We’ve only been to Hawaii-The Big Island once and that was when we did the cruise on Pride of America. One day we docked at Hilo and got to see the volcanoes and the next day we docked at Kona.
If you go to Hilo, make sure you check out Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The park consists of two of the world’s most active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea. You can see the steam vents and flowing lava and walk through lava tubes. We didn’t have time to walk to the lava flow but the cruise ship sailed past where it dumps into the ocean and it was definitely something we have never seen before. It was so beautiful and powerful at the same time.
The biggest draw to Kona is, of course, the coffee. Definitely take a tour and learn about how the coffee is grown and stop at one of the stores to get your free sample. Take some home too because you won’t get true Kona coffee any fresher than while you are in Kona! Coffee here may say Kona, but in must cases its only a very small percent actual Kona coffee. Once you have had the real thing you will know the difference.
A great place to explore and learn about the ancient Hawaiians is Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park on Hawaii-The Big Island. You can walk through on a self-guided tour and interact with the people demonstrating things like fishing and carving. You can also see green sea turtles in the water and sunning on the shore.
Our favorite part of the Big Island was a whale watching tour. We got to sail around the beautiful island and we saw so much more than just whales. We saw bottlenose and spinner dolphins, a hammer head shark as well as whales. We also got to go snorkeling which we never pass up.
What a beautiful place. Nice snaps, guys!
Ryan