Rejuvenation of the Soul - vacationing in Hawaii

Sunset, August, 2000

No matter what you choose to do while in Hawaii (and the choices are endless), you'll find a first or 20th island visit restorative and rejuvenating. Maybe Ponce de Leon never found his mythical fountain of youth, but millions of Hawaii visitors have found theirs, returning year after year to enjoy its salubrious effects.

All the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago offer visitors young and old a vibrant palette with which to color their own Hawaiian postcard: emerald forests splashed with wild orchids and oversized ginger, and beaches haunting in their perfection. Even the championship golf courses are eye catching as well as challenging, with their borders of rain forest, lava flows, and wave-lashed shoreline. Collectively, the islands encompass a remarkable 12 of the world's 14 climatic zones. At the same time, each sways to its individual rhythm, offering its own variation of the magic that has been so alluring to vacationers from every part of the globe.

OAHU

While Oahu is far more cosmopolitan than Waikiki, this Grande Dame of beach resorts has regained graciousness and an enhanced Hawaiian sense of place appropriate to its role as a once-sacred center of respite and redemption. Imaginative landscaping, decorative lighting, and widened pedestrian promenades are part of the physical change. Hula performed nightly by the sea is part of the reenchantment as 100 torches are lit at dusk in a ceremonial ritual.

JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa (808-679-0079; www.marriotthotels.com), outside of Waikiki, has been named one of the top spas in the world. Fronting four lagoons along one of west Oahu's most spectacular reefs at Ko Olina, the 35,000-square-foot full-service spa offers a "Hip on Hula" personal training program, along with a full range of treatments from Hawaiian lomi lomi to an island floral herbal wrap to a green tea detoxifying wrap and relaxation hour, which aims to rejuvenate the inner spirit as well as the outer body.

Like the spa, the resort's 18-hole championship Ko Olina Golf Club (808-676-5300) has earned accolades: it's been named one of America's top 75 resort courses. Ko Olina, along with three beautiful courses that have opened over the last decade on the island's windward side, have put Oahu squarely on the golf map.

For offshore action on windward Oahu, head to Kailua's lovely white sands for the island's best wind surfing, kayaking excursions, or kite surfing. What surfing? This kind has strings attached--so with feet strapped to a board and hands on a bar, prepare to be propelled across the waves by a kite.

Not ready to fly? Plant your feet back on the aina (land) and join Mauka Makai Excursions (808-593-3525; www.oahu-ecotours. com), a Hawaiian-owned and -operated ecotour company.

Refresh yourself at Hale Noa (808-735-4292), anew 'Awa bar and Native cafe on Kapahulu Avenue at the Diamond Head edge of Waikiki. Here you can imbibe the stress-relieving ceremonial elixir known to other Polynesian islanders by the name kava.

Honolulu's sophisticated resident and visitor clientele has drawn some top island chefs back from the neighbor islands to Honolulu, so the dining scene becomes ever more appetizing. Newest are David Reardon at the stylish Diamond Head Grill in the lovely Balinese-style W Hotel (808-922-1700; www.whotels.com) and D. K. Kodama's second Sansei (808-536-6286), whose creative sushi offerings are creating a stir on Restaurant Row as they still do on Maui. Other Oahu-based chefs who have put Hawaii on the world's culinary map include Alan Wong at his Pineapple Room (808-945-8881) at Ala Moana Shopping Center; Chef George Mavrothalassitis at Chef Mavro (808-944-4714), which continues to set the standard for fine dining in Hawaii; and Philippe Padovani at Padovani Bistro and Wine Bar (808-946-3456). Don't miss Padovani's Chocolate Boutique at the Royal Hawaiian Center to taste mouth-watering specialties like ginger ganache or ka'u orange soft caramel inside his Hawaiian Vintage Chocolates.

MAUI

Maui sizzles with sophistication. On this special isle, the high-tech and high-powered come together with New Age seekers, artists, foodies, environmentalists, and visionaries to explore the cutting edge. So it's here you'll find an activity like The Maui Horse Whisperer Experience, provided by Adventures on Horseback (808-242-7445; www.mauihorses.com), which proposes "the skillful use of the human-equine relationship to develop mindfulness, self-awareness, and understanding." Or Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa (808-875-1234, 800-888-6100; www.grandwailea.com).

When the beauty gets too dazzling, descend into the darkness of one of the world's largest lava tubes on a fascinating journey with Maui Cave Adventures (808-248-7308). Or time travel to the past with Maui Jeep Adventures (808-876-1177).

You can drive up to the 10,000-foot summit of Haleakala, Maui's dormant volcano, which defines and dominates the island. Watch dawn streak the sky atop this mountain named "House of the Sun," hike or horseback ride into its crater, bike down its roads, or visit the flower and vegetable farms on its Upcountry slopes.