Trip Report Big Island part 1
May 18th, 2010, 02:30 PM
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Trip Report Big Island part 1
Trip Report part 1
We arrived at Volcano about 5:00 p.m. and immediately went to Aloha Junction a great B&B in Volcano. Robert, the owner, recommended that we eat at Kiawe Kitchen just down the driveway. It was good advice. The restaurant was great. Excellent menu, superb pizza and my wife’s fish was perfectly done. A full bar complemented the nice menu. Check this place out if you are in Volcano. Aloha Junction was also great. I have been here twice now and it is clean, roomy and the price is super-competitive. It’s also a mile from the park. Robert also cooks a BIG breakfast.
This part of our vacation was a hike with packs down to the coast of Volcanoes National Park. We started at Chain of Craters road about 2700 elevation and walked 6.6 miles down the Keauhou Landing trail to Keauhou Landing. We hiked here before about six years ago, so we knew that snorkeling would be excellent.
We arrived about 3:00 p.m. after a leisurely hike, we set up our tent as the clouds looked ominous. After dinner, we went to bed (about 7:30 pm.) the rains came. It was a night of torrential downpours. The next morning the sky was grey but no rain.
Keauhou Landing is a small bay. It is dangerous when the tide is going out. Later the morning the tide had turned and we donned our masks. The coral here rivals any corral bed in the State of Hawaii. Because of the depth of the bay, the coral is limited in size but nowhere is there better variety and color. It’s totally pristine. Words cannot describe the kaleidoscope of color and patterns. Simply breathtaking.
The next day we hiked up to Halape and Halape Iki. These are two little but beautiful beaches south of Keauhou Landing. I had camped at Halepe but never made it to Halape Iki. I was determined to do so to see the fish pool. It was worth the effort. If anyone has been to the Four Seasons on the BI you know that it has a fish pond. Well, Halape Iki was the pool that they were trying to copy. It about two hundred feet long and 12 feet wide. It has three openings to the ocean. Water clarity is crystal. Between the openings it has a 6 foot rock wall which protects the pool from the pounding of the surf. The water is 12 deep at the deepest. Probably the average depth is 6 feet. The two wall are nearly vertical and the coral sit on the walls like paintings at a museum. Perfectly placed, perfectly spaced. The fish were plentiful and beautiful. I can’t say that I say anything new but the totality of the pool was so dreamlike. Safe, protected yet wild, a life memory.
For our last night in the wilderness we hiked to Apua Point. As opposed to the charm and quaintness of Keauhou Landing, Apua Point is Mom Nature most raw. The waves pound the point and its little beach. The winds blow sand so hard it stings. It’s raw, it’s beautiful and clean. The views from the point were spectacular. It was hard to leave but on Wednesday morning at 7:00 a.m. we packed out. We arrived at the lower Chain of Crater Road by 10:00 a.m.. Six miles in three hours, not bad for two 59 year olds.
Oh, I forgot to mention on the last night at Keauhou, a trail crew was flown in by helicopter. The copter made seven trips and drop a few tons of supplies next to our camp. They were great people though, It was fun.
Part two: Napoopoo
We arrived at Volcano about 5:00 p.m. and immediately went to Aloha Junction a great B&B in Volcano. Robert, the owner, recommended that we eat at Kiawe Kitchen just down the driveway. It was good advice. The restaurant was great. Excellent menu, superb pizza and my wife’s fish was perfectly done. A full bar complemented the nice menu. Check this place out if you are in Volcano. Aloha Junction was also great. I have been here twice now and it is clean, roomy and the price is super-competitive. It’s also a mile from the park. Robert also cooks a BIG breakfast.
This part of our vacation was a hike with packs down to the coast of Volcanoes National Park. We started at Chain of Craters road about 2700 elevation and walked 6.6 miles down the Keauhou Landing trail to Keauhou Landing. We hiked here before about six years ago, so we knew that snorkeling would be excellent.
We arrived about 3:00 p.m. after a leisurely hike, we set up our tent as the clouds looked ominous. After dinner, we went to bed (about 7:30 pm.) the rains came. It was a night of torrential downpours. The next morning the sky was grey but no rain.
Keauhou Landing is a small bay. It is dangerous when the tide is going out. Later the morning the tide had turned and we donned our masks. The coral here rivals any corral bed in the State of Hawaii. Because of the depth of the bay, the coral is limited in size but nowhere is there better variety and color. It’s totally pristine. Words cannot describe the kaleidoscope of color and patterns. Simply breathtaking.
The next day we hiked up to Halape and Halape Iki. These are two little but beautiful beaches south of Keauhou Landing. I had camped at Halepe but never made it to Halape Iki. I was determined to do so to see the fish pool. It was worth the effort. If anyone has been to the Four Seasons on the BI you know that it has a fish pond. Well, Halape Iki was the pool that they were trying to copy. It about two hundred feet long and 12 feet wide. It has three openings to the ocean. Water clarity is crystal. Between the openings it has a 6 foot rock wall which protects the pool from the pounding of the surf. The water is 12 deep at the deepest. Probably the average depth is 6 feet. The two wall are nearly vertical and the coral sit on the walls like paintings at a museum. Perfectly placed, perfectly spaced. The fish were plentiful and beautiful. I can’t say that I say anything new but the totality of the pool was so dreamlike. Safe, protected yet wild, a life memory.
For our last night in the wilderness we hiked to Apua Point. As opposed to the charm and quaintness of Keauhou Landing, Apua Point is Mom Nature most raw. The waves pound the point and its little beach. The winds blow sand so hard it stings. It’s raw, it’s beautiful and clean. The views from the point were spectacular. It was hard to leave but on Wednesday morning at 7:00 a.m. we packed out. We arrived at the lower Chain of Crater Road by 10:00 a.m.. Six miles in three hours, not bad for two 59 year olds.
Oh, I forgot to mention on the last night at Keauhou, a trail crew was flown in by helicopter. The copter made seven trips and drop a few tons of supplies next to our camp. They were great people though, It was fun.
Part two: Napoopoo
May 20th, 2010, 05:26 AM
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HunyBadger, we bring all our gear except the gas canninster which we bought at Hilo Surplus and our food which we shipped to the B&B. This was our fifth pack to the island (waimanu (2), Halape (2) and Haleakala)in nine years. We have packing down to a science. Did the entire 17 day trip within Hawaiian's baggage limit rules.
Also a big shout out to HIlo Surplus who waited 10 minutes after they closed to sell us the gas cannister. Mahalo.
Also a big shout out to HIlo Surplus who waited 10 minutes after they closed to sell us the gas cannister. Mahalo.
Jun 22nd, 2010, 05:01 AM
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