Fell in love with the Big Island. This was my 17th trip to Hawaii and Dear Husband's 15. Our last trip to BI was in 1987 with toddler daughter in tow. I decided that I needed to have my 50th Bday in Hawaii.
Details: ATA Airlines LAX/Kona. Got excellent fare of $517 by spotting newspaper ad in late May.
Hotels: Country Goose B&B in Volcano 2 nights, $135/night, and Hapuna Prince hotel 5 nights, $216/night special included huge delicious buffet breakfast for 2.
Car: $252 Hertz because I had a coupon, but a better deal was $210 Budget using an Entertainment coupon. Car had roaches!
The famous book Big Island Revealed is a MUST.

A caveat in reading this report: We are trail runners and avid snorkelers so we enjoy being sweaty and salty all day, then cleaning up for beer, dinner and bed.

July 31 - 120 miles from airport to B&B via hwy. 19. Arrived about noon, DH made a beeline for the rental car place while I got the bags. Had an excellent Subway sandwich in Waimea, unusual amount of fresh veggies. We worked our way down the Hamakua coast, but only felt we had time to stop at the Waipio Valley overlook and Akaka Falls. Falls were lovely, I think we heard a coqui frog. At Hilo we only stopped for beer and a salami & cheese dinner. Country Goose gave us a 2 BR cottage in a pretty rural neighborhood, spotless and charming, even had gloves for the lava (which we used), Hawaiian music CDs and volcano videos. It was chilly, misty and windy, so we only went into the Park a bit to check out the Steaming Bluffs, and have a drink in the very dreary lounge at the Volcano House.

Aug. 1 - Volcano. Morning run Kilauea Iki loop trail. Very scenic, peaceful at 6:30 a.m. Ran thru the Thurston lava tube at 7 a.m. with not another soul there! Lovely fern and ohia forest. After a delicious breakfast at B&B (Joan makes fantastic pancakes & waffles with berries), toured around the rest of the park. The sky was clear, but the wind was howling. This is our day to find the flowing lava!
After talking to a woman with a 6 year old who did the trek in 5+ hours with part in the dark, we decided to start our trek at 4 p.m. and see what happened. On the way we hiked out to the petroglyphs - why did the ancient Hawaiians put them THERE? It wasn't quite worth battling the howling wind to see them. The visitor center said the hot lava was 3 miles out. We did finally find some oozing hot lava - fantastic sight! And the heat! Our total hike out and back took about 3.5 hours, battling the howling wind going out, We moved as quickly as we could, and were VERY glad to be finished before dark! It is NOT easy to walk on that lumpy, sharp stuff and we couldn't tell where we were headed. The markers ended after a bit, and we never did find any beacons. On the way back, we overshot the end of the road by being a bit too far uphill. A tip: head somewhat for the steam cloud, we found the lava about 1/4 mile uphill from it, sort of. Look for the heat waves emanating upward when you get close. The shapes and shininess of the cooled lava are so interesting, I could have taken a zillion photos, but didn't. It was quite grueling but an experience we would not have missed. Dinner was iced beer and trail mix, the best ever. As we left, there was a HUGE line of cars parked as people walked out a 1/2 mi. or so on the road to view the glowing steam cloud. We were glad we wouldn't be in the traffic jam when everyone decided to leave, and could see the glow from up the road as we left.

Aug. 2 - 10 mi. run around Kilauea Crater on the race course from 3 days earlier, which we missed. Wind still howling but sky clear, icky fumes in parts. It took us almost 2 hours, but we took a "shortcut" near the end that took us to the bottom of Kilauea Crater and back up that actually added time. Tired! Need breakfast! Back at the B&B in time to fill up on waffles with berries, incredible.
Time to leave for Kona via the southern route, to be continued...

Wow! We hiked out past the reflectors too to the lava flow on August 3rd and all we saw was steam. You are lucky!

Yes, we did feel lucky because we spoke to one couple on the way who had been out to Beacon 8, wheververtheheck that was, and hadn't seen any. I think the trick is to not go too far uphill.

On to the other side:

I planned on not stopping anywhere until Puu Onua o Honaunau (fun to type that), so we didn't. When we got there, there were several tour busses of "retired" folks there, so we just took a quick look, then decided against snorkeling at Two Step because of the crowds. After lunch at the famous Wendy's, boring chicken sandwich one-free-with-one Entertainment coupon, we went down to Kahalu'u and snorkeled despite the huge crowds. Not bad, actually pretty good, but later in our trip we saw a flyer from Snorkel Bob's recommending that people not go there because of the reef deterioration!
Went thru Kona, didn't stop. It looked about the same as 1987! Maybe some more stores.

There was a large brush fire up by Waimea in the Waikoloa Village area that plugged up the highway nicely, delayed us getting to Hapuna about an hour. They were evacuating homes, but I think I heard later that none were burned.

