When it comes to the U.S., there are two kinds of states. There are those that might be called “exciting,” “interesting,” or “just plain awesome,” and then there are…the rest of the states.
We don’t think we need to tell you which of these two categories Hawaii fits into. From the beautiful beaches, to the bustling nightlife, to the amazing food, Paradise (yes, this is actually an official nickname), has more excitement than it does tourists, and that’s a lot.
But which of the islands’ places are the most exciting? According to the latest analysis here at the
Movoto Real Estate Blog, that honor goes to Lahaina.
Here are the 10 most exciting places in Hawaii:
1. CDP of Lahaina
2. City of Honolulu
3. CDP of Kihei
4. CDP of Kapaa
5. CDP of Nanakuli (tie)
5. CDP of Hilo (tie)
5. CDP of Kailua (tie)
8. CDP of Waianae (tie)
8. CDP of Wailuku (tie)
10. CDP of Wahiawa
In the next sections we’ll say aloha to each of these places and find out just what makes them so much cooler than where you live, but first, here’s how we came up with this list.
How We Created This Ranking
Just like our other
Big Deal Lists, we started this island adventure with a visit to the U.S. Census website in order to get a list of all of the places in the state with populations of 10,000 people or more.
Then, we used the 2010 U.S. Census and business listings to research each place according to the following eight criteria:
- Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
- Live music venues per capita
- Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
- Arts and Entertainment per capita (movie theaters, festivals, galleries, theaters, etc.)
- Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
- Percentage of restaurants that are not fast food (the higher the better)
- Percentage of young residents ages 18 to 34 (the higher the better)
- Population density (the higher the better)
Once we omitted any spots that didn’t report data, we scored each of our 27 places according to the above criteria, where the lower the score, the more exciting the place. We averaged these scores into an overall Big Deal Score, where, again, the lowest score was our most awesome, most thrilling, and all around most exciting place, none other than Lahaina.
If you’d like to see more than these top 10, feel free to boogie on down to the bottom of the post to see where all 27 spots ranked. Otherwise, we’ll take a closer look at these most exciting spots in more detail.
1. Lahaina
“Lahaina”: Relentless sun or relentless fun, amiright? Okay, but for real, this community on the west side of Maui is packed with excitement, from its dozens of art galleries (ranked No. 1 in this category) to the beautiful and historic Front Street (which is why it’s awesome.)
Not only did it blow the competition right into the Pacific in the category of arts, but it also came in first for its nightlife, music venues, and active life options per capita. In fact, the only category where it didn’t do well was in the fast food arena. Yes, even with the abundance of delicious restaurants like Shark Pit Maui, Lahaina Luna Cafe, and Bamboo Fresh, there were still tons of fast food restaurants per capita as well.
2. Honolulu
No list of exciting places in Hawaii would be complete without the capital. This city was so filled with excitement, you may be wondering why exactly didn’t it make it to the No. 1 spot? Well, that’d be because it was about 50 times larger than anywhere else in the state, with a population of over 337,000 people, and we ranked each category per capita.
Even so, Honolulu ranked better than most places for its nightlife and music venues per capita (third in both) and, of course, ranked well for its number of restaurants per capita. You want Asian food? Head to Lucky Belly. Brunch? Scratch Kitchen and Bake Shop.
This city literally has every kind of food you could want, and with the sixth most active life options in the state, feel free to pig out.
3. Kihei
Located on Maui’s southwest shores, Kihei is a quieter alternative to Honolulu’s hustle and bustle. But don’t get us wrong, it’s still plenty exciting. Case in point: Kihei ranked the fourth best for its nightlife and music venues per capita, offering everything from clubs, to dives, to karaoke.
With its beautiful snorkeling, charter fishing, and whale watching expeditions, it also ranked well for its active life options. For you creative types, this place is filled with galleries, festivals like Fourth Friday, and a little something called Island Art Party, which is just plain awesome. Give it a Google sometime.
4. Kapaa
Who says you have to be young to live an exciting lifestyle? Okay, maybe some young people do, but residents of Kapaa certainly know better. Despite the small percent of the population between 18 and 34 (21.13 percent), this place still managed to have the second most active life listings, music venues, and arts per capita.
It even ranked fifth overall for its nightlife per capita, with places like Trees Lounge, 9th Island Sports Pub and Grill, and Pau Hana Grill and Bar—which also has killer fish tacos. Just so ya know.
5. Nanakuli
Going from Kapaa to Nanakuli is like walking from a retirement home onto a college campus. Okay, not really, but when it comes to a young population, these two couldn’t be more different. Where Kapaa had just 21.13 percent of people under 35, Nanakuli had nearly 25 percent—the second highest in the state.
Per capita, it also ranked the best for its number of restaurants. Sure, it doesn’t have the hundreds of options in, say, Honolulu, but give it a break—there were like 13,000 people here. Besides, Kalanz Heineken Grill is really all you need.
5. Hilo
The second of our three No. 5s was Hilo, obviously because it is one of the world’s leading producers of macadamia nuts. Oh yeah, and because it did well in nearly all of our categories. First of all, it was home to the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and had a pretty young population. Second of all, it had a ton of nightlife venues to go around.
Third, and best of all, it ranked among the best in the state for its number of restaurants per capita. From pizza at Cafe Pesto to actual good Mexican food at Lucy’s Taqueria, this place is paradise for foodies.
5. Kailua
The third of our No. 5s goes to Kailua—what can we say, Hawaii just has a ton of equally amazing places. While this place may have had a score equal to both Hilo and Nanakuli, it was for its own unique and very exciting reasons.
Reason one: it was the fifth most active place in the state. Reason two: it had the sixth most art per capita. Reason three: it had the seventh most music venues. And reason four: Crepes No Ka ‘Oi. Nuff said.
8. Waianae
If you’re looking for some excitement for your tastebuds, 1) head to Waianae, 2) go to Coquitos Latin Cuisine Restaurant, and 3) order absolutely anything on the menu. Of course quality is better than quantity, but with the second most restaurants per capita in the state, Waianae seems to have both.
It also ranked eighth in both the categories of young population (where 24.01 percent of residents were between 18 and 34), and its number of active life options. Way to go Waianae!
8. Wailuku
Just like Kapaa before it, Wailuku surprised us with a bit of a paradox. While it may have had the second lowest number of people between and 18 and 34 in the state (just 18.41 percent), it still managed to rank second for its number of nightlife options, fourth for its active life, and fifth for its music venues per capita.
Plus, with places like Bailey House Museum and events like First Friday and the Maui Fair, it ranked well in the category of arts per capita. Perhaps this place is just fun for all ages.
10. Wahiawa
Last but certainly not least (you can check out “least” in the table at the end of this post), we have Wahiawa. This Oahu town ranked well in our analysis for its high number of restaurants, and its comparatively low number of fast food restaurants per capita. We figure, the more places like Maui Mike’s Fire-Roasted Chicken and the fewer places McDonald’s, the better.
It’s also the fifth most densely-populated place in the state, with 8,618 people per square mile. To put this into perspective, just take a look at another of our top 10, Hilo. Hilo may be beautiful, but if you’re hoping to bump into friends while you’re out and about, or maybe just meet somebody exciting, with its 810 people per square mile, you’re better off in Wahiawa.
Hang Ten
These top 10 places are certainly the most exciting in the state, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of them are dull (after all, they are in Hawaii!) To see where your Hawaiian place of residence ranked, check out the table below.
Also, if you want to get in on some of this action, feel free to get in touch. We find people homes as effectively as
Hawaiians know how to prepare delicious spam—that is, we can make the impossible possible.
