Hawaii Magazine
Aloha Friday Picks: How To Celebrate National Picnic Day in Hawaiʻi
Picnic in a botanical garden, grab a poke bowl and head to the beach, or learn how to make local-style mac salad at home.
Apr 23, 2021
If you’re lucky enough to be in the Islands this weekend, we suggest grabbing some lunch—
poke bowl, anyone?—and heading outdoors. It’s National Picnic Day today—in case you needed an excuse!
Picnic at a Botanical Garden
Photo: Getty Images/Teri Wertman
Botanical gardens in Hawaiʻi are the perfect places for a picnic—and every island has a few to choose from. On Maui, there’s Maui Nui Botanical Gardens, where you can sign up for an hourlong docent-led tour, or the 8-acre Kula Botanical Garden, which has a nice picnic area (and a resident cat). Kauaʻi’s Allerton Garden in Lāwaʻi Valley offers guided tours, including a sunset tour that ends with a bento meal crafted by local chefs. Hawaiʻi Tropical Bioreserve & Garden on Hawaiʻi Island—about 10 miles north of Hilo—has recently reopened; marvel at its collection of more than 2,500 tropical and subtropical plants. (Read more here.) And on Oʻahu, spread your picnic mat at Hoʻomaluhia Botanical Garden; we’re sure you’ll find somewhere to yourself amid its 400 acres in lush Windward Oʻahu. (Read more here.)