In my previous post, I shared about our three days on Oahu. In this one, we’ll be traveling to the Big Island of Hawaii! Even though it’s just a short plane ride away from Oahu, it’s a very different island and experience. There seemed to be much fewer tourists and the landscapes were even different.
After picking up our rental at the tiny, mostly outdoor airport in Hilo, we headed to our first stop at Rainbow Falls. Sadly, it was an overcast day so there was no rainbow in sight, but that did not detract from the beauty of the waterfall. This was a pretty easy stop right off the road and there are a couple viewpoints, including a short, easy hike to the top. We grabbed some sandwiches and Dole Whip at The Tiki Turtle across the road, then swung by the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor’s Center. The weather got kind of yucky the rest of the day, so we checked into our Airbnb, grabbed dinner and called it a night.
The second day on the island was dedicated to Volcanoes National Park. We headed out on the Chain of Craters Road all the way down to the Hōlei Sea Arch. This 18 mile road takes you through some older lava flows, beautiful overlooks and ends at the ocean.
You’ll drive back out the same way you came in, so we stopped at the Halema’uma’u Trail to do the hike down into the crater. The trail follows the crater rim for a bit before descending down into the crater where you can walk across the entire crater floor. It was very windy, the temperature varied depending on if the sun was out or not and small rain showers popped up a couple times while we were making our way to the other side.
We ended this just over 5 mile hike at the Thurston Lava Tube and then took the trail back to the parking area. I would recommend doing the loop this way, as the climb out of the crater appeared to be easier on the lava tube side vs. going back the way we came.
The hike down into the crater was the last thing we did in Volcanoes, since we had a little drive to the other side of the island where we would stay in Kona the next two nights!
On the way to Kona, we found another black sand beach which also had some green sea turtles lounging around. The next day started with a snorkeling adventure out to the Captain Cook monument. We saw dolphins, whales and lots of pretty fish in the water there.
Snorkeling was a half day activity, so by the time we were finished, we were pretty hungry and ordered some tacos from a highly recommended taco truck, Shaka Tacoz. They really hit the spot and a super nice local offered to pay for our meal.
One final thing I really wanted to do while on the Big Island was go to the Green Sand Beach. My plan had been to stop there on the way to Kona, but the day was getting late and it was a two mile hike out there, so I didn’t want to get stuck in the dark on a remote hike. After some waffling back and forth, we decided to head that way, hoping to arrive around 4 p.m.
The park ranger in Volcanoes National Park had told us that we could pay some locals to drive us out, so once we got there and realized we were running low on daylight again, my mom said we were going to pay the guy to drive us (plus several others) out to the beach drop off area.
What a wild experience that was! The road to the beach is full of huge ruts that almost go over the top of the vehicle and the volcanic rock juts out from the ground, so the drivers have to be careful not to hit those or they’ll get a flat tire. I was clinging to the back of the vehicle while standing up and praying we didn’t go flying out of the truck bed.
You can watch some of that wild ride in my YouTube video, which I’ll link here!
The ride might have been a little scary, but it was worth it – the green sand beach, which is only one of four in the whole world, is more of an olive gold color that shimmers in the sun. An endangered Hawaiian monk seal was laying on the beach when we got there and that was truly amazing to experience too.
While I would have liked to have hiked it, this was an alternative way to experience something I may never get to see again and made for a fun story to tell when we got back home. The green sand beach is also located near South Point, which is the southernmost point in the United States.
Our time on the Big Island was truly amazing and I can’t wait to share the last leg of the trip in Maui!