Hawai’i – the Big Island – is the favorite island for both of us, due to the variety of landscapes, laid back atmosphere, and multitude of activities available.
Itinerary – Trip 3: Mana Road –> Old Mamalahoa Hwy –> Hilo –> Waikoloa
Itinerary – Trip 2: Kona –> Hilo –>
Itinerary – Trip 1: Kona –> Hilo –> Volcanoes –> Kona
I was interested to learn on our most recent trip that the island is actually made up of five different volcanoes – Kohala (oldest), Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai, and Kilauea.
I’ve put these blog entries in reverse order, as I have much better recollection of the most recent trips.
Trip 3: December 2021
Waimea / Mana Road eBike
On our first full day on the island, we started out heading north from Kailua-Kona and stopping by Beach 69, near Puako. This beach was small and covered by trees. To the north of the beach was Kanekanaka Point, which was accessible by dirt road and seemed like a popular place for camping. Hiking to the point, we found a location with multiple access points to the water and a great protected cove for swimming. This was a perfect place to spend an afternoon, and in a future trip, I would love to rent mountain bikes and cruise around the place. It’s kind of a mix of 4×4 roads, with a little single track mixed in here and there.
We spent the evening in Waimea, glad for the opportunity to stay in one of the few available airBnBs. The next morning, we rented ebikes and started off on our tour of the Mana Road, heading out from the Waimea side. The Mana Road is actually a 42-mile road that begins near Mauna Kea and heads almost exclusively downhill all the way to Waimea. It would be a fantastic through-bike, but since we didn’t have the resources for a shuttle, we rented the eBikes and started heading up from Waimea. The weather was quite variable, but with enough sunlight that the highlands were enjoyable, with periodic views of the snow-capped Mauna Kea summit in the distance. With the eBikes, we were able to climb the 2000 ft elevation with ease, with a total of 20 miles of biking during the tour.
Dodging cows in the Mana Road highlands 
The next day, we rented hybrid bikes and biked the Old Mamalohoa Highway from near Waimea to Honoka’a. Open rolling hills for the first three miles quickly gave way to a rapid descent through covered forest, culminating in a stop at Tex in Honoka’a for the best malasadas on the island. Unfortunately, we had to climb back up the 1600 ft to the car, and the weather quickly shifted to rapidly moving clouds. On a clear day, this would be a great ride to start in Waimea and turn around where the steep descent begins.
Hilo
After leaving Waimea, we headed down to Hilo, first stopping by the Wai’pio Valley Lookout (which we had hiked on our last trip in 2015).
We also checked out the Kalopa State Park, which we had seen referenced as ” featuring the best single track trails on the big island”. Hiking a clockwise loop from the parking area, the trails looked like they would be fun to ride but in areas very rough and tough to follow. Hopefully we will get a chance to ride these on a future visit – the route would be to climb up the “Jeep Trail” and return via the gulch trail.
The next day featured waterfalls (Akaka and UmaUma Falls) and hiking around the Japanese Gardens in Hilo. The day was capped off with shaved ice at Kula Shave Ice, which was the best one I’ve ever had (with the possible exception of my very first experience in Maui).
Akaka Falls
Uma Uma Falls
The final day in Hilo, we headed up the Saddle Road to scout out a (future) hike to the summit of Mauna Kea. For a quick warm-up hike (and views of Mauna Loa to the south), we stopped by Pu’u Huluhulu, a small cinder cone hike right across the saddle highway from the Mauna Kea access road. This hike was all of 20 minutes, but offered some nice views and some interesting topography: as a kipuka, this cone is older than the lava flows around it, resulting in a weathered, highly vegetated cone above the surrounding lava.
Once at Mauna Kea, we quickly got our bearings and set off on the Humu’ula Trail, the main foot-access trail to the summit. We didn’t go far – maybe just a mile and a half up – but the views were incredibly expansive. Seeing the weather start to turn around 12:30pm, we hustled down to the parking lot and made a quick hike up Sunset Hill, another small cinder cone that is quickly accessed from the visitor center parking lot. By the time we reached the top of the hill, the weather had deteriorated significantly and thunder could be seen near the summit.
View from turnaround point – Mauna Loa horizon far in the distance 
Nasty clouds!
As far as lessons learned for a future hike up Mauna Kea – it’s clear that the weather can turn on a dime, so I would only want to go when there is a clear forecast for the full day. In addition, although it was 54 F in the visitor center parking lot (9200′), the summit (13,400′) was at 30 F. Unfortunately, despite all the cabins and buildings nearby, there is nowhere near the visitor center that is available to rent out for the night.
Potential places to acclimate would be in Hilo (500′, so not much), Waimea (2600′), or near Waikoloa (1000′). Kona is another option – as there are plentiful airbnbs, above the airport, that are at elevations of up to 2200′. From some of the areas along the Hawaii Belt Road, it would be about a 1 hr 15 min drive; another key would be to go early and spend time acclimating at the visitor center, hiking very slowly to try and prevent altitude sickness.
