Vacation With Purpose in Hawai‘i

Hawai‘i attracts millions of visitors from around the world each year, with its stunning natural beauty one of the main enticements compelling their travel. Once here, however, visitors discover that another thing that makes Hawai‘i truly special is the deep roots connecting its unique natural world and its indigenous Hawaiian culture. On your clients’ next visit, suggest they experience Hawaiʻi on a deeper and more connected level by engaging in the many volunteer opportunities in nature on each island sure to lend purpose and lasting accomplishment to their days here.

Kaua‘i
The Kaua‘i Surfrider Foundation welcomes your clients to take part in its Ocean Friendly Visitors Program guided by a list of ocean-preserving and -restorative best practices they can employ to help keep Kaua‘i’s beaches clean and beautiful. The nonprofit’s volunteer opportunities include a weekly Net Patrol clean up helping remove large fishing gear and other hazardous plastic pollution from the island’s beaches and coastline.

O‘ahu
Waimea Valley, a sacred historical site on the North Shore, offers volunteer opportunities that positively impact O‘ahu’s natural world while perpetuating indigenous culture. ʻOhana Workdays provide families with younger children the opportunity to learn and give back while Conservation Workdays help advance forest restoration projects or care for the many rare and endangered species. At Pearl Harbor, the Battleship Missouri Memorial offers volunteer opportunities to help restore and preserve the world-famous World War II battleship and honor its history. Volunteer activities on board include cleaning, sanding, sweeping, touch-up painting and moving items.

Maui and Lana‘i
Maui’s Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wetland and sanctuary for many Hawai‘i native and endemic bird species. Volunteer programs visitors can participate in include Greenhouse Volunteers, tasked with taking care of plants in the refuge’s nursery, and its Habitat Restoration Volunteers, who outplant and care for native plant species and remove invasive plants within the refuge. Cat-appreciative clients will want to know about volunteer opportunities at the Lānaʻi Cat Sanctuary, home to more than 600 rescue cats — contained from the landscape so they are no longer a threat to native wildlife — who require feeding, cleaning and caring. Volunteer opportunities can be customized to few-hour or full-day experiences.

Island of Hawai‘i
If your clients’ plans include visiting Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, suggest they look into the park’s Stewardship at the Summit program. Program volunteers are tasked with caring for ‘āina (land) within the park by cutting invasive Himalayan ginger on its trails. Work often happens in the shade of the park’s forests alongside the sweet serenade of native honeycreepers like the ‘apapane, ‘amakihi and ‘ōma‘o. On the west side of the island, clients can help build trails, clear weeds, plant trees, collect native seeds and propagate plants that will grow into the future forests of the Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative. The nonprofit’s mission aims to rebuild a native-species-dominant forest and rehabilitate the critical ecosystem of the 275-acre Waikoloa Dry Forest Preserve, which protects ancient, endangered wiliwili trees and several threatened plant species.