Finally Made it to the Big Island

 

We’ve been to Hawaii five times before. I don’t remember the exact flight details, but I guarantee it did not take as long as it took us to get there this time around. Our original flight to LA got cancelled so, Delta sent us on a super early flight from San Diego to Seattle which was basically a waste of about 6 hours because we had a two- hour flight to Seattle that didn’t take any time off our air- time to Hawaii, then a four-hour layover in Seattle. After all of that we still had a five- hour flight to Kona. All together it took us about 11 hours to get to Kona, but it was all worth it when I stepped off the plane and felt the warm balmy air of The Big Island. 

 

Check out my Hawaii YouTube Video (and epic lava tube meltdown) Here

We were exhausted, but we stopped for groceries at Foodland before checking into Hilton Grand Vacation Club Kings' Land Waikoloa. We got there on a Friday and Spent Saturday and Sunday at the pool. My younger sister lives on a different Island but was able to hop over with my brother in law and the kids to spend the weekend with us while we were in town. The pool area at Kings’ Land resort is about as good as it gets. It's huge! One end is a lagoon area with sand and splash pads. The main pool is large. There are three slides, and a hot tub on the main side and then there is another very large pool with two good sized hot tub and a cold plunge pool in the Adult only section. It was really great. Everyone had a good time and it was so nice to spend some time with them.

Monday morning we got up bright and early to make the 1.5 hour drive to Hilo so we could make our 8:20am helicopter tour over the volcanoes with Safari Helicopters. Hilo is on the east side of the island and gets the most rain out of any other city on the big Island. Because of all the lava, much of the big island landscape has kind of a post-apocalyptic look to it but it was much greener on this side of the island and the landscape was starting to look a lot more like the Hawaii that I remember from the other islands. We really, really lucked out because just the day before it was raining, but there was not a drop on the day of our helicopter tour. This was my first time on a Helicopter, and I was a little nervous. You hear all kinds of bad things about crashes in small air crafts. I’d read this terribly sad headline the week of our trip about a newlywed couple crashing in a helicopter right after their wedding. A helicopter over a Volcano? Talk about pushing your luck. 

 

We flew directly over Mauna Loa, which  is the largest active volcano in the world. The last eruption was 1984. While we were there reports came out about recent spikes in earthquakes signaling that while an eruption does not appear imminent, it is a possibility. Whatever that means! We also flew over Kilauea. This volcano last erupted in September 2021. From above you can see where the road basically broke off and disappeared into the volcano. We didn’t see lava spewing from the ground, but we definitely saw some of it down there in the cracks.

Next up was Kaumana Caves State Park where you can walk inside of a lava tube. So what happens is when lava flows it burns a path through the ground. When the lava recedes, a cave remains in it's place. If a collapse were to occur it would typically happen in the beginning when the lava is cooling, and they can last a long time.  Kaumana Caves was a result of the Mauna Loa eruption in 1881. I fancy myself an explorer of nature which is odd because I’m so scared of so much of it! I really do love hiking and exploring nature, but sometimes…. nature can be a bit terrifying. Inside, the walls were covered in moss, and there was so much vegetation. It was really beautiful inside and so quiet. You could hear water dripping off the roof of the cave. And feel it. It was cold and dark, and everything was all good until it went pitch black. Pitch. Black. So black you can’t even see your hand right in front of your face. So dark that the iPhone flashlight was basically worthless. We were only able to use it to light the path at our feet so we could at least see where to step, but it did nothing to penetrate the darkness so we could not see a thing ahead of us. Mj wanted to keep going, but I panicked. I had a minor meltdown. The ceiling was so low my head hit it and I had to crouch down. In front of me there was only darkness. Behind me, darkness. My mind just could not handle it and I had to get out. We checked out the second cave, but I’d learned my lesson and knew that I could only go so far. The opening to this cave was larger, and it let in a little bit more light at the mouth but once you go past a certain point it's still pitch black. In this one, you could really see the cool lava formation patterns on the walls and the floor. It was scary, but also kind of exhilarating at the same time. And melt down or not, it was so cool to see and I’m glad we went in.

On the way to Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden. I got road to Hana Maui vibes, and I loved it. The place was beautiful. So lush. So green. They had signs with the names of all the different flowers. It took us about an hour to stroll through everything. Such a pretty place. We were running past lunchtime at this point, but we still had one more stop. Akaka Falls State Park, because you can’t leave Hawaii without seeing a waterfall. It's a very short pleasant walk to Akaka Falls. We were in and out really quick. We fit so much into this day. All of these sites are fairly close, and with our helo tour done in the morning we got to see it all. We ate at Cronies in Hilo before we headed back to our hotel.

