Six ways to experience family-friendly Hawaii
The actress has deep Hawaiian roots and loves sharing her culture via music, films and moments spent with family. Here are her favourite ways to find "ohana" in Hawaii.
Twenty-three years after lending her voice to Lilo's big sister Nani in the Lilo & Stitch animated film, Tia Carrere is coming full-circle as she stars in the upcoming live-action Lilo & Stitch film as a new character, Mrs Kekoa, a no-nonsense social worker. But the role is also a chance for Carrere to do one of the things she loves most: showcase her Hawaiian heritage.
"I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii," Carrere tells the BBC from Maui's pristine Napili Bay, where she's joined longtime musical collaborator Daniel Ho to perform in George Kahumoku Jr.'s Hawaii Masters Tour. "It informs everything about me."
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Honolulu-born actress and singer Tia Carrere is forever beloved as the "babelicious" rocker Cassandra in Wayne's World and the voice of Lilo's big sister Nani in the animated 2002 film Lilo & Stitch. She has won two Grammy Awards for her Hawaiian music albums with Hawaiian multi-instrumentalist Daniel Ho and will be appearing as Mrs Kekoa in the Lilo & Stitch live-action film in theatres starting May 2025.
Carrere's Hollywood career famously began when she was discovered at a supermarket in Waikiki as a 17-year-old. "I always say that people come to Hollywood from somewhere else to become something else," she muses. "I think because I was born and raised in Hawaii, it's really grounded me. It's my grandma's homespun knowledge; the golden rule, very simple… and that's Hawaii. I love Hawaii."
Carrere has lived in Los Angeles for decades but has never forgotten the concept or the feeling of ohana (family). "Family to Hawaiians means a solid base that you can trust to have your back – always," says Carrere, who returns regularly to visit. "… [And] Hawaii is a great place to vacation with your family, because the most delightful things about Hawaii don't have to cost you anything more than just flying here and staying here…. Because you walk out your door and you're in the ocean. The kids can build sandcastles on the beach. They can collect flowers. They can go hiking through a bamboo forest. They can see birds that they've never seen anywhere before. They can snorkel and see fishes and coral that they've never seen before. Anywhere you go, it's absolutely delightful, and it's all just right there… It's the Earth."
Here are Carrere's favourite ways to enjoy ohana in Hawaii.
"I love this place for families," says Carrere – mother to 19-year-old Bianca and auntie to several nieces and nephews. "You get off the plane here [in Maui] and [a sign says], 'Maui has eight of the 10 most-dangerous beaches in Hawaii for spinal cord injury.' I guess it's the way the water sucks up and comes down. It's a wicked shore break. So it makes it very dangerous, particularly for kids. That's why I love Napili Bay. It's cove-like, it protects you."
Carrere loves staying at Napili Kai Beach Resort in Napili Bay, an idyllic half-moon-shaped resort beach in West Maui that's refreshingly less-crowded than many of its sister beaches. Napili Kai Beach Resort's vintage gabled wooden structure is likewise a throwback to a simpler time.
Got little kids?
Head to Carrere's pick, Ala Moana Beach Park Magic Island in Waikiki."It's a very protected, super-chill beach for little, tiny kids," she says. "It's a safe haven for them to just sit and play on the sand. You don't have to worry about current coming in."
Carrere loves staying at Napili Kai Beach Resort in Napili Bay, an idyllic half-moon-shaped resort beach in West Maui that's refreshingly less-crowded than many of its sister beaches. Napili Kai Beach Resort's vintage gabled wooden structure is likewise a throwback to a simpler time.
"It reminds me of when I was a kid," says Carrere of the boutique resort; originally built in the 1960s. "It's not luxe; it doesn't have elevators to get to the second floor with your luggage. But I like it. It's got refrigerators in the room, and whatever you need for kids, but it's mostly about the bay and how simple and charming it is. It's the best quaint time capsule of a hotel in........
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