Hawaii and Hong Kong have something in common - can you guess what it is? Both these places are GROWING significantly. There are a number of active volcanoes in Hawaii, and sometimes the lava flows reach the sea, adding to the surface area of the islands. In Hong Kong, where land is worth more than almost anywhere, large areas have been reclaimed from the ocean (the new airport at Chep Lap Kok is just an example).

The islands of Hawaii were NOT created by the collision of tectonic plates. They were (and are) created when the Pacific plate slides slowly northwest over a hotspot under the ocean floor. Lava surging up from the hotspot creates island after island, with the older islands such as Kauai in the northwest and younger islands such as Hawaii (the Big Island) in the southeast. A new island is forming southeast of the Big Island, but has not yet broken the surface. All Hawaiian islands (and indeed all islands in the tropics) are subject to the trade winds which blow almost always from the east, so the taller islands are always very wet on the east side and very dry on the west. On the island of Kauai, for example, the mountainous region in the east is one of the wettest places in the world (second only to some place in India) while just a few miles away to the west is desert land where it rarely rains. The lush vegetation that you probably associate with Hawaii is therefore not omnipresent, and you might not want to holiday in it anyway since lush vegetation implies abundant rainfall...

On this page you can visit some of our favourite Hawaiian islands... You can also check out our Hawaii photo album.

At Maui's summit are these smouldering craters in Haleakala crater area. Looking relaxed (below right) after a hard day at the beach. To be precise, it was beautiful, unspoiled and often dangerous Makena Beach in the southwest corner of the island.

We've explored most of the Hawaiian islands, and our favorite is certainly the "garden island" of Kauai. Since Kauai is older than the other islands, it has been sculpted by the erosive forces of wind and rain for much longer than the other islands, so its topography is much more interesting. It's not a great island for beaches - there are plenty of beautiful beaches strung along the north coast but they are usually too dangerous to swim at. On our first trip to Kauai we stayed on the south side and enjoyed Poipu Beach which is well protected from the waves and has shallow waters that are teeming with exotic tropical fish (and beautiful tourists...) - all you need is a mask and you can enjoy them...