Big Island vacation, part 1 (of 3)

We got back from Hawaii last Wednesday and boy, are we missing the ocean breezes and island mentality! We always love Hawaii and this time was no exception - we had a great time and explored the Big Island much more than we had in the past and discovered some really great beaches and places we'll definitely want to return to. 

The highlights:
- Snorkeling! The best snorkeling I've ever seen (although to be fair, I don't have lots of experience here!). I saw so many beautiful fish and even a turtle! Scott even saw a shark and swam with dolphins, and Kingston saw an octopus
- Watching the stars come out atop Mauna Kea, one of the best places in the world for stargazing.
- Going to Papakolea, one of only four green sand beaches in the world.
- Visiting Volcano National Park. Pretty neat to see old lava tubes and lava lakes up close.
- Trying all the awesome tropical fruits. We had your typical pineapple and mangos, as well as papaya, star apple, apple bananas, soursop, guava and mangosteen.

If you want to look through all of our pictures, you can look here.

Otherwise, here's the gist of what we did...

Our trip was basically broken into 3 different segments. For the first 10 days or so, we stayed at a condo on the Kohala coast, which is on the westside of the island and is considered the sunniest and driest region. It's very resort-y, with lots of golf courses and fancy hotels, and the best sandy beaches on the island. The area reminds me a lot of Princeville on Kauai except instead of greenery, everything is studded with black lava rock.

Our specific rental unit at the Golf Villas at Mauna Lani worked out really well for us. It was right on the golf course so had nice green views and felt pretty private. It had 3 bedrooms plus a loft area so there was plenty of time for us to all spread out which was super useful for remote schooling and being able to work remotely. Me and the girls were able to take off some time while we were in Hawaii but Scott and the Wong kids didn't take any days off and so were up at 6am Hawaii time to log in to work/school every day! It wasn't too bad though because it also meant that the work/school day was done by a little after Hawaii lunch time, and we then had most of the afternoons/evenings to explore around.

The house was equipped with lots of extras like sand toys, golf clubs, bikes, etc. The best parts though were the pool and the passes to the private beach club, which was never crowded and had a terrific beach area for the kids. The community also had a local black sand beach that we also took advantage of and while that one wasn't private, it's a bit hidden and off the beaten path so it wasn't at all crowded.

The kiddos outside our rental unit.

Lots of running around and playing frisbee on the greens after dinner.

Sunrise view

We had the master bedroom upstairs that had a nice private lanai, where I spent lots of free time reading!

Nora was my buddy, doing school work while I read.

Popsicle break out on the lanai

Lots of dinners also on the lanai.

Dinner again.

It was nice having our own outdoor grill.

We were a short walk to the community pool.

The pool was never too crowded.

More reading, this time by the pool!

On our first full day there, it was actually Kathy's birthday! So, after getting settled in the morning and doing school/work, we headed out and after a bit of driving around because the restaurant we originally wanted to go to (Poke Shack) was closed, we ended up at Umeke's for a light dinner. It ended up being a great choice because we caught happy hour and had a deliciously light coconut cake with ube ice cream.

Afterwards, we took the advice from the waitress and headed to Kalalu'u Beach Park for some snorkeling. Unfortunately, I would have to rate this as a big bust - the waves were pretty fierce so none of us felt safe venturing out into the water, and since it was pretty close to Kona, there were some unsavory characters hanging about. The kids still had a good time just hanging out in the protected tide break area but in general, we all agreed that this was not a great beach.

Happy birthday to Kathy!

Kahalu'u Beach park

As for beaches, we checked out a bunch of them! While the kids were in school in the mornings, Kathy and I went out and explored different beaches to report back which ones we should check out with the kids in the afternoon. It was super fun to pick each day after lunch which beach to go to. There's so many great ones to choose from!

Our favs:

Mauna Lani beach club (Makaiwa bay) - It was close, not crowded, had a restaurant nearby if you needed something, very calm clear waters that was perfect for the kids to try out snorkeling, soft sand, lounge chairs for guests.