Arrival at Hapuna! Marvelous! We fell in love with it, can only ditto the glowing reports on TripAdvisor. Wind still howling, but it was blowing out to sea and blew the water flat. EXCELLENT snorkeling at little cove at the north end of the beach, clear, not surgy, lots of big fish, occasional turtle. Our terrace room in building 4 had a little lawn with a view of coral tree flowers. Birds squawked at dawn, but we didn't care. We walked the little trail over to the Mauna Kea and drooled over their beach and all the beautiful artworks. We have happy memories of our toddler daughter enjoying the beach there; the Hapuna Prince wasn't built in 1987. Had dinner at Cafe Pesto up in Kawaihae, excellent! (forgot what we had).

Aug. 3 - We were afraid to leave the Kohala area because of possible brushfire traffic, so we hung out at the lovely Hapuna Beach. In the afternoon we drove over to look at the Mauna Lani; it looked awfully sterile compared to "our" hotels. Looked at Hilton Waikoloa, horrified! Wouldn't stay there on a bet, Disney/Vegas. King's Shops have gome good shops and some less (!) expensive restaurants. The Mauna Kea Pavilion restaurant has early bird 6-7 specials for $26 & up, 3 courses. Excellent food, incredible view.

Aug. 4 - early delicious breakfast at the Hapuna then up to Mauna Kea summit. It's about 50 miles from Hapuna to summit road turnoff to Onizuka Center. Saddle Road was perfectly drivable, just a bit narrow with rough shoulder, making you want to drive straight down the middle then get over when cars approach. I think it took us 1 hour 15 mins. O. Center is 6 miles up, opens at 9 a.m., there's not much there but they do have good maps. 6 mile trail up to summit starts there. DH started slogging his way up at 9, it took about 2.5 hours and he's really strong up hill. He said the trail wasn't really scenic, and the footing was bad. The drive up to the summit was fine in our basic Chevy rentacar. There's a mile or 2 of pavement, then 5 miles of graded dirt, washboardy dusty and steep but quite drivable, then 2 miles of pavement. It was easy to park, then walk up a sandy slope a few hundred yards to the summit cairn, 13,796 feet. Cold and windy! Out of the wind, there was complete silence. I think a drive up there in the dark to see the stars would be fun, we talked to someone who did, you'd just need to drive CAREFULLY. Heck, the stars visible from the beach were impressive! Late lunch a L&L BBQ in Waimea, funny little chain place. Refeshing snorkel back at hotel, too stuffed for dinner.

(Are you still with me? This seems so long, I apologize!)

Aug. 5 - For Kealakekua, we didn't want the trouble of renting a kayak, or the expense of a boat tour, so we hiked the 2 mile trail down that is mentioned in BIR. It's fairly steep, but wide and easy to follow. No view until you get near the bottom, you're just going thru cane fields and brush. Parts were rocky and rolly, parts weren't too bad, but the result at the bottom was so incredible that we went back and did it all again the next morning. By accident DH scooped up a cane spider on the bag he was carrying, YIKES! We have never ever seen so many fish in such amazing calm clear water, such healthy coral. Huge schools of yellow tangs and every other Hawaiian reef fish known to man. Saw five 4-foot moray eels out of the coral, swimming along. Entry just to the left of the Cook monument is a bit tricky, slippery rocks & urchins. Hiking down took about 45 mins., back up took about 50, I don't think we've ever been so sweaty. Except for the effort and dirt involved, it probably took less time than renting a kayak, launching it, and padding across the bay.

Afterwards, made a necessary shopping stop in Kona. The traffic getting out of Kona to the north is BAD. There are several signals that back everything up, it doesn't get to speed until close to Costo.

Dinner at the Kawaihae Grill, really good. All the food we had on the BI seemed so fresh, like it was all caught or picked that day.

Aug. 6 - The wind has stopped at last! Completely sunny day, we can see all 3 peaks from the hotel. Kealakekua all over again. We'd go down that trail again right now if we could. Heading home, we though about going to Pololu valley but we could see thick clouds over the top of Kohala mountain, so we decided to snorkel at Puako. We found the telephone pole #122 mentioned in BIR and it was a great spot! Tolerable entry, the by now familiar clear BI water and loads of fish.

Birthday dinner at the Pavilion again, excellent all over again. When I was a kid staying at the Mauna Kea in 1966, they had the spotlight on the water with manta rays swimming around. That stay may have been what infected me with Hawaii fever for all time.

Aug. 7 - Time to leave, time only for nice run down to Puako Beach road, where we would move in a second if we had an extra $1,000,000, huge yummy breakfast, one last snorkel from the little Hapuna cove. ATA airline had the longest line at the Kona airport, everyone got their turn to stand in the sun one last time. So depressing to arrive home to cold smelly L.A., but our lonely elderly cat was glad we were home. Time to plan December trip to Maui for our anniversary!

very nice gigib are you going to post any pictures? I was on the big island 7/20-7/28

You know I was disappointed with the Kilauaiki (sp) trail. Found a lot of garbage from other hikers. Big Island revealed heralds this trail as the one hike to do if you don't do any other hike too. So I think that may have set me up for disappointment.

Loved that howling wind in the volcano park!!!! I think our best views came from the lookouts during daylight. I would not often say that in the past as I have often have been caught up with "the glow of the flow". This time I took time to really appreciate the diversity of landscape present in one view on the way down during day light. INCREDIBLE!!!!

