I love camping. I started camping in college as an economical way to travel. I fell in love with relaxing outdoors and getting in touch with nature. Now that I have children, I find it’s a great way to connect with the kids because I don’t have to compete with the TV or video games. The bonus for me is that it’s cheap.
My favorite camping trips have been the ones I took with my husband to Hawaii before we had kids. We have camped on Maui, Lanai, and Kauai. When I tell people about these trips, they always ask how to do you get all your stuff over there. That part was pretty easy. We simply packed our largest cooler with our camping gear and checked another large bag of sleeping bags and etc. When we arrived, we took a trip to Walmart to fill the cooler and buy other items we couldn’t take on the plane such as beach chairs and camping fuel.
The best part of camping on Hawaii is that you tend to meet very friendly and helpful locals. We have been invited to two ‘real’ luaus, cooked for by a chef from one of the resorts, given snorkeling spots from a hotel dive guide and even watched another camper fill our cooler with ice while we sunned on the beach. We felt safe everywhere we camped and had unsurpassed ocean views at almost every spot for $15 a night.
Here are some of our favorite locations in Hawaii to camp:
Lanai: You can camp on the same beach for $30 a night per site that guests from the Four Seasons use. It’s walking distance from the ferry dock, but your need to haul your stuff about a mile. You can also offer a local $10 to take your stuff to the campground. We camped here three nights. Dolphins came into the bay everyday we were there and we actually swam with them. This beach has been voted the Best Beach in American by Dr. Beach. It’s a great place to snorkel.
For more information visit: http://www.to-hawaii.com/lanai/camping/
Kauai: Kauai offers a really diverse array of camping options. We have stayed at Salt Pond beach in the South and Anini Beach in the North. Both beaches are beautiful and offer great opportunities for swimming and snorkeling away from crowds. Camping at these beaches costs a whopping $3 per adult per night.
For more information about camping on Kauai visit: http://www.kauai.gov/Government/Departments/ParksRecreation/CampingInformation/tabid/176/Default.aspx
There are many other places to camp in Hawaii. If you have any interest in camping in Hawaii, I suggest you buy “Camping Hawaii: A Complete Guide” by Richard McMahon. It’s available for $19.95 from Amazon. We used this book and found his descriptions to be very accurate.
