Travelers Frequently Asked Questions About Traveling to Hawaii

Do you find yourself asking things like "what is the time difference from the continental US and Hawaii"? or perhaps you are packing your Hawaiian shirts and planning on going on vacation in Hawaii and need tips on what to wear on your Hawaiian vacation?

Well then we suggest that you check out Island Shirts information packed piece on Travelers Frequently Asked Questions About Traveling to Hawaii

You can learn all you need to know from that page and more. If we missed something that can help others, then please come back here and post it in a comment.

Like many people that work way too many hours, I don’t get out all that much, not to mention not taking many vacations. So this summer I am going back to Hawaii and hanging 10 at da beach for a while, maybe most of the summer.

My Hawaiian vacation will be all about flip-flops, Hawaiian shirts, pretty hula girls and food. If you have never traveled to the Hawaiian island I would suggest that you read our tips on what clothes to wear in Hawaii so you will at least be properly dressed for the momentous occasion. Oahu is my favorite island, but I may hop over to Maui for a bit, it all depends on water clarity and what’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Yes, food has a lot of influence on what I do and where I go. Pretty much any good recipe for Spam fried rice or garlic shrimp will catch my attention. Leave a comment and share your favorite island food or fashion statement with us. Mahalo

Hawaiian Shirts Form the Basis of Hawaiian Dress.

Hawaii earned its status as a vacation spot because of its perennially warm weather. While many people assume that tropical humidity dominates the islands, parts of Hawaii are arid or semi arid, and the highest peaks actually feature an alpine climate. Temperatures average about 85 degrees in the summer months and 75 degrees in the winter. Those temperatures drop about 10 degrees during evening hours. Rain comes only occasionally, typically during the winter months.

Hawaiian shirts are a staple of Hawaiian dress and make appropriate clothing regardless of the occasion. Read more: Tips on selecting Hawaii shirts and women's wear

Men Wear Lava Lava's

Recently I have had a large number of big guys coming into my store asking me if I carried lava-lavas’ for men. I have always replied I have sarongs and most of those guys browsed the sarong section and then quickly left the store. Last week yet another man came in and he took a look at my sarongs and as he was headed for the door I politely asked him if he could spend a minute or two letting me know exactly what the difference was between sarongs and lava lavas.

He told me he was a Samoan and that the men wore lava-lavas. We spent the next 15 minutes discussing lots of interesting things about the Samoan culture including the shortage of quality lava-lava found in our growing Samoan population here in North County. The main difference between our sarongs and lava-lava is that a true lava-lava is not just a piece of material that does not look too feminine, nor should it have any tassels hanging off of them. Lava-lava is just a piece of material that is folded and tucked in at the waist. The sarongs we carry in our store are brightly colored (like our Hawaiian shirts) and more suitable for a luau or as a cover -up for a swimsuit. But for use a lava-lava my friend told me it is considered “too frilly” for a Samoan looking for a lava-lava.

He also let me know that Samoans have 2 kinds of lava- lava one is for daily use which they fold at the top to keep in place and the other is a more formal lava-lava that has a built in tie at the top to secure the lava-lava in place the one I was showed was of a sea green color and not a flower in sight. I was informed that the Samoan people have strong ties to their family, community, culture and church and that they dress accordingly so it was important to have formal lava-lava for formal occasions. It was such an interesting conversation that it got me motivated to share this information with our customers and to research the history of the sarong. Continue reading Men Wear Lava Lava's

How many different ways can you write about a Hawaiian shirt?

Today I was sitting in my comfy chair enjoying all the sun and warm weather (its 84 degrees today) and contemplating writing a Blog post about Hawaiian shirts and then it dawned on me, how many different ways can you write about a Hawaiian shirt?

I did some Web searches hoping to see what some Island authors have written lately but it appears that most of the writings are just a bunch of gibberish. So I turned my thoughts inward and started looking at the shirt I am currently wearing.

My Hawaiian shirt is an oldie but goodie, I believe its one of the very early shirts produced by Wave Shoppe in Southern California. If I were to describe it I would say that it is light grey in color with splashes of medium grey in the background, burgundy/rust colored foliage, turtles and outrigger canoes.

Now we have the condition of the Hawaiian shirt, in which I should mention is made out of polycotton. I think for a shirt that has been washed at least once a week for the last 6 years that it is in wonderful shape. Sure it has a few lightly frayed edges, especially near the lower hem, its still a cool and comfortable shirt to wear. This garment even has the original coconut buttons!

So there you have it, a post about Hawaiian shirts that’s actually honest as well as original. Penned while

sitting in paradise!

No the Hawaiian shirt is not made from mauna loa macadamia nuts

Pictured is a really cool Hawaiian shirt in an red color and an air brushed look.

While it has absolutely nothing to do with the Mauna Loa macadamia nuts that you eat, this beautiful shirt IS named after the famous volcano in Hawaiian called Mauna Loa.

Since the shirt is a lava red color the naming convention was only appropriate.

Product Link: Mauna Loa Hawaiian Shirts

These Hawaiian shirts from Wave Shoppe are made for high quality cotton and are very affordable. Cut and sewn in the USA

Men in Their Hawaiian Aloha Shirts

Me and my wife cruise up and down the coast and check out those sporting around in their Hawaiian shirts on a regular basis.

We do this in part because we are always keeping an eye out for a design idea to add to our line of Hawaiian shirts for men which in part is challenging because we don’t make the standard designs that you see at the hundreds of other retailers selling Hawaiian apparel.

We figure that if you are man enough to wear a colorful Hawaiian aloha shirt then the gloves are off when it comes to boldness. Bring on the Aloha bruddah!

Featured today is a Hawaiian shirt with pineapples and what makes this shirt stand out (aside from eye popping color) is that the detail in the pineapple is incredible, it looks like you could almost eat it. We see a lot of Hawaiian shirts with designs that look nothing like the real flower or fruit so this one is refreshing to say the least.

We look everywhere, the boardwalks, on highway 101 the quaint shops that speckle the coastal shopping areas, the beaches, and even the roadside racks that carry a few name brands that are seemingly on sale every day of the year.

The island of Maui is bigger than a Hawaiian shirt

The island of Maui, or Maui  as the locals refer to it, is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands weighing in at a whopping at 727.2 square miles of paradise!

While Maui is not the largest of the Hawaiian islands it one of the more picturesque and boasts some of the finest snorkeling on the planet.

So how does a Hawaiian apparel manufacturer pay homage to such a beautiful island?

Thats easy, you commission a mens Hawaiian shirt that encapsulates all of the beauty of Maui, of which includes beautiful island flowers and foliage, and appropriately name it the Maui Hawaiian shirt!

Product link: Maui Hawaiian Shirts