The CRUISING GUIDE TO THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS is a boaters’ companion designed to aid resident and visiting boaters alike in their enjoyment of the Islands. The first section, “The Hawaiian Islands,” offers a brief look at the geological, historical, and political history of the Islands, as well as information on weather, boat equip-ment, provisions, medical supplies, and passage-making.

The second section, “Destinations,” includes the viable anchorages and marinas in the Islands grouped by island. The entry for each destination includes background about the area, a few suggestions about what you can see and do there, directions on getting to the destination, and suggestions for anchoring or mooring there.

The third section, “Appendix,” includes a note on the Hawaiian language along with a list and the definitions of common words you are likely to encounter as you cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. It also contains a brief bibliography of primary sources we consulted.

To help you visualize the destinations, each entry also has either a sketch based on our most recent observations of the harbor or the anchorage or a chartlet based on NOAA charts. As with all sketches and chartlets, these repre-sent the places as they appeared at one specific moment in the past.