-Pacom is more real than ever before,' Driscoll told reporters, referring to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which overseas military operations in Asia and the Pacific. He said he wanted a more aggressive timeline 'to bake out these negotiations in the coming months, rather than waiting until 2027, 2028 and 2029.' 'This land matters the United States Army. We have got to be able to train here.' Driscoll said. Driscoll said he asked Green's office to give the Army a list within the next few weeks of things the Army can do to help the community. 'What we are hoping to do is figure out ways where we, the Army, can continue to contribute to a community that has given so much to our Army and so much to our nation, while at the same time acknowledging the very real world threat that we are facing in the Indo-Pacific,' Driscoll said. The Army says other live-fire training areas in Hawaii are too small to accommodate battalions and brigades. And commanders say they wouldn't be able to deter potential adversaries in the Indo-Pacific if they have to spend extra time transporting troops to the region from U.S. mainland training ranges. Green said he spent significant time on Monday speaking with Driscoll and his team. 'We will be exploring possibilities on the military leases together in the coming days and weeks, and he now better understands how important it is to us to work together for the good of Hawaii's people and our land, while we all work together protect our country,' Green said in a statement. The governor said he updated Hawaii's congressional delegation on the meetings. Green said he would get the community's input 'as we move forward.' U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat whose district includes rural Oahu and the Big Island, has said she wants the military to help increase Hawaii's housing supply and bolster Hawaii's water and sewer infrastructure. Driscoll visited Hawaii during a Pacific trip that will also include stops in Australia and the Philippines. He spoke to journalists in front of two HIMARS rocket launchers, which are designed to deliver precision strikes to long-range targets. Hawaii-based soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division are due to receive 16 of the launchers, which the U.S. also supplied to Ukraine to help it defend against Russia's invasion.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Urgent warning for Hawaiian tourists as brain parasite cases continue: ‘Don't eat raw food'
Hawaiian tourists are being warned against eating raw food while visiting the tropical state, deemed the 'epicenter' of a nasty brain parasitic disease. Neuroangiostrongyliasis, or rat lungworm disease, is a serious illness humans can become infected with after consuming raw snails, slugs or other specimens that carry the parasite. It can also be transmitted in vegetables such as Kale or potatoes. Its symptoms can mimic the flu, but also be serious. They range from headaches, nausea, coughing and fevers to long-term neurological problems and disabilities, with experts warning the illness can have a severe, lasting impact on those who become sick. 'Don't eat raw food in Hawaii,' Kay Howe told SFGate. In 2008, Howe's son contracted the disease while living in the Puna District of Hawaii Island when he was 23 years old and he went into a coma for months, prompting Howe to become an advocate of the illness. 'This is a tropical place. There's a parasite, and we advise to cook everything,' said Howe, who has since gained her master's in tropical conservation biology and works in a lab specializing in rat lungworm. Howe and other specialists recommend tourists avoid popular roadside smoothie stops, as produce needs to be washed – and dried – with care. 'I know it's very popular. It's very healthy. But if you haven't been able to inspect the kale yourself, I wouldn't recommend that you include that,' Franny Brewer, the program manager for the Big Island Invasive Species Committee, added. While locals know of the disease, many visitors don't – and there aren't any initiatives to educate those visiting. The experts warned that many people are unaware if they've been infected, especially since its symptoms closely mimic the flu. Treatment for the illness includes antiparasitic medicine such as Albendazole, but there is no easy test to diagnose rat lungworm disease. To diagnose, patients require a spinal tap, according to the report. Getting a diagnosis quickly can be difficult, the experts said. 'We often have to fight a doctor to get them to deliver [the Albendazole],' Howe said. 'You know, they'll be, 'Oh, wait until symptoms develop.' And it's like, you don't want to wait for symptoms to develop. That's how bad this is. You know, once it's in your brain, it's in your brain.' In her experience talking with people — and in the case of her son — doctors often refuse to test for rat lungworm, not believing it to be the culprit.' 'The people who are in the ER with symptoms, they have to somehow convince the doctor to give them a spinal tap,' Howe added. The disease, which has seen 80 laboratory-confirmed cases between 2014 and 2023, is largely underdiagnosed. While the number of cases remains relatively low, experts warn the disease is severe and can have lifelong repercussions. 'We find that a lot of visitors have never heard of it or might not realize that it's endemic in our state, and we want people to know what they can do to protect themselves,' Dr. Sarah Kemble with the Hawaii State Department of Health told SFGate. 'Don't eat raw snails, slugs, freshwater shrimp. And visitors should be aware that when they buy locally fresh fruits and vegetables, they should wash them very carefully before consuming them.' While the disease occurs on all of the islands, most of the cases have been found on Hawaii Island. Howe now lives several blocks away from her infected son. While he is independent, he was left permanently disabled, with his vision and short-term memory affected, she told the outlet. 'When you have seven serious cases a year or 15 serious cases a year amongst a relatively small population on Hawaii Island, that's not really rare anymore,' she said. 'The severity of the disease and the fact that you may never, very well ever, recover the quality of life that you had. You shouldn't be looking at case numbers. You should be looking at severity.'
