Ukulele tour of Hawaii?

Asrafrate

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I'm planning a holiday to Hawaii next year and am wondering where I should go/visit to experience ukulele culture, visit some great shops and meet some clued on uke players?

At this stage I'll be on the Big Island, but is there anywhere else I should go?

Links etc. would be awesome.

p.s. tips on other things to check out in Hawaii (from the local's non-touristy perspective!) would be great too :)
 
Most of the uke places - factories and stores - are on Oahu. On all of our trips to Waikiki we have taken our ukes and spent most of the day gathered with others playing on the beach. There are also great players in Hawaii - both ukulele and slack key guitar. The place to hear most of them is Waikiki. I love the Big Island, but most of the uke stuff is on Oahu.
 
Hilo Guitars on the other side of the Big Island had a pretty nice selection - let you try them all. They put up with trying a Kanile'a concert versus a Kamaka concert for a while past closing....

http://www.hiloguitars.com/

Second checking out Sam Rosen's shop in the old post office

Have fun!!
 
the strip where Sam Rossen's place is has a couple of art and pottery galleries. they also close down the main thoroughfare in Kona on Sundays to make way for local vendors ( music, food, souvenir handicrafts and live uke players playing barefoot )
Thankyou! :)
Any other uke places I should go to? What about stores?
 
+1 on stopping by Sam Rossen's Ukulele Gallery. Great guy to chat with.

Hilo Guitars & Ukulele are awesome folks and amazing prices. My nephew got a Kanilea K1 tenor from them. Brian spent about an hour with him and his dad finding the right one He had 8 in stock and insisted he look/try each one! Ended up with one that looked like 3A curly koa and even Brian was shocked. The price was $200 cheaper than Oahu stores.

There's Agasa Furniture and Music store next door to Hilo G&U and I'm told they have a nice inventory as well and competitive pricing. We spent so much time at Hilo G&U that Agasa was closed by the time we left the store.

I'm going to put together something about the uke stores in Oahu and Big Island shortly. Stay tuned... :)
 
I'd love to check out Chuck Moore's house, especially the tree house! Not in a stalker way, but from the pics on his website, it looks amazing.
 
I'm off to the Big Island and Kauai at the end of September, so I'll try to give you a "tourist who hates tourists and tries not to behave like one" * perspective when I get back. It'll be our first time on the Big Island and we're staying in Kailua-Kona, so I might be able to give you a decent idea of what's achievable, distance-wise, in a certain number of days.



* The average, impatient-type, American tourists (that doesn't mean I think all Americans are impatient btw, there just seems to be a certain type who are) hate me when we're on Kauai. Having encountered tourists at home, I try to keep in mind that the locals all have jobs to do, and don't deserve rubbernecking tourists holding them up, so I try to always give them right of way at junctions and one lane bridges, or pull over and let pass the extremely rare local who drives faster than me.**


** The only person who has a chance of beating my Lahaina to Hana and back to Lahaina via the south road record is Ken Block.
 
When I stay on the Big Island, I tend to stay here:

http://www.keauhoubeachresort-hawaii.com/

This place has always worked out very well & the staff is excellent. It has the additional benefits of being adjacent to a small bay (Turtle Bay I think). Really good snorkeling. If you need equipment there is a small shop with great rates almost across the road & better value than a lot of the other spots. Other advantages to this place is that one of the groups that plays out on the veranda lounge (which actually juts out into the bay) features "Kona Bob" Stoffer, who generally is around on the FMM forums. Also, up the road at the shopping mall they have a community uke session on Wednesday nights.

Again - if you like snorkeling & history, take a drive over to the national park at the City of Refuge. Within walking distance is another excellent snorkeling spot that isn't very crowded. The current is a bit stiff near the rocks, but awesome snorkeling.

Lastly, don't know about you folks, but I'm also into antique/muscle cars (I have a 1968 Pontiac GTO with Ram Air II engine). I hooked up with some folks again at the mall (they meet on Sunday mornings) for car cruises/show.

Don't forget to eat at Jackie Ray's!!

Feel free to PM & I'll be glad to pass along any info I can from the different places/things I've found while driving around on two (did the Harley fly & ride vacation) or four wheels. Sorry to be so long-winded!

Matt
 
I'd also love to pay Chuck and his wife a visit (in a non-stalker way!)

Is it easy to get to Hilo?

And Matt thanks for the recommendations on accomodations. There is a mind boggling number of places I can stay and to be honest, my preference is something more private and quiet without the "touristy" thing going for it.

