This video was created in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. While visitors have been welcomed back to Hawaiʻi since this was created, we think its core message still resonates.
The first “visitors” to the Islands of Hawaiʻi came not knowing what to expect — or even that the Islands existed. It is generally believed Hawaiʻi’s first permanent inhabitants sailed in voyaging canoes from the southern hemisphere islands of the Marquesas, between 300 and 800 A.D. Later waves of settlers arrived by the 12th century, this time from Tahiti.
All Hawaiian Islands have a “dry side” and a “wet side.” The windward (east) side of each island attracts more annual rainfall. The leeward (west) side is always the drier area of the island.
Hawaiʻi’s tropical latitude gives it little difference in year-round day length and the amount of sun, even in the winter. But because the Islands’ terrain varies in altitude in certain spots (primarily on Maui and the Big Island with these Islands’ large volcanoes), temperatures can vary. The average annual temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.9 degrees Celsius) fluctuates only a few degrees from summer (May through October) to winter (November through April), and — surprisingly to many newcomers — the summits of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi’s Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are often blanketed with snow. (NOTE: There are no formal ski areas on these mountains, but locals do snowboard and ski on their own power.)
Together, the eight main Hawaiian Islands — Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Lanaʻi and Niʻihau — are home to virtually every geographic formation, terrain and climate to be found on earth, and the possibilities for outdoor enthusiasts are boundless: There are lava deserts on the Big Island and highland rainforests on Kauaʻi; on Molokaʻi you’ll find the world’s tallest sea cliffs and miles of pristine beaches.
What’s more, modern Hawaiʻi’s culture is every bit as diverse as its geography, with virtually every nation and ethnicity represented in its food, festivals, music and art. From hula and hip hop to the Honolulu Symphony and community theater, the possibilities for today’s visitors to participate in Hawaiʻi’s rich culture are limited only by the imagination.
