Visitors to Hawaii may be in for a surprise – the high cost of getting around doesn’t end after that long and expensive airline flight from the mainland.
From air travel to exotic sea expeditions, rising fuel prices are making a Hawaii vacation an even pricier affair.
Hawaii has the most expensive gas prices in the country, and many of those escalating costs are passed on to unsuspecting tourists. The average for a gallon of regular gas here this summer is nearly $3.40, according to AAA’s fuel gauge report.
“It’s forced everybody to raise their prices a little bit,” said Dan Peavy, owner of Aqua Adventure Charters on Maui, which offers snorkeling and diving trips. “Most people don’t even realize it.”
Peavy said he raised prices by $4 per person this year to help offset the extra money spent to fuel the boats that take visitors out to sea.
Helicopter journeys around the islands also have become even more costly due to fuel costs. At Sunshine Helicopters on Maui, trip prices have increased between $30 and $55.
Hawaii’s cab fares are also among the highest in the country – 30 cents for every eighth of a mile, with a $2.25 minimum.
“Tourists don’t ride in cabs as much right now,” said Patrick Nguyen, a taxi driver waiting at Ala Moana Mall for a fare to come along. “When business isn’t good, it affects your tips.”
O sole miao
Love cats and Italy? Join the Friends of Roman Cats for an 11-night tour of Italian cat sanctuaries and historical sites.
The tour, which begins Oct. 5, visits Venice, Padua, Florence, Tuscany and Rome.
In Venice, the group will tour St. Mark’s Cathedral and Square, the Doge’s Palace and the Dingo cat sanctuary. In Padua, participants will see the 14th century frescoes of Giotto in the Arena Chapel.
In Florence, the itinerary includes the Duomo and the Baptistery with its famous doors created by Ghiberti and the Boboli Gardens, where 60 cats live in the hedges. In Tuscany, the group will tour a cat sanctuary on an estate near Bagno a Ripoli and a new shelter near the town of Arezzo They will also visit the cathedral in the medieval hill town of Orvieto.
In Rome, the tour visits the Vatican and Rome’s historic center. Other stops include a cat shelter in Torre Argentina and one in the Protestant cemetery where English poets Keats and Shelley are buried.
On their last day in Rome, participants visit the Coliseum and the Roman Forum and see the cats that inhabit the Markets of Trajan.
Cost: $2,400 per person, double occupancy ($400 single surcharge), including hotels, most meals, ground transportation, entrance fees and airport transfers. International airfare is not included.
Contact: Friends of Roman Cats, San Francisco; 415-334-8036, www.friendsofromancats.org.
Airships and pueblos
Watch hot air balloons soar en masse at Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico on a six-night fall tour.
The tour, which begins Oct. 8, stops in Albuquerque for three days, then travels to Santa Fe and Taos.
Participants will visit artists’ studios and a pueblo near Albuquerque, Bandelier National Monument and the Taos Pueblo.
Cost: $1,500 per person, double occupancy ($300 single surcharge), including lodging, ground transportation, most meals and entrance fees. Airfare to Albuquerque and balloon flights are not included.
Contact: Aventura Artistica, Del Mar, Calif.; 800-808-7352, www.aventuraartistica.com.
Hike Half Dome
Grab your backpack and head to Yosemite for a 25-mile trek that begins Sept. 4.
“Our guides are really experienced and very supportive,” said Janet Holt of Call of the Wild. “And the food is great.” Carole Latimer, the company founder, specializes in trail cuisine.
The women-only five-night backpacking trip starts in Yosemite Valley and ascends rugged Merced Canyon to the summit of Half Dome. The hike travels parts of the John Muir Trail, and back down past Vernal and Nevada falls where the Merced River plummets almost 600 feet.
Cost: $675 per person, including tents, meals, campground fees and guides.
Contact: Call of the Wild, Berkeley, Calif.; 510-849-9292, www.callwild.com.
CouchSurfing resurfacing
For the past three years, thousands of travelers around the globe have used a Web site called CouchSurfing.com to find like-minded folks who would let them sleep on a couch or in a spare room so they wouldn’t have to stay in a hotel when they traveled.
They also created a community – both online and in the physical world – for cultural exchange.
But the CouchSurfing.com Web site crashed in late June, and most of the data and user profiles were lost.
Supporters responded by creating temporary alternative Web pages, blogs and other online forums. Some joined a CouchSurfing Collective, based in Montreal, to help recover the data. In an e-mail sent out July 4, Web site founder Casey Fenton announced that the network would be relaunched at the old address -www.couchsurfing.com – later this month. In the meantime, updates were being posted on a message board at couchsurfing.hyperboards.com.
Fenton ended his missive with the Web site’s motto: “Together we can create a better world, one couch at a time.”
Less Madeira, m’dear
There won’t be any more giant-sized cups of Madeira wine at next month’s Feast of the Blessed Sacrament in New Bedford, Mass.
Organizers of the traditional four-day celebration of Madeiran culture that draws more than 300,0000 visitors to New Bedford have decided to stop selling 20-ounce servings of the 38-proof wine.
“We felt it was getting out of control with the larger sizes, and we did this in response to a public safety issue,” feast committee member Ed Camara told The Standard Times of New Bedford.