Associated Press
10-07-2025
- Associated Press
Burden for preventing drownings in Hawaii falls on counties — and residents
Rachel Able stood scanning Kohanaiki Beach, her stomach in knots as she looked out across the sparkling waves and rocky tide pools on the western shore of the Big Island. It was the first time she'd been back since her 15-year-old daughter Lily died in a surfing accident at the sheltered bay several weeks earlier, and the grieving mother was searching for answers — anything that could explain how such a popular beach had turned deadly. 'Where were the warning signs?' she wanted to know. In hindsight, Kohanaiki Beach had come with a false sense of security. It's a locals' spot with consistent waves and a campground with a security patrol. A place where families come for birthday parties and after-school surfing sessions. But as she walked down the narrow, manicured road along the beach north of Kona, things stood out to Able that she hadn't noticed before. There was no lifeguard tower. No orange and yellow metal signs on the beach cautioning people about the criss-crossing rip currents and colliding waves that break onto a shallow reef. No indication that other people had drowned there before Lily's accident in 2022. Able left the shore that day determined to get a lifeguard tower built on the beach that took her daughter's life. She talked to the police, then the county parks department, fire chief, the mayor's office and county council members. She didn't meet any resistance. In fact, the county parks director told her that he didn't understand why there wasn't a lifeguard stand there already. 'That was the frustrating part for me,' she said, 'because it's like, OK, you guys saw it, too.' Hawaiʻi has the second highest rate of resident drownings in the nation, but there's been no serious statewide effort to address the problem. Instead, ocean safety efforts are left up to individual counties, leading to big disparities in drowning prevention across the islands. The state, which is supposed to lead injury prevention, does little to help them. The Department of Land and Natural Resources chooses locations for signs signaling dangerous conditions, but the group that decides where signs should go hasn't met in more than a decade. The state Department of Health is charged with creating injury prevention plans, but hasn't done so in several years and dedicated less than 0.01% of its annual budget to drowning prevention in 2024, even though it is the leading cause of death for children in Hawai'i. As a result, it has often fallen to community members — in many cases, people grieving unimaginable loss — to push for basic ocean safety improvements. An emergency room doctor on Kauaʻi helped get flotation devices, also know as rescue tubes, installed across the island. The parents of a child who fell to his death while hiking in 1997 purchased a helicopter and jet skis for Hawaiʻi County Fire Department rescue operations on land, like their son's accident, and in the ocean. A woman whose husband and daughter were swept out to sea now leads drowning prevention at the Department of Health. But without larger institutional support, those community-led efforts rarely get the traction needed to jolt the state into action. The health department's injury prevention branch spent just $80,000 on drowning initiatives last fiscal year. Beyond the efforts of lifeguards to warn beachgoers before they get into trouble, Hawaiʻi has done 'almost nothing on the prevention side,' said Jessamy Hornor, whose husband and daughter were swept out to sea by a rogue wave on Oʻahu in 2016. Hornor, who became the state's drowning prevention coordinator in October, wants to do more to bring together nonprofits, counties and state agencies to make greater progress toward addressing the problem. 'Given the scale of the need, we need to scale up our solutions as well,' she said. After Lily's accident, Able persuaded the county to step up. But it still took more than two years for a lifeguard tower to go up at Kohanaiki. A Duty To Warn The Public Hawaiʻi's lifeguards and emergency services are managed and funded at the county level. Neighbor islands, in particular, feel the impact of funding and staffing crunches. Things that work on Oʻahu, like stationing lifeguards in the 911 dispatch center to take calls related to ocean safety, just don't work in places with smaller staffs. 