Nearly 4000 km from the mainland US, Hawaii is definitely not a weekend trip, from any continent, flying from Europe makes it a push for even a week trip. Fortunately we had good reason to be on the West Coast of the US, to visit friends and family in the alien and magical places of LA and Vegas, so why not add a ‘short hop’ to the Islands of Aloha? In this post we’ll provide a bit of an intro to the island, our top five things that we did, plus some bonus entries should you have a bit more time to explore.
Hawaiʻi – Getting there and around
Our introduction to Hawaii was the aptly named Big Island, really called Hawaiʻi, but given the ‘big’ nickname to distinguish it from the state. Flights are plentiful from the US mainland and quite cheap for such a distance. Flying with Hawaiian Airlines was also a nice surprise (for a US carrier) as the seats were comfortable, crew very friendly and you even get a little in-flight meal and drink included!
The airport has a suitably tropical feel to it, the arrivals and baggage claim are all open air, set amidst palms and nests of birds, so have your tropical outfit ready for when you get off the plane, and when it comes to leaving, don’t plan to arrive too early as there aren’t that many diversions to keep you occupied, so far better to enjoy your island stay right up to the last minute.
At over 10,000 square kilometres it’s the largest island in the US and definitely needs time and a car to get around. It takes a good couple of hours to navigate the wide, fast-moving roads. Most big hotels and resorts are located along the south west coast, that gets the most sunshine and where the landscape is best described as “manicured volcano.” A large eruption centuries ago left behind vast lava fields that roll down to the sea, creating a dark, rocky desert. Here, patches of reclaimed grass carve out small areas of holiday luxury from Mother Nature’s ancient work.
Our Top 5 Things to Do on the Big Island
1. 🏨 Resort Life – The Fairmont Orchid
Our accommodation, a classic of its kind, was sprawling and set perfectly on a section of the coast that combined natural rock with a man-made beach around a small lagoon. The rooms were high quality and spacious, ours with a stunning sunset view and, in a comforting nod to perfect uniformity.
Lyssa demonstrated this uniformity when she returned to our floor after a short walk. She successfully opened the door, only to find unfamiliar clothes draped over the chair. She was halfway through gently admonishing the housekeeper for ignoring the Do Not Disturb sign when she glanced at the room number and realised we were actually one floor above.
The resort makes for a perfect base, providing a calm haven and your full week could easily be spent here, moving between the pool, the beach and probably the best stretch of snorkeling along the coastline with many resident turtles.
2. 🐢 The Magnificent Manta Rays
We have been trying to meet a Manta Ray for the better part of two decades. Across Thailand, Central America, and the Maldives, we’ve booked dives hoping for a glimpse, only to encounter Whale Sharks instead—a fair trade, we admit, but the Manta remained our aquatic unicorn.
Hawaii finally broke the curse with a night “dive” that was more accurately an assisted float. We strapped noodles to our ankles and held onto a floating platform that shone bright lights into the water below. These lights attract plankton, which, in turn, draws in the magnificent Reef Manta Rays for their dinner. Reef Mantas are the smallest of the three species, but are still enormous, with wingspans of up to five metres.
When it’s dinnertime, they are not shy. They swoop upwards, making circular curves upside down to hoover up the plankton, often brushing their spotted undersides right past your mask. The experience is exhilarating, made all the more memorable by Lyssa’s muffled screams—part terror, part sheer delight—as the gaping mouths of the Mantas glided towards us from the dark depths. It felt relaxed and intimate, with relatively small boats operating out of the sleepy Keauhou Harbor we went with Hawaii Island & Ocean Tours. This was, hands down, a highlight.
3. 🌋 Kīlauea Volcano National Park
The Kīlauea volcano has been on a mission all year, and we arrived just in time for its eighteenth “episode.” When we landed, it was quiet, but the live feed on the hotel lounge television kept us hopeful. At 6:30 am, over breakfast, the screen happily showed the crater spewing molten rock into the air. Dolphin spotting was immediately cancelled. We grabbed a takeaway breakfast and jumped in the car.
A crucial logistics point: while our resort sat on the sunniest, driest part of the island, the Volcano National Park is located in the wetter, cooler zone. Before you rush out the door, remember to pack some warmer, waterproof gear, or you’ll be making an unexpected, slightly frantic stop at Target, as we had to.
The crater is colossal—four kilometres long and three kilometres wide—so you need your own transport to navigate between viewpoints. We headed towards the Steam Vents first. On our visit, it was a fountain reaching about 50 metres high. The sound was unbelievable, like a continual, roaring thunderstorm trapped within the earth.