“You had people in their late 20s buying the larger size and asking if we had a straw,” he said. “Give me a break here. This is a wine designed as an after-dinner sweet drink. It’s not supposed to be a scotch and water.”
The wine, which has a 19 percent alcohol content, is imported in wooden barrels by the committee under an exclusive arrangement with the island of Madeira.
The festival will still sell three-ounce and seven-ounce cups of the wine, which has been a staple during the 92-year history of the feast celebrating Portuguese culture and religion.
The Feast of the Blessed Sacrament runs from Aug. 3 to 6 this year.
Grasslands campground open
Officials have opened the first designated campground in the Sheyenne National Grasslands of southeastern North Dakota.
The Hankinson Hills Campground is in a valley that has become popular with horseback riders and hikers. It is separated into two separate loops – one including nine sites for traditional campers and another with six sites for campers with horses.
The camp has access to the two-year-old, 8-mile-long, non-motorized trail that circles the Hankinson Hills. It is equipped with toilets and water but no electricity, and can be used by the public for free day use or for overnight campsite use for a $6 fee.
The Hankinson Hills is a 3,000-acre area of rolling hills with native prairie grasses and numerous woods.
The 10-acre campground was completed this spring and opened in June.
Quick getaways
It’s not too late to plan a quick summer getaway. The July issue of Travel+Leisure magazine suggests destinations you can fly to for a weekend or weeklong trip on the spur of the moment, including tips on getting there, where to stay and what to do.
The destinations include:
Las Vegas, where you can now stay off the strip and have access to a casino too at the new Red Rock resort.
Santa Ynez Valley, Calif., where you can ride horses, fish and golf at the Alisal, a working cattle-ranch.
Hana, Hawaii, where the laid-back, secluded Hawaiian vacation lives on, reachable by flying from Maui’s main airport, Kahului.
Banff, Alberta, where you can glimpse wintry sights in the middle of summer at Jasper National Park’s Columbia Ice Fields or the Athabasca Glacier.
Los Cabos, Mexico, where you can surf, snorkel and enjoy the beach at the tip of the Baja Peninsula.
Mexico City, where the Condesa district will remind you of Soho, with cafes, a nightlife and a trendy hotel – Condesa DF – with a rooftop bar.
Travel deals
Cathay Pacific’s “Deal of the Month” is a round-trip fare of $694 (plus $62 taxes) from San Francisco or Los Angeles to Bangkok, Thailand. Deadline to purchase is by July 31 (or until sold out). Travel Sept. 1-Nov. 6. Purchase at www.cathay-usa.com/dotm.
Headed to Alaska in August? Denali Park Resorts has a deal for the first two weekends in August. The $149 per person double package is good Aug. 5 at Grande Denali Lodge and Aug. 12 at McKinley Chalet Resort. Deal includes room, dinner on Saturday ($45 per person value) and Sunday breakfast ($15 per person value). Add Friday night lodging, including breakfast on Saturday, for $99 extra per person. Room-only rates usually start at $229 a night. Taxes are 7 percent extra. Book at 800-276-7234. Resort info: www.denaliparkresorts.com.
Clipper Cruise Line has $1,500-per- person discounts on a 13-night South Pacific voyage. The cruise – departing Noumea, New Caledonia, on Nov. 12 and sailing to Vanuatu and Australia before disembarking in Auckland, New Zealand – starts at $5,770 per person double, plus $143 fuel surcharges. A pre-cruise hotel night in Noumea and shore excursions are included. Final payment due 90 days before cruise. Info: 800-325-0010, www.clippercruise.com.
Travel classes, seminars
Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door hosts free travel classes most Saturdays at 10 a.m. at the Edmonds Theater, 415 Main St., Edmonds.
* Eastern Europe, Cameron Hewitt, July 22.
* Scandinavia, Dave Fox, July 29.
* Packing light and right, Joan Robinson, Aug. 5.
* European rail skills, Laura Terrenzio, Aug. 12.
* Venice, Florence, Rome, Reid Coen, Aug. 19.
* Greece, Colleen Murphy, Aug. 26.
Classes are free, reservations recommended. Call 425-771-8303 ext. 298 or visit www.ricksteves.com/seattle.
The Savvy Traveler offers travel seminars at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. most Saturdays at 112 Fifth Ave. S., Edmonds.
* Italian for travelers, 6 p.m. Thursdays, July 27 through Aug. 31.
* Packing like a savvy traveler, 10 a.m. Oct. 7.
* German for travelers, 6 p.m. Thursdays, Oct. 19 through Nov. 23.
* Explore Northern Italy, 10 a.m. Oct. 21.
* Southern Italy and Sicily, 1 p.m. Oct. 21.
Classes are free, reservations recommended. Call 425-744-6076, 877-225-1994, or visit www.savvytraveleredmonds.com.
Traveler’s Language Cafe: The NW Language Academy presents 9-hour language intensives, designed to conversational travel language.
For information, call 360-914-0391 or visit www.nwlanguageacademy.com.
* Simple Italian for Travel, 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays, 9:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays, July 28 and 29, Aug. 18 and 19 at Harbor Inn, 130 W. Dayton St., Edmonds.
The Herald is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.
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