In my experience, the stereotypes people hold regarding the students at UH Manoa will depend on the stereotyper's background.
Many people who attend private schools in Hawaii have a negative view of UHM, commonly viewing the quality of academics as inferior to those programs on the mainland. Most private school kids will (likely) believe that UH doesn't have a large population of private-high-school kids, and that most of the students that were educated in Hawaii come from public schools. They further assume that UH is a quick and easy program.
For some public school students in Hawaii, the stereotype seems to be that UH offers a great social scene for a) the price of in-state tuition and/or b) with a relatively easy route to a bachelor's degree.
For most people outside of Hawaii and within the US, the stereotype is that students of UH will go to the beach and surf every day, and that the stresses of school will be far less exhausting in the beautiful Hawaii weather. Most of the stereotypes for education in Hawaii are predominantly influenced by tourism advertisements.
I cannot address international students' stereotypes to the same degree.
The stereotypes discussed above are all not true, for the following reasons:
1. UH is NOT a school that offers easy degrees, and is NOT inferior to other schools. Our School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technologies (SOEST), for Travel Industry and Management, and for Business (notably International Business) are all very strong, and our English as a Second Language and Asian Language programs are some of the best in the nation.
2. UH is NOT made up (primarily) of lazy and/or unmotivated students. There definitely are students like that, but my experience at UH has introduced me to many hard-working and intelligent people looking for a top-class education.
3. UH definitely does have a strong social scene, but it is not nearly as prevalent as many would think, and not all students are involved with on-campus events. UH Manoa is primarily a commuter school with a good portion of the student body coming from their home towns, and most students find their social scene outside of campus.
4. Many UH students do NOT go to the beach every day, mostly because UH is not located right on the ocean. The Manoa campus is in a valley that is 3-5 miles from the closest beaches (in Waikiki - tourist center of Hawaii), which are not the most popular among the college kids and locals. The popular beaches are a 20-30 minutes drive's away, or 1.5 hours to the North Shore.
5. UH tuition is reasonable for out-of-state students, and very good for in-state tuition. It is definitely worth 'the bang for the buck.'
***All of the information described above represents my own views through years of experience at the university, and this in no way represents the views of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.