We did hike past the reflectors with only one flashlight and the moonlight to guide us. I told my 13-year-old nephew who accompanied me that he was giving me a moment doing this hike with me. One HUGE cruise ship gets very close to the flow too making for an added view.

Loved the Haipuna Prince! very nice gigib, are you going to post any pictures? I was on the big island 7/20-7/28.

Great trip report! It sounds like you had a busy and fun trip!

Wish I could go back!

pss gigib I wonder how long kealekekua bay will remain that beautiful. Not a single sign posting to keep off coral. We had people tell us about walking on the coral and the huge Farewinds boat that comes in, what a shame. Really wish this place was protected! I don't talk about it for this reason. Big Island has doubled in the past 10 years with residents. Kealekekua bay has not had this kind of usage ever. There is also run off from different developments that have impacted it in the past. Not sure what safe guards were put up to protect it.

Kayak boys told us responsible Kayak rental shops restricted the # boats they sent out. They had 10 only (without guide) going out which were already rented. They could however take us out for $125 per person LOL. Somehow that hefty price, two boats instead of one (they would not rent only one guide boat), and a guide would cause less damage to the environment LOL. We went up the road and rented at market prices from a competitor when we inquired about the capacity of boats in the bay and what Kauai boys told us on boats going out she said yeah Kayak boys does that so that you do the $125. tour.

FYI Kayak boys are the number 1 recommendation from big Island revealed. I will be writing the editors on this one. pss gigib I wonder how long Kealakekua bay will remain that beautiful. Not a single sign posting to keep off coral. We had people tell us about walking on the coral and the huge Farewinds boat that comes in, what a shame. Really wish this place was protected! I don't talk about it for this reason. Big Island has doubled in the past 10 years with residents. Kealakekua bay has not had this kind of usage ever. There is also run off from different developments that have impacted it in the past. Not sure what safe guards were put up to protect it.

Kayak boys told us responsible Kayak rental shops restricted the # boats they sent out. They had 10 only (without guide)going out which were already rented. They could however take us out for $125 per person LOL. Somehow that heafty price, two boats instead of one (they would not rent only one guide boat), and a guide would cause less damage to the environment LOL. We went up the road and rented at market prices from a competitor who told us yeah Kauai boys does that so that you do the $125. tour.

FYI Kayak boys is the number 1 recommendation from big Island revealed. I will be writing the editors on this one.

sorry for the dup

Nice report gigib. I think we were at the Hapuna Beach Prince around the same days as we saw the fires too.

That pre-fixe dinner at the Pavillion Restaurant has to be one of the best deals around for a Kohala Coast resort. The sunset views overlooking the ocean on the Pavillion terrace is another big plus. The dinner choices are very good and of excellent quality, especially their fresh fish preparation. I had the macadamia nut crusted fresh mahimahi which was outstanding and heard from some local residents who frequent the 6-7 pm dinners there, that the fresh opakapaka is also excellent when its on the menu. Loved Cafe Pesto as well, a consistently good restaurant.

Thank you! Most timely... I'm supposed to be helping my parents plan a Big Island trip and haven't done squat ;-)

Planning trips is half the fun for me, I drive DH nuts.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments, I won't be posting photos any time soon because I don't know how. I just recently gave up my heavy 35mm camera for the digital, so far I only know how to point and shoot.
Regarding Sarah's comments about K-Bay, the bay seems incredibly healthy in spite of the large number of snorkelers. The coral would not be easy to walk on anyway, because there is no flat reef there, the coral starts at the water's edge and slopes down very quickly; you might bump a bit in the beginning, but it would be tough to stand on it. There's only a couple dozen yards of it before the bottom slopes down steeply to the deep blue where the coral doesn't grow. It's a huge local business for the boat operators & the kayak renters, I'd bet that the boats give their passengers the standard info about not touching anything, and I think the area is a preserve. It looked like the boats anchor in very deep water, and the snorkelers enter there and approach the coral edges from the deep. Plus, the boats all seemed to leave about 11:00. The problem could be with kayakers beaching, but again, IMHO, the coral is too deep at the edges to reach. It sure as heck looked healthy and there sure were zillions of healthy fat fish. My husband & I saw no one else on the trail down, except one day when a guy had brought 2 people down on horseback.

Oh, an oddity I forgot to write about earlier. There seems to be a fresh water spring near the "back" of the cove by the lava wall, we'd feel colder water at the surface and there was a funny, ripply optical effect in the water. We figure it was the mixing of salt & fresh water.

Aloha -

Great report !!

If given a choice now, would you stay at the Hapuna Prince or Mauna Kea??

I am trying to select from the two.

I think it would be the Hapuna, partly from the difference in $$. The Hapuna's 40th anniversary special rate w/breakfast for two was $216, while the MK's rate for the same thing was $345. Plus, we loved the Hapuna snorkel cove, although I think MK has one at the south end of the beach. It's so easy to take the shuttle back and forth and go over and soak up the MK's beauty. It is prettier than Hapuna, but they are CLOSE. The "cheap" rooms at the MK look directly out the back, while all the rooms at the Hapuna at least face the coast. Plus, I think I've read that MK has older, smaller rooms.