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Click on the island
name for more on shopping at that particular location.
l Big
Island l Kauai l
Maui l Oahu
l Best Buys
In
the arts and crafts area there's so much to see that
collectors should plan at least one day in Hilo and another
in Kialua-Kona. In
Hilo the two best spots to start are the Potter's Gallery
with especially nice Raku and pottery, some interesting
jewelry and sculpture and paintings of varied quality.
The Cunningham Gallery just down the street
affordable prints and posters.
A lot more galleries wait everywhere.
There's even art up in the volcanoes where the
Volcano Art Center represents a vast number of Hawaiian
artists and seems to sell crafts, prints, oils, pottery,
woodcraft and more at very reasonable prices indeed. .
Hilo
is the place to shop on a budget as real people have real
jobs here. On the other side of the island try the two big shopping
centers in Kailua -- if you can't find these you don't
deserve the bargains. Liberty
House, Hawaii's own, has, as usual good casual wear at
budget prices. Don't overlook the Longs Drugs souvenirs and
Hawaiian gifts sections for solid quality and the lowest
prices around. Of course, there are Hilo Hatties in Hilo and
everywhere else in the islands, but the best prices on the
Big Island are at the Hilo Hattie Fashion Center, a factory
outlet just outside Hilo you reach with free transport. Got
someone who sews? Try Helen's Fabric shop in Hilo for
Polynesian Fabrics and, with one seam, an instant beach wrap
for under $10.
Head
north out of Hilo on the Honokaa Coast, and it's bargain
macadamia nut country, but the shopper's prize here may be
the antique stores along the road in "downtown"
Honoka. Try
the pie in the Woodshop Gallery and Café and you'll
probably end up buying one of their lovely bowls.
WARNING: You never, never, never want to buy
macadamia nuts in the shells. Hit one with a hammer to open
it and the nut either turns into an unguided missile or
smashes into powder.
Kialua-
Kona's the scenic shopping choice with dozens of arts and
craft shops along the bay, and, of course all the upscale
hotels offer all sorts of upscale shops at upscale prices.
For a spurge, Island Silversmith has some wonderful dolphin
and whale jewelry in both silver and gold in the Seaside
Mall in Kona. Try
the aptly named Shellery in Kailua for wonderful, black,
pink, white and Biwa pearls. They've several shops so if you
can't find exactly what you need, they'll bring in more.
Prices seem lower here than in Waikiki or Lahaina.
Continue north and find the best Nihau shell items on
the Big Island, the pride of Hawaiian crafts, at the Gallery
of Great Things in Waimea.
The nearby Waimea Design Center runs to South Pacific
jewelry and there's much else. |
