Photo: Nico Guilis1/22When I feel like I want to get out of the North Shore, I go to Lanikai. I live on a mountain, so it’s nice to stay right on the beach—and this house is house, yard, beach. This is the view from my room. The water is crystal clear and blue year round. You can sleep with the doors open to listen to the waves crash all night. It’s beautiful. I never get sick of the ocean. It soothes me.
Photo: Nico Guilis2/22Lanikai can get touristy, so to avoid the crowds, renting a house with private beach access is a plus—or even cooling off in your own pool. It’s great to have some privacy to catch up on magazines and a good book—and even to catch up on emails.
Photo: Nico Guilis3/22Good Mexican food is hard to come by in Hawaii. Even the Southern Californians here like Serg’s Mexican Kitchen in Waimanalo. It’s a local spot.
Photo: Nico Guilis4/22We were driving around Waimanalo, where it’s really lush. We found a pretty farm and the owner said they were throwing a concert later on. We came back—the music was great. It was the California Honeydrops. Everyone was dancing, there was a giant peace sign, and we watched the best sunset. The whole vibe was amazing.
Photo: Nico Guilis5/22This is the Pillbox Hike—it’s one of the most famous hikes on Oahu—and one of the milder ones. It gives you a great view of the Mokes. Even if you don’t want to take it all the way to the top, it’s beautiful.
Photo: Nico Guilis6/22These are the Mokes at sunrise. You only get the sunrise in Lanikai. There’s no one on the beach. It’s just you and the birds. It’s so peaceful at that time of day to see the sunrise.
Photo: Nico Guilis7/22The Ko’olau Mountains over Waimanalo. It’s what you imagine when you think of Hawaii: windy roads, old trucks. It’s just great and retro. They don’t let people build out there.
Photo: Nico Guilis8/22This is Doris Duke’s house in Diamond Head, and it’s unreal. Every corner has beautiful touches and views. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
Photo: Nico Guilis9/22This is my favorite sofa in the house. Doris Duke created one of the largest collectsions of Islamic art in the U.S. There are incredible tiles, screens, lamps, and paintings all over the house.
Photo: Nico Guilis10/22This is the view over Diamond Head, which is right outside of Waikiki. It’s a landmark hike. It’s so beautiful. Diamond Head is 10 minutes away from Waikiki, and has great shops and restaurants.
Photo: Nico Guilis11/22Duke’s is one of the most famous restaurants in Waikiki. A mixture of locals and tourists go for the views and the mai tais. I love their kālua pork. It’s a really fun spot.
Photo: Nico Guilis12/22I always get a window seat so I can see the sunset or the islands I’m flying over. This is the view flying into Maui. It’s huge and so green, with fewer houses, more farms.
Photo: Nico Guilis13/22I genuinely love flying Hawaiian because it’s so easy to travel between islands—every flight is under an hour. You go up and go down and the whole experience going through the airport is laid-back Hawaiian-style.
Photo: Nico Guilis14/22There are farmers’ markets in Haiku where you can get fresh coconuts and dried fruit overlooking the ocean. It’s right near Mama’s Fish House, a really famous restaurant in Maui.
Photo: Nico Guilis15/22We went vintage shopping in Paia at the Paia Trading Company finding little treasures. I got a retro suitcase, old Hawaiian shirts—I wanted to get enough to fill a whole other bag.
Photo: Nico Guilis16/22Near the Lahaina Cliff House you can jump off of these cliffs into the water. People bring lunch and floats and hang out in the bay all day.
Photo: Nico Guilis17/22We went sailing at sunset on the Alii Nui and saw humpback whales breaching. It was the end of humpback season, so we were lucky to see so many. We also caught a killer sunset.
Photo: Nico Guilis18/22A lot of musicians keep houses in Maui. You can rent Mick Fleetwood’s house. It is so amazing. You can tell that a lot happened here—there are memories and platinum records all over the walls. There’s a great pool in the back with a Buddha and a great outdoor shower. I’m a die-hard Fleetwood Mac fan, so seeing him perform at Fleetwood’s on Front Street, his restaurant in town, was the highlight of my trip.
Photo: Nico Guilis19/22Paia is my favorite town in Maui. It’s a little hippie village with awesome vintage stores, shops (Maui Girl for bikinis), bars, and healthy restaurants like the Flatbread Company. I love it.
Photo: Nico Guilis20/22At the Four Seasons in Kona they have live Hawaiian music with hula dancers at sunset under the palm trees. If it hadn’t set in yet, the vibe here really makes you feel like you’re on vacation in Hawaii.
Photo: Nico Guilis21/22The Big Island is like landing on the moon because there’s black lava everywhere. This is my favorite island. You can go thrifting for hours and get incredible things—I got the best old Hawaiian T-shirt. There are incredible furniture stores and lots of vintage Japanese clothes and objects—tons of kimonos.
Photo: Nico Guilis22/22One last sunset before I was back to reality.