Any other ukulele shops/places I can go to? What about the 3 Ks, are they open to visitors?
 
When I stay on the Big Island, I tend to stay here:

http://www.keauhoubeachresort-hawaii.com/

This place has always worked out very well & the staff is excellent. It has the additional benefits of being adjacent to a small bay (Turtle Bay I think).

The bay is Kahalu'u. There are turtles in it now. They weren't there when I was a kid swimming there 50 years ago but fortunately they have come back. We called the bay Menehune Bay. Legend was that the menehunes (think Hawaiian leprechaun) built the rock breakwater. They were supposed to be building a fishpond but they didn't finish in one night so there is just the breakwater. Anything they don't finish in one night remains unfinished. A lot of turtles down at City of Refuge too.

Enjoy!
 
1+ on City of Refuge snorkeling! It's easy to get to Hilo, it's just a long drive. If you go over there, take a volcano helicopter ride. You'll never see anything like it.

All three K's have factory tours. Check their websites as each are a little different about times and days of the week. All these factories are on Oahu. I've never had a tour as I just drop in and ask questions. No one seems to mind. The places are factories only in the technical sense since they are quite small and more like shops. Both Koaloha and Kanilea are in industrial areas next to places like body shops and other small blue collar businesses. Kamaka sits in an area that has grown up around it, with the Federal Building, the Circuit Court House, and several high rise office buildings within fifty yards of the small building. If you go to Kamaka walk over a couple of blocks to Cooke Street and get plate lunch at Karen's Kitchen. I like loco moco for lunch although most people eat it for breakfast. Classic local style food.
 
I saw this on Facebook recently.‎ I don't know anything about them, but you might get in touch and see if they are doing anything while you are there.

Oh, and +1 for Jackie Rays!

8th Annual Big Island Ukulele Guild Show!
The Big Island Ukulele Guild will hold its’ annual ukulele show at Wailoa Center in Hilo from Oct.5-Oct.25, 2012.The opening reception will be Oct. 5, 5-7 PM. Ukulele from Guild members as far away as Alaska will be on exhibit. During the show, the Guild will conduct several public ukulele lesson and kanikapila sessions.They have loaner ukes available for the sessions, so no instrument is needed to participate. Open to all. Dates and times to be announced.
Drawings for free ukuleles will also be conducted at the kanikapila sessions. The Big Island Ukulele Guild is a group of ukulele building enthusiasts,
both professional and amateur, who's focus is the perpetuation of the art and craft of ukulele building.They meet in various members shops throughout the year to see building demos, exchange building tips, and share their current projects with each other.
For general information on the Big Island Ukulele Guild, contact president Woodley White at woodleywhite@mac.com . For specific information about the Guild Show, contact Bob Gleason at pegasusguitars@hawaiiantel.net
I don't know anything about them, but you might get in touch and see if they are doing anything while you are there.
 
Thanks for the information about the BIUG show! I'm going to be on Maui in october and I'd like to hop over to the Big Island for a few days. I sent an email requesting more information about it to Bob Gleason and i'll post here when I here back from him.
 
I'd also love to pay Chuck and his wife a visit (in a non-stalker way!)

Is it easy to get to Hilo?

And Matt thanks for the recommendations on accomodations. There is a mind boggling number of places I can stay and to be honest, my preference is something more private and quiet without the "touristy" thing going for it.

Any other ukulele shops/places I can go to? What about the 3 Ks, are they open to visitors?




send a messege to chuck maybe he will invite you over for a visit..maybe you can pickup a uke..some people say that is one way to get one..maybe only rumours?
 
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Thanks for the info on the Guild show. I will be staying in Kona 10/6-10/9 and will try to head over to Hilo to check it out.
 
I can't say anything but, I'm jealous... I was just talking about this very thing, my dream vacation! Have a blast! I hope you post pics when you return!
 
Thanks for the info on the Guild show. I will be staying in Kona 10/6-10/9 and will try to head over to Hilo to check it out.

The show will be held between Oct 5th through the 25th. It'll be all custom ukes built by members of our guild. Try to make it on one of the Saturdays when we're planning something special; kanikapila sessions with our recent transplant Andy Andrews (co-founder of the Santa Cruz Ukulele Club) and we'll have several ukuleles that we'll be giving away as well (no, not any of mine!). I'll firm up the Saturday dates and post them on our facebook page soon. Should be fun.
BTW, it's a 2 1/2 hour drive from the Kona side to Hilo. (It's called the BIG Island for a reason!)
 
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