The most arresting moment, however, was not the eruption itself, but the silence that followed. After an hour and a half of walking the trail with the constant, ferocious rumble all around us, it stopped. Just like that, as if a great geological switch had been flipped off. The immediate quiet was literally deafening.
4. 🍽️ The Luau and the Art of the Discount
A Luau is, at its heart, a modern adaptation of the ancient Hawaiian ʻahaʻaina—a gathering and a meal. For ‘independent travelers’, these events can feel like the antithesis of cultural immersion: mass tourism, buffet dining, rows of tables, and a high price tag. But honestly, you must attend.
The performers display such genuine skill, art, and enthusiasm that it is impossible not to enjoy the pure theatre of it all. Swallow your traveler pride; it will be a high point of your trip. We opted for the Legends of Hawaii Luau at the Hilton, a resort so enormous it felt less like a hotel and more like its own small state, complete with a monorail to connect its various buildings and lagoons.
The price tag (around $245 per person) can be alarming. Luckily, we stumbled upon the North American tradition of the timeshare presentation. For a couple of hours of our time, and a polite but firm “no, thank you” at the end, we snagged four tickets for a fraction of the original cost. It was a surprisingly educational experience, opening our eyes to the mechanics of timeshare. We didn’t sign up, but for a few hours of polite listening, the massive saving was well worth the effort.
5. 🌊 Turtles
This stretch of coastline proved to be home to a bale of turtles—the collective noun, apparently, because that is exactly what they look like when huddled together, like bundles of black canvas. They spend their days sunbathing on the rocky parts of the coast or gracefully gliding through the bay, doing their best to ignore the snorkelers attempting to capture a selfie.
The Fairmont Orchid coastline offers a fantastic spot to spend hours in the water, easily finding these ancient mariners. If you enjoy snorkelling, you’ll be treated to tropical staples like Parrot fish and Trumpet fish in addition to the turtles. The hotel even provides complimentary reef-friendly sun cream, a thoughtful gesture that was slightly undercut by the fact they charged for sun-shades on the beach beds. It was a strange, conflicting message.
🔭 What Just Missed the Cut? (A Tantalising Second Tier)
Star Gazing and almost sunset
Hawaii is rightly celebrated as one of the best places on Earth to view the night sky. The minimal light pollution, combined with the 4,000-metre altitude of the Mauna Kea summit, means 13 observatories crowd the peak. We booked a tour that took us up to the Visitor Information Centre at 3,000 metres for acclimatisation and a light meal. The ultimate goal was to see the sunset from the high viewpoint, often above a blanket of cloud, which creates a stunning scene.
Naturally, on the evening we visited, higher cloud rolled in, and we couldn’t see a thing. It was a bit of an “Instagram sunset fail” type of view, but the lunar-like landscape was still impressive.
Once the tour descends, the professional telescopes come out in the Visitor Centre’s car park. We had been expecting the Milky Way in blinding clarity, but that still requires a high powered telecope.
Beach Hopping and the Beginners’ Surf Dilemma
If you have a long morning free, the western coastline offers some fantastic beach and snorkel spots. Heading south, Honaunau Bay (also known as Two-Step due to the two natural steps in the rock that allow easy water entry) is a peaceful area with interesting coral. It’s also where you might find Spinner dolphins resting in the morning after their night’s hunt. If you encounter them, be sure not to approach, as they are likely sleeping (they shut down one side of their brain to rest). If they are curious, they will come to you.
We also stopped at Kagaku Beach, a popular spot busy with beginner surfers. We are surf novices ourselves, barely catching green waves but still loving the effort. The internet suggests Big Island isn’t the best place for beginners—Oahu or Maui are better suited—and we could see why. The beach looked quite rocky for our liking; we are used to the expansive, sandy shores of Costa Rica or even the Netherlands. We’ll save the Hawaiian surf lesson for a future trip to the archipelago.
Further north, near the airport, is Kua Bay, a spot with beautiful white sand and clear turquoise waters. However, its beauty is its downfall. If you arrive in the middle of the day, as we did, it can be quite busy, with nowhere to park or lay a towel. Get there early. For a quieter alternative, Kiholo Bay—a short mangrove path leading to a rocky beach—can offer a peaceful swim.
The Final Viewpoint
Flights off the island tend to be in the afternoon or evening, allowing for that enjoyable red-eye return into LA. If you have time between check-out and check-in, a lovely time-filler is the drive up to the northern coast and the Waipi’o Valley Lookout. The descent into the valley is closed for safety reasons, but the view from the top provides that famous “Lost” type of scenery—expansive, dramatic, and so lush it feels as if you might come face-to-face with a dinosaur. Enjoy!
On the go? Then listen to the Podcast version of this blog: OOOExplorers Hawaii Podcast