Kauai is the fourth largest island in Hawaii and is known as the Garden Isle. It is also known for being the home to some of the most beautifully natural places like orchid filled Moir Gardens and McBryde Gardens. Any trip made to Kauai should be highlighted by certain recommended locations. Have you ever heard the saying, you haven’t known until you’ve seen? Well you haven’t known Kaui until you’ve seen these places. These are the top five must see destinations on the island of Kaui.

1. Wailua Falls

Wailua Falls present travelers with the gift of a majestic double-tiered waterfall. The falls overflow from the side of an earthy cliff at a height of a massive 80 feet. Anyone who is interested is allowed to view it because of its easily accessible location close to a roadside lookout. Depending on the flow of the river and the rain, the Wailua Falls change appearance. It is recommended to view this sight during the early morning so that the sun can shine on the fall. The cool mountain water can also be waded in by visitors who decide to take the trail to where the bottom of the waterfall is located. Ah, so beautiful.

2. Fern Grotto

An exploration of Fern Grotto promises a strange Hawaiian adventure. Strange, but beautiful. Located along the Wailua River, is a collection of lava rocks in the setting of a grotto now covered completely with ferns from the tropics. But the grotto is not only a beautiful location, but is also a soothing one because once you arrive, you begin to get serenaded by traditional Hawaiian music played live by musicians. The overall trip is about 40 minutes, but the sights you see and experience is so worth it.

3. National Tropical Botanical Gardens

The National Tropical Botanical Gardens located in Kauai is not one, but two gardens, the Lawa’i Garden and the Alberton Garden. This is truly a must see not only because it is appealing to the eye, but also because it happens to be the location of the world’s biggest anthology of rare plants. The immaculate gardens include flowers, sculptures, and fountains. Tours can be taken throughout 100+ acre garden. It’s truly a sight to see.

4. Hanalei

Hanalei is the northern part of Kauai and is quite breathtakingly surrounded by majestic mountains. From those mountains flow beautiful waterfalls that provide the valley below the mountains with an overabundance of water. Hanalei is beautiful for its plentiful greenery and its beauty also encompasses the bay, city, river, valley, and beach that share its name.

5. Kipu Falls

Don’t let its smallness fool you! Although Kipu Falls is not nearly as big as the other waterfalls that inhabit the island, it is still quite beautiful. Tourists and residents of the island both find the sight a very joyful one indeed. Kipu Falls is surrounded by a 20-rock wall and comes included with a rope swing for those adventurous enough to swing from it and dive into the water below. The pool is wide enough for groups of people, deep enough to kick back and enjoy the coolness of the water, and clear enough that nothing inside of it will surprise you. It is a great way to cool off and a great way to enjoy some of Kauai’s beautiful natural sites.

The Princeville Resort at Hanalei is a world famous resort that delivers everything you could dream for your resort to consist of. The ocean view location gives it a view to be admired, and you’re sure to wish you never had to leave. If you’re traveling during or after the spring of 2008, you’ll want to look for the St. Regis Princeville Resort, as after the current, new construction, this is what its name will be changed to. 
The Princeville Resort has several types of rooms to choose for to fit any situation and taste. Rooms available are listed below.
Mountain Garden Rooms (547 square feet): 
• Mountain or Garden View
• Found on floors 2-7, and floor 9
• One king size or two queen size beds
• Marble bathroom, double vanity
Ocean View Rooms (547 square feet):
• Hanalei Bay and Pacific Ocean views
• Found on floors 4-11
• One king size or two queen size beds
• Marble bathroom, double vanity
Premium Ocean View Rooms (547 square feet):
• Panoramic Hanalei Bay and Pacific Ocean views
• Found on floors 4-11
• One king size or two queen size beds
• Marble bathroom, double vanity
Prince Junior Ocean View Rooms (820 square feet):
• Hanalei Bay, Bali Hai and the Pacific Ocean views
• Marble bath with ocean views
• Spa tub
• Foyer entry
• Dining area for four
St. Regis Ocean View suites (1,200 square feet):
• Foyer that leads to sitting area
• Bedroom and dining area for four are combined
• Separate tub, shower, dressing table
Presidential Suites (1,800 square feet):
• Full kitchen
• Butler’s entrance
• Formal dining area
• Living room with fireplace
• King size bed
• Bedroom opens to a breakfast nook for six
• Large picture window in the bathroom
Royal Suite (2,400 square feet): 
• Panoramic view of Hanalei Bay
• King size bed
• Spa tub
• Entire room opens to the view with expanding window
• Dining/meeting area for eight
• Wet bar
• Full kitchen
• Separate breakfast nook den
If the rooms aren’t at the top of your priority, don’t worry, there’s much more to this resort than their newly designed rooms. Golf lovers will find their perfect paradise here, as their many gold courses offer some of the best golf found anywhere in the world. In fact, many of them have been featured and listed on the top lists of Golf Digest, Golf Weekly, and more.
You can also indulge in pampering services from the professional spa staff. The Princeton Resort spa has world-class services. You can enjoy an array of massages such as Swedish massages, sports massages, hot stone, and deep tissue massages. Get your daily exercise on any one of their top-of-the-line fitness machines or weights, and then top it off with a relaxing visit to the sauna, whirlpool, or steam room. Rejuvenate by treating yourself to facial or body wrap.

