|| Hawaii Big Island (May 2022)

Big Island - May 7th to May 13th 2022, arriving just after midnight on May 14th (due to 405 road construction blocks)

• Live in Hilo (small, boutique, Naniloa Hotel, coconut beach)
• Not in the volcano village (vog, ashy volcano fog)
• Kona (beachy resort area)
• Hilo Bay hotel - close to coconut beach
• LAX Prepay parking Marriott $85
• Flight $520 to KONA from LAX; Avis rental $500
• Dolphin Bay Hotel $800 for two nights with delicious banana bread and papaya and banana
• AirBnB $320 for two nights

• Travel blogs

• Five day itineray https://www.lovebigisland.com/five-day-itinerary-for-big-island-hawaii/
• Seven day https://www.lovebigisland.com/seven-day-itinerary-for-big-island-hawaii/
• Three day Oahu https://wandereroftheworld.co.uk/3-day-oahu-itinerary/
• Five day Oahu https://adventuresofaplusk.com/5-days-on-oahu/
• Dolphin Bay Hotel guide

• Day 1 (Sat, 7th) - From KONA airport drive to Hilo in two hours via the fastest mid island highways, passing a few trails and passing Mauna Kea 
• Walk into the Hilo downtown, lots of homeless but overall feel safe
• KTA has a store in the downtown with a smaller selection of goods, and no poke bar
• KTA on the way to the volcano national park is much bigger that has a poke bar that opens late around 4pm; also just on the side, a chinese fast food joint, Sim Leung, old school choy suoy style

• Day 2 (Sun, 8th) - Volcano national park, stay at Hilo, boat tour around champaign ponds (may have terminated)
• Makuu farmers market, 7-12 Sunday morning only (couldn't make it on time)
• In the morning, drive Crater rim drive and chain of craters road; driving only without walking the trails for half a day; saw the steamed vents in misty rains
• Stream vents, Kilauea lookout, Lava tube, Puhimau Crater, Jaguar museum, Puu Huluhulu Trailhead, Holei Sea Arch; walked the Kilauea Iki trail from rain forest to the ground crater lava rocks; couldn't find the loop entry to the center of the crater, so walked all the way back, in and out in 2.5 hours
• Some “must see stops” in the park are the Thurston Lava Tube (pitch dark, need a flash light), Kilauea Iki Overlook, and the Chain of Craters Road. If you feel up for it, we recommend you hike the Kilauea Iki trail, which descends from the beautiful Volcano rainforest into the caldera where you can see firsthand the effects of millions of years of volcanic activity.
• In the afternoon, drive the blue line of chain of crater into evening, Thurston Lava tube, Kealakomo lookout, holei sea arch
• Sea arch was a lot of drive all the way to the beach; it was a scene in the far away place
• In the evening, Devastation Tail, visit after 5pm, then walk the lava tube, then eat dinner then come back for the evening trail; check youtube 2Pineapples for livecam for volcano status
• Live volcano after sunsetting; if arriving after 8pm, will see the volcano burst in total darkness, will be more beautiful

• Day 3 (Mon, 9th) - Coconut beach (lava rock), Ice pond (with manta rays), Astronomy center (ancient Hawaiians), MacKenzie State Park and Isaac Hale, jungle, hike, lava fields, stay at Hilo going to the south and center
• Stop at south point,  Punaluʻu black sand beach (saw three Hawaiian green sea turtle)
• There is a south point park (missed); there is a green sand beach (did not visit)
• It's a long drive to the south; coming back for the forehead injury and visited the Hilo urgent care center; ate at the Hawaiian style cafe for fried chicken; 
• Arrive at Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station (VIS) before 6pm, Mauna Kea, stay at the visitor center for sunset and star gazing; late afternoon 5:15pm from the Dolphin bay hotel
• Calsmith Beach Park with sea tortoise (didn't see), but this is an excellent place for snorkeling (saw elderly couple swimming) inside of the lava rock ponds
• Richardson ocean park (didn't visit)
• Akaka (north, one car and two passengers for $21 parking fee) and the Rainbow fall (HILO center, actually close to the dolphin bay hotel, along with the boiling pots), peepee fall (HILO center further inland)
• Japanese garden (close to the ice pond, downtown) - buy the poke plate (2 poke and 2 sides) from the Suisan market before 1130am ideally, then eat at the Japanese garden park, excellent days

• Day 4 (Tue, 10th) - Hilo, rainbow falls, Waipiʻo Valley, stay at Hilo going to the north

• Ken’s Pancake House (didn't visit)
• Hilo Farmers market (mid downtown, probably good for coconut drinks)
• Onomea trails 0.6 miles (this cuts the botanical garden with fee), good walk down and back up; Akaka in the north (less than 1 hour), Laupahoehoe Point Beach park (big wave on the rocks) then drive 40min to the Waipio
• head out for a stroll through Lilioukalani Park and over the bridge to Coconut Island. Or, stop for a brisk swim at one the beaches in the majestic Keaukaha area. 
• Afterward, head up to Rainbow Falls for a couple of photos and then continue up Kaumana Drive past Hilo Hospital to the Boiling Pots.
• Rainbow falls doesn't have much water so not too impressive
• Now it is time to drive up Saddle Road to go stargazing at one of the best locations of the world: Mauna Kea. 
• Akaka state falls park - rain forest (up after Hilo), $5 per and $10 for parking with falls
• Kaumana cave is super cark will need headlight (didn't visit)
• Pololu or Waipio Valley
• Pololu may need tour bus, trail is moderate then Waimea is the town at the bottom of the hill