'If there were any lifeguards in the dispatch, I'll probably take them out, because I'll need them more on the beach,' said Kalani Vierra, the chief of ocean safety on Kauaʻi and the president of the Hawaiʻi Lifeguard Association, a nonprofit that supports the state's lifeguards and efforts to decrease drownings. There's little state tracking of why some places have more success than others. Kauaʻi, which has so few resident drownings it can't calculate a drowning rate, relies heavily on rescue tubes. On Maui, most people who drown are tourists, but no one seems to know why the county has a lower rate of resident deaths. Among the islands, the drowning mortality rate on the Big Island, which has 266 miles of often-remote coastline and until earlier this month had the smallest ocean safety staff of any county, is second only to Oʻahu's and more than four times the state's goal established in 2005. Only 13 beaches on the island have lifeguards. 'Definitely having more lifeguards at the beaches helps, having signage helps,' said Kazuo Todd, chief of the Hawaiʻi County Fire Department, which oversees the ocean safety division. But it depends on the island's population and tax base. 'Hawaiʻi island is one of the most cash-strapped islands.' While Honolulu County uses lifeguards on jet skis and lieutenants in pickup trucks to patrol long stretches of unguarded coastline, the Big Island doesn't have any mobile units. It's just not practical given the distance between the island's beaches, Todd said. Where a lifeguard can't be there to protect people, the next best thing is to warn them. It's not just best practice: In Hawaiʻi, state and county governments have a legal duty to warn the public about dangerous conditions at public beach parks. But the state's involvement in prevention and education has been minimal, particularly when it comes to informing locals. Efforts have been largely perfunctory, underfunded and — when it comes to a legal mandate to decide where to place warning signs — ignored, according to ocean safety and health officials, to the point where leaders have dropped out of key initiatives because they were so discouraged. Across the islands, orange and yellow signs dot the state's coastline, warning beachgoers of the hazards of the islands' waters with messages like 'STRONG CURRENT — You could be swept away from shore and could drown. If in doubt, don't go out.' Or 'DANGEROUS SHOREBREAK: Waves break in shallow water. Serious injuries could occur, even in small surf.' The beach where Lily Able died had two signs near the entrance to the park, but none posted on the beach itself or the pathway leading to it. The state task force in charge of determining where the signs should go hasn't met in over a decade, according to records submitted to the Legislature. A primary purpose of these signs is to protect the state and counties from legal liability and lawsuits, according to ocean safety experts. For years, counties faced lawsuits over a failure to warn beachgoers about strong rip tides or surf breaks that shatter spinal cords. So in 1996, the Legislature passed a law requiring state or county governments to hang semi-permanent signs at public beach parks. Lifeguards also put up temporary signs to warn of the conditions on a given day, but the signs are often taken down at night. 'It made a difference in the number of claims that have been filed,' said Ralph Goto, who led the ocean safety efforts in Honolulu County from 1981 to 2013 and served on the task force for several years. 'Have they reduced the number of injuries? I don't know.' The Task Force on Beach and Water Safety, which was also created by the Legislature in 1996, is supposed to help the state Board of Land and Natural Resources decide where to hang these signs around the islands. No new signs have gone up at the recommendation of the task force in more than a decade. The requirement also only applies to public beach parks. That means long stretches of the state's coastline don't have any warning signs about big swells or dangerous currents. On the Big Island, some popular fishing spots or surf breaks don't have any indication of the risks people are taking. Oʻahu does have more warning signs, but even then, there are issues. The signs are supposed to be visible as people walk down to the beach. But at many spots across the North Shore, the signs are facing the parking lot but aren't near the stairs or the walkways down to the beach, allowing people to get to the water without ever coming across a warning that it might be dangerous. At popular surf spots, the signs are covered in stickers and are barely legible. Lifeguards routinely go around with a paint scraper peeling off stickers. Even when the signs are legible, Goto says they aren't enough. 