Big Island Attractions

It's big, diverse, and dramatic! Larger than all the other islands put together. Higher than any other island, with an astronomical observatory at the top. The site of the state's Merry Monarch Festival (hula - in Hilo) and an active volcano which has been putting on a continuous show since the mid-80s. It's the place of victory and/or defeat for Captain Cook and King Kamehameha. Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) country. Deep sea fishing and Triathelon capital. Wet tropical greenery on one side and near perpetural sun on the other.

For an example of contrast, consider the volcanic crater of Halemaumau, whose name means "The House of Fern" - for lush fern forests grow less than a mile away.

Quick Tips:

Plan to stay on both sides of the island if you can possibly spare the time. Most of the resorts and beaches are on the Kona side, but to see lava flowing after dark from the Chain of Craters road is most convenient from a Hilo or Volcano room. Otherwise there's a long night drive down a road with many curves.

Best Way To Get Around:

You'll need a rental car. There's no other way to come close to seeing it all.

Easy, rewarding place to visit. $2 entrance fee unless you have a National Park pass. Picnic tables, restrooms, concession stand and a visitors orientation building. Exhibits, including canoe making. Gentle, self-guiding paths over a large area sheltered by coconut trees. An informational pamphlet is provided.

Culturally, this place is a gem. The finest remaining example in Hawai'i of a Place of Refuge, it was established in the 1500's and contains a massive stone wall 1000 ft long, 10 ft. high and 17 ft thick built entirely of cut stone set without mortar. That wall separated the kapu royal grounds from a rocky shelf by the ocean where kapu breakers could flee to safety. (Kapu breaking generally meant death unless the guilty made it to a Place of Refuge).

The Kamehameha dynasty was connected to this place and many of the royal bones are kept here - probably the reason the site was revered and protected after the abolition of traditional religious practices in 1819. There's much more to this story tnan room to tell here - pick up a guide book.

The park rangers tell me that the name Honaunau derives from the practice of making 'awa (or kava) drink. Often done by pounding the plant and straining the juice from the mash - here it was done by chewing the plant. Nau is Hawaiian for "to chew".

The park is a short distance from Kealakekua Bay, where Captain Cook was killed in 1779. More later on an interesting way to drive there from Honaunau.

Wow! There's a hard name to handle. It's Hawaiian for depression or hole.

Assuming you've just left Pu'u Honoa o Hanaunau National Historical Park, you now have the option to keep to your left on the exit road, heading for Napo'opo'o Beach Park, where you'll have a view of Kealakekua Bay. Ke ala ke akua means "The way of the gods". That's where Captain Cook landed during the Makahiki Festival in 1799 and was mistaken for the god Lono because the white sails of his ship resembled Lono's banners. But he returned a month later for repairs to a damaged mast. Unfortunately, the festival was over and the Hawaiians burned one of the ship's longboats to get its highly valued nails. Then things turned violent and Cook was killed. A monument to Cook stands on the far shore, is still tended annually by the British and stands on British owned land.

The road you're traveling from the Place of Refuge is one lane wide and isolated - but then, there's not much traffic out on this flat plain below the inland cliffs. Maybe that's how the place was named "depression". And maybe not: the guide books say early canoe travellers past here saw villages peering from the doorways (holes) of their grass huts. Make up your own mind!

Soon you'll come to the small village of Napo'opo'o and its beach park where you too can park. Nice view! That's Kealakekua Bay, and on the point at the base of the high cliffs, a marble obelisk stands where Cook fell. Nearby, tour boats anchor nowdays to allow snorkeling at a superb marine sanctuary. The sheer cliffs are a clue to how you'll be driving out of Napo'opo'o back to the main highway.

The beach at Napo'opo'o used to be great, but Hurricane Iniki washed it away in 1992. Now it's quite rocky.

When you leave, there's a long winding climb up the cliffside to return to the main highway back to Kona. Don't rush, the views are fabulous.

It's easy to see why the road ends at this stunning view on a 400 foot cliff overlooking a wild ocean and a black sand beach. From here to the Waipio Valley is only about 10 miles as the crow flies, but much further as the intrepid hiker walks across many equally steep valleys. Guidebooks say it's about a 20 minute hike from a small (10 car) parking area to the valley floor, but the steep, sometimes muddy trail will make that speed unlikely. For non-hikers, there's a three hour muleback tour available (by Hawaii Forest & Trail).

About halfway down, there's an opening in the tree line which gives a fine view of the beach and a good photo opportunity. It's worth the climb back.

Long ago, productive taro fields lay in these valleys. But construction of the Kohala Ditch diverted much water to sugar cane fields, and the area now is overgrown.

Haole smokes! What a view! Our circle island tour in a light plane has reached the volcano. This was a few years ago and the everchanging view will today be different - but just as spectacular.

We chose a conventional light plane rather than a helicopter - more air time/$, faster travel point to point, less vibration and window reflection. And here at photographers heaven, with the window open, we have an unobstructed view - albeit a bit windy.

Lava is flowing all the way to the sea from its upwelling far inland near Pu'u O'o. Of course there's little glow to be seen - it's daylight, and most of the flow is through subteranian lava tubes. But at the sea, the flow generates huge steam clouds. And the water is stained by the debris from the lava entry.

Far down the pali (cliff) and across the plain to the ocean, the dark flow fields of past eruptions are visible.

Quite a surprising name for the most active volcano on earth, wouldn't you say? But that's the Hawaiian translation for Halemaumau - the huge crater in Volcanoes National Park.

