Big Island - Hawaii, USA trip: Anniversary Exploration of the Kona Coast on the Big Island | TripWiser: Social Trip Planner for Family Trips and Road Trips

Along with doing the tourist stuff like souvenir shopping, taking in a luau, scenic drives, we'll also be carrying our GPS with us to catch any nearby geocaches throughout the trip. I downloaded 149 caches & read up on the 40 closest to my condo...and I reserve the right to say, "turn right here, there's a geocache less than a mile away!". Actually, we're looking forward to geocaching on the island because the locals know of the best trails and/or beaches & from the sound of the descriptions of the caches, we'll end up in some secluded or prime snorkeling areas...sounds perfect to me!" Post Trip Note: As I'd thought, geocaching brought us to some awesome places like a great snorkeling area by the LekeLeke Ancient Burial Grounds, a blue lagoon with turtles off 19, a sweeping view of Maui near Hawi, a sweet-smelling bakery/souvenir shop in Naalehu & so many other hidden spots that were already along the road to our planned destinations.

Day 1 Flying in from SFO to arrive at the KOA airport by 11:30 am. Pick up our reserved car & off we go exploring! We're actually staying in a 1 br condo but the Royal Kona Resort is very close to ours so the beach front & accommodations are similar. This itinerary lists more activities that we could - or would want to - do in any given day, but these are all things that interest me & I wanted to have the info on hand (with directions) so that can pick & choose what strikes our fancy -- and energy level -- that day. That's the beauty of vacationing with 2 people, it's free-flowing! POST TRIP NOTE: The Rio's Seafood Bar & Grills appears to be closed for renovations & while you could get a nice ocean view, it is on the other side of Alii Road whereas Bubba Gumps sat right over the water & was the perfect spot for our first dinner in Hawaii. We ended up paying $10 for parking because we were new to the area & thought all the parking was fee-based but for the rest of our stay, we found free parking lots. Also, you'll find numerous Public Beach Access signs to take you to more secluded spots. Another tip: Hawaii's decreed that any beach is PUBLIC LAND, so if you spot a nice looking beach behind a gated community, just roll on up & ask for beach access!
Day 2 Today is local day. Snorkel right in front of the hotel, maybe walk the 1/4 mile to Magic Sands Beach & see the turtles, maybe take an evening dip in the pool after a nice BBQ. POST TRIP NOTE: Turns out walking a 1/4 mile on lava rocks is not easy so we hopped in the car instead. We ended up snorkeling in 5 different spots, including the recommended Kahaluu Beach & Honaunau Bay & we found that the clearest water was right to the left of our condo sunset viewing area! So wherever you end up staying, if it's on the water, make sure to check out the snorkeling right on the premises...you may be in for a pleasant surprise! Also note that Kimo's Family Buffet is only open for breakfast.
Day 3 Wow! 30th Anniversary Day! Hard to fathom even if I did live it each day. Our kids are pitching in for our anniversary dinner so we're doing the Luau. The Island Breeze Luau is at The King Kamehameha Compound at the Kailua Pier. POST TRIP NOTES: The Kona Wine Market had affordable prices as well as souvenirs. The Luau was fun! Mai Tai's, plenty of food, and beforehand, we got to learn some crafts like how to weave a fish from palm leaves, how to shuck a coconut and I got a honu tattoo on my arm which lasted till I was snorkeling with a real live honu! Plus we saw the pig unearthed & it was so moist it fell apart as they rolled the contents onto a massive platter. For the Island Breeze Luau, I'd gotten 2 passes for the Luau on EBAY through Hawaiisavers (www.hawaiisavers.com) for $75 (2 for one). The Hawaii Entertainment book also contains a 25% discount to this luau, but Hawaiisavers went the extra distance & had the passes delivered to our condo. David Carpenter from Hawaiisavers also recommends the following: The botanical garden on the north side of Hilo. The Akatsuka Orchid Garden is halfway on the road to Volcano Park, which has a large assortment of orchids. BI Candy has a gift store at their factory in Kona; the highlight, chocolate-dipped cookies. 14 miles north of Hilo is a park with a high waterfall that's just a short walk from the highway.
Day 4 POST TRIP NOTES: We were looking for geocaches and thinking we'd end up on Kahaluu Beach for the snorkeling & turtles but once we found the geocache along the Historical Trail and spied the plateaus of lava beds, we decided to snorkel here. We were by ourselves and sunned right on the black lava, using lava shoots or circular lava beds to enter the water. We'd noticed a few boats depositing snorkelers into the water so we figured if these people were paying for this snorkeling trip, this must be a good area to snorkel for free! That evening, looking for a more affordable dinner spot, we found Kona Brewing Company & it turned out to be my best dinner starting out with a rich Black Sand Porter beer, followed by baked garlic & home-made focaccia & melted gorgonzola dip, and an Imu Pork Sandwich on their homemade bread. And we brought home a Lava Brownie for dessert! All delicious!
Day 5 Possibly do the grand circle tour for a 260-mile intro. If we haven't dawdled or gotten caught up in some fascinating place & still have time, then head over to Hilo, about 40 minutes from Volcano & maybe eat dinner there (but keep in mind it'll be a 3 hr drive back along the coast, or 2 hrs across the island). POST TRIP NOTES: This was our fullest...& longest day, not getting back to our condo for 13 hours! We started with Kealakekua Bay, then headed to the Place of Refuge, did geocaching enroute, stopped at the Black Sand Beach, the Punaluu Bake Shop at Naalehu, then hit the Hawaii Volcanoes NP & went to the museum, the crater, the lava tube. The current flow was outside the park so we headed off for an hour-plus drive to the end of Highway 130 in Kaimu, then hiked 20 minutes over the lava to the viewing area at sunset. Because of this, we couldn't visit the Hilo side & drove through it at night (130-11-19-190, driving through Hilo, Honokaa, Waimea to return to our condo).
Day 6 Check out the Captain Cook area & beach, then head south toward Naalehu & hike at the Kau Forest Preserve. Believe the famous Black Sand Beach is between Captain Cook & Naalehu. POST TRIP NOTES: Saw dolphins from our lanai! What a way to start the morning! We headed back to Honaunau Bay to do some snorkeling & weren't disappointed! Lovely reefs, turtles, fish, and huge coral growths! We ate dinner at Quinn's Almost by the Sea, a favorite locals dining spot & it only cost us $30, including tip!
Day 7 Leaving this day open so that if my hubby & I spy some place we'd like to check out further, we can do it on this day. Also a prime geocaching day! POST TRIP NOTES: This morning we headed out north to the only road we hadn't hit on our circle drive around the Big Island. We wanted to go see the Kamehameha Statue & rock and end at Pololu Valley Lookout. On the way, a geocache brought us to a great view of the ocean where you can see Maui. Hawi is another charming town and the view from the Pololu Lookout was outstanding. We stopped at the Keokea Beach Park near the end of 270 (a mile from the lookout) for a picnic on the beach.
Day 8 Don't have to catch the plane till 10:20 pm so we asked for a late checkout to spend one last day snorkeling, beaching, exploring & still come back to the hotel for cleanup before a final Hawaiian dinner. There's even some geocaches right near the airport in case I need to add a few more to my tally. Post Trip Note: We wanted to eat at Huggo's cuz it was right over the water but there was a 1/2 hr wait & we needed to get the rental car returned so ate at the lit-up Croc's across the street where I enjoyed Hawaiian Chicken Katzu.

Add to Trip