We met many of them during the So Much More Hawaii bloggers tour, when they served as our hosts and guides.

**  Oahu – we spent a memorable day in and around Honolulu with Russ the ParkRat, who writes ParkRat’s Playground. He took us to eat chilly delights at Waiola Shave Ice, we all toured the USS ARIZONA Memorial and we spent the evening at the beach crabbing with him and his kids by flashlight.

He also spends a lot of time thinking about food (a man after my own heart) so he and I both like Melissa and her Urban Mix Plate blog. So ono!

**  Maui – Liza authors A Maui Blog, and she and her family were fantastic hosts.

They took us all around the island, including a drive up the Haleakala volcano (ooh, silverswords) a scrumptuous meal at the Paia Fish Market (where my picky son actually ate seafood,) a delightful afternoon at the Maui Ocean Center and then some boogie-boarding and bodysurfing at the neighborhood beach.

You can also read Nathan Kam’s Kam Family Blog, Homespun Honolulu and watch videos on Beach Walks with Rox.

For more local flavor, turn to Alltop’s list of Hawaii blogs.

If you want beaches, mountains, volcanoes, jungles or towns, it’s all there….and don’t miss the annual Parker Ranch Rodeo coming up on July 4.  Yes, a rodeo on a ranch in Hawaii. I told you they have everything!

One well-known activity is a dolphin encounter at the Big Island Dolphin Quest facility located inside the sprawling Hilton Waikoloa Village resort (we’re talking 62 acres and 1,240 rooms) on the Big Island.

You can also arrange encounters with wild dolphins through companies like Dolphin Journeys, but of course this means finding native spinner dolphins in the ocean.  There is no guarantee you’ll have an encounter of any significant length with wild creatures. Hey, you’re in their “house” on that one.

My son and I participated in a Dolphin Quest Encounter Deluxe during the So Much More Hawaii blogger’s press trip.  As guests of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, I did not have to pay for the experience (although I did pay for some photos and a video) but at a regular cost of about $260/person with tax included, I spent a lot of time in the waters of the Waikoloa lagoon thinking, “is this moment worth $520 plus souvenirs?”

I know, I know, “experiences of a lifetime” are supposed to be priceless.

On some levels, that is quite true.

On others, it is just a marketer’s way to get you to whip out the wallet and justify extravagance.

What about this particular dolphin experience?  Well, it depends.

The experience was very well-run by the Dolphin Quest staff. We learned a ton about dolphins, their habitats and habits, and the education/research work that Dolphin Quest does on behalf of their Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (yes, Atlantic dolphins in a resort lagoon in the Pacific. They are fed Atlantic food as well.  I leave it to my readers to mull the ecological ramifications and geographic cognitive dissonance.)

My nine-year-old son and I had plenty of time in the lagoon water with a small group, getting close to the dolphins and learning their names, their quirks and their cleverness.  The trainers obviously know their charges very well and care for them a great deal.

If my son had come home and announced an immediate intent to become a marine biologist, I’d be all over the “spend whatever it takes when it’s priceless” philosophy, but he didn’t.  He enjoyed himself, he thought it was very cool, but he mostly wanted to go swim in the Waikoloa resort’s quite phenomenal pool after our dolphin moment.

So, here are my thoughts on such dolphin encounters….

If you’ve budgeted for this and have the cash available and this is really important to you AND really important to your child, then go ahead.

If you sorta like dolphins (and who doesn’t?) then you can still see and hear them just fine simply by staying at the resort and walking around the lagoon. Ask for a room near the dolphins, and you can hear them whistle and click and splash all you want.  A footbridge crosses over the lagoon; my son and I stood and enjoyed their antics for quite awhile without paying a cent.

The point of this post is not to be a travel killjoy or budget weenie, but to let you know that, hey, it’s OK to say “No, thanks” to big outlays of money for fantasy-ish experiences.

If your kids mostly want to go hang out by the swimming pool, those moments may bring priceless travel memories as well.

Liza writes A Maui Blog, and she and her family took us all around the island, including a drive up the Haleakala volcano (ooh, silverswords) and a scrumptuous meal at the Paia Fish Market, where my picky son actually devoured seafood! It was all mixed up in pasta, but still….