This huge (3000 feet across, 280 feet deep) pit was a bubbling spouting lake of molten lava prior to 1924. But by 1982, the active vent had moved to a new crater - Pu'u O'o - and the lava lake solidified into a flat plain, punctured her and there by steam vents. Arount the sheer crater walls, sulfur deposits have painted the rocks yellow. And from many vents along the walkway from the road, steam and sulfur dioxide vapors keep your feet warm and your legs moving.

On the crater rim sits the Jagger Museum - well worth your time, both for the view of the crater and for thorough coverage of volcano science and Hawaiian myth.

Nearby on the Crater Rim Drive (which runs for miles - not just around Halemaumau) are the Thurston Lava Tube and a fern forest. The lava tubes form when the source of flowing lava ceases and the lava tube drains. The fern is 'ama'u, a huge fast growing plant with a very showy fiddlehead. Now, the association with fern in HaleMAUMAU is easier to understand.

In Kona harbor, there's a Nautilus submarine in which to dive 100 ft and tour the reef. It carries 48 passengers and is a real (though specially designed) submarine. Seated on benchs, looking through airliner sized portholes, you can see both the deep reef, a host of fish, and the diver who comes along to attract them. A display shows the dive depth and a very large front viewing window lets the tour operator guide the submarine close to the bottom. So - sit up front if you want that view also. If you don't scuba, here's a way to see the reef, stay dry, listen to a travelogue, and talk to your kids while they watch too.

However (you knew that was coming, right?), don't expect the highly colorful fish which you'll see snorkeling in shallow water. Deep down, the light is filtered through enough sea water that it's blue. And the fish are larger - more fast swimmers and hunters that reef browsers. You're in their world now, and they'll wander by the windows to check you air breathing denisons of this mobile zoo.

About three miles past the small town of Honomu Route 220 ends at the state park, where there's a large parking area and restrooms. In the parking area, a local vendor has likely set up shop, making and selling coconut frond basketware. But you really came to see the waterfalls, right?

A three quarters of a mile circuit runs past two falls. Take it counterclock wise for the best views. There's a bamboo thicket along the way, with some BIG bamboo. The first waterfall is Kahuna, where there's a short branch path to the best view. Then the trail leads uphill along the cliffside. It's steep, but take your time. Lush ginger, heliconia, ferns, and orchids make it worthwhile to daudle.

At Akaka Falls, a small shelter and an overlook area make a long stop possible. You'll want to. This 420 foot free fall is one of the most spectacular.

On the outskirts of Hilo, follow Waianuenue Avenue to Rainbow Falls to rub shoulders with a legend and see a very accessible beauty spot. The name is apt: in Hawaiian - Wai (fresh water) and anuenue (rainbow). And with high water flow and sunlight, you can see the rainbow in the mist from the falls.

The legend is that the demigod Maui rescued his mother, Hina, from the cavern behind the falls where she had been trapped by a rebuffed suitor, the mo'o (dragon) Kuna. Above the falls, the channel of the Wailuku (Water of Destruction) River is pockmarked by holes in the lava bed. The churning action of flow over these pits gives the area the name "Boiling Pots."

It's an easy and scenic walk unless high water makes it dangerous. On the highway side of the Boiling Pots, huge Banyan trees cast a dark mysterious shade.

This massive stone temple, built in 1790 by King Kamehameha is the central feature of a National Historic site established in 1972. Also on the 77-acre grounds are two other heiau (Hawaiian temples) including a shark feeding site (Hale o Kapuni) where human sacrifices were offered.

The name means "Hill of the Whale" and the heiau was built to fullfil a prophesy that Kamehameha would conquer Hawai'i if he built it. Its stones came from the Pololu Valley 14 miles away and were passed hand to hand by a massive work force (thousands of "volunteers"). Tough duty! These hardy souls worked without gloves or shoes, and any stone dropped lay where it fell - worthless!

The temple itself is kapu (entry forbidden), but the ranger station has a display of the ceremonial structures which the temple housed when it was in use. These structures were visible only to the chosen few, since the high stonework on the north, south and east side hid them from outside view. The west side was open, but too high above the coast for the inside to be viewed from land.

Keli'imaika'i, Kamehameha's high born brother, presided over the construction but was prohibited from physical work - so that one ali'i (member of the nobility) should remain pure. The story goes that when he picked up one of the stones, Kamahameha had the stone carried to sea in a canoe and dropped overboard out of sight of land.

In those days, life in paradise had its rough side!

And one of the royal pastimes was riding a holua sled down a steep leaf covered stone raceway and into the ocean. One such sled is on display at the Hulihe'e Palace in Kona. Its wood frame is less than body width. Talk about macho!

No photos, unfortunately. It's hard to do after dark, underwater, while holding a spotlight in one hand. But I digress:

Lights from the resort have drawn huge (6-10 ft) manta rays to this location for many years. The lights attract plankton and the mantas have learned where to get an easy lunch. They'll follow the beam of your light right up to within touching distance (please don't!). And watching the graceful ballet of these gentle giants is like being in another world. It's hard to realize that they are members of the shark family. "Manta" comes from the Spanish word for blanket (or cloak) and their swimming style certainly brings that image to mind.

The tour boats drop both scuba and snorkel passengers in the water at the feeding site. Then you're on your own for about an hour. Just remember to keep an eye on your tour boat, which will be one of many. It's easy to get so caught up in watching the mantas that you lose track. And there are advantages in returning to shore on the same boat which took you out.

As a consolation prize for the lack of photos, see , , or . And there are many more websites, if you do a little web surfing.