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By USA specialist Carl

“Mālama” — it’s a word often spoken with a warm smile, and one you’ll likely hear at some point during your trip to Hawaiʻi. It means “to care for” in the Hawaiian language, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, and it’s a value that’s embedded in its native culture. Hawaiians care deeply for the land, as well as everyone and everything that lives off it. Sustainability is a way of life, and that’s why I like to take steps to practice mālama whenever I visit — it’s a way to connect more meaningfully with Hawaiʻi’s people, culture, and landscapes.

Wherever you go in Hawaiʻi, whether it’s the archipelago’s capital, Honolulu, or the wild Nāpali Coast, there are plenty of ways to embrace sustainability. Below, I’ve shared experiences and stays across the islands that will help you uncover Hawaiʻi’s authentic character while giving back. You can sprinkle them into a wider trip or I can help you craft an entire adventure shaped around mālama.

Hawaiian culture & values on Oʻahu

Often the first island you’ll visit, Oʻahu is a good place to acquaint yourself with Polynesian culture and the concept of mālama before you head to quieter shores. I recommend starting with a visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center to get the lay of the land.

Set over 42 acres of palm-shaded paths and waterways, it’s far removed from your typical museum. You’ll walk between six “villages”, each representing a different Polynesian region: Hawaiʻi, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti, and Tonga. You can focus exclusively on Hawaiʻi, if you like, learning the art of hula and “talking story” with locals, but I think it’s worth exploring the other villages too. You’ll notice how the cultures interweave and diverge from one another as you listen to Māori music and sample melt-in-the-mouth Tahitian coconut bread.

There’s the option to experience a lūʻau feast there too, but I personally prefer the one at Nutridge Estate. Set among hills overlooking Honolulu, this lantern-lit celebration is intimate and authentic. You can watch the blazing sunset on top of the hill, mai tai in hand, before sitting down to a farm-to-table dinner slow-cooked for 13 hours in a traditional imu (underground oven).

If you want to practice mālama in a more practical way, I recommend a visit to Kualoa Ranch nature reserve, set at the foot of a mossy-looking mountain range, once considered one of the most sacred places on the island. The ranch team work hard to protect and conserve it, and you can join their efforts.

Alongside an expert, you might help to plant native trees, thatch hale (traditional houses), or harvest kalo, a root plant that’s sacred to Hawaiians. What you do depends on the season and what’s needed at the time, and I find it’s one of the best ways to connect with the land and give back as you explore.

Polynesian Cultural Center, Oʻahu
Polynesian Cultural Center, Oʻahu

Eco-conscious stays on Oʻahu

Despite its proximity to busy Honolulu, Halekulani Hotel on Waikīkī Beach feels like a calm oasis. The best rooms have a private lānai (balcony) with unfettered views of the Pacific Ocean and Lēʻahi (Diamond Head), a volcanic tuff cone that’s synonymous with the region.

Throughout your stay, you’ll have a complimentary pass allowing you access to some of the island’s finest art and cultural venues, like the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Mānoa Heritage Center, so you can further envelop yourself in the local culture. When you need to rest, you can unwind at the hotel’s eco-certified spa with a treatment that incorporates traditional Hawaiian massage techniques and warm river stones.

Exterior, Halekulani Hotel
Halekulani Hotel

Scenic walks & meeting manta rays on the island of Hawaiʻi

Swirling lava fields, foliage-draped cliffs, and various volcanoes shape the landscape of Hawaiʻi's largest island. One of the best places to appreciate this scenery is at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, home to one of the world’s most active volcanoes. I can arrange for you to explore with an interpretive guide, who’ll steer you to lava tubes and steaming vents and across charcoal-grey flats that once bubbled with lava. What’s more, your experience will help to fund local conservation efforts and stewardship projects.

For a complete contrast, you could also visit the secluded waterfalls of North Kohala. With a private guide, you can access a visitor-limited swathe of wilderness, which helps to keep environmental impact low and gives you a chance to see the ribbon-like cascades with practically no one else around. You’ll end with a picnic lunch overlooking azure waters and valleys that appear to barrel into the distance.

There’s plenty of opportunities to swim in Hawaiʻi's warm waters during your trip, but if you want to try something more adventurous, I suggest snorkeling with manta rays. These gentle giants appear ghost-like in the sea at nighttime, coaxed up to the surface by plankton, mouths gaping open to get their fill. Afterwards, you’ll have hot soup and drinks to warm up on the boat ride home — a great time to relive moments from the water with your fellow passengers.

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, the island of Hawaiʻi
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, the island of Hawaiʻi

Eco-conscious stays on the island of Hawaiʻi

I’ve always loved Mauna Lani Hotel for its scenery — jet-black lava rock contrasts starkly with the palm-dotted golf courses and crystalline Pacific waters. The sprawling resort gives back to the land through its partnership with Mālaʻai, a non-profit that teaches sustainability through horticultural experiences in Mauna Lani’s on-site garden. You won’t find any plastic water bottles in your room here either.

If you’d prefer a more intimate stay, I’m particularly fond of Kaʻawa Loa B&B, run by eco-conscious owners Michael and Greg. It’s set within their own coffee plantation and fruit farm, perched high on a cliff overlooking Kealakekua Bay, and runs entirely on solar power. Each morning at breakfast, you can taste fruits fresh from the farm — like bananas, mangos, lychees, and star fruit — piled up on your plate or paired with sweet French toast.