'How is that going to modify your behavior, your intent?' Goto said. 'Signs don't rescue people. Lifeguards rescue people.' Still, the signs are another layer of caution, and ocean leaders like Goto are frustrated that DLNR has failed to assess their locations for so long. Some see it as another indication that the state has not been proactive when it comes to ocean safety. In 2015, the state created a health department-led committee to reduce drownings and ocean-related spinal cord injuries. It had some initial progress with projects like a website with ocean safety tips and a list of beaches with lifeguards. That momentum fizzled, according to Gerald Kosaki, the former Hawaiʻi County battalion chief in charge of ocean safety who led the Drowning and Aquatic Injury Advisory Committee in its early years. It felt like 'this losing battle,' he said. 'That's why I left. I felt like I wasn't really having an impact.' The group stopped meeting for several years during the pandemic, and has been slow to get back up and running. 'It was kind of tough,' Kosaki said. 'Because we're trying to save lives, and just like, we weren't having the support needed.' Even where there is state involvement in drowning prevention, locals are left behind. When tourists come to Hawaiʻi, they might be greeted by the signs at baggage claim, ads on websites warning that 'the ocean is different in Hawaiʻi' or videos playing on the TV in their hotel room warning them to go to lifeguarded beaches or 'when in doubt, don't go out.' There's been little to no expansive effort to educate the residents on ocean safety, according to former ocean safety directors, the Hawaiʻi Lifeguard Association and injury prevention experts at the Department of Health. 'Honestly, we never really had a real big push for residential information getting out there,' Kosaki said. 'I think it's sad.' 'You Are Taking A Risk' Ocean safety experts say there is finally momentum to address the number of residents who drown in Hawaiʻi's waters. The Department of Health launched its first-ever keiki water safety campaign earlier this year focused on telling parents to assign a 'water watcher' to keep constant eyes on kids in the ocean or pools. County-led Junior Lifeguard programs are expanding across the state to equip more young people with ocean safety knowledge. There's also an appetite to build more ocean safety messaging targeted specifically at locals. But how exactly to do that is a challenge. For years, most messaging has been simple slogans like 'Talk to a lifeguard' or 'When in doubt, don't go out.' That might not resonate with people who call Hawaiʻi's islands home, Kirsten Hermstad, executive director of the Hawaiʻi Lifeguards Association, said. 'I'm not sure it's one message. I think it'll be messages tailored to each demographic,' she said. 'What's going to reach the ʻopihi picker is not going to reach the person right off the plane.' Hermstad said that along with the Hawaiʻi Water Safety Coalition, a statewide advocacy group, the Hawaiʻi Lifeguard Association is working on building safety campaigns specifically geared to residents. The goal is to create culturally relevant campaigns that acknowledge the message for a surfer needs to be different than the message for a free diver or a fisherman. It's that kind of respect that is going to make the difference, said Duane DeSoto, a legendary waterman and surfer. DeSoto founded Nā Kama Kai, a nonprofit that teaches kids on Oʻahu's westside about ocean safety and stewardship and helps young people cultivate their cultural connection to the ocean. The first step is understanding the relationship people have with the ocean here, particularly Native Hawaiians. 'If you're going to enter the ocean, you are making an agreement with Mother Nature that you are taking a risk,' DeSoto said. Just instructing people not to go alone when free diving or out on the rocks in search of snails called ʻopihi is missing the point. It's about creating a conversation, rather than just telling people what to do. 'If you want an ʻopihi picker to walk with a life vest, that's crazy. But how about a CO2 inflatable that is the size of a cell phone?' he said. 