texasaggie00

Hi – We just got back a couple of days ago (unfortunately) from our trip to Oahu and the Big Island. This trip report is for the Big Island – the Oahu trip report is in a separate post. Let me know if you have any questions…

Wednesday, Oct. 26

Flew from Honolulu to Kona arriving around 9:30 am. Picked up our rental car from Alamo (midsize for $17/day through Priceline). We were told that we could take the car on any paved road, including Saddle Road and Mauna Kea visitor center (not the summit). South Point road was not allowed. Headed over to Hilo and, in the interest of time, took Saddle Road instead of a more scenic route. On the west half, the road could use some work – it is two lanes, however, the pavement is only good on the inside half of each lane, so we rode the yellow line and moved over only if cars were coming. The east half of this road is in good condition. The oil light on our rental car kept coming on and going back off, so we decided to switch it out in Hilo – there were no midsize cars available so they gave us a free upgrade to an SUV. Checked in at Waterfalls Inn B&B in Hilo – this was a very nice and relaxing place to stay. Accommodations and breakfast were great and location is right along the Wailuku River. Went to the Hilo Farmers Market and picked up a tropical bouquet (they sell these for $5!) which lasted the rest of our trip. Ate mexican food at Reuben’s in Hilo for lunch. Went to Big Island Candies and the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor Center and picked up some things to bring back home – watched candy being made at both places as well. Went by Rainbow Falls, Boiling Pots, and Pe’epe’e Falls - these were beautiful and very easy to get to. Had dinner at the Hilo Bay Café in Hilo.

Thursday, Oct. 27

Took the scenic route along Highway 19 and stopped at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens. This was a great walk with lots of interesting plants and flowers, ocean views, a waterfall, etc. Tickets were $15/each but it was worth it. Went to Akaka Falls and Kahuna Falls, which are on the same trail. These are both very tall waterfalls and definitely worth going to. Ate lunch at Café Pesto and Hilo – food here was good though it is quite busy for lunch. Headed to Volcano National Park for the rest of the day. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Drove Crater Rim Drive and stopped by Steam Vents, Thurston Lava Tube, Devastation Trail, Jagger Museum, etc. Headed down Chain of Craters road around 4:30 – did the Petroglyph Trail and hike to the lava. We wore jeans and brought light jackets (which we ended up not needing), water, and headlamps – headlamps or flashlights for each person are definitely needed. Due to a lava bench that has been forming (and could possibly collapse), we were not able to get real close to the lava, but were able to go out about 1 ˝ miles. Lava was flowing down the hillside and was visible going into the ocean as well. We left the park around 9:00 and headed back to Hilo. Had dinner at Ken’s House of Pancakes – lots of menu options here and prices are reasonable.

Friday, Oct. 28

Went to the Lyman Museum in Hilo using a buy one get one free Entertainment coupon – the museum is fairly small, but was nice and had sections on shells, gems, climates of Hawaii, volcanoes, and culture. Headed to Kohala – stopped in Waimea and had lunch at the Waimea Ranchhouse Restaurant which was really good. Checked into Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel – we reserved a terrace room for $170/night through Luxury Link and were given a free upgrade to an ocean view room on arrival. The room was very large with a huge balcony and bathroom. We were very happy with this hotel – the room, grounds, pool, and beach were excellent and never felt crowded. Drove to the Mauna Kea visitor center from the Kohala area to watch the sunset and do stargazing – we missed the sunset by a few minutes unfortunately. The drive was not bad except for the last couple of miles before the visitor center which have quite an incline – we made it without any issues, but the car did have a burning smell when we arrived – the drive back down was no problem. We had to wait a couple of hours at the visitor center for the clouds to clear in order to do stargazing. It does get very cold up here so bring a jacket if you go. Telescopes were set up to allow us to look at stars, nebulas, Mars, etc. The people working at the visitor center are very knowledgeable and answered lots of questions and provided good info. Ate dinner at McDonald’s in Waimea on the way back to the hotel since everything else was closed by then.

Saturday, Oct. 29

Headed to Waipio Valley to do horseback riding with Na’Alapa Stables. They picked us up in a 4x4 van to drive into the valley – not a drive you want to do on your own! The horseback riding was great. The ride lasted about 2 hours and was very scenic. Had burritos at Tako Taco in Waimea for lunch. Drove around the Parker Ranch area and stopped by their store and visitor center, but didn’t do any of the organized tours there. Spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach and pool at Hapuna. Drove into Kona that evening to eat and go shopping, however, we found that everything closed early. By 9pm, pretty much everything was shut down, which was disappointing after a long drive from Kohala. Had dinner at Hard Rock Café in Kona.