The Lihue real estate market is showing increasing sales, although the overall economy of the Garden Isle remains stagnant and home prices continue to decline. According to a June 7, 2010 article in the Pacific Business News, “Single-family home sales on Kauai were up by 80 percent in May, while condo sales were up 38 percent compared to the same month last year. There were 27 homes sold on the Garden Isle last month, up from 15 in May of 2009, according to statistics from Hawaii Information Service.” The piece went on to state that “The median price for a single-family home, however, fell 30 percent in May to $420,000, down from $600,000 in May 2009. Condo sales were up last month, with 18 units sold compared to 13 units sold in May 2009. But the median price dropped 50 percent to $164,000, down from $330,000 in 2009.”

The overall economic recovery of Kauai, however, remains unimpressive, and a stronger rally will likely be necessary for encouraging the purchase of Lihue homes for sale. According to a June 8, 2010 article in Hawaii News Now, “The latest state report on tax revenues and building permits shows a decidedly slower economic recovery on neighbor islands than on Oahu.” The piece, composed by Howard Dicus, went on to state that “General excise tax revenues the single strongest indicator of consumer and business spending, fell 4.4% statewide in the first quarter despite March coming in 2.3% higher than year-before levels….Excise taxes were down 2% on Oahu, down 8% on Kauai, down 16% on Maui County, and down 18% on the Big Island, compared to the first quarter of 2009.”

Even the tourist sector, traditionally one of the largest components of the island economy and by extension an indicator of the Lihue real estate market, showed mixed signals in the most recent tracking period. According to a May 28, 2010 article in the Maui News, “Kauai, although its head count fell 1.1 percent to 75,509, saw spending rocket up by 14.4 percent to $75.8 million. That makes the Kauai math easy: Each visitor spent just about $1,000…”

Hawaii with its tropical climate and crowded beaches is an ideal place for a vacation. However, as casual as the place may sound, you need to make and follow a good travel plan in order to save yourself from any last moment turmoil and mismanagement. The first step involved while planning your trip to Maui is to make arrangements for travel. Book your air reservations in advance, most especially if you are visiting in the high-season. You may also opt for travel packages that combine both the travel and accommodation expenses.

However, they may charge you a tad extra if you are visiting in the high season. You will find a number of websites on the World Wide Web that are dedicated to tourism Maui and offer discounted rates and innovative package deals to cater to diverse budgets. There are also packages which accommodate your expenses for tours and other vacation activities. This way you have a firm idea of how much you are going to spend and can thus plan accordingly.

While making air reservations, it is worth mentioning that different airlines have different charges for different days and sometimes even different times. Search for plenty of deals and choose the one that best meets your needs.

These deals can easily be viewed and analyzed online at dedicated online travel websites. Search for ones that deal with Hawaii travel and offer discounted packages.

The next step involved is to make overnight reservations in Maui. The last thing you want is to end up in a maximum packed hotel or resort late night and have to pay extra for an accommodation. Timing and pre-planning, therefore is extremely important. Being a major tourist’s attraction site, Maui offers an unlimited variety of overnight reservations

The most opted choice is of course the traditional hotel reservations. However, Maui real estate, villas with a spectacular view of the ocean and condo rentals are also extremely popular. Most of these rentals are enlisted online on a number of websites and make sure you check for availability before making your airline reservations

Maui travel plans include a lot more than mere airline reservations and accommodations. Since the place is alive with abundant activity all over, chances are that you will be spending huge portion of your vacation on places other than your hotel area. This means that you need proper travel arrangements ion order to participate in the recreational activities. Furthermore, as Hawaii is a blend of rich cultures and historical sites, traveling to these sites requires that you plan your methods of travel in advance. You may either opt for packages that cover your car rentals along with accommodation expenses in advance. This is one of the easiest and most convenient ways of ensuring that you have a confirm transportation medium present. Car rentals also provide visitors with the additional option of picking them right from the airport.

Maui with its breathtaking views and fine executive homes and beautiful condos is also the best place to invest in. Whether you are looking for residential homes or wish to buy a future retirement property the place is dreams come true.