Waikoloa
Back in the Waikoloa area, we stayed at a lovely condo within Vista Waikoloa – conveniently located next to a sports bar, bike shop, and the sprawling Hilton resort nearby. (Note after the fact– although we booked it on VRBO, it is also available for direct bookings online).The key word for this area was “relax” – no major objectives, just hiking along the Fisherman Trail to various beaches and renting cheap hybrid bikes to tour the resort areas and Waikoloa Road. Highlights were riding up to the cinder cone above Waikoloa Village (Pu’u Hinai), as well as seeing an incredible sunset rainbow at Hapuna Beach, in the exact spot where I proposed 6 years ago.
Trip 2: May 2015
After getting a taste of the Big Island in 2014, we had to come back one year later. This was a special trip for us – I had been looking into ways to propose over the past several months, and knowing Athea is really into beaches, decided that Hapuna Beach would be a great place! This trip ended up being a ton of beaches, but we got a few more activities in as well.
Like the last trip, we started this one at the Kona Islander Inn, cheap accommodations in the “downtown” of Kona, near plenty of restaurants on Ali’i Drive. The first day, we headed down to Kahalu’u Beach Park, a fantastic spot within Kona that has great snorkeling options, as well as beginner-friendly surfing (not that I was still any good).
The second day, we headed north from Kona to Hapuna Beach, where I made the big proposal (after fighting earlier in the day because she almost found the ring!)
After a couple days in Kona, we headed over to the east side of the island for a couple days in Hilo. Although we remembered it as mostly wet and cloudy, we had rushed through it on the first trip on the way to Volcanoes, so we wanted to give it another chance. The highlight of this trip was a zipline tour that culminated in soaring over Akaka Falls – an experience I won’t forget!
We also took a second night dive near the Kona Sheraton to see the Manta rays. This time we were treated to about 8-10 rays – much more than the 2 last time, and an incredible display of these massive, beautiful animals.
Among the great excursions we took was hiking to the secluded Macalawena Beach. It can’t be reached by road, but a flat 2.2 mile hike gets you to this beautiful beach – and when we visited, there was no one else there.
Trip 1: November 2014
We had booked a couple nights in a B&B in Kona for our first days in the Big Island, and our second overall trip to Hawaii after a Maui trip earlier this year.
On Day 1 we hopped on a kayak out to the Captain Cook Monument, where we also had a snorkeling tour set up. After snorkeling during the day, we hopped on another dive boat for a Manta Ray Night Dive, where you are able to sit 30 feet under water as 10-12 foot wide manta rays circle overhead. Evidently, the manta rays have been congregating in this area for decades, originally attracted by the hotel lights which illuminated the plankton on which they feed.
This dive was pretty
We headed out to Hilo – [[was this where we did the ziplining? Or was that the second trip? ]]
After the wet and rainy Hilo, we headed south to Volcanoes, where we hiked the Kilauea Iki Trail. A desolate but intriguing landscape, this hike follows old lava flows and feels like something out of this world.
Another day in Volcanoes National Park – Thurston Lava Tube
To do list for next time:
The next time I am on the island, I would definitely prefer to just stick to staying in Waikoloa for the entirety of the trip. Better weather, less packing/unpacking, and reduced driving from place to place outweighs any issues with longer drives for specific activities.
Mauna Kea: By far, the biggest thing I am looking forward to on a future trip would be hiking Mauna Kea. Having scouted out the area and stayed in the nearest places to the visitor center on all sides (Hilo/Waimea/Waikoloa), here is how I think I would set it up to maximize trip enjoyment but still acclimate appropriately:
– Stay in Waikoloa. The weather in Hilo and Waimea is less cooperative, and there is generally a ton for family to do in Waikoloa.
– Follow the weather closely when making plans. Based on how quickly we saw the weather change on Mauna Kea, use the NWS site to scout out a day when clear skies and low winds are forecasted.
– “Acclimate” the day prior with a lazy hike up on the Saddle Road. There were a few that looked like good candidates, including Pu’u Wa’awa’a and Pu’u Ahumoa.
Ride the Mana Road: Although we rented ebikes and biked up the road from the Waimea side, in the future we would like to bike the full length of the Mana Road from the Mauna Kea side to Waimea. It would require an extensive shuttle, and it’s a long ride at 42 miles, but is also almost exclusively downhill.
Hike to Pololu Valley Trail: an awesome looking hike that we haven’t done yet due to noncooperative weather.
Kiteboarding: there appear to be up to five places that will do lessons – if I can get accustomed to it in Alaska and then actually commit in Hawaii, that would be awesome!
Volcano Hiking: Pu’u Hinai and other small cones (trip reports)