Big Island Vacation Trip Report 2

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This Big Island Trip Report 2 is written by JoLoyce from Hana Maui Botanical Gardens

Did you know about the Big Island?

Hilo town is a great place to experience Hawaii. People are friendly and there are many places to enjoy yourself at a reasonable cost. There is the usual tourist places that are fun. The Candy factory with great samples, a short ride down past the pier area, you will find homemade ice cream with yummy tropical flavors (Lilikoi passion fruit and Lychee is my favorite and next door is a very interesting tropical Garden and along the road are quiet parks for lolling and enjoying the ocean.

I love to eat at local restaurants. Which are so tasty and so cheap. A favorite is Ken's Pancake House, you can't go wrong at any time. The oxtail dinner is so "ONO" (delicious). There is a Chinese take out or eat in place across the airport road on the Volcano Highway. You can order for one and eat for two. And in the back of Kuhio Mall is Kuhio Grill. Don't miss the one pound lau lau or Chicken Katsu. Mostly local people eating in here.

Driving up Volcano Highway, you have many stops that you shouldn't miss. The beautiful tropical landscaped zoo and the Macadamia Nut Factory. Definitely stop in at the DeLuz wood factory, they have a great restaurant there, too, with homemade pie.

Don't forget the Bakery at Mt. View, where you can get the very famous Stone Cookies. Now they make coconut and chocolate chip. You will be hooked on this.

Before Volcano on the left side is the most amazing Orchid Nursery and gift shop. And some smell wonderful.

If you want a home away from home, there are many in Volcano. I am partial to A'alani Volcano Heart Hawaii because I own it. Eco oriented with natural cedar walls and recycled furniture and CFL light bulbs. Cutesy decorated for fun. A good place to be located to explore this area and Hilo. You will find sweet Volcano Village with it's local store and gift shops, two great restaurants. Lava Rock Cafe, great food and Internet service and the special Thai Thai Restaurant. Order mild..........whoa.

You can spend all your time at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park exploring, ranger led hikes, and I am addicted to the Volcano Artists Gallery. I buy a Special Key Chain from local artists that I use as a necklace. If you like your wine, definitely go to the Volcano Winery. Tasting first. And if you are a golf nut, the Volcano Golf Course has really surprising good weather when the rest of the area rains. It is cooler so sweaters are recommended. It is 4,000 ft. elevation.

I also, recommend at least one day driving the entire road around the Island. Naalehu has a bakery that makes the famous Punaluu Sweet Bread and has a nice choice for light lunches or desert.

You will pass Ocean View which has a great take out or eat in for local food. Stop at any park you see, they are all different. You shouldn't miss the next national park. Used to be called the City of Refuge but has the correct name now. Hoonaunau. It is a really long drive down the mountain to it but really worth it. You can see the place where Capt. Cook met his fate with the Hawaiians. They thought he was a God until they borrowed a boat and he punished them.

Kona is fun but hot. Go on up the highway and check out the Kona Hilton Hotel. You can explore it even if you don't stay there. Waimea is a treat, especially the tour of the Parker Ranch. Some well known high end restaurants are here, so if you have a special day to celebrate, this would be the area. There is the most wonderful lady who makes Lilikoi pie sold on Sat. at the Hawi farmers market.

You can't miss Honokaa. Gracie has a fabulous antique store. I love her because she rescues cats. Drive to the lookout to see Waipio Valley. Back up on the Highway, you have to stop at TEX's. They have cream filled malasadas. Fresh and hot. And daily lunch specials. I love sweet sour spareribs. A couple more Gardens on the way back to Hilo and you are almost home again. It is only 25 miles up to Volcano and the road is straight and good.

Guess what, that is only some of the highlights, so you need to stay at least a month and do whatever you missed or need to do again. You gotta hit the Saturday Farmers Market in Hilo.

Happy vacationing and relaxing. JoLoyce Kaia

Mahalo JoLoyce for your insider Big Island Vacation trip ideas. It gives them great ideas where to go and what to do on their Hawaii vacation on the Big Island. Aloha, Pua
Kohala Coast Vacation Guide

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Big Island Vacation Trip Report 1

Tags: Big Island, Big Island vacation

Big Island Vacation Trip Report 1

Mahalo to Joe Duck from Online Highways for his Hawaii Big Island Trip Report.

