"My Favorite Island: The Big Island of... " a Hawaii (Big Island) Travel Page by diver-x

We were just looking for a cheap warm-weather vacation for the spring of 2007. Do some scuba diving, catch some nice sunsets, some good tropical drinks and a little bit of adventure. So I searched and searched all of the airfare consolidator web sites looking for deals to the Caribbean... And didn't find any! Just when I was about to give up, a banner ad on Orbitz caught my eye: Hawaii On Sale! So on a lark, I clicked on the link and what do you know, airfare from Boston to Hawaii was cheaper than airfare to the Caribbean! Go figure! Didn't have to think about that one! I jumped on the tickets and then shopped for accommodations, eventually settling on an independently owned condo right on the water in Kailua Kona Town, walkable to restaurants & shops!

It was our third visit to this beautiful island. The first time we were here, we got engaged! The 2nd time was brief but fun, vacationing with my sister and her family. This time, we had a week to explore a little deeper into the island, but still I feel like we've barely scratched the surface. The Big Island is, well, BIG! If all you do is visit the volcano, that's wonderful, but you haven't seen the Big Island. I highly recommend visiting each side of the island and the interior.

Our itinerary this time was:
- Drive the Saddle Road and explore Mauna Kea Summit and Emesine Cave
- Hilo & Waterfalls
- Scuba Dive Honaunau (Place of Refuge)
- Explore South Point and Green Sand Beach (and a couple of black sand beaches too)
- Hike Kahauale'a Trail to the back side of Pu'u O'o Vent
- Scuba Dive the Old Airport Beach and Kailua Kona Town Beach
- Hike to the back side of Waipio Valley to the waterfall - and back out!
- Sight-see from Waimea to the north side of the island and drive the Kohala coast.

Wow, I was tired at the end of the week, but what a great vacation! I'm more convinced than ever that I want to retire on the Big Island. I really love the area from Waimea to North Kohala. It's really beautiful country! Words can't describe - you have to see!

We only had 3 days for our second visit and we revisited a few of our favorite spots from our first visit:

- Volcanoes National Park, including a hike to the lava flow
- Scuba Dive Honaunau - Place of Refuge (a must!)
- Kayak from Old Wharf to Captain Cook Monument and scuba dive at the monument

We visited 3 other islands on this trip (Oahu, Maui and Kauai) and The Big Island is my favorite! There is so much to do and see! And (outside of Kailua-Kona) it's still pretty much undeveloped and "undiscovered," compared to say, Maui & Oahu.

We rented a house near Kailua Kona Town. Not on the water but close enough! We found it on VRBO.com. There are a lot of good deals for private rentals there. I highly recommend it for cheaper alternatives to expensive hotel stays.

For our first visit to the Big Island, we had 9 days that went all too quickly! We spent a lot of time scuba diving along the Kona & Kohala coast but we did manage to see Volcanoes National Park and hiked to the lava flow and also hiked the z-trail (aka switchback trail) on the far side of Waipio Valley.

Waipio is absolutely beautiful! If you can do some hiking in the valley I highly recommend it! I would not drive a car down into the valley. You need 4 wheel drive with a "Low" gear setting, but even if you've got that, the locals don't take too kindly to tourists parking their cars in the valley. We saw a smashed windshield from disgruntled local. Hiking in isn't a problem. But hiking back out takes a LOT of effort!

Hiking to the lava flow on the ocean for sunset was an incredible experience! Sunset is definitely the time to see the lava. And you can see all of the lava flows glowing on the hillside at night. You have no idea when you look at the mountainside during the day! It's an amazing sight! But I found the hike back in the dark to be daunting to say the least! And to make matters worse, we didn't have extra batteries with us and we didn't have enough flashlight battery power for the 2 of us for the whole trip back. So we had to share one flashlight at a time. Not good! The lava looks like easy hiking in the daylight and for the most part it is. But at night, it's treacherous! Lava is very sharp! I know from experience!