Hawaiian Oasis

Hapuna beach means one thing to me: bodysurfing! Who says it's only for the young? It's great to glide over (or under, if you aren't as lucky) huge waves. But also the beach is great for sunbathing because it has white soft hot sand and strong sun rays, just wading or swimming around a little, or walking along.

Quick Tips:

Bring a boogie board to the beach if you want to go modern boogie boarding, or leave it old school and just surf it one on one, man against elements. Also be sure to watch out for kids, they might get pounded by waves or be stuck under a wave. Safety first!

Best Way To Get Around:

To get to the beach the best way is driving, because it is another tiny oasis on the big island amidst miles and miles of black volcanic rock. But on the beach, just walk around, soak up the sun and the beautiful pacific. Look towards Japan and think: distance wise, I'm halfway there.

This hotel is definitely unique. The Pacific is just to your left, and there are three separate hotels within the hotel. I stayed at the Palace hotel. To get around, there is a monorail (yes an actual monorail!) or a boat on this little canal. It take you to the other hotels, the shops, the pool, the snorkeling place, the dolphin lagoon etc. Thinking about this hotel makes me realize how great it was! Snorkeling in your own private lagoon complete with waterfall, tropical fish and get this--sea turtles! And this is all natural, it feeds into the Pacific Ocean, so they aren''t captive at all. The pool has multiple water slides and there are walking paths to walk around. Great!

Imagine eating with the Pacific crashing literally feet away from you. It comes true when you eat at the Four Seasons. They have the fanciest cuisine and dining I have seen yet...and I have seen fancy. Impeccable food and choices, wines, atmosphere, it has it all. Great to watch the sunset over the Pacific. There is so much that I could say! If you go to the big island, this is a must go.

One of my favorite beaches. You are surrounded by palm trees and can see the rocky cliffs and the blue clear water. The bottom of the ocean is clean pure white sand. You can have two choices regarding water activity: you can just hang out, wade a little, swim around, or you can body surf. The best body surfing known to man, a wave making its way to the shore suddenly bounces back and goes out to sea, then meets with another wave coming in, they converge and BAM a huge wave that can tower 5 feet higher than you. But use extreme caution while surfing, look out for other people, and always keep your hands out and try to stay up top. A friend of mine hurt his back when he was slammed into the shore. This beach is also good for sun bathing and just running around, but it is rather private so not a lot of commercialization.

A beautiful course, you play right into the Pacific Ocean, and I rated the course difficult because if you don't hit carefully enough, you go into the ocean. There are a lot of palm trees around so they can be a hazard too. The greens are well maintained, and you can expect Hawaiian courses to be because golf tournaments are played here and they have to keep that high standard for tourists that always come. Spectacular views, great course.

At Hilton Waikoloa Village, there is a dolphin lagoon with actual dolphins. For $50 (if your kids are 12 and under), your kids can swim with them and also for more money, you can too in the adult program. This is a great program. You get to touch and feed the dolphins, kiss them, splash around and swim with them. The program is called Dolphin Quest, and they take videos and pictures of you, both of which you can purchase. This is the most memorable experience, I took my pictures of my kids and framed them so we can look at them everyday. Just to commune with nature so close, is great. Don't miss out on this and call the hotel to reserve you a spot!