Full Belly Files | My Hawai’i Trip Highlights

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There was a brief period of my early twenties when I thought going to Hawai’i was a waste of vacation. I’d enjoyed the few times I went as a kid, but my first trip as an adult was a rather uninspiring — albeit very memorable — last-minute long weekend on O’ahu a couple years after college. As a wide-eyed cub reporter, I was more focused on traveling to offbeat places in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and started believing that our 50th state was merely an Americanized shadow of a former paradise — absent of authentic culture, devoid of true adventure, merely about beach time.

That changed in 2006, when I was invited to the Big Island’s Kohala Coast to report this travel story, which began with a crash course in Hawaiian history and culture that turned out to be as fascinating as it gets. And given that the sweeping changes to Hawaiian life happened just generations ago, their saga is more viscerally tangible than most colonial tales, and basically still ongoing. For the second leg of that trip, my girlfriend, now wife, joined me to explore Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, and then the island of Kauai, further opening my eyes to the natural wonders and culinary offerings of this awe-inspiring archipelago.

We’ve since hit Hawai’i at least five times, mostly over the past decade with our kids in tow, typically to Kauai and Maui. (I wrote a short travel piece for Wine Enthusiast almost a decade ago about one trip, and then again for Full Belly Files in 2023 and once more in 2024, when we landed on Maui right after the devastating Lahaina fire.) This month, we returned to the Big Island for the first time since 2007 and stopped again — for the third time in four years — on Maui, where my cousin and her husband own an agave farm and distillery.

As you should surmise, my mindset on Hawai’i has completely flipped from that naive perception of two decades ago. Sure, you could easily idle away all of your time on the beach, eat generic tourist food, never venture far from your resort, and still have a pretty good time — indeed, I still think that’s probably what most tourists do. But with a tiny bit of research, a good bit of driving, and a healthy curiosity about everything that Hawai’i offers, you could instead unlock a vacation as intellectually stimulating as anywhere on the planet.

Here are highlights from this summer’s trip, in relative order of how we experienced them. If you’d prefer the strictly visual rundown with relevant links, you can check out all my photos on my Instagram reels of the Big Island 2025 and Maui 2025.

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BIG ISLAND

The bulk of our trip was with my mom and my brother’s family on the Big Island, checking out the volcanoes on the south end for a couple nights before spending five more on the Kohala Coast in a house we rented near the Mauna Lani resort.

Teshima’s Restaurant: Knowing we needed lunch after landing at the Kona airport, I looked at Eater.com a few minutes before we got on the plane and found a mention of Teshima’s, one of just two Big Island restaurants on the website’s classic restaurant roundup. The staff was immediately welcoming — “howzit?” said the man as we walked in — and the Japanese-via-Hawaiian cuisine was exactly what we needed. Cups of genmaicha tea and plate combos of raw fish, fried fish, miso soup, teriyaki chicken, sukiyaki, tsukemono, and sunomono were finished with fried Oreos for dessert.

Volcano House: The Volcano House is the only lodging inside of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, and our timing was almost perfect, as the Kīlauea caldera was spewing smoke, on the verge of another eruption. The hotel is historic, in both good and slightly rundown ways, and the views of the crater are unrivaled — we spotted the red-orange glow of lava when it was dark, though it didn’t blow again until a few days after we left. Uncle George’s Lounge served us the best cocktails of our entire trip — check that Guava Flow yo! — though the cuisine at both the Lounge and the “fancier” (read: more expensive) Rim restaurant across the lobby was just alright, or less.   

Thai Thai Bistro in Volcano: We ventured into the town of Volcano twice, first to see their weekly market of produce, finished food, and crafts at Cooper’s Center. We came back for lunch at Thai Thai Bistro, where their heat levels are properly turned, which is to say very hot. We went with very spicy on the green curry (rated 10) and medium spice on the tom kha kai (rated like 7, but seemed hotter), and were left curious about what the Thai spicy (rated 15) would have meant. The dishes aren’t particularly Instagrammable, but the flavors were on point.  