Sunday, Oct. 30

Got up early and headed to Kona for snorkeling. Rented a double kayak through Kona Boys and went to Kealakekua Bay. There were people there to help get your kayak in and out of the water (for a tip), which was very useful. It is about 1 mile each way across the bay and took us about 15-20 minutes to go across (we don’t have kayak experience). The snorkeling here was great! The best I have ever seen – the reef is very large and there are tons of fish. Visibility was great and the water was completely calm. We used reef shoes to get in and out of the kayak and put on fins in the water. We bought a waterproof cases for our digital camera rather than using a one time use underwater camera and the pictures came out great. After leaving Kealakekua Bay, we went to Painted Church and Place of Refuge. Place of Refuge was very interesting – there were a lot of sea turtles there as well. Along this route from Kealakekua, we stopped by a plumeria place that was selling leis at a roadside stand for $2. Next stop was Two Steps by Place of Refuge for more snorkeling. Snorkeling here was good, but not quite as clear and fish weren’t quite as abundant as Kealakekua – don’t know if this is always the case. However, while we were here, a pod of spinner dolphins came into the bay and we were able to snorkel with them – this was awesome! The dolphins were breaching and jumping out of the water and would swim underneath us. A couple of times, the dolphins came out of the water within one to two feet of snorkelers – wish that could’ve been me! You could also here them communicating under water. After the dolphins left the bay, we did too. Returned our kayak and headed to Kona to do some souvenir shopping. Ate dinner at Tropics Café at the Royal Kona Resort using a buy one get one free Entertainment Coupon – food here was really good and we got a table by the water to watch the sunset.

Monday, Oct. 31

Spent the morning at the resort since this was our last day on the island. Headed to Waimea to have lunch at Merriman’s – this restaurant is highly rated and was good but probably a little too “gourmet” for my tastes. Unfortunately, after this it was time to head home. Flew from Kona to Honolulu to Houston. We had a 3 hour wait between flights – we thought we would need time to get our bags from Hawaiian and recheck them through Continental for the flight home, but Hawaiian did this all for us in Kona so we didn’t have to recheck our bags in Honolulu – this was a time saver and we could’ve booked closer flights.

crazy4Hawaii

Wow! Kudos to you for getting an SUV for $17. per day!

You did many of the things on the BI that I would like to do next trip - hiking to the lava, stargazing at Mauna Kea, Na'alapa horseback riding into the Waipio Valley...
Were these excursions definitely worth the effort? Which was your favorite? Any tips?

texasaggie00

Hi - We definitely lucked out on the SUV! They just happened to be out of cars when we stopped by to trade ours out. The excursions were definitely worth the effort. Our favorites were Volcano National Park and snorkeling at Kealakekua Bay with Waipio Valley horseback riding closely behind that. Stargazing at Mauna Kea would have been better if we had made if for sunset and if it were less cloudy since we had to wait quite a while to see the stars. By the time the clouds cleared, it was getting late and we didn't get to stay long to use the telescopes. Of course, the conditions can vary on any given day so you may have better luck.

JohnD

Thanks for your informative Trip Report!
Do you happen to recall about how many people were present forstargazing at the Visitor Center, and how impressed were you with what you saw

texasaggie00

Hi John - There were several vans that had been on a Mauna Kea summit tour that came to the visitor center for stargazing, however, because it was overcast they didn't wait very long. By the time the clouds cleared, there were only about 10-12 of us left (the people who had driven up themselves). You do get a very good view of the stars from up there, especially if you go when there isn't much of a moon. We were able to see a few things through the telescope that were pretty neat, but it's not like you get a really detailed picture of what you are looking at. So, I think it is a good trip if you can make it up there for sunset and if it's not too cloudy - the clouds will eventually clear up no most nights, but having to wait for 2-3 hours isn't too fun.

bluefan

Very nice, informative trip report.

To do all that you did on the BI in such a short time is really amazing. I got exhausted just envisioning your trip

JC98

texasaggie00, very good trip report!

Questions: How long did it take you to rent the kayak, load it and drive it to K-Bay? Was the kayak used just to get to Captain Cook? Did you go anywhere else with it? Did you return it to the shop right after K-Bay? Did you have a rack on the car roof?

Sorry if that's too many questions. We're thinking of doing the same in a few weeks!

Thanks!

texasaggie00

Hi JC98 - It took us 20-30 minutes to pick up and load the kayak. You have to fill out a form and they give you info on where to go, rules, how to use the kayak, etc. From there, it was about 10 minutes to get down to K-bay. When you pick it up, they will load it on top of your car - they put it on top of foam blocks and tie straps around it that run through the doors. You will have to unload/load it yourself at K-bay most likely - it's pretty heavy, but manageable with two people. K-bay is the only place where we used the kayak. We went to Place of Refuge and Two Steps with the kayak on the car and returned it at the end of the day (the rental is good for 24 hours).

JC98

Thanks, texasaggie00, for your reply. It's very helpful.

Was it easy to beach the kayak at Captain Cook? Did you have to tie it down or just leave it on shore?

Also, is it safe to leave your stuff (towels, clothes, shoes) on the shore while you take off snorkeling? Or they should be left in the car or we'll end up going back to the hotel in our bathing suits?



Thanks!

texasaggie00

Hi JC98 - Yes, beaching the kayak was easy. You basically pull it onto some rocks in an area away from the live coral. The kayak rental place will tell you what to do and you will see others doing the same. You should get a 'dry bag' with your kayak which is large enough to put all of your stuff in. We put our clothes in there and left it attached to our kayak on the rocks and didn't have any issues. Everybody is there doing the same thing, so I don't think theft would be much of an issue. Though, we kept our credit cards, car key, and camera on us while we were snorkeling. You will be able to see your kayak from the water, just hard to keep an eye on things while you're busy snorkeling.

JC98

Thanks, texasaggie00, for your quick response.

Yet another question. Open to anyone: Is it safe to take your non-waterproof camera while kayaking? How dry is the dry bag? If I accidentally drops the dry bag into the water, will the content get wet?

Maybe I shouldn't take my camera with me then. Not sure i'll get a disposable underwater one, haven't had much luck w/ those. The photos usually turn out pretty lousy.

Thanks.