• Day 5 (Wed, 11th) - North shore, stay at east side or north shore, stay at Kona

• Pololu (difficult hike) or Waipio Valley (road under construction until 2025/26)
• Pololu may need tour bus, trail is moderate then Waimea is the town at the bottom of the hill
• Waipo Valley shuttle $67 per person ((808) 775-7121). but not to the black sand beach down the hill; hiking is strenuous, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm Monday to Saturday, call to reserve
• Pololu or Waipio Valley, look for a tour to go down the hill
• Pololu may need tour bus, trail is moderate then Waimea is the town at the bottom of the hill
• Waipiʻo Valley overlook at the end of Highway 240, which will allow you a stunning view of the “Valley of Kings”, one of the most culturally significant spots for the native Hawaiians and a hot spot for the traditional cultivation of the locally prized “kalo” or taro crop.
• Afterward, continue to Waimea for a luxurious dinner at one of the locally renowned culinary gems (we recommend Merriman’s or Edelweiss) or continue a half hour to the Kawaihae harbor for sunset and dinner there before returning to Waimea for the night.
• Waimea is an old ranchers town and offers easy access to great hikes and beautiful beaches. 
• Pololu valley, go down 450 feet in 0.6 miles; eat at the fish and the hog

• Day 6 (Thur, 12th) - stay at Kona

• Two steps (excellent snorkling place, but a bit adventure, this doesn't have the lava rocks for protection), park at Kalahuipua'a Historic park parking, then via lava cave and get to the Kalahuipua'a fishponds and Mauna Lani Beach club
• Ala Khahakai, Kalua-Kona, HI 96740
• Visit the Puʻuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park (also known as the City of Refuge or Honaunau Bay)
• UCC Hawaii farm, Japanese owner, Kona coffee in general has more acid.  The house is on the other side of the route 11, through the mountain road, go up hill to see the view; there is no tour, but we can walk around till the yellow line of private property; eat coffee ice cream

• Day 7 (Friday, 13th) -  Kona and back
• Captain cook monument trail
• Sunset at the beach to the south of the magic sand beach (tiny), morning walks in 6000 steps but a bit tiresome

Waimea - nothing special, urban developed commercial areas

• Hawaiian Style Cafe - This is a small American style breakfast place that services local breakfast such as spam and eggs, loco coco, and kalua hash (just some of my favorites.  The restaurant is relatively small and can get quite busy
• Merrimans 
• Fish and the Hog Market Cafe
• Red Water Cafe 
• Underground Pizza - I know its a pizza place, but sometimes after eating local food for a week I really miss pizza!

KONA restaurant and tour -

• Da poke shack (closes at 4pm) yes 11-4pm (very good sweet potato mashed with bacon), fried chicken regular size has four large pieces
• 808 Grindz yes 7-2pm for breakfast
• Kona seafood market, just 1min to the blue vending machine
• Teshima japanese restaurant (traditional)
• Broke the mouth Gindz (Korean and Hawaiian fusion) yes 10-6pm, and get the furikake fried chicken
• Shaka tacos with free guacamole
• Umekes fish market
• Sakura, for fried chicken, fuji roll
• Scandinavian Shave Ice
• Captain cook - to the low tides, boat tour
• The coffee shack
• Kona town, tide pool
• Big island abalone, tour $12, including a free abalone
• Manta Ray tour
• Heavenly coffee farm
• The Ohia Retreat at booking.com
• Two steps snorkling
• Mauna Lani - A few miles north of Waikoloa there is a Ruth Chris, Monstera (sushi), Tommy Bahama
• Airbnb - 1200 feet aboe Kealakekua Bay, south kona; need to share the open space
• Airbnb - search for Kealakekua Bay cottage with a vew #2 $120; Kealakekua Bay Bali Cottage $150
• Airbnb - Sunset, partial ocean view studio - king bed, Lanai guest suite - entire home / apt hosted by Caleb, $150

HILO restaurant -

• Hilo big island candies, Annette recommends short bread cookies; foodakoki party mix
• Ding Tea
• Kenyichi restaurant, yes10-8pm
• Suisan for poke yes 9-3pm
• KTA's poke yes 7-8pm
• Puka Puka Kitchen - deep fried pork, yes nut closed on Sat sun and Monday morning only; (Annette recommended)
• Hawaiian Hilo Cafe, yes 7-2pm then 5-830pm
• Taco place at street
• Sweet cane cafe (vegetarian)
• Tetsumen for ramen, curry chicken
• Poke N sides for loco moco
• Kuhio grille (for Lau Lau)
• Hilo lunch shop for cheap japanese deep fry and musubi, long lines -yes 530-1pm; Annette recommended
• Naung Mai Thai Kitchen (not impressive)
• Hilo farmers market, daily and the Tamari Lunch nearby (cheap bento and rice balls)
• Two ladies mochi (not that good) 
• Kula shave ice bowl
• The seaside restaurant and aqua farm besides the carlsmith beach park for seafood
• Ken's house of pancakes for brunch, 24 hours open, american style
• The Dolphin Cottage at Kehena beach, booking.com
• Maureen's bed and breakfast at booking.com
• Vlog with user name deliazzz