Downtown Hilo: On our way to the Kohala Coast, we stopped by jam-packed Hilo Farmers Market, where I spent about $80 in a very short amount of time on super hot tiny peppers. mangosteen, mango, longan, lychee, two fruits I’d never heard of (and still can’t identify), pineapple butter, chile-marinated chevre, and “normal” things like onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, and small potatoes that turned out to be ube. I’d also left my copy of Moby-Dick on my flight, so I found a new (barely used) copy in Big Island BookBuyers.    

Ippy’s & Kamuela Liquor in Waimea: The capital of paniolo, a k a Hawaiian cowboy culture, Waimea sits on the grassy crest where the wet side of the Big Island meets the dry side. There are nicer restaurants here, including the original Merriman’s, but we were ready for our first proper plate lunch, and found what we needed at Ippy’s Hawaiian Barbecue. I later perused a thoughtful collection of wine to select six bottles and a white pineapple at the Kamuela Liquor Store, where the cashier told us a funny story about learning on an unrelated job interview that this place was an epicurean legend.  

Classic Course @ Mauna Lani: With my son playing for Dos Pueblos High and my brother a much more avid golfer than me, we tend to play a couple times on these trips. This year’s first round was on Mauna Lani’s Francis H. I’i Brown Classic Course, which combines the best holes from the older North Course and the newer South Course. We played the latter a couple days later too, and hit its 17th hole a few more times than that, since our rental sat next to its green.

All About the View UTV Tour: Quite possibly the best thing we did on the whole trip was the All About the View UTV Tour of WOH Ranch on the Waipi’o Coast. One of the island’s last intact properties created under the Hawaiian ahupuaʻa system of wedge-shaped land division, the ranch is home to a globally renowned nursery of dwarf coconut trees as well as tilapia ponds, grazing animals, tropical fruit orchards, ocean fishing grounds, and an endless amount of education from the past for the future. I could spend an entire week just here, plucking jabuticaba, star fruit, thin-skinned avocado, papaya, and mamey from the trees.

Waipi’o Good Eats & Overlook: Our WOH Ranch guides, Logan and Kaleo, suggested we hit the Waipi’o Good Eats food truck for lunch, and order “anything Korean chicken.” We did, and it was great, though my brother’s loco moco was a strong order as well. We then drove two minutes to the Waipi’o Valley overlook, a breathtaking affair every time, instantly triggering depictions of what Hawaiian life must have been like pre-contact. (And, in some ways, it’s one of the few ways those traditions persist today, at least in Waipi’o.)    

Seafood Bar & Restaurant in Kawaihae: Located behind the industrial Kawaihae port’s storage tanks and shipyard accouterments, the bluntly named Seafood Bar & Grill sports perhaps the ugliest restaurant view in Hawaii. That’s not the point — the cocktails and the cuisine are why a line forms out the door from happy hour onward every day. My steamed swordfish was a lesson in restraint, while the seafood quesadilla appetizer was much more hedonistic. The rest of the menu fills in the blanks.

Kealakekua Bay with Fair Wind Cruises: The Big Island’s snorkeling centerpiece is Kealakekua Bay, which is also where Captain Cook got killed not long after he “discovered” Hawai’i. The only boating company to have a permanent mooring there is Fair Wind Cruises, and their heartwarming origin story is really all the extra encouragement you need. (If fate, kindness, and family doesn’t float your boat, maybe their sustainability commitment will.) Then you eat their rather delicious vegan breakfast and lunch, sip their just-pressed ginger sodas and farm-grown mai tais, and realize that this is the best boat after all. Oh, and there are so many fish with so much time to see them that you’ve clicked that box for the whole trip when done.

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MAUI

My wife, two kids, and I then said goodbye to our extended family and headed to Maui for four more nights.