Mauna Kea (Kauna'oa) beach - Tricky to get into because there are only so many passes available to get into the parking lot but we found that if we went later in the afternoon, we were able to get in as people were leaving. This is a very wide, sandy, deep beach that had great snorkeling and fun waves for the kids to boogey board. There was also good snorkeling and in fact, we spotted a turtle and a shark!! Walking the grounds of the Mauna Kea hotel was also nice.

Beach 69 / Waialea beach - We went here several times the last time we were in Hawaii and remembered the waves being gentle and the water clear and easy for snorkeling. Unfortunately, when we went this time the waves were much much rougher so the kids didn't want to go out. It's still a beautiful beach though!

The beautiful beach at the Mauna Lani beach club.

View from the other side of the beach club. The pavilion in the back is the restaurant.

Calm waters and shaded loungers at Mauna Lani.

This one is Mauna Kea Beach

Huge, wide beach next to the Mauna Kea hotel.

Kids having fun boogey boarding.

The turtle that we snorkeled with!

The waters are so clear you can see the big huge school of fish that was right near shore.

Exploring the tide pools at Mauna Kea.

Relaxing at Waialea Beach

Beautiful relaxing beach

On the beach walk in Hualalai. We did something similar with Evie when she was little.

The beautiful turquoise waters at Kukio Bay.

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early to drive up the coast and explore more of the island. The first stop on our itinerary was Pu'ukohola Heiau, a national historic site that celebrates the unification of the Hawaiian islands. It was a fun little place to visit and the kids got their first national park junior ranger badge from Hawaii to add to their collection.

From there, we drove all the way until the road ended at the Pololu Valley lookout where we then hiked down a very steep trail to a black sand beach. We had lunch down in the valley in a grove of trees with lots of shade, and then the kids had a blast playing on the beach and we relaxed a bit. The hike back up the hill was slow and hot, and very uncomfortable to me. I was SO happy to do a quick stop afterwards in Hawi to grab coffee and some ice cream! 

After perusing the shops a bit, we drove inland to Waimea. It was a really interesting drive because the Kohala coast is very dry and hot and lava-rocky, but driving up in the hills everything turned really green and prairie like! There were times it looked like we were in Ireland! There was green grass and cows everywhere! 

We did a quick, early lunch at Big Island Brewhaus and then drove up to Mauna Kea to catch the sunset and watch the stars come out. I was very excited to do this because Mauna Kea is known for being one of the best places on earth to see stars. Unfortunately, the ranger led star gazing talks were canceled because of COVID but we went anyways. The visitor center is at 9,000 ft elevation, which is even higher than when we visit the visitor center on Mount Rainier (5400 ft), and even higher than the gondola we did at Banff (8,000 ft)! Anyways, while we brought jackets and changed into pants, we were not prepared for how cold and windy it was up there! Nora in particular refused to walk the path up to the lookout point so she and I found shelter from the wind between two trees and hung out while the rest of our group went up to watch the sun set. Then we waited about 30 minutes for the stars to come out, marveled at how twinkly they were, and then jumped into our nice warm car and headed back down to sea level.

Offering platform has a nice view.

The Pololu valley lookout

Trekking down

That's where we are going! 

The valley

Rope swings awaited us at the bottom of the hike

Playing in the black sand.

Up at Mauna Kea, we spied a rainbow!

Huddling to stay warm.

Found a comfy spot to watch the sun set.

From so high up, you're above the clouds.

Aside from the beaches and our trip to Mauna Kea, we also took an afternoon to check out the nearby petroglyphs and then walk the nearby shops and eat some shave ice. The petroglyph walk was super interesting because they were literally right next to the golf course. Who knew that there were these really neat historical artifacts so close by? 

And of course, no trip to Hawaii is complete without Shave Ice! This was the Wong's first taste of real shave ice and the kids loved it. As is typical, we got way more than anyone could actually finish but it was super refreshing to have on a hot day. 

Walking the path to find petroglyphs

Found some! Petroglyphs are ancient drawings carved into lava rock.

A close up of the petroglyphs.

Shave Ice from The Original Big Island Shave Ice Company.

Nora prefers to drink her shave ice

yum yum!

Next up: Part two of our adventure where we trekked over to the east side of the island to Hilo and Volcano National Park!