Seeking Pampering or Adventure? Here's Where to Find Them

Want to experience Hawaii for a few days longer, away from the crowded bustle of Waikiki?

This is the reality of the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu in Kahuku (808-203-3650; <TurtleBayResort.com>). With a rocky peninsula dividing surfable waves on its western side from a gentle, sandy beach bay on its eastern side, you would be hard pressed to find a better escape on Oahu than this resort. Its spacious feel is enhanced by panoramic ocean views from every guest room. Your days will be as free or as filled with activity as you wish. For those who prefer being pampered, great food, an extensive kids program, jacuzzis, and a full-service spa are there for your enjoyment. Visitors who prefer a more active vacation experience can take advantage of 12 miles of ocean-front trails for hiking, jogging, or horse-back riding; the 80-foot waterslide; two oceanfront swimming pools; surfing lessons; tennis courts; and a fitness center. Visitors can even book a helicopter tour that departs from the on-site landing pad. The Arnold Palmer golf course, with a Scottish links front nine and a tropical forest, marsh, wetlands, and ironwood back nine, water coming into play on 14 of its holes—including the ocean backdropped signature 17th, is one of my favorites. (You may recognize it from a scene in the television show "Lost" in which Sayid shoots both a ball and a bullet.)

The resort's second golf course, designed by Fazio, has wider fairways, but with too much sand in wide bunkers, it steals many of your golf balls.

A few minutes' drive to the west is famous Waimea Bay on the North Shore of Oahu, popularized by the 1960s movie "Ride the Wild Surf." Winter waves 30 to 40 feet high attract high-surf specialists and their fans. By the time you arrive in May, calmer waters will entice more casual swimmers to frolic on its sizable beach.

Waimea Bay and Waimea Valley were of great religious and political significance to the Kahuna (high priests) and Ali'i (high chiefs) of old Hawaii, including King Kamehameha the Great, whose unstoppable war machine transformed the Hawaiian Islands from multiple chiefdoms into a single Hawaiian nation. On the plateau above Waimea Bay, reached via a winding paved road, respectful visitors are welcome to experience the spiritual power of the Pu'u Mahuku Heiau, one of the largest partially restored Heiau (temples of worship) in Hawaii. It has been reported that Hewahewa, a Kahuna Nui (high priest) for Kamehameha, performed rituals including human sacrifices here. Waimea Valley, Mauka of the bay, was known for its great agricultural bounty. Once filled with taro (a root starch similar to a potato), the valley is now a botanical garden with thousands of plants, some found nowhere else in the world. There is a fee to enter, but the 3/4 mile paved road through the garden (bring mosquito repellant) rewards the stroller with a waterfall-fed pool safe enough for swimming.

Want another way to escape Waikiki other than by plane to a neighbor island or by driving an hour and a half to the North Shore? How about chartering a private yacht? I'd recommend, from personal experience, making a reservation for a gourmet dinner off Waikiki for you and family or several close friends, yacht included, with Chad Allenbaugh of Hawaii Yachts (808-222-9768; <www.HawaiiYachts.com>). With a fleet of seven motor and sailing yachts of 50 to 60 feet, Chad and his captains will arrange transportation to Kewalo Basin Marina (about a mile Waianae of the Hawaii Convention Center) and then take you on a private cruise for as little as a few hours off Waikiki, to a few days around the Hawaiian Islands chain, or to as much as a few weeks to sail you from San Diego to the APA annual meeting in Honolulu. Take your choice among the yachts he provided for various royalty, Muhammad Ali, and Bill and Hillary Clinton, among others. A family friend treated my family and me to the private Waikiki dinner experience—fantastic!

So much to share, so little time. Come to Hawaii for the annual meeting, recharge your academic and clinical batteries, and restore yourselves and your families in our island paradise.