Waikulu Distillery & Agave Farm: My cousin, who grew up in Agoura Hills, and her husband own Waikulu Distillery, which grows agave and turns it into spirits near the town of Makawao in the Upcountry Maui on the slopes below Haleakalā. They finally got their tasting room open after years of waiting on permits, and there’s now steady business coming through the doors, though they still only sell bottles on Maui. We stopped by three times in our four days there, checking out the goods, picking a few to bring home, and watching the operation in various stages of action. I’ll write a proper article about them one day soon, much like I did for Santa Barbara’s agave growers in last week’s cover story.  

Pookela Paradise: Since we were visiting my cousin again, we decided to rent a house in Makawao, and found this nearby spot with great views called Pookela Paradise. It’s about a six-minute walk to the middle of Makawao, and only 15 minutes or so to drive to most else worth seeing in this neck of the Maui woods, from Paia to Hali’imaile. Go straight to the owner for the best rate.  

Restaurant Marlow: I’ve wanted to visit the upscale restaurant and pizzeria for the past three Maui trips, and we finally made it this time. The Marlow hype is worth believing, from the tomato carpaccio and crispy-skinned kampachi to the woodfired pizzas of mushroom/garlic confit and braised pork/arrabiata/lilikoi butter to the sock-knocking dessert of olive oil ice cream with honey, sea salt, and fennel pollen.

Lahaina, Kaanapali, Kapalua: Given that our last trip was during the 2023 fires, we felt that a cruise through Lahaina was appropriate, followed by beach stops at Kaanapali and Kapalua, two spots I haven’t been to since I was a kid (aside from golfing there once). Lahaina was pretty desolate, the burned lots mostly cleaned out, with some rebuilding underway, though not a ton. Kaanapali was the tourist mecca I imagined — perfect for buying a new pair of expensive sunglasses and quick, expensive snacks/drinks at the Monkeypod in the Whalers Village mall. We chilled briefly on the crowded beach at Kapalua, where the snorkeling was decent, then stuck ourselves in traffic on the way back home, as the south swell pummeled the highway with sea spray.   

Makawao Public House: Earning the most recent rave reviews in Upcountry is Makawao Public House, which was buzzing when we walked in for dinner. We started with cocktails and a hamachi kama, then kept it relatively simple: a truffle burger, bleu cheese burger, taro burger, and birria ramen. The extensive and well-decorated menu could entertain for many more meals. 

Haleakalā National Park: We caught epic weather for our ride up to Haleakalā National Park, stopping first at the Hosmer Grove for a quick walk through a forest of introduced trees and then a more recently replanted landscape of native Hawaiian shrubs. It’s a big time, easy-picking spot for birders (watch this great little video I just found). We stopped for our first crater peak at the Leleiwi Overlook (five minute walk from car, no one there), hit the summit for the blooming silverswords and full-gulp views of the otherworldly landscape plus Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in the distance, and then hiked for about an hour through the clouds on the Halemau’u Trail.

Satori Sushi: For an early dinner with live music, we hit up the seemingly permanent food truck in the heart of Makawao called Satori, Maui’s proud purveyor of farm-to-table sushi. As Erik Rivers played his own music interspersed with covers of Eddie Vedder and the Grateful Dead, we chowed down on miso soup and handrolls, both fish-filled and vegetarian. I stayed a bit longer to drink more ciders that I brought over from the Rodeo General Store (also a great place for kimchi, breakfast sandos, and more) before walking up the hill home. 

Choice Health Bar: Our last meal out — not counting the green curry, poke, and dumplings we had at my cousin’s house later that night and the airport food to come — was a lunch in Paia. We were hoping to hit the Paia Fish Market, but the line was out the door, so we wound up across the street at Choice Health Bar. After almost two weeks of big meals, both homemade and at restaurants, this natural foods hub was the right choice: tempeh wraps, vegan salads, smoothies, avocado toast, tomato-cashew soup, fresh watermelon juice. We were refreshed, just in time to head home.  

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