Hawaii: The Big Island

After an amazing adventure on Maui, we headed to our next leg of our adventure. Most people we talked to that have visited Hawaii have been to Oahu and Maui. Fewer have made a visit to our next stop: the Island of Hawaii, most commonly called ‘The Big Island', the youngest and largest (and still growing!) of the Hawaiian Islands.

We are months late getting this blog written. We left enchanted by The Big Island, but life got in the way. Over Thanksgiving break, we read 'The Wide, Wide Sea' by Hampton Sides, which reignited the magic, the lore, the history, and the natural splender of Hawaii. This left us excited to relive our visit in this belated post.

The flight between the major hubs of the two islands, Kahului to Kona, covering roughly 96 miles, is brief and scenic. We were on the ground and in Kona before the city awoke for the day.

Once we had a car, the next thing we needed was a personal tour guide. We found a familiar friend using GuideAlong. GuideAlong uses GPS waypoints to offer insights of the location you are visiting. We discovered GuideAlong while visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and looked forward to hearing the history and nature surrounding us on the Island of Hawaii.

​Our first stop was Basik Açaí for açaí bowls and coffee to fuel us up for our next stop, snorkeling at Captain Cook Monument. There are three ways to snorkel this top destination: a 1272-foot hike on Kaʻawaloa - Captain Cook Monument Trail down and back up the mountain for 3.7 miles roundtrip, kayak in from about a mile away, or join a chartered excursion. We selected option three and joined the Captain Cook Snorkel Adventures tour through Dolphin Discoveries. The ride out and back was educational and entertaining. The snorkeling was incredible. We swam with hundreds of bright colored fish in perfect turquoise to marine blue waters. The controversial site memorializing Captain Cook, which was actually deeded to Britain in 1877, holds fascinating stories about life for the native Hawaiian people as well as the story of ‘first contact’. This was a great experience that we are so happy we got to join.

After our excursion, we took a long scenic drive clockwise around the entire island all the way to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, our destination for the next two nights. We made many brief stops at overlooks, sites, and historic markers along the amazing road trip around Hawaii. We booked a cabin in the Park that was primitive, but perfect. The cabin had a full bed and twin bunks. It was near a bathhouse and a short drive to the main gates of Volcanoes, so it was wonderful.

We try to avoid peak times at parks and started our day at Volcanoes National Park early. We arrived prior to the visitor center opening and ate a big breakfast at the Volcano House. This is also the hotel inside the park and it was abuzz with anticipation; there was a cruise ship in port at Hilo and many tourists were heading that way. We got the tip to get out ahead of their arrival. We started with a hike through Thurston Lava Tubes and Kilauea Iki Crater Trail. This hike gives you a lot of the Volcanoes experience: lava tubes, walking a mile across the crater, and back around the volcano’s rim. Devastation Trail and Crater Rim Drive to Keanakākoʻi Overlook are great shorter hikes that we explored as we continued toward the ocean. During the afternoon we also explored the Holei Sea Arch, steam vents, tree molds, and so much more as we drove the park’s roads. We ended the day back at Volcano House for dinner. We didn’t get to see lava flows, but still immensely enjoyed the park.

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​The next morning we packed up to leave Volcanoes National Park. After another big breakfast, we continue our clockwise tour around the island back toward Kona. The drive from Volcanoes to Kona is epic, that is if you are the type of traveler that is into beaches, volcanoes, vistas, farmers markets, and small farms. Our first stop was Punaluʻu Beach, a black stand beach with numerous green sea turtles basting in the sun. We came across a farmer’s market and grabbed coffee and some treats to keep us rolling. We drove down to the Southern Point. This location is the furthest southern point in both the Hawaiian Islands and in the United States. The Southern Point is believed to be the location where the Hawaiian Islands were first inhabited. It was windy and the cliffs are steep, and the waves monstrous. We were surprised to learn that this is a very popular cliff jumping location, complete with permanent platforms. Conditions were not favorable on the day of our visit for cliff jumping, although we also didn’t need an excuse not to take the plunge.

Nearby is the also popular Papakōlea Green Sand Beach. To visit the beach, you need to either walk 2.8 miles each way or hire a local driver. We decided to pass as the day was getting short, but this is a popular stop and on a lot of ‘must see’ lists. Our final stop before our arrival in Kona was Local Buzz. We tasted macadamia nuts and coffees, and bought a supply of each, before heading to check in at the Kona Keauhou Surf and Racquet Club. The view from our unit was amazing. Our patio overlooked a lava rock oceanfront and we were serenaded nightly by the waves crashing ashore. We were also excited to find a kitchen well-appointed where we were ready to cook a few meals.

We started the following morning with an event that was much anticipated: a tour and tasting of Heavenly Hawaiian Coffee Farm! We tasted and toured, tasted and talked, tasted and shopped, tasted and enjoyed the patio. We were sold, Kona Coffee is worth the buzz! Now it was time to soak up that caffeine at another anticipated stop: Da Poke Shack. You have to go early and be patient, but you have to get poke at Da Poke Shack. A little like ‘The Soup Nazi’, you need to be decisive when it’s your turn to order, but you will love the bowl you create! We drove over to eat at Wai’aha Beach Park, the location where the boogie board was invented. Seeing experienced body boarders ride the huge swells at the beach park was a sight to see. Still early in the day, we drove down to Two Step Beach for snorkeling. Named because you take about two steps down into the water and you are already in world class snorkeling. Nearby is a great historic site also worth a visit, Pu’uhomua o Honaunai National Historic Park.

Already we are down to the last full day of this epic two week Hawaiian adventure and decided to keep exploring. We started at Niumalu Beach and walked downtown Kona/Kailua. We headed north and visited Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, which is an important site symbolic of unity and lasting peace after Kamehameha unified the islands under his reign. We continued to the northern tip of the island and visited the small towns of Hawi and Kapaau en route to Pololu Valley Lookout. Easing our way south again, we took a scenic mountainous drive toward Waimea. We let the sunset on a beautiful trip with a beautiful sunset over the Pacific that evening before heading back to pack for the journey home.

We were scheduled to depart in the late afternoon. After checking out, we visited a farmers market and had an early lunch at Shaka Tacoz in Captain Cook. Our final stop was Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, which is near the airport. As we walked up to the Historical park, we learned we had a flight delay, so we took advantage and spent more time at this site. Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park is a great place to see examples and uses of fish ponds. These ponds would trap as well as store caught fish for future harvest by the native Hawaiians. We spotted a few more green sea turtles and enjoyed a few more minutes on a gorgeous Hawaiian beach before heading to the airport.

Our flight home was challenging, with delays and cancellations getting back to the mainland. United was great in finding us an accommodating flight that would finally get us home, albeit twelve hours later than we planned.

The Big Island was an amazing adventure for us. We are fortunate to have gotten this experience and even more fortunate to achieve a milestone as a family while in Hawaii: this was our 50th state that the four of us visited together!

Mahalo nui loa, Hawaii! Aloha.