2020- not the best year for travel! This trip was a real nailbiter- with all the rules due to covid changing daily, we really weren't sure if we would make it to Hawaii. We almost cancelled, several times. But I'm so, so glad we took the gamble (responsibly of course), stuck it out, jumped through all the hoops (two covid tests, 10+ hours of plane time masked up, hand washing until our skin was raw) and actually made it to the Big Island for 8 days of glorious sun and fun. Hawaii is really becoming one of my favorite travel destinations. It has everything- perfect weather, tons of things to do, nature, hiking, swimming in the perfect ocean temperature, beautiful places to see and stay, National Parks to explore, pretty good dining options, what more could you want?! This was the 2nd Thanksgiving in a row we spent in Hawaii, last year we went to Maui with another couple, and in 2017 we went to Kauai around Valentine's Day, but of course this year all travels were just me and Joe, and we decided to check out the Big Island. So glad we did, it was amazing.
Thursday: We landed in Kona in the afternoon- and with a second round of rapid corona testing to endure, it took us a little longer than usual to get out of the airport. But we did- thank goodness- with our negative results and headed to Hertz to pick up our rental car. We were talked into upgrading to a Jeep- which I usually wouldn't go for- but in hindsight I am glad we splurged on it. A lot of the roads, steep inclines, parking lots, pull off points- you really did need a 4 wheel drive vehicle to help you navigate those successfully. The first night it rained pretty heavily when we got to our place in Holualoa on the West side of the island (20 mins from the airport, on the mountainside above Kona town)- and some of the back roads flooded super quick. So again, I would recommend getting a 4 wheel drive vehicle for adventures in Hawaii- it was just the safest option. We stayed the first 3 nights at the Holualoa Inn Bed and Breakfast- which was just 10 outta 10. It was a private vacation home previously that is now a B&B- fits about 8 couples when completely filled I believe, but for our stay there were only 3 other couples there with us. The only time we really saw them was at breakfast. The grounds are expansive on the side of the mountain, they had a great pool/lounge area, hot tub, we rented the cherry room which had it's own private hot tub outside, plenty of beach supplies to use during the day, and killer breakfasts. The rooms surprisingly did not have air conditioning, which usually would have been a dealbreaker for me, but it was cool enough at night that opening the windows and letting the breeze in made it the perfect sleeping temperature. Also there was no food/snacks outside of breakfast provided, or a bar in the hotel, so all meals afternoon on and alcohol was a BYO situation. A couple mornings Joe and I found spots on the grounds to stream some yoga (this place was super zen, great way to start the day). From the hotel it was about a 15min drive into downtown Kona, where all the restaurants are. I really liked this place and would highly recommend it. For our Thanksgiving Eve and first night we drove down to Kona and ate at the Island Lava Java Bistro right on Ali'i Drive (the main drag basically). The food on the Big Island for the most part did not blow me away. We had a few exceptional ones but nothing compared to the restaurants in Maui.
Friday: We headed to 2 Step Beach- one of the premier snorkeling spots on the West side of the island. Lots of yellow and silver fish- good spot to hang on the lava rocks and jump in the ocean. From there, we had heard about a cliff jumping spot in Kona called "End of the World" so we headed there. Located on some ancient burial grounds, its a little hard to find on google maps, and you have to walk about 1/2 mile back to the ocean, and then look for the crazies jump off the cliff into the ocean. We luckily found them easily and joined them. This jump HURT big time- about a 40 foot jump into the ocean, but the toughest part was climbing back up from the water. The lava rocks were very slippery, and the waves were a little bigger than I had liked. But we did it, and after than adrenaline rush we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the pool, hot tub, and sunset (Holualoa Inn had amazing sunset views). For dinner we checked out the Fish Hopper in Kona, also on the main drag, also just an average meal.
Saturday: Our first hike of the trip! We drove to the southernmost point of the island to check out the Green Sand Beach which was beautiful! About a 5.5 mile hike roundtrip, and some people were driving in jeeps or ATVs all the way to the beach. I myself enjoyed the mostly flat hike to and from the parking area to the beach. Once we arrived we were able to take a quick swim in the ocean as well- the green sand really made that water look several shades of beautiful blue, it was pretty spectacular. The drive to and from the beach was about 2 hours each way, so a lot of car time that day, but worth it. That night we checked out Kona Brewery for dinner, which we both loved. Great atmosphere, basic brewery food but very well done, we loved their pizza!
Sunday: After some breakfast, yoga and checking out, we started out journey to the East side of the island, where we stayed in an Airbnb about a mile from the downtown area. The drive from Holualoa to Hilo was about 1.5 hours, however we made a few pit stops on the way and took our time heading over. First stop was the Kahaluu Beach Park in Kona, where we were told we would snorkel and run into some turtles. Good snorkel spot for sure, but no turtles. However, our next stop in Kona was Magic Sands beach, and literally 5 minutes in the water a huge sea turtle swam around and right underneath us- that was wild. We stopped for some gelato in the Coconut Marketplace, and then headed to the East side. We also tried to drive up to Mauna Kea, however we were stopped at about 7500 ft in elevation at the visitors center by the park ranger, and he informed us the conditions at the top were too icy that day for us to go all the way to the top. That was a bummer, it's crazy to even comprehend there is snow all the way up there, would have been cool to see. So we turned around and about 40 mins later were at our place in Hilo. It was about a 5 min walk from the Rainbow Falls lookout, so we checked that out for a hot sec, bought some groceries in town, then walked into town from our place to Cafe Pesto for dinner. Another decent dinner spot- nothing amazing but good.
