Four Seasons Hualalai
HAWAII ISLAND The largest of the islands, Hawaii Island is home to the archetypal beachside golf resort. Mauna Kea Beach Hotel set the standard 53 years ago, and others have followed in its wake, giving the Big Island’s Kohala coast its distinctive necklace of luxury getaway spots nestled between lava and surf. Rounds: Calling out but two courses on this island is akin to choosing between the new NSX, a 911 and something red from Italy; there are no wrong answers. Hualalai Golf Clubis a private playpen accessible to on-site guests. Jack Nicklaus created the course at that point in his design career when he figured out that sweeping open corridors, kinks and hazards where better players tread and cash in on the native panorama – in this case snow-capped peaks and crashing waves – is what golf memorability is all about.
hualalairesort.comFor an at-shore routing, the third hole at Mauna Kea Golf Courseis the template used by so many other places for the glory-shot-over-the-ocean par 3. The greenery suggests parkland; the rise and plummet say choose wisely off the tee.
princeresortshawaii.com Friends: Beer … our second favorite four-letter word. Kona Brewing Companyhas a brewery and pub in Kailua-Kona. Make its acquaintance. Several times.
konabrewingco.com Kids: Café Pestoin Kawaihae – and Hilo – ably pairs Naples and the mid-Pacific, so everyone can find something great to eat and the parents don’t need to tap into the 401k to pay for it.
cafepesto.com Adventurers: You WILL get dirty, so take a change of clothes
for after your north-tip-of-the-island, sea-to-pasture-to-rainforest excursion with ATV Outfitters Hawaii.
atvoutfittershawaii.com Romantics: Call Mauna Lani Spa stat and book a couple’s massage treatment in one of the private hales scattered about the verdant property or an even-more-private – wink wink – indoor spa suite.
maunalani.com
KAUAI After the Big Island, Kauai feels compact. It’s also cozy, with that Old Hawaii feel but without having to go off the grid to experience it. And getting around to the diverse sides of the island is a comparative snap. Rounds:For many years, the “obvious” play on Kauai was the
now-shuttered/going-private Prince Course that I thought unplayable in many spots, regardless tees chosen. My alternate pick for golf on the north side, the Princeville Makai Course, has returning nines that twice dance out to the cliff top photo-op views of Bali Hai with reef views.
makaigolf.com. Spinning the compass 180 degrees to
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Kapalua Plantation
Hokuala, one of the newest properties in the Timbers Resorts’ col- lection, is where the Jack Nicklaus ocean course has emerged from reconstructive surgery. The string of seaside holes – the longest in all of Hawaii –that play above the entrance to Nawiliwili Harbor usually get the copy, but the inland nine with a heady combo of strategicand heroic design cues stands as an equal.
hokualakauai.com Friends: Everything friends do together doesn’t involve booze,
but it never hurts to have some on hand. Down south, near Poipu, in Old Koloa Town, The Wine Shop spans the globe and if you are homesick it does California proud.
thewineshopkauai.com Kids:This could be THE coolest putt-putt course in existence. Kauai Mini Golf & Botanical Gardensis a lesson in the island’s history - flora and culture spread across 18 holes of lava “outcrop- pings” and tumbling steams.
kauaiminigolf.com Adventurers: The hike to Waipoo Falls, in Waimea Canyon,
crashes ever-downward to an edge-of-the-world climax through a plant-o-rama that reminds us why Hollywood heads to Kauai to film dino-flicks.
hawaiistateparks.org Romantics: Get up early and drive to the end of the road on
the north shore; the timing is critical to have any chance of parking at Ke’e Beach, with its all-world reef and perfect tropical setting of green-curtained cliffs.
kauai.com/kee-beach
LANAI
This essentially private one-time plantation takes an extra bit of effort to reach, either via inter-island flight or passenger ferry from Lahaina. There are a few places to stay in cute Lanai City, up in the mist and Norfolk Island pines, but unless you’re a local on a day trip, going to the Pineapple Island effectively means a Four Seasons Resort stay. That does not suck.
fourseasons.com Rounds: Play Manele Golf Coursemultiple times – and not just because upcountry sibling Koele is under renovation. In a state where “ocean view” is the PR patter of every hotel, restaurant and golf course no matter how minute that view, Manele serves it up with gusto on every hole, from the pro shop, the grill and for added measure the practice facility. In these golf-rich islands Manele is a podium finisher. Friends:Rent a jeep from the adventure center and go exploring:
windswept Shipwreck Beach looking across at Molokai; the red rocky jumbles of Garden of the Gods; or the secluded white sand of Polihua Beach. Kids:Get to know the resort’s beach concierge gang and they
will have you set up every day for all manner of watersports in Hulopoe Bay and a nice place to shelter on the sand. Adventurers: With the near-shore waters a designated marine
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