100 photos and videos of Hawaii

Niihau is a private island that allows very few visitors. The beach here is nearly deserted. Only about 130 people live on the island.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

The roots of a strangler fig at Allerton Gardens on Kauai.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

Besides its pricey rooms and extensive art collection, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel features several feathered guests.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Kauai’s “Jusassic Park” waterfall, Manawaipuna Falls, can now be reached by helicopter tour.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park can hike the Kilauea Iki trail, descending through rain forest, then cutting across the still-steaming Kilauea crater.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Waimea Gardens Cottages stand amid rolling green hills, about nine miles from the beaches of Mauna Kea, about two miles from the town of Kamuela.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

In the gift shop of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a fancy pillow shows an eruption in progress.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Ferns and other tropical plants proliferate on the wet side of the Big Island of Hawaii, which averages more than 120 inches of rain yearly.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Monk seals on Niihau beach. The earless seals are endangered and only about 1,300 are known to survive.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

Just outside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the Kileauea Lodge offers 12 guest rooms. In September 2011, rates started at $170-$185.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A paddle boarder slices through the water at Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Spouting Horn on Kauai sometimes blows water 50 feet in the air.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

Each of the three units at the Waimea Gardens Cottages features kitchen or kitchenette, a private garden and barbecue. In September 2011, rates ranged from $150-$180 nightly.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Seen here from an upper floor at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Kauna’oa Beach is one of the most popular on the island.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The easiest way to see Kauai’s Na Pali coast is by helicopter.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

Kauna’oa, on the dry side of the island, is home to the upscale Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and draws many visitors, including this skim-boarder.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Kamaka Hawaii, one of the oldest ukulele makers in the islands, is a family business that endures with its workshop on South Street in Honolulu.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

This artsy election sign was posted in 2010 in the town of Paia. (Alan Arakawa was elected mayor of Maui County that November.)  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

An artist does his best to capture the blue hues of the Pacific along the North Shore of the island.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The North Shore has some of the biggest waves and best surfing in Hawaii, but plenty of beaches are gentle enough for family outings.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Gathered for the sunrise atop Haleakala volcano, visitors bundle up against chilly temperatures and watch a light show in the dawn sky.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

One island retailer helps tourists remember their vacation every time they sit down in the bathroom.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The view from Makena Beach Golf Resort on Maui, formerly the Maui Prince Hotel. The hotel and resort are being renovated; the view stays the same.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has ongoing flows of lava into the sea, as well as steam vents at Kilauea volcano.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

At the north end of Lahaina, under a row of palm trees and next to several private beachfront homes, visitors can find the Lahaina Jodo Mission Buddhist Cultural Park.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Near the town of Lahaina on Maui, a hand-lettered warns of unmarked graves in a historic area.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Vivid flowers bloom in the historic cemetery at Lahaina.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Palms and other tropical plants grow in profusion around the old whaling town of Lahaina.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Roadside merchants stand out boldly amid the miles of hardened black lava along the island’s west coast.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Lahaina, once a whaling town, has become a tourism hot spot, with dozens of souvenir shops and restaurants aimed at travelers.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Chickens sometimes seem to rule the roost on Kauai. They seem to turn up everywhere.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

The town of Honomu, near Akaka Falls, was once dominated by the sugar trade, but now relies heavily on tourism.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Local youths jump into the water at the Mala Boat Ramp, Lahaina.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A team of cooks prepare a traditionally cooked pig for a luau.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Akaka Falls, about 11 miles north of Hilo, has been more measured at more than 420 feet high.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The nene (Hawaiian goose) walking around the grounds of the Kilauea Lighthouse is the state bird of Hawaii.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A traveler unwinds in a hammock along the Kaanapali Beachwalk, Maui.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Old Lahaina Luau, staged nightly, draws up to 440 diners, who crowd in with their cameras to admire traditional performers and artisans.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Hula dancers dominate the program at the Old Lahaina Luau.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Old Lahaina Luau.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Old Lahaina Luau.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Old Lahaina Luau.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Samiley scrapes the wax off a surfboard being prepared for consignment at the Surf ‘N Sea shop in Haleiwa.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

The Paia Inn is a small, stylish lodging in Paia, which is best known for its wind-surfing.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A surfer on a skim board at Waikiki Beach.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

On Maui, the Hula Grill restaurant faces the beach from the upscale Whalers Village mall in the Kaanapali area.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Pedestrians stroll past a historic wooden building along the Hana Highway in the town of Paia.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Interiors at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel are full of the color orange, designed to contrast with the blue Pacific.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Fred Kamaka, octogenarian son of the company founder, still leads tours of the Kamaka Hawaii ukulele factory. Free half-hour tours are offered Tuesdays through Fridays.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The lush vegetation at Umauma Falls, north of Hilo.  (Lawrence K. Ho / LAT)