For me the big “surprise” of Hawaii was how relaxed and uncrowded it was, even during Spring break, *except* in the Honolulu area surrounding Waikiki Beach. A little research after our trip of a few years back told me that almost all Hawaiian tourism happens in the few square miles of Honolulu right around Waikiki Beach, the stretch of beautiful white sand and surf that curves in a gentle crescent around the surf side of Honolulu. Pearl Harbor was also fairly crowded, though even these “busiest” parts of Hawaii were easily manageable.

I think the kids remember the high rises, beach, and trinket shopping in Honolulu the most but my wife and I enjoyed our stay at the Keauhou Bay Resort, an “Outrigger” Brand Hotel about 10 miles south of Kona on the big Island. Our first room was too low and with a bad view but they relocated us to higher floor where we enjoyed a great view of the surf and swaying palms. Hawaiian hotel lobbies are often in the open air in a patio like setting, and that was the case at the Keauhou Bay. The restaurant also was “outside” but under a roof, next to a nice small pool and within view of the surf. The immediate area was a sometime home of King Kameahameha, the dude who unified the islands (sometimes with brutal force), but is still celebrated as one of Hawaii’s great historical figures. A recreation of his small house is still on the grounds.

the Keauhou Bay Resort Hotel was somewhat isolated from the big groups of resorts and hotels located at Kona and at Waikoloa. Kona appeared to cater more to the “middle class” where the huge resorts at Waikoloa tend to cater to the wealthiest visitors to the big island. Based on our short visit to Waikoloa the resorts there seem to spend a lot of time “recreating” Hawaii at the resort grounds and pools rather than having you experience it a bit more directly on the beaches and the small city of Kona. However if you want to be pampered more you’ll probably want Waikoloa places.

The big Island is not nearly as big as I’d expected - you could drive completely around it in 5 hours 20 minutes using the main Hawaii Belt Road that circles Hawaii (this is pretty much the key main road on the big Island, though there are a few other big roads in Waikaloa area.

Links to some key attractions of Hawaii:

DO NOT MISS the historic native village at Honaunau a US National Historic Park. This is a “must see” to understand Hawaii before colonialism. A beautiful recreation of a native polynesian village with interpretive information.

Kealakekua Bay is where Captain Cook first landed. He was greeted by Hawaiians peacefully and left, but then returned and was killed. The monument area offers excellent snorkelling as part of a *great* full day adventure that was the highlight of our Hawaii trip. No special skills required though it is a bit physical unloading and loading the boats on the car and into the water:
* Rent Kayaks and snorkelling equipment at one of the places south of Kona. We used “Kona Boys” and they were nice.
* Drive to the put in area at Kealakekua Bay. There were some folks hanging out there to help put in and take out for tips, but we just did it ourselves.
* Kayak out to near the monument. You can take out on the rocks north of the monument and then snorkel the reef around there. Lots of fish, great “drop off” to deep water.
Keep an eye out for Dolphins, or even whales. Dolphins are most likely in the mornings and evening.

Hilo is Hawaii’s largest city but not nearly as big a tourist destination as the Kona area. However our drive along the Puna Coast offered some of the most scenic views of the trip. At the end of the road is a great fish and burger cafe, and you can walk from there to the black sand beach that used to be among the world’s most famous until the area was overrun by Lava from Kilueau. Now you’ll see the beach in the process of eroding away into black sand again and note the coconut palms planted all around by a local. Although technically you could hike to Kilauea from here it is many miles away, not recommended, and could be dangerous.

Kilauea Volcano - Walking right up to the red molten lava flow, and seeing a lavafall shooting into the ocean were, for me, a personal “life’s great moments” kind of adventure. Eruption updates.

Kona Coffee: Be sure to do one of the many coffee tours offered just south of Kona at the small coffee plantations. Our 40 minute tour showed the trees and the process. Also it was “free” (though you should give the guide a nice tip) and including sampling several Kona blends and taking away some free avocados from their trees.

Yes, there is a lot more to note about Hawaii, but I need to move on to some new destinations. We’ll do more Hawaii later….

We invite all our readers to join our Hawaii Trip Reports. Write a short trip report about your Hawaii vacation on Oahu, Kauai, Maui or Hawaii Big Island or Molokai and Lanai. Hawaii visitors would like to hear where you stayed, island, hotel or vacation rental, and what you did on your Hawaiian vacation. Please, email us your report. When approved, your Hawaii trip report will be published immediately. Mahalo and aloha Pua Hawaii Kohala Coast Vacation Guide

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Tags: Big Island Trip Report, What to do on the Big Island, Big Island vacation