The Oahu real estate market continues to face strong economic repercussions from the recession that started well over a year ago. One particularly visible example of the continued weakness in the area was reported by a March 9, 2010 article in the Maui News, which reported that “A foreclosure auction has been scheduled for 72 units of a 99-unit industrial condominium complex on Oahu. The units at the Waipio Business Center are to be sold in bulk March 24. The complex developed at a cost of an estimated $60 million was completed two years ago.” The piece noted that “The developer, WIC Partners LLC, sold 27 units in 2008 for close to $22 million. But then the market dried up with the financial crisis, and no units sold last year. Lender GE Business Financial Services Inc. filed a foreclosure lawsuit in June.”

There is some sense of hope for Oahu homes for sale, in the form of a nationwide effort to alleviate foreclosures. According to a March 26, 2010 article from KITV 4 News, “Hawaii banks and other lenders said Friday President Obama’s new initiatives to prevent foreclosures could be a great help in keeping local residents in their homes. Hawaii foreclosures are at record highs with 11,164 homes in foreclosure in the state, 5851 on Oahu, 2215 on Hawaii Island. 2141 on Maui and 957 homes on Kauai.” The article, composed by Denby Fawcett, continued to say that “Bank of Hawaii said the new features in the Obama plan should help prevent more foreclosures. ‘It will give our customers another tool they can use to help keep them in their homes.’ said Tim Padgett, Bank of Hawaii Senior Vice President for Loan Management Services.”

The resort market, which is crucial to Oahu real estate for sale, has started to improve, according to a March 25, 2010 article in the Pacific Business News. The piece continued to state that “Home sales in Hawaii’s resort market began to show a rebound in 2009, with just a 2 percent decline in sales from the previous year, according to a new report. The 2 percent decline followed a 37 percent drop in 2008 and was the smallest decline since the market began to drop in 2006, according to the residential resort market report from Data @ Work.”

Lahaina, Hawaii, a beautiful seaside city on the island of Maui in the South Pacific state, has a generally high-priced real estate market with its highly desirable location and the beautiful oceanside view from many homes and condos. The market, like so many, has suffered in recent years after the effects of the economic downturn on the U.S. mainland made their way out to the island.

The Lahaina real estate market has shown several signs of stabilization in recent months, with just slight increases and decreases in both price and volume. According to the local Coldwell Banker statistics, at the end of 2009, in December, the median price of properties sold in Lahaina was $1.21 million, which was up slightly from November’s figure of $1.12 million but down from December of 2008′s figure of $1.34 million. Lahaina’s median price for single-family homes was the second-highest of all of Maui.

Total sales volume in December in Lahaina was $6.05 million, with four Lahaina homes for sale closed upon. These figures were up from November, when the total volume was $4.82 million with three homes sold and from a year ago, when total volume was $4.47 million, also with three homes sold.

The condo marked showed great signs for improvement, more so than the single-family home market.  The median price of a condo sold in Lahaina in December was $398,000, up from November’s $396,500. The total sales volume for condos in December was $4.89 million, with eight condos sold. Sales activity picked up significantly, with eight condos sold in December, up from just two in November and zero one year ago. Condo prices in Lahaina were the fourth-lowest of all Maui markets.

When tourists arrive on Maui, they often throw out their healthy lifestyles from home and trade them for the lazy life of beach living, large portions of divine food, and several drinks a night.  While this may be a much-needed vacation, it is possible to experience all Maui vacation rentals has to offer without throwing healthy lifestyles out the window.  By the very nature of pacific-rim and fusion cuisine, the use of seafood is an automatic help.  As long as visitors try local food instead of dining at national chains like California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory, and other food giants, they should be safe.  Some of Hawaii’s freshest fish is quite lean and actually very healthy.

Natural and organic diets can be continued while on Maui.  There are several health food stores in downtown Kahului, the island’s major city.  Milagros, Down to Earth Natural Foods, Alive & Well Natural Health, and a number of other similar stores can provide inexpensive but very healthy foods and drinks.  Most local grocery stores also have begun to carry a number of different organic, reduced fat, and healthy snacks and food items.  For tourists looking to eat the extra fries or drink the extra beer, most hotels have twenty-four hour gyms and fitness centers to shed those extra pounds.

The master planned community of Mililani hosts a population of 29,000 people on former plantation forms owned by Castle & Cook which began developing the area in the early 1960s.  The original vision or intention was to create Mililani Town into a satellite city in order to satisfy Oahu’s pent up demand for housing.  The first homes in Mililani were sold in 1968 and were sold quickly thanks to the interstate H2 opening and cutting the commute time into Honolulu in half.  Today, much of Mililani real estate is still in high demand.  While Mililani is still largely a bedroom community for Honolulu, the town is able to succeed on its own with commercial shopping centers, a golf course, and other suburban town amenities.

In 1986, Mililani was named an All American City, the only community in Hawaii to receive such an award.  In 2005, CNN Money Magazine ranked Mililani as one of the best places to live in the nation.  And in 2006, Mililani was named as the third wealthiest zip code by the Pacific Business News.  The still-expanding community combines suburban living with a self-sufficient and blossoming economic basis that has grown to support most of the community.