We spent hours in the Maui Ocean marine park, which has touch tanks, live coral, turtles, naturalist presentations and a focus on Hawaiian sea creatures and culture.

In the video below, we had just finished watching a live demo in the aquarium tank with a diver, narrated by a lively guide who exploded various myths about sharks and captured audience attention even in a packed room.

If you can’t see the embedded video box below, here is the direct link to the video on my YouTube channel.

Just So You Know Disclaimer:  The state Hawaii Tourism Authority through Cilantro Media paid my way to Hawaii for the So Much More Hawaii bloggers tour, and also paid most of my expenses while I was there.  I paid for Liza and her son’s entrance, my own and my son’s, and was reimbursed later.  By the way, I used a military discount for one ticket, a AAA (American Automobile Assn) member discount for another, and Liza as a Hawaii resident could ask for “kamaaina” local rates.  Always ask if there are available member discounts, at any tourist attraction.

There’s a soft husk that you split and peel off before eating the sweet insides.

I think the “dragon eye” name makes them even more appealing.

The miracle not pictured is my Mr. Picky Eater son saying “Sure, I’ll try them,” popping one into his mouth and actually chewing without drama or spitting.

Oh, and he liked them.

(You can follow Warren around the volcanoes – he’s on Twitter at @nativeg. This post is part of the ever-enjoyable WanderFood Wednesday series on the Wanderlust and Lipstick blog. Head over there and check it out!)

In addition to all of the military lodging and resorts described below, always ask to see if a military discount is offered at civilian hotels.

The Outrigger hotels and resorts have a military travel page on their Web site, for example.

These days, money is tight in the islands because tourism traffic has dropped considerably….good deals abound and in most cases, all you have to do is ask.

Oahu Lodging for Service Families

Waikiki –  The big kahuna is the Hale Koa Hotel, right on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu.  Since 1975 it has been  “a first class hotel and recreation facility at affordable prices for military members and their families.”  I stayed there with my family a few years back and found excellent amenities (a small PX in the lobby, self-service laundry facilities, nice pools and here’s a military Mom’s blog post about the Hale Koa Luau) plus a convenient location downtown.  Reserve as far in advance as you can (up to a year) on their Web site or by calling 800-367-6027 (in CONUS) or 808-955-0555 in Hawaii.

Other Oahu military hotels and lodging (for access to these you’ll probably want a rental car….)

Close To Or On The Beach

***   The Pililaau Army Recreation Center (PARC) on the usually-always-sunny Waianae, or Leeward, coast, has beachfront cabins, an equipment rental facility and a small shopette.

***  Also towards the Leeward side are the MWR Barbers Point Beach Cottages – be prepared, a lot of the amplifying info (eligibility, application, etc.) is on clunky PDFs.

***  Some of the very nicest Hawaii getaway places are on the Windward side at the Bellows Air Force Station beach cabins; they are wildly popular and fill up very quickly, but the Waimanalo Bay setting is lovely. Camping is available, too.

***  At the Marine Corps base Kaneohe Bay, you’ll find the Lodge at Kaneohe Bay and some beachfront cottages (close to breeding grounds for monk seals and sea turtles.)

Inland Oahu

***  Near the Arizona Memorial and other Pearl Harbor tourist attractions, the Pearl Harbor Navy Lodge is worth a try; it is close to a massive Navy exchange and commissary (buy your macadamias/gifts there instead of out in town, and ship them home from the base post office!)

***  I am appalled at the apparent lack of a decent Web site for the Royal Alaka’i at Hickam Air Force Base, but Hickam is very roughly in the same area as Pearl Harbor and the rates look cheaper than the Navy Lodge.

***  Tripler Lodging fills with people who have family (or appointments themselves) at nearby Tripler Medical Center, but they might have space-available rooms.

***  The Inn at Schofield Barracks is pretty far inland; rather than use their rather primitive online reservation system, I’d pick up the phone and call instead.

