Where to stay... Well many areas have many styles of accommodation, from hotels to cozy bed and breakfasts, to condos to luxury resorts. Oahu's noted for its tourist hotels and condos in Waikiki to luxury spa resorts. Maui, Kauai and Hawaii have their fair share of luxury resorts and bed and breakfasts.

Once you have your rough general itinerary, it's now time to search using appropriate terms, such as "hawaii vacation," "fun things to do in hawaii" and "hawaii airfare," etc. Line up 3 to 5 good sites for each topic--some sites will cover them all--and then start clicking. Explore each site to sort out better from good and keep your eyes open for any travel, accommodation or activity options you may have missed when composing your itinerary. Add these items to your list and keep clicking.

After spending "quality" time with your long list, it's now time to decide which one(s) you feel most at ease with. These are ones you should use for planning and booking your vacation necessities. If unsure about a few, send off a question by email or phone. You can tell a lot about a company on how they respond, if they respond. Obviously, if some don't respond or respond inappropriately, drop them from your list... You don't need aggravation.

Now, get serious about planning and booking your itinerary. If you have a problem offering your credit card via Net, many agents can accept same via telephone. Personally, given pre-planning above, I, have never had a problem and I've ordered thousands of dollars of stuff via Internet with no problems whatsoever. Given my life in general, I doubt that this has anything to do with luck. Once done, you'll have a great sense of accomplishment and very likely, a fantastic vacation in paradise. So, get clicking and planning and before you know it, you will have followed all your favorite links to Hawaii... Aloha!

Almost as good is hike along south coast, although you're bound to run into other tourists here as a paved highway follows shore. Begin early and catch a taxi to Rano Raraku, stone quarry where all of island's statues were born. This is easily island's most spectacular sight with 397 statues in various stages of completion lying scattered around crater. And each day large tour groups come to Rano Raraku to sightsee and have lunch. However, if you arrive before 9 am, you'll have site to yourself for a few hours. When you see first tour buses headed your way, hike down to Ahu Tongariki on coast, where 15 massive statues were reerected in 1994. From here, just start walking back toward Hanga Roa (20 km) along south coast. You'll pass many fallen statues and enjoy some superb scenery. Whenever you get tired, simply go up onto highway and stick out your thumb and you'll be back in town in a jiffy.

An outstanding 13-km walk begins at museum and follows west coast five km north to Ahu Tepeu. As elsewhere, keep your eyes pealed for banana trees growing out of barren rocks as these often indicate caves you can explore. Inland from Ahu Tepeu is one of island's most photographed sites, Ahu Akivi, with seven statues restored in 1960. From here an interior farm road runs straight back to town (study maps at museum carefully, as you'll go far out of your way if you choose wrong road here).

A shorter hike takes you up Puna Pau, a smaller crater which provided stone for red topknots that originally crowned island's statues. There's a great view of Hanga Roa from three crosses on an adjacent hill and you can easily do it all in half a day. A different walk takes you right around 3,353-meter airport runway, which crosses island just south of town. Near east end of runway is Ahu Vinapu with perfectly fitted monolithic stonework bearing an uncanny resemblance to similar constructions in Peru.

Easter Island's moderate climate and scant vegetation make for easy cross country hiking, and you won't find yourself blocked by fences and private property signs very often. You could also tour island by mountain bike, available from several locations at US$10 a day. If you surf or scuba dive, there are many opportunities here. A minimum of five days are needed to see main sights of Easter Island, and two weeks would be far better. The variety of things to see and do will surprise you, and you'll be blessed with some unforgettable memories.