The Star Bulletin is doing a week long piece on the 7 wonders of Hawaii. I must have been day dreaming because I missed both the chance to send in suggestions and the chance to vote. There were even restaurant gift certificates involved!

On August 13, 2007, everyone was invited to send in 3 suggestions for the 7 wonders of Hawaii. The article stated that in October the voting would begin. In typical Hawaiian Time fashion, ballots were posted with 25 available choices on February 3rd, 2008.

Of the 25 choices, I have personally been to or have seen all but: *the fishponds at Kalahuipuaa, *Iao Needle, *the Keck twin, Gemini and Subaru Observatories, *Mount Waialeale, *Pi’ilani Heiau, and *the Red Hill Underground Storage Tanks. With that in mind, my vote for the 7 wonders of Hawaii would be (in no particular order): Kilauaea Volcano, Hanauama Bay, Na Pali Coast, Waimea Canyon, Molokai Ocean Cliffs, Haleakala, and the Haiku Stairs (Iolani Palace would be my runner up vote).

Today (the first I have heard about this 7 wonders concept) the 3rd wonder was announced. The Star Bulletin plans to announce the 7 wonders one by one in 7 consecutive days. So here are the first 3 of the 7 wonders of Hawaii.

THE FIRST WONDER ~ KILAUEA VOLCANO

I have been very fortunate to visit Kilauea Volcano twice, once with an old boyfriend when the lava was going into the ocean, and once on a 3 day field trip with a group of 4th graders. I have just one piece of advice…DON”T take any lava rocks from the Volcano area and don’t take any of the black sand or you WILL have bad luck!! Kilauea Volcano is definitely one of the 7 wonders of Hawaii.

THE SECOND WONDER ~ DIAMOND HEAD

I have hiked Diamond Head many times. I used to do it as an afternoon workout. It is a very easy hike. Most of it is paved. The only big challenge for some is the set of stairs. Don’t believe the article that says it is a 2 hour hike. It takes 30 minutes each way, 45 minutes at the most unless you are very out of shape and walk like a snail. Diamond Head is a famous landmark of Oahu. Cool place, but not one of my top 7 wonders of Hawaii.

THE THIRD WONDER ~ HANAUMA BAY

It has been years since I have visited Hanauma Bay. It is an amazing place to visit and definitely another one of the 7 wonders of Hawaii. When I used to go there, everyone fed the fish frozen peas. That was before we were told that frozen peas were bad for the fish. I once was fortunate to go there by boat. We anchored in pretty deep water and went snorkeling. I got a little freaked out though with the big fish swimming by. They were used to being fed so they came very close looking for food and in large numbers. That was definitely an experience I will never forget.

More wonders to come…