last three wonders of Hawaii

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THE FIFTH WONDER ~ IOLANI PALACE

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updated photo I took on 2010

Iolani Palace, which opened in 1882, is the only official state residence of royalty in the United States. The fact I found most interesting when taking a tour was that both electricity and telephones were installed in the palace before both the White House and Buckingham Palace had electricity and telephones. This was my runner up choice for the 7 wonders of Hawaii.

THE SIXTH WONDER ~ THE NA PALI COAST

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photo from Kauai Visitors Bureau at http://www.kauidiscovery.com

The first time I saw views of this coast, my jaw dropped. This photo definitiely does not do it justice. There is a great hike (quite strenuous/11 miles) called the Kalalau Trail, which follows the Na Pali Coast down to Kalalau beach where you can camp out (a permit is required for the hike) or you could just do a portion of the hike (permit still required). The Na Pali Coast is definitely one of the 7 wonders of Hawaii.

THE SEVENTH WONDER ~ WAIMEA CANYON

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photo by Michael Teruya

I had the same reaction (jaw dropping) the first time I visited Waimea Canyon. Another definite wonder of Hawaii.

So there you have it, the “official” 7 wonders of Hawaii (see my previous 2 posts for the other 4 wonders).

However, if I was to vote, I would have left off Diamond Head and Iolani Palace and instead included:

The Haiku Stairs

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click on photo for original source

The Haiku Stairs is also known as the Stairway to Heaven hike. ***UPDATE: this hike is currently closed

 The Molokai Ocean Cliffs

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this is a scanned photo from my sailing trip around this incredible island

I am guessing the reason the Molokai Ocean Cliffs missed the list of 7 was because they have not been seen by many. I was fortunate to sail to Molokai one summer. On our way back we sailed around the North Shore side of the island which is not accessible by car.

I always thought that the Na Pali Cliffs were one of the most beautiful sites in the islands until my sail around the North Shore of Molokai. In my opinion, nothing will compare to the beauty of the Molokai Ocean Cliffs.

**UPDATED: The link to the original photo I posted for the Molokai Ocean Cliffs no longer works. Instead of having a photo on my site without a link to the original source, I found a scanned photo I took during my sailing trip and replaced it on this blog post. Not a great photo but it will do. Here is a link to much better photos of these amazing cliffs.

What are your 7 wonders??

4 thoughts on “last three wonders of Hawaii

  1. Wow these are all so beautiful! You are making me want to go to Hawaii really bad! As for my seven wonders, I have to start with the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala. Totally WOW. The Pantheon, maybe. CInque Terre. Beaches in general.

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  2. You will just have to come for a visit! It is a beautiful place. Doing this blog helps me remember this when I get in my work rut.
    I shall have to think about my 7 world wonders. The Pantheon is definitely a candidate.

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  3. Nope, can’t take credit for any of these photos. Top 3 were posted on the Star Bulletin and the last two are from blogs. I linked all the photos (click on each photo to go to the original source).

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