Menu:
Hawaii Shopping Guide
Your Hawaiian safari remains incomplete as long as you do not indulge yourself in an aloha shopping spree. In order to immortalize your Hawaiian experience, you have to carry some mementoes back home! You also have to take gifts for your loved ones who were not as lucky as you in visiting this charming land! The exotic appeal of Hawaii are to be found in Hawaiian shopping experience too; only you have to find out the treasure trove. Starting from the celebrated aloha shirts to the handmade jewelries, Koa wood crafts and other home décor items are some of the objects that you will treasure all your life. Among other goodies, Macadamia nuts and Hawaiian coffees also make great gifts back home. But how and just where to go for shopping in Hawaii? Here is a brief highlight of the major shopping centers in Hawaii.
Oahu
This island is regarded as the shopping paradise of the entire chain of islands. Waikiki and Honolulu are two major shopping centers in Hawaii. Here you will find all types of shopping experiences- boutiques to internationally renowned chain stores, small specialty shops to huge shopping malls- you will find it all in Oahu. One of the interesting aspects of Oahu shopping is: arcades are concentrated over a small stretch of area and thus it is possible to cover the entire shopping complex within one or two afternoons followed by a gastronomic adventure in a Hawaiian restaurant.
A must see is the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki that makes your shopping experience more entertaining by offering fine dining options and a host of entertainments including hula, ukulele and lei making lessons, absolutely free of cost. It comprises over 100 stores that sell Hawaiian goodies and also home world famous fashion Houses such as Cartier, Hermes and Fendi.
The International Marketplace is an ideal place to pick up variety of unique Hawaiian products. Honolulu’s Ala Moana is the upscale shopping center that homes the biggest fashion boutiques like Diesel and DKNY, Louis Vuitton, Fossil, Nine West and Sephora. The Aloha Tower is also a good place for picking up some typical Hawaiian collectibles.
Big Island
Here also you will find the ingredients for shop-till-drop, but at a different scale. The open-air Keauhou Shopping Center comprises of 40 shops that include stores of latest fashion apparel, swimwear to convenient stores. Spice up your shopping experience with some free entertainments of ukulele and lei making classes every Friday. Kings’ Shops at Waikoloa, Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo, Hilo Shopping Center and Puainako Town Center in Hilo, the Kona Coast Shopping Center and Lanihau Center in Kailua-Kona are the other shopping attractions in this island.
Kauai
Kauai offers you some wonderful open air shopping experience under the backdrop of wild nature. Poipu, at the southern point of Kauai, is the home of Poipu Shopping Village and the Coconut Marketplace in Kauai’s eastern side are two open air shopping complex offering an array of goods an entertainments. Kukui Grove Center is however billed as the largest shopping center in Kauai. Princeville Shopping Center, Ching Young Village in Hanalei, Kauai Village in Kapaa and Rice Shopping Center in Lihue are the other major shopping centers in this island.
Maui- whalers’ village
This whalers’ village is the ideal place for the die hard shoppers; a plenty of malls and exclusive shopping centers have something for all with different tastes and budget. The Shops at Wailea, is billed as the island's most exclusive shopping center. For typical Hawaiian souvenirs, head straight to Lahaina Center and Lahaina Cannery Mall. In addition to that visit Queen Kaahumanu Center and Whalers Village Shopping Center to discover some of the trendiest items on offer.
Thus Hawaii makes for the perfect holiday destination that combines out of the world scenic beauty, exhilarating activities, delicious cuisine, and its numerous shop-till-you-drop opportunities.