Monday: Our big National Park day. We spent from 9:30am- 4:30pm checking out as much of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park as possible. The Park was only about a 45min drive from Hilo. We used the Shaka guide app, which does a driving tour by gps (also used this app when we did Road to Hana in Maui- it's a really good option if you want to do your own self-guided tour of spots in Hawaii). So in the park we saw a ton of craters, did a few hikes, checked out some lookout points, saw some petroglyphs- it was super cool. Recommended hikes we did: Kilauaea Iki trail: 2.5 miles round trip to the crater floor, along it and back up. Devastation trail: 1 mile. Petroglyphs hike: 1.5 miles. Mauna Ulu Eruption Hike: 5 miles. This one went on way longer but it was getting dark soon so we cut it short. I'm a big fan of all the National Parks but really enjoyed this one- lots of history and lots of different landscapes (volcanic craters, some forests, ocean cliff views)- very diverse. After all day at the Park we walked from our place to Jackie Rey's for dinner in downtown Hilo, a little nicer of a restaurant than the others in Hilo.
Tuesday: Yoga, breakfast at the place, then more hiking. Stop 1- Quick stop at Kuamana Cave, only about 10mins from our place, literally there for 5 mins, saw the cave, and bounced. Stop 2- Akana Falls- walkway to 2 waterfall lookouts- probably there for 20mins. Stop 3- Puna trail. I was not a fan of this hike. Through an extremely muddy, rocky rainforest- seemed like it took forever. About an hour each way, the payoff was pretty nice though- you finally end up at a small cove beach- got to see a sea turtle chillin in the ocean, a few people sunbathing, very quiet and private beach set up. Stop 4- Coconut island where we relaxed for a couple hours. There aren't a lot of beaches in Hilo, this is a park set up over a footbridge. I actually really liked it, we read and laid out for a few hours, and there was a tower about 20ft above the water for some more jumping (can't help myself at this point). This jump felt way safer than the End of the World cliff jump for sure. Stop 5- back to the airbnb and another nighttime stroll to Pineapples in Hilo for dinner.
Wednesday: Headed back West for our last 2 nights, and drove along the north coast this time, with our first stop at the Waipio Valley trail. This is just a lookout, with the option to do an extremely hard walk straight down to the beach, then straight back up again. Again, similar to the Green sand beach, some people were just driving down to the beach, but again I'm a hiker, so we hiked, and it was really really tough. But again, worth it for such amazing views! The whole trip down then up was 3.5 miles, but took us a couple hours, since we tried to enjoy the beach when we were down there. After Waipio Valley we drove to Waimea town and had lunch at Fish and the Hog. One of the best meals so far on the trip- mostly bbq but they had some other options as well. Onto, and back to, Kona, we checked into our final airbnb, also a ways up on the mountain, but still close to the beaches and restaurants in just a few minutes drive. Today was the day we had signed up with Eka Canoe Adventures to do the Manta Ray Night Snorkel Adventure. This was crazy. It was cold, you hear the waves crashing but where you are in the ocean it is not too rough, you lay flat holding onto a surfboard with a couple of other people, they shine lights on in the water, and suddenly huge manta rays are coming up from the depths of the ocean and belly roll inches away from you at the top of the water. WILD. Luckily we felt completely safe, we weren't sailing for too long either, and it was such a cool experience. After that excursion we checked out Foster's Kitchen in Kona for dinner. Our fave place of the trip I think food quality wise (Kona brewing atmosphere-wise).
Thursday: We attempted to start up our running routine before returning home. The Big Island is hilly, so we tried the flatest road we could find, Ali'i Drive- which it was but it was also pretty hot since it was not shaded. Got a good 5 in but it killed our energy for most of the day. We tried heading north to Kua bay, which was a beautiful, popular white sandy beach, but the waves were super big that day, and watching kids getting crushed in them scared me to the point that we decided to change beaches. We ended up going for a swim right by King Kam beach downtown, which isn't the most ideal spot, but it is sheltered so there are no waves and it's deep enough to swim in without going out too far. For dinner we drove about an hour back to Waimea to eat at Merriman's, which it seems is the best restaurant on the Big Island (at least the most expensive since most of the resort restaurants were closed during this time). It was really good, worth the drive I think, it had the best cocktails by far over every other restaurant we had been to.
Friday: Our last day! We made it a long one since our flight wasn't departing until 11pm. We found a different path close to our airbnb, although on the mountain, and it was a gradual uphill the entire way, I would recommend it over the Ali'i Drive route. This Walua Path was shaded, cooler because of being up the mountain, and not a lot of traffic at all. We spent the day just relaxing at King Kam beach downtown (another rough ocean day so not many options for swimming outside of this area). We went back to Fosters Kitchen for dinner, and ended our trip with some Kava bowls at Kanakava.
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