Big Island brims with good deals

When the Big Island Visitors Bureau asked local businesses to cook up deals for kamaaina, they responded big time. Here are a few of their special offers:

» Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel's Golden Anniversary of Statehood kamaaina special includes two nights at $199 per night with a third night at $50.

» The Kalaekilohana, a Hawaiian-owned luxury bed-and-breakfast, has a “;Guilt-Free Getaway”; for groups for as little as $49 a night per person for three nights or more.

» Oceanfront restaurant Huggo's in Kailua-Kona takes 20 percent off entrees after 8:30 p.m.

» Keiki can ride for free with a paying adult on Atlantis Submarines in Kailua-Kona.

» Kona Honu Divers will take off 15 percent for a little night snorkeling and diving.

Check out other offers at www.bigisland.org/getaway.

Visitors get presidential treatment

Obama-philes get special treatment at Aqua Hotels & Resorts. The “;Obama-rama”; package has been extended at all 12 Aqua hotels in Waikiki through Dec. 31. It includes:

» Rates starting from $114 per night for Aqua Boutique hotels and $94 per night for Aqua Lite properties for June bookings. Check the Web site for other dates.

» Free copies of “;The Dream Begins—How Hawaii Shaped Barack Obama,”; a book about the president's life in Hawaii by Hawaii authors Stu Glauberman and Jerry Burris.

» Automatic compact rental car for each day booked.

Aqua's toll free number is (866) 406-2782; from Hawaii, call 924-6543. Web site: www.aquaresorts.com.

Outrigger turns trash into treasure

The Outrigger Waikiki is getting green by collecting discarded beach items—beach mats, floaties, body boards—from their guests. The discards, which might otherwise end up in the landfill, are turned over to the eco-entrepreneurs at Kini Beach (www.kinibeach.com) who turn the stuff into chic handbags and totes.

Plastic bottles go to PACT (Parents and Children Together), a nonprofit family service agency, which recycles them and collects the refunds.