The Big Island of Hawaii

 

When most people think of Hawaii they think of pretty beaches and expensive milk. Almost everyone I personally know who has been to Hawaii has been to either Maui or Kauai. I also know a few who have been to Oahu. But it seems no one I've ever known to visit Hawaii ever visits the Big Island of Hawaii. So with not a lot of word of mouth on the big island, here is how our trip went and what I recommend to you.  

We stayed in the resort town of Waikoloa, located on the northwest side of the island. Here you can find condos, a Marriot, a Hilton, a few shops, some restaurants, golf, and a beach. Other than that, there isn't much! Most of the island felt like this, it's a pretty low-key island. The beaches and water are to be expected, amazing. The waters are super clear, even in October which is when we went. If you look closely at the waters, you'll more likely see sea turtles as they are everywhere. They eat right off of the shores. 

On the beach of "A" Bay (Anaeho'omalu Beach), you'll find the beachfront restaurant of Lava Lava Beach Club. My husband and I actually went to the other Lava Lava Beach Club on Kauai, so we were very excited to go to this one too. A local at the restaurant said Lava Lava is the only beachfront restaurant that has chairs in the sand. We love eating here. The food is a little fancy, the drinks are a little fruity, and the sunsets are amazing. I recommend eating here for dinner. Just be aware there aren't any reservations, so expect a wait time. When we went there was a two-hour wait. During your wait, you can walk the beach, play games, and enjoy drinks at their minibar. 

Further south in the city of Kona, you will find more shops and restaurants. This is where most of the hotels are as well as the airport. This will also be where you will find grocery stores like Safeway and Costco. We had dinner at On the Rocks. This cute outdoor restaurant is located on rocks outlooking the ocean. The wait time was pretty minimal and the food wasn't as expensive. Around the area, you will find tourist shops and more restaurants/bars. 

We did a night snorkel drive to see the manta rays. I absolutely recommend this tour. You float on the water with a giant light to attached plankton which then attracts the rays. You'll be in the water for about 45 minutes, so be mentally prepared to get cold, especially if you go in October like we did. Know that there are tons and tons of tour groups that do this tour. So if you see that they are sold out, just look for a different company. In our case, we booked the day of and thought everything was booked, but then we realized they do tours later in the night. 

At the southern tip of the island, you'll find a black sand beach, Punalu'u Beach. The drive from Kona to Punalu'u is a bit of a drive. They call it the Big Island for a reason. Expect curvy roads and slow speed limits. I got a little car sick because of the curves. (I also didn't have the best driver, so it may have been his fault) The water here is cold and the sand is course. I wouldn't recommend laying out on these sands. Try to go later in the day like we did, I heard a lot of complaints that the sand gets extra hot in the sun. You'll find amazing photos at this beach, and maybe softer feet. 

From the black sand beach, it's a short 1-hour drive to the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Plan on a normal National Park fee to get in. This was one of the smaller National Parks I've ever been to. Minus any longer hikes, you can see everything at this park in one day. At the top, you'll see the crater's edge. The entire time we were there it seemed like cloud after cloud would roll in and out. If you get there while it is cloudy, try waiting ten to fifteen minutes. For us at least, the crater fully cleared out and the views were amazing. This park is ever-changing as it is an active volcano, so be prepared for closed buildings or roads. 

Down at the other end of the crater, you'll see different views of the volcano. A few weeks before we went the volcano had an eruption, so we were able to see active lava. (You can almost peep the lava in the left middle of my photo) If this is the case for you, go to the Park at night. At night you'll see the lava glowing and it makes the experience a lot cooler. There are also amazing stars and the entire sky gets a weird red glow because of the lava. 

The east side of the island is the rainy side, here you'll see lush forests, waterfalls, and lots of rain. Akaka Falls State Park is located just north of Hilo. Here you will have to pay a $20 parking fee plus $5 per person. This is the case for all of Hawaii's state parks if you are not local. Akaka Falls is the tallest waterfall in all of Hawaii. It's so tall, we couldn't even see the bottom of the falls. This isn't a waterfall you can swim at, but the trail is a very pretty lush forest. Plan to site see for birds and flowers. The trail is paved and kept very clean, but be prepared for stairs. They say it's an easy hike, but for some, the number of stairs may make it hard. It was only about half a mile loop. 

A little more north on the east side of the Island you'll find Waipi'o Valley Lookout and Waipi'o Valley. We didn't have a lot of time, so we just went to the overlook, but if you are willing to hike we saw lots of people hiking down to the valley floor. You can also drive, but apparently, the road is very harsh. They have a guard at the start of the road checking to see if your car has four-wheel drive. It was a little bit out of the way for us, but the views were amazing. Also, just the roads to get here are incredible. Being the rainy side of the island, the tall trees and lush landscape make this drive feel very Hawaii. 

The drive back from Waipi'o Valley to Waikoloa Village is a pretty steep drive. You will go pretty high in elevation and then back down. There aren't any gas stations or anything when cutting across the staddle, so make sure to grab some gas before you go. On this drive, you'll see the landscape slowly turn from green and full of life, to black and baren. The west side of the island gets hardly any rain. This is great if you want to hang out on beaches most of your stay like we did. There are still things I missed, but that's the gist of what we did. You can easily turn my counterclockwise trip into a clockwise trip too if you wanted. Just remember the Big Island is very big as all of these activities will take multiple days. Make sure to rent a good car because you'll be spending a lot of time in it! 

Thanks for reading! Feel free to check out my other posts for more travel ideas.