'The state can provide these things. Man, I mean, if we're serious, we'd give them away.' Change Falls To Community Members In a state where it can take years to get lifeguards on beaches, Shirley De Rego is someone who gets things done quickly. De Rego was on a camping trip with her family in 2005 when her 12-year-old son Alexander died after falling into the ocean while fishing at Kaʻawaloa Beach in South Kona. In the years since, she's become a pillar of ocean safety in Hawaiʻi through the Alex and Duke De Rego foundation, also named for her son Duke, who died in a golf cart accident. When two teenagers drowned off Shipman Beach about 15 miles south of Hilo in 2022, the private landowner called De Rego to ask if she could install a rescue tube at the secluded spot. Almost immediately, De Rego and her small crew of community members had installed a yellow flotation device hung up on a PVC pipe jammed in the rock. The rescue tubes, which cost around $100, are designed to be thrown into the water to keep people afloat until help arrives. On Kauaʻi, where efforts to hang these on Hawaiʻi beaches got started, the Rescue Tube Foundation has hung 250 tubes around the island. The group estimates that they have been used to rescue at least 200 people. Rescue tubes now dot the shore on all of the islands, including about 20 on Oʻahu and several dozen on Maui. But so far, this effort has been entirely spearheaded by locals, nonprofits and community groups. For the first time on Oʻahu, the 2026 budget for the newly formed Department of Ocean Safety asked for $16,000 for rescue tubes. After 15-year-old Noʻeau Lima drowned in a free diving accident on the westside of Oʻahu in 2020, a group of spearfishermen and free divers formed a nonprofit called Safe Free Dive Hawaiʻi. Through free training programs and safety courses, certified free diving instructors educate people on how to stay safe while participating in the subsistence fishing sport that has cost at least 58 residents their lives since 2015. Earlier this year, the Hawaiʻi Water Safety Coalition released the state's first Hawaiʻi Water Safety Plan. Spearheaded by bereaved families, ocean safety advocates and leaders from local foundations, the plan is intended to push the state to meet national recommendations, create a statewide water safety task force and build a master plan to decrease the number of drowning fatalities. Hornor is one of the people who channeled her grief into the Hawaiʻi Water Safety Coalition. Now that she's at the Department of Health, she has a slew of ideas to address gaps in drowning prevention. But it's early in the process to see how much success she'll have after so many years of state stagnation. At Kohanaiki Beach on the Big Island, Rachel Able can't help but think that it took her daughter's life to get a lifeguard on a beach that is a favorite of local families. It's not clear exactly what caused her daughter's surfing accident, and Able doesn't want to speculate. But had there been a lifeguard stationed there, she believes, maybe things would have ended differently. Lily had grown up surfing the breaks along the coast near Kona, sometimes sleeping in her bikini, always ready for the waves. 'A true mermaid at heart,' as her mother says. 'I couldn't keep her out of the water,' Able said. 'She would have lived in the water if she could.' On the day in June that county officials installed the lifeguard tower, Able stood looking at a gaggle of little blond girls – carbon copies of Lily herself – getting ready to go surfing. Able longed for her daughter to be there to see the lifeguard watching over the girls running down to the waves with their boards. But she felt Lily's presence. 'I wish it was in place when Lily was here,' Able said. 'But she is a part of it.' ___ This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
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Travel + Leisure
08-07-2025
- Travel + Leisure
These Are the Best Resorts in Hawaii—With Secluded Beaches, Stunning Snorkeling, and Sunset Views
In the United States, there is perhaps no more iconic vacation destination than Hawaii. From the otherworldly, volcanic landscape of the Big Island to the urban atmosphere of Oahu, the Aloha State offers something unique for every type of traveler—which is why the destination keeps Travel + Leisure readers coming back year after year. But, in addition to allocating ample time to enjoy the sun, sand, and poke, there's one crucial element that factors into every Hawaiian vacation plan: finding the right hotel. There's certainly no shortage of exemplary accommodation choices in the state, but one hotel rose above the rest in this year's World's Best Awards—read on to find out who the winner is. Every year for our World's Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe—to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Nearly 