On Day 5 we took the shuttle to Hilton Grand Vacations Club – Waikoloa Village & Ocean Tower. Kings' Land Guests have access to their pools, and free parking over there. The free shuttle runs every half hour between multiple Hilton properties in the area with stops at Queen's Marketplace where most of the food is and the King’s Shops where most of the shopping is. This property is very nice, but it’s so big. When the tram rolls up it kind of feels like Disneyland. Our friends staying there said it takes so long to get anywhere and they have way more food options on site than Kings Land, but they are expensive. We found some trees for shade because at Waikoloa Village there are no umbrellas and you have to pay for a cabana if you want shade. Also, there are no spas. I was not a big fan of the lagoon because fish. So, many fish. Even in the water as shallow as 1 – inch it was just swarming with tiny school of fish everywhere. And I would really freak out if I ran into a turtle. I couldn't get in. Mike had a scuba diving with the Manta Rays outing that afternoon and evening, so I was on my own for the rest of the day and let me tell you it was so nice. I ate my chicken power bowl we’d picked up at Foodland the night before. I was so glad to be at our beautiful quiet pool area where there is plenty of shade. The adult pool section at Kings Land Resort is really the greatest. It has its own giant pool, and Jacuzzi, and this cool private waterfall section. I read my book...and dozed off. I stayed until the tiki torches came on and it was perfection. I felt so refreshed and relaxed afterwards.   

The next day was another pool day, just the two of us at the adult pool. I can't get enough of the adult only section! It was another perfect and relaxing day. We probably should have picked up lunch from Foodland ahead of time since the options at our pool aren’t that great (and they close at 6pm), but we didn’t so we skipped lunch and then had to go in search of food again for dinner. We were starving. I ended up with my 3rd burger of the week because of a random turkey shortage. We just took the food to go, like we’d done all week so far. You don’t have to tip, and you get your own wine or beer at home. And honestly, after being out all day long and usually getting food kinda late, I didn’t feel like doing the whole dining out thing.

Our last full day in Hawaii had to be a beach day, but first we had to check out of our room and pack up. We added on an extra night, but had to do a separate reservation because the 1 bedroom Jr. Suite was no longer available. We didn't want to move, even though the second reservation was for a nicer 1 bedroom suite golf view room, and they said we couldn't get a refund for the difference. Well, it turns out we didn't have a choice. We checked out, put all of our stuff in the car, and headed for the beach. 

A long windy road led up to one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. We found our own little slice of paradise at Manini’owali Beach at Kua Bay in Kalaoa. It was only about 20 minutes south of where we were staying. This beach has beautiful white sand, and clear warm aqua waters. There were fish in the sea. But it was a larger one every now and then and not schools of fish everywhere, so I was okay. I had to be okay because I wanted to be in that water. I held MJ’s hand most of the time, because once I get to water at chest level in the ocean with waves coming in, I get a little nervous. We had so much fun. There was no shade, but we spent most of the time in the water. The beach does have bathrooms and showers for rinsing off. After that we headed a bit further south to Kailua-Kona to hang out with the friends who had moved from Ocean Tower to a different hotel. It’s a cute little beach town. Unfortunately, we caught some rain, but it cleared up enough for us to walk around and we had dinner together.  

The pool area doesn't close until 10pm so that night we went to the hot tub and had it all to ourselves. And we even discovered the cold plunge pool and a whole other hot tub in the adult section that we hadn't seen before. I surprised myself by going from pool to hot tub and then to cold plunge! It’s not just cold it’s refrigerated somehow. It was painful but such a fun challenge! Our new room was gorgeous. Much larger and with a better view. It was definitely an upgrade. I was kind of bummed that we didn't have much time left to enjoy it.

On our last day we ate breakfast at Abay's at the Kings Shops. It was only the 3rd time we sat down for a meal in a restaurant the entire week. Then we headed back down to Kailua-Kona to meet up with our friends. We basically had time to walk around a very small farmers market, stop at the grocery store for food and then it was time to go to the airport. Our flight home was direct. It took us five hours and not eleven so that was great. 

I highly recommend Kings' Land resort even thought it's on a golf course not the beach. The other Hilton property is quite grand and has more food options, but they charge $50 per day for parking. At Kings' Land the parking is free 99. That alone saved us so much money. It can be a bit of a walk to the pool depending on what building you are in, but our car was parked right outside our building and I enjoyed the more intimate setting.  It was great to have a kitchen and washer/dryer. We could at least eat breakfast daily in our room. The beds were super comfortable and the first room even had a bidet. I felt very at home there. I would definitely recommend a rental car because the beach closest to you might not be the best. The beach at the sister property was all rock. There was a black sand beach and one with white sand at hotels near by that are walkable from there, but unless you want to spend your entire stay at the same beaches and on resort you really do need a car to get around.

I can't believe this was our 6th time to Hawaii. We went to Oahu in 2010 for our honeymoon, Maui in 2013, Kauai in 2015. We took our moms along that time. Oahu in 2016 for my sister’s wedding. I tagged along on a business trip to Oahu in 2020 right before the world shut down. I wasn't very keen on going to the big island. We'd already been to Hawaii so many times and I figured it was all volcanic rock, but that is not the case. Each island really does have something different to offer and I'm glad we finally made it to all of them.