The Old Lahaina Luau goes back decades, employs hundreds of islanders (including this greeter), and has operated near the Mala Wharf outside Lahaina since 1998.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Waimea Canyon on Kauai is sometimes called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. The canyon is 10 miles long and 3,000 feet deep.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Body surfers congregate in the shallows near Black Rock in the Kaanapali resort area.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Every night at Black Rock, Kaanapali, Maui, a Sheraton Maui staff member lights a torch, tosses an offering into the sea ...  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

...and dives in.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Kilauea has been erupting for 25 years. This image was captured by helicopter from 500 feet above a lava flow as it broke through the surface from the volcano’s Pu’u ‘O’o Crater.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A visitor checks out options at a shop in the beachside town of Paia.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The setting sun at Haleiwa Beach on Oahu’s North Shore.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A plumeria blossom glistens in the sun after a brief rain shower in Hanalei.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Kaanapali Beach Hotel, at the northwest end of the island, is known for its old-school atmosphere and family-friendliness. It offers visitors a chance to play checkers with colored coconuts -- or make a heart with them.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The red-crested cardinal found on the grounds of the Kilauea Lighthouse.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Paniolo Adventures Horseback Riding on the Big Island offers 90-minute sunset rides on the Ponoholo Ranch of historic Kohala Mountain.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

The flower of the ornamental Musa Banana plant.  (Lawrence K. Ho / LAT)

Kalei Carvalho, a Hawaiian cowboy, or paniolo, is a Kohala Mule Trail Adventure guide. Mule riders travel through the Pololu Valley on the Big Island of Hawaii.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

The Rev. Kosho Itagaki presides over the century-old Soto Zen Temple Zenshuji in Hanapepe, Kauai.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

Hotel Street, shown here, runs through Honolulu’s Chinatown, which has seen a revival with the opening of new galleries and restaurants.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

TNT Steak Burgers is a mobile hamburger stand that moves from beach to beach in Kauai.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Kona Coast.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

Kauai’s Waimea Canyon, accessible from Hawaii Highway 550, is 10 miles long and as deep as 3,000 feet.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

Glowing in the light of a setting sun, the red-colored walls of Waimea Canyon in Kauai as seen from the Canyon Lookout.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Sunset on Waikiki Beach.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

A small lizard pauses in a bush in Hanalei, Kauai.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Dance school students perform traditional Hawaiian songs at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, which traces the evolution of the music in exhibits.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A surfer glides down the face of a wind-blown wave at Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Quaint streets full of small shops in the town of Paia on Maui are representative of old Hawaii, an atmosphere that locals want to maintain.  (Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times)

Dawn on the lip of Haleakala makes for a memorable photo op.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Several cruise companies and charters offer catamaran tours of the rugged Napali Coast in Kauai. The 15-mile stretch of coastline also features several secluded reefs for snorkeling.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A fisherman at Lydgate State Park off Highway 56 just north of Lihue tries his luck in the surf at sunset.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Riders cross back over the road after a scenic viewing stop on their sunrise bike trek down Haleakala, a nearly 10,000-foot volcano on Maui.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Waimea Valley Audubon Center is a nature preserve, but swimming by the falls (as seen on “Lost”) is allowed.  (Mark Boster / LAT)

A giant sea turtle surfaces for a moment to snack on a bite of seaweed dangled by a visitor at Chun’s Reef on the North Shore.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Outrigger canoes on Kee Beach near Hanalei on Kauai’s North Shore.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The sun sets off of Waikiki.  (Ron Garnett / Los Angeles Times)

The old stone Makawao Union Church stands along Baldwin Avenue, uphill from Paia, downhill from Makawao.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Thurston Lava Tube, which is big enough to walk through, is among the natural features within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Sunshine, the blue sky and palm trees are all that is needed to enjoy the outdoors at Kapaa in Kauai.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Two sunbathers get lost in books on a lazy day at the 2 1/2 -mile-long beach at Kailua Bay.  (Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times)

A meal from Nico’s Pier 38.  (Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times)

Sunrise at Haleakala National Park.  (Richard Derk / Los Angeles Times)

The rare Haleakala silversword grows at high altitudes on the harsh slopes of the Hawaiian volcano.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Niihau, Hawaii, has been a privately owned island since 1864. It is only 72 square miles, and is accessible via helicopter from the island of Kauai.  (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times)

The Lodge at Koele.  (Beverly Beyette / Los Angeles Times)

An outrigger canoe floats at Smith’s Tropical Paradise Garden Lu’au in Kapaa. Near the Wailua River, Smith’s Tropical Paradise is a 30-acre botanical garden with one of Kauai’s oldest traditional luaus.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

At one of Kauai’s most popular beaches off Highway 56 in the North Shore region, the giant exposed roots of an ironwood tree provide a backdrop for visitors at Kee Beach.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)