180,000 T+L readers completed the 2025 survey. A total of more than 657,000 votes were cast across over 8,700 properties (hotels, cities, cruise lines, etc.). Hotels were classified as either resort hotel, city hotel, inn, or safari lodge based on their location and amenities, and they were specifically rated on the criteria below: Rooms/facilities Location Service Food Value For each characteristic, respondents could choose a rating of excellent, above average, average, below average, or poor. The final scores are averages of these responses. Outdoor garden at Spa Montage Kapalua Bay. Oahu, the most populous island in the Hawaiian archipelago, was well-represented in this year's rankings. Four resorts on the list hail from Oahu, including The Kahala Hotel & Resort (No. 9). 'I've been [coming] to The Kahala for nearly two decades, and it is my favorite place in the entire world,' one reader said. 'Everything is perfect: the food, service, rooms, location, and spa, for families and couples alike. I love sitting in the lobby, reading a book underneath its famous crystalline chandelier.' Another person pointed out its secluded beach, which they said 'is a great place to relax and escape the hustle and bustle of Waikiki.' Elsewhere, on Kauai, Ko'a Kea Resort on Po'ipu Beach (No. 6) charmed visitors, with one reader describing it as 'paradise on earth.' The 121-room property has the advantage of occupying a prime stretch of coast that's great for families, thanks to its natural wading pools and relatively calm waters, perfect for swimming, snorkeling, and aquatic sports. As another reader said, the resort also has the benefit of a 'wonderful location and excellent service.' And on the Island of Hawaii, Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection (No. 5), impressed with its culinary program, especially at the primary restaurant, CanoeHouse, which a reader reports is 'the best restaurant for miles around.' 'The rooms face west, so you have an amazing sunset over the ocean every night,' one reader said. '... The service and staff are outstanding. They will remember you if you come year after year, and they make you feel like family.' Everything is perfect: the food, service, rooms, location, and spa, for families and couples alike. — T+L Reader Montage Kapalua Bay Aerial view of Montage Kapalua Bay. Set along the rugged shoreline of Namalu Bay on Maui's west side, this 24-acre property feels more like an exclusive oceanfront village, rather than a typical hotel. Suites here resemble high-end residences, with large kitchens, high ceilings, oversized soaking tubs, and verandas large enough to host sunset dinners. 'The most beautiful resort in all of Hawaii,' one survey respondent said. The 40,000-square-foot Spa Montage, meanwhile, is a destination in itself and includes a peaceful infinity pool surrounded by tropical greenery. After a spa treatment or a dip in the ocean, guests can learn how to string fragrant plumeria leis or master the art of hula in open-air pavilions. 1. Montage Kapalua Bay: Maui Reader Score: 98.13 2. Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui Reader Score: 98.01 3. Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort: Island of Hawaii Reader Score: 96.87 4. Hotel Wailea: Maui Reader Score: 96.59 5. Mauna Lani, Auberge Resorts Collection: Island of Hawaii Reader Score: 95.95 6. Ko'a Kea Resort on Po'ipu Beach: Kaua'i Reader Score: 95.86 7. The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii: Island of Hawaii Reader Score: 95.02 8. Mauna Kea Beach Hotel: Island of Hawaii Reader Score: 94.89 9. The Kahala Hotel & Resort: Oahu Reader Score: 94.40 10. The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort: Island of Hawaii Reader Score: 94.14 11. Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa: Maui Reader Score: 93.89 12. Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina Reader Score: 93.00 13. Four Seasons Resort Lanai Reader Score: 92.90 14. The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach: Waikiki Reader Score: 92.21 15. The Ritz-Carlton O'ahu, Turtle Bay: Oahu Reader Score: 92.18 16. Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort: Maui Reader Score: 92.15 17. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai: Island of Hawaii Reader Score: 92.00 18. Halekulani: Oahu Reader Score: 91.88 19. Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa: Maui Reader Score: 91.37 20. Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea: Maui Reader Score: 91.25