Big Island Lodging for Service Families

***   Kilauea Military Camp — this is a Joint Service Recreation Center that is located in a mountainous (often quite cool) setting right inside in the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. You can’t beat that for being in the center of the action!  There are ninety one-, two- and three-bedroom cottages and apartments, restaurants, a Recreation Lodge and even golf. Arrange to fly into the Hilo airport; it’s much closer to Kilauea than the Kona airport on the other side of the island.

For a personalized tour of the volcanoes by a native guide, I recommend Warren Costa’s company Native Guide Hawaii, based on my very positive experience with him during the So Much More Hawaii blogger’s tour.

Kauai Lodging for Service Families

***  Barking Sands Beach Cottages on Kauai (at the Pacific Missile Range Facility or PMRF)  –  If you and the family want to get away from it all like Robinson Crusoe on the sunny western side of the island, this is the place.  There are 12 oceanfront cottages and 6 set back a bit with “ocean view,” plus a small restaurant, shopette and tours/recreation center.

Although it is a beautiful beach and pristine area, it is a long drive to much of anywhere, so you may wish to spend a few days at Barking Sands simply unwinding (and maybe hiking Waimea Canyon) then shift to another part of the island for more access to restaurants and activities.

As a Navy veteran myself (my husband is as well) I hope that Service members and their families find this list helpful. Please let me know in the comments if I’ve missed anything.

They worked patiently  with my 9-year-old son one morning to get him upright on a surfboard.

He’s still talking about it.

He won’t take off his black Waikiki Beach Services protective surf shirt (that thing could stand up on its own in a corner by now, it’s so salty and grimy.)

He wants to go back to the islands and surf again, and I’m already trying to figure out how to get us there.

That’s what a visit to the islands is all about, bruddah!

Just So You Know Disclaimer:  The state Hawaii Tourism Authority through Cilantro Media paid my way to Hawaii for the So Much More Hawaii bloggers tour, and also paid most of my expenses while I was there.

It was about 3.5 miles of trail, mostly along the Canyon rim, with a lot of up and down….you can’t go down into a canyon without paying the piper and going back up.

The reward for our effort was the beautiful 800-foot Waipo’o Falls, my son’s favorite spot on the hike.

Our guide’s name was Web; he works with local company Kayak Kauai and  has been leading land and waterborne tours into the wilds of the “Garden Isle” for a long time.

Web was full of information on local plants and wildlife, and he was great with my son when things got a little interesting on steep, rocky or root-filled parts of the trail (we’re not exactly a family that hikes every day.)

He also brought a picnic lunch for us that included a really juicy fresh pineapple.

Families can get involved in caring for the park during events like the Banana Poka Round-Up – the Banana Poka is a lovely vine with a pretty pink flower, but on Kauai it’s an invasive pest that chokes out native plants.

You can start investigating the area if you drive up to Kokee State Park and pick up some maps and information.

Near a small museum at the end of the road is the Kokee Lodge with good local food. Try their famous sweet corn bread!

Sturdy footwear, like a good pair of sneakers, is essential. Bring a small pack for water bottles, hats and other items, so your hands are free to maintain balance when needed.

We loved the grandeur of the Canyon and the jungle-y parts of the trail;  some huffing and puffing was a small price to pay to see its beauty.

Just So You Know Disclaimer:  The state Hawaii Tourism Authority through Cilantro Media is paying my way to Hawaii for the So Much More Hawaii bloggers tour, and also paying most of my expenses while I am here.

They are based in Honolulu and have been around since 1952.

Products include fruit drinks, teas and diet/lite items, and they are super-yummy and refreshing after a hot day in the tropical sun.

I like Pass-O-Guava Nectar with passion fruit, orange juice and guava.

My son votes for Passion Orange Drink, with passion fruit and orange.

Grab them in any store in the islands.

For more on our blogger’s tour, see the So Much More Hawaii blog/microsite.

Just So You Know Disclaimer:  The Hawaii Tourism Authority through Cilantro Media is paying my way to Hawaii, and also paying most of my expenses while I am there including lodging.  I am contributing towards my son’s expenses.

This is my son in Waikiki Beach surf (because we’re visiting with the So Much More Hawaii bloggers tour.)

Any questions?

