chinuminu

Travelling to Big Island from July 17 to 23rd. Trip was originally planned to see the volcanos! Booked in Waimea , HI. What are the top places to see? We are moderate hikers and love all kinds of sight seeing. Have the following places in mind...
Akatsuka Orchid Garden
Papakolea green sand beach
Kahalu Beach - Turtle beach
Waipio Valley??

we would like to visit some good waterfalls, go ziplining, go snorkeling.
Any guidance we get is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

jamie99

Are you aware that all rental car companies prohibit you from driving your car to Papakolea? There are also a lot of rental car break ins at that location.
Hopefully Sylvia will be along shortly with more advice, but we greatly enjoyed visiting Place of Refuge (not the formal name for it, sorry) and a boat trip with snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay with Fairwinds.

TJM_70

If you plan your trips out from your home base, just take each region as a day or so...with beach time in between on the Kohala coast.


The Ka'u district is the most rural part of the Big Island. But, it offers you an opportunity to visit, stay and enjoy a much less 'touristy' part of the island and see what real Hawaii has been like for generations. Our condo is in the rural Ka'u district, home of Papakolea / South Point Here are some things we enjoy in our area:

• South Point (people jump off the cliffs here...about 40 feet high if you are brave enough and the sea is calm - DO NOT recommend jumping - it is prohibited by the law and results in frequent injuries to jumpers) and the Papakolea green sand beach. It's about a 3 mile hike from South Point to green sand or you can pay a local with a pickup truck for round trip ride (we hiked it a couple of months ago - it is a long hike and boring in places...if you walk for the experience, stick as close as you can to the coastline - cooler and more interesting). Totally undeveloped beach. All these places call for you to exercise wise judgement about the ocean; the ocean can be dangerous in Hawaii. When we go here, we usually start off with picking up some to go food at Punalu'u bakery and then head to South Point bluffs and make a good part of the day of it. Take water!!!
• Ka'u Coffee is getting to be very famous. There is a coffee mill near Pahala. While you are there, continue over to visit the small and tranquil Buddhist temple in Wood Valley.
• If you are hikers (we are) you may be interested in finding, hiking and exploring the Ka'u Crack - a 60 foot wide / deep fissure in theisland. It's in the Ka'u desert and of the Mamalhoa Highway. You have to park the car between mile marker 46 and 47 on the highway and hike on an unmarked but findable trail. It is a nice hike that crosses multiple old lava flows and varied terrain. You'll probably be the only ones on the trail...take water. Here's info The Great Crack Hike in Ka'u - Big Island of Hawai'i - InstantHawaii
• Kawa Beach is a beach to the south of the condos. It's Ka'u local surfing spot; again, totally undeveloped and wild. It's a culturally important spot that was purchased by the county and is in the process of becoming a more formalized park. You can get there by parking along the highway (there are usually one or two other cars there near the yellow gates) and walking a much shorter distance. Kawa Bay in Ka'u - InstantHawaii
• Don't overlook Punalu'u (black sand) beach - This beach gets a lot of tourists on the south (parking lot) end through the day...just set up on the far end of the beach past the souvenir stand and you'll be out of the crowds. Popular beach with locals and nice for having a lifeguard. Swimming in the corner up to the boat ramp is often the best. Snorkeling here isn't world's best but is lots of fun and usually has good turtle sightings and plenty of fish. Getting in and out of the water is rocky, but swimming is usually nice unless the surf is pounding; I recommend checking with the Ocean Safety (lifeguard) staff if you have questions.

We love Hilo and usually get there a couple times while on the island, Depending on the rest of your trip itinerary, don't skip going here - especially if you will be staying in the Kona area on another part of your trip. Hilo is the biggest city on Hawaii Island. Tsunami museum is good and worth seeing. So is the zoo (only zoo in USA that's in a rain forest)! There is some funky, fun, local shopping in downtown Hilo. If you will be there on Saturday morning, fun farmer's market. The Hilo Burger Joint is a good restaurant as is Cafe 100 (this is where LocoMoco was invented...cafe 100 is a Hilo tradition). There are a bunch of beach parks south of town - beautiful and different from what you expect in a traditional sand beach.

If you are not heading elsewhere to the north or planning to stay a couple of days in Hilo, then you'll want to spend another day going north along the Hamakua Coast. Get up early and go thru Hilo heading north all the way to the Waipio Valley. We often take a day for a car ride up the Hamakua coast - taking the scenic routes (marked) and stopping along the way as the whim strikes us. Much to see and do here, too: Botanical Gardens, Rainbow falls, Akaka Falls (easy, beautiful hike), a few small towns (we like Honokaa), Malasadas at Tex Drive in, Waipio Valley.

Hope these are helpful...we've been on the island for three and a half weeks and as you've seen elsewhere, I'm sure, the eruption tragedy is restricted to a localized area. Air quality in the Kona district has been pretty poor for a while, but Kohala area has been better. Hopefully, things may level off over the coming weeks as the new normal arrives (crossing fingers...no one knows). Although unlikely at this point, hopefully VNP will re-open as well.

TJM_70

Forgot two other things:

I have not done the zipline at Uma Uma falls but from what I hear it's great - that's on the Hamakua Coast north-ish of Hilo.

We have snorkeled with several different charter operators over the years and the one we have liked the best has been Fairwinds out of Keauhou. My advice for friends / family has been take the morning cruise for better chance of sunny skies - it makes a difference in my opinion.

sf7307

Is it also less windy in the morning?

sylvia3

Just had a Fab day in the sunshine snorkeling... trades started up in the afternoon, gorgeous weather and skies in Waikoloa.
You can pay locals a moderate fee for a ride to/from green sand, and our car was fine (maybe an implicit agreement? Who knows)
Get to two step early, bring lunch and sit on the rocks; visit the national Parks site when you're done (tip: there's a pretty stretch of beach behind the site if you go through the parking lot).

BarbAnn

Don't know the ages of your family, but you might consider the night time snorkeling with the manta rays (it is actually more like s swim with the mantas). It was a blast and the manta rays really do get up close and personal! We used Big Island Divers, but there are other companies that make the trip. There are two sites that attract the manta rays. One is the bay next to the Kona Airport and the other is near the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort.