Hawaii - Big Island, Amazing Sights

Our tour of the Big Island of Hawaii begins with our arrival into Kailua-Kona International Airport.   As you look around you might think you’ve landed on another planet, or perhaps on the moon, as you’re surrounded by brown lava rock in most directions. 

The Big Island is much more “in your face” about being volcanic than its sister islands, as we’ll see in a bit when we visit Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. But for now, we’ll head north from the airport to the Kohala Coast.  Kona town (Kailua-Kona) is a few miles to the south, and we’ll return there after circumnavigating the Big Island.

As luck would have it, we’re just approaching the town of Waikoloa as the sun is setting, and we can duck off the side rode to Anaehoomalu Beach, where it’s just about impossible to take a bad picture of the sunset.

After the sunset we’ll drive on past the resorts at Waikoloa and Mauna Lani,

to our favorite place to stay on the Big Island, the Mauna Kea Resort.  When we wake up in the morning, we’re treated to this incredible view.

You might be tempted to just hang out at the Mauna Kea for a week or so, hit the beach, play some golf, and not go anywhere,

but there’s lots to see on the Big Island, so let’s head further north up the Kohala Coast.  We’ll drive through the village of Kawaihae and check out Puʻukoholā Heiau (Temple on the Hill of the Whale), a National Historic Site that marks a major battle victory by King Kamehameha I in his quest to unify the Hawaiian Islands, then stop for lunch in the sleepy little town of Hawi near the statue of Kamehameha, who hailed from these parts.

Our next stop will be the black sand beach at Polulu Valley.  We’ll park at the top of the trail and hike down.

The hike down isn’t bad, but you might want to make sure you’ve packed enough water for the return hike back up the trail.  The view when you get down to the beach is pretty exotic, and well worth the exertion.

Our journey around the Big Island continues toward Hilo along the northern coast of the island.  The Big Island is surprisingly large, but after awhile we’ll reach Akaka Falls State Park.  Of course the waterfalls are on the rainy side of the island.

In addition to the main falls, there’s the lovely (smaller) 3 level Umauma Falls as well.

There's a botanical garden near Umauma Falls, where you can see all kinds of exotic tropical flora.

Well, it’s time to get back on the road towards Hilo.  We’ll make one quick stop along the way, at a place called Laupahoehoe (the name refers to a particular variety of lava found in the area).

Instead of staying in Hilo town, we’ve decided to stay at a little bed and breakfast at a place called Kulaniapia Falls, in the middle of an enormous macadamia nut plantation.

Here’s the view from the lanai when we wake up.

By now you should be getting the idea that the Big Island is a pretty special and unique place.  But if you’re not convinced yet, let’s continue our journey from Hilo towards Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and go right down into the Halema`uma`u pit crater section of Kilauea.

There truly isn't anyplace else on earth like Volcanoes National Park.  After checking out the volcano, we'll continue around the island, and head back to Kona for dinner.