****

Seriously, our blogger group has now assembled in the islands and we’re already talking about Hawaii on Twitter with the #HawaiiHTA hashtag, we’re uploading photos to Flickr, writing blog posts, uploading items to our Facebook pages….and wondering how we got so lucky.

Looking forward to more time to post as we move across the islands.

All I know is that a very good (but garlicky) plate of pasta disappeared at dinner from Mr. Picky Eater’s plate, so get ‘em running around in the surf enough and they’ll eat anything!

It’s hard to balance time with my son and time to do my research/blogging job here, but I’m working on it.

A lot of deep breaths are involved.

Just So You Know Disclaimer:  The Hawaii Tourism Authority through Cilantro Media is paying my way to Hawaii for the So Much More Hawaii bloggers tour, and also paying most of my expenses while I am here, including lodging.  I am contributing towards my son’s expenses. The point of the trip is to bring experienced bloggers and communicators to the islands to talk about what we see; my primary focus will be on travel with kids. No one has told me that I cannot post negative information. No one has told me that I must say positive things.  I will be as objective as I can possibly be.

Vacation? Uh, no. Work.

Really.

A lot of tourism organizations are starting to see the value of the social Web and social media-based content, and the Hawaii Tourism Authority is no exception.

They are sponsoring a group of bloggers to come to Hawaii, look behind the scenes and the standard tourism glitter, and show our readers a more local-flavored “So Much More Hawaii” (a dedicated site for our tour content is launching in a day or so.)

Visionary tour organizer Christine Lu is big on cross-border cultural understanding (I was on her China 2.0 tour in November 2008) and social media is a common theme in her life for creating those connections. She writes:

“The upcoming So Much More Hawaii tour is meant as a proof of concept that through social media, first-hand insight of Hawaii can create content and outreach that influences those to understand Hawaii better and want to visit the islands…key bloggers in different vertical niche markets [will] experience the islands as a group, with separate sector focuses. Each one has a sector they are known for covering and their visit to Hawaii is meant to share this with their audience.”

My focus will be primarily family travel, of course.  Other bloggers on the tour include:

• Rick Calvert, founder, Blog World and New Media Expo – a huge annual blogging conference.  He’ll cover the islands as a business and convention destination.
• Leah Lamb, covering eco-tourism and green travel for Current TV. I know she must be intrigued by Hawaii’s recent efforts to invest in clean and renewable energy resources.
• Jim Turner, OneByOne Media and host of the Social Mediasphere show on Blog Talk Radio.
• Shira Lazar, blogging on solo travel for Jaunted.com, the pop culture travel guide.
• Aric S. Queen, producer, writer, podcaster and value travel blogger for the UpTake travel site.
• Mark Tafoya, our tour foodie blogger. He’s a professional chef and co-founder of the Culinary Media Network.
• L.P. “Neenz” Faleafine, a native Hawaiian, Chief Evangelist for Alltop.com and founder of Hawaii-based Pono Media.

As we all know, the economy is down around the world. The Hawaii tourism industry is in crisis right now and the outlook is grim.  I applaud Christine and others for seeking new, more effective ways to use social media to showcase the islands for potential visitors.

Since my first Navy ship was homeported in Pearl Harbor, I feel an affinity for our 50th state and I look forward to blogging about it for my readers.

Here are some of the blog posts already online about So Much More Hawaii:

• Chef Mark to see “So Much More Hawaii.”
• Ryan at Hawaii Blog talks about the social media tour Hawaii
• Damon writes that the Mainland bloggers are coming!

Keep an eye not only on this blog but also on the Perceptive Travel Blog, my Twitter stream (we’re using hashtag #HawaiiHTA,) the Flickr photo Group pool for the event and my new personal blog on tourism and the social Web, Sheila’s Guide to the Good Stuff.

Just So You Know Disclaimer:  The Hawaii Tourism Authority through Cilantro Media is paying my way to Hawaii, and also paying most of my expenses while I am there including lodging.  I am contributing towards my son’s expenses. The point of the trip is to bring experienced bloggers and communicators to the islands to talk about what we see; my primary focus will be on travel with kids. No one has told me that I cannot post negative information. No one has told me that I must say positive things.  I will be as objective as I can possibly be.