Mauna Lani Hotel
Mauna Lani Hotel

Whale watching & snorkeling on Maui

From playful tail slaps to full-body breaches, humpback whales are often found showing off on the coastlines of Hawaiʻi. From December to April, they migrate from icy Alaska to breed and give birth in warmer waters, and the Maui coast is the best place to spot them in the archipelago.

If you want to see their theatrical displays, you can join a morning cruise led by a team of marine naturalists. As you keep an eye on the rippling waters, they’ll teach you about the social conduct of humpback whales and dip a hydrophone beneath the surface so you can listen to their eerie songs. And when you finally hear the excited call of “whale!” from the deck, a performance of blowhole sprays, barrel-roll jumps, and water-frothing fin smacks ensues.

For a closer look at Hawaiʻi's underwater world, you can snorkel in the waters of Molokini, just a few miles from Maui. Molokini is a partially submerged volcanic crater that shelters a coral reef teeming with marine life. Its crescent-shaped form provides a natural barrier against the ocean’s waves, making it an ideal spot for snorkeling.

The visibility is excellent, too. Dipping your face beneath the water, you can spot dozens of fish species, from white-spotted puffers to yellow tangs and the state fish, the humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa (which translates to “triggerfish with a snout like a pig”). You might also spy octopuses, moray eels, and reef sharks.

What I like about this particular experience is the crew’s commitment to protecting Hawaiʻi's waters. They’ll hand out reef-safe sunscreen on board (Hawaiʻi banned the sale of non-reef-safe sunscreen in 2021), and many attend clean-ups in their own time. In fact, I remember how, on my own visit, the captain turned around the boat mid-journey to pick up some jetsam he’d spotted — it was mālama in action.

Humpback whale, Maui
Humpback whale, Maui

Eco-conscious stays on Maui

There’s a gentle buzz of bees in the organic garden and tropical orchard at Hotel Wailea, one of the archipelago’s few adults-only retreats. It produces its own fruits, vegetables, and honey, which Executive Chef, Jonathan De Paz, combines to capture the scents and tastes of Maui. To make the most of the hotel’s well-preserved natural beauty and its carefully curated cuisine, I can arrange for you to enjoy a sunset dinner in its one-couple-only treehouse venue, cocooned within a canopy of mango and avocado trees.

If you’re visiting Maui as a family, I recommend Montage Kapalua Bay instead. While it doesn’t have quite the eco credentials of Wailea, there are no plastic bottles in sight. Instead, you’ll receive a reusable bottle when you arrive and there are plenty of water fountains scattered around the resort to fill it up. That said, the hotel also offers plenty of experiences to help you and your children embrace Hawaiian culture, like lei making, hula lessons, and ʻukulele classes — a different kind of mālama experience.

Hotel Wailea, Maui
Hotel Wailea, Maui

Private hikes & kayaking on Kauaʻi

For me, there’s nowhere in the world more beautiful than Kauaʻi’s coast. Here, primeval-looking sea cliffs spike up into the clouds in all shades of green: emerald, shamrock, moss, and lime, depending on the light, made even more vibrant by the teal waters below. Nicknamed the “Garden Island”, Kauaʻi is so wild that you can only reach certain places by air or sea.

For the places you can reach on foot (and often only on foot), I recommend a privately guided hike. I’ll connect you with a guide who knows the land like the back of their hand and cares deeply about preserving it. Not only will they take you to the hidden spots and outlooks they’ve scouted out on their personal adventures, but they’ll also help steer you away from eroding trails that need a rest from human footsteps.

Where you go will be tailored to your hiking experience and interests. You might walk along soaring trails that peer over velvety sea cliffs and down into striped canyons. Or maybe you’d prefer to wind through quiet forests that conceal rivers, streams, and waterfalls. If it’s wildlife that you’re passionate about, you could stroll across untamed beaches on the look-out for Hawaiian seals, sea turtles, red-footed boobies, and albatrosses.

Another way to admire the scenery is from the water, and one of the most sustainable methods is by kayak. I’m particularly fond of kayaking in Hanalei Bay because no commercial motorboats are allowed to sail there. As a result, green sea turtles thrive and you can often spot them basking in the sun. If you can tear your eyes away from them, you’ll be treated to thick rainforest and mountain vistas all around.

The Na Pali Cliffs, Kauai
Nāpali coastline, Kauaʻi

Eco-conscious stays on Kauaʻi

Speaking of Hanalei Bay, one of the island’s most sustainable (and exclusive) hotels is located here, aptly named 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay. Reclaimed furniture, handwoven rugs, and sustainably sourced linens give each room a serene, organic feel, with the best ones overlooking the lush Nāpali Coast.

Native plant species spring up across the grounds and along the property’s walls, inviting the outside in, and all produce and seafood used at the hotel’s signature restaurant has been grown and sourced on Hawaiian islands. Every detail is interwoven with sustainability, meaning you can unwind, explore, and retreat knowing you’re taking part in mālama throughout stay.

1 Hotel Hanalei Bay pool
1 Hotel Hanalei Bay, Kauaʻi

Read more about trips to Hawaiʻi