A must-do on your Hawaii vacation -- take the time every day to stop and enjoy the sunset. You can watch the big yellow ball descend slowly into the blue water of the Pacific from anywhere on the Waikiki-Honolulu-Leeward side of the island. Some insist on viewing the sunset with a locally made tropical mai tai. When the sun is low, make the tropical mix with fresh lime juice, fresh lemon juice, fresh orange juice, passion-orange-guava juice, and fresh grapefruit juice, if possible. Pour this concoction on ice in tall, frosty glasses, and then add Meyer's rum, in which Tahitian vanilla beans have been soaking for days. (Add cinnamon, if desired, or soak a cinnamon stick with the rum and vanilla beans.) A dash of Angostura bitters, a few drops of Southern Comfort as a float, a sprig of mint, a garnish of fresh lime, and voilà! -- you have a tropical, homemade mai tai, a cross between planter's punch and the classic Trader Vic's mai tai. As the sun sets, lift your glass and savor the moment, the setting, and the first sip -- not a bad way to end the day.
In Hawaii, the mai tai is more than a libation. It's a festive, happy ritual that signals holiday, vacation, or a time of play, not work. Computers and mai tais don't mix. Mai tais and hammocks do. Mai tais and sunsets go hand in hand.
It Begins With Sunset . . .
Nightlife in Hawaii begins at sunset, when all eyes turn westward to see how the day will end. Like seeing the same pod of whales or school of spinner dolphins, sunset viewers seem to bond in the mutual enjoyment of a natural spectacle.
On Fridays and Saturdays at 6:30pm, as the sun casts its golden glow on the beach, and surfers and beach boys paddle in for the day, Kuhio Beach, where Kalakaua Avenue intersects with Kaiulani, eases into evening with hula dancing and a torch-lighting ceremony. It's a thoroughly delightful, free weekend offering. Start off earlier with a picnic basket and your favorite libations and walk along the oceanside path fronting Queen's Surf, near the Waikiki Aquarium. (You can park along Kapiolani Park or near the Honolulu Zoo.) There are few more pleasing spots in Waikiki than the benches at the water's edge at the Diamond Head end of Kalakaua Avenue, where lovers and families of all ages stop to peruse the sinking sun. A short walk across the intersection of Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues takes you to the Duke Kahanamoku statue on Kuhio Beach and the nearby Wizard Stones.
