Hawai'i: The Big Island is BIG

Aloha! I have returned from my wonderful trip to Hawai'i with my sister! What a fantastic week! I'm a little bit more tan and a lotta bit more refreshed than I was when I left, that is for sure. My sis and I enjoyed the sunshine, heat, and the ocean very, very much. And, we took TONS of pictures! Almost 700 over the course of the week. Wow. Haha.

Here are a few of the highlights, plus a few things I would recommend for anyone traveling to the Big Island:

Palm trees galore!

Sunsets over the Pacific on the lava rock coast!

LAVA! So much lava, everywhere.

1) Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. This is a HUGE park on the southeast side of the island with lots to see! Kilauea is the most active volcano on the planet; it's been steaming and gurgling and spitting fire for 30+ years! We had a great time driving around to the various sights: steam vents on a cliffside, a lava tube you could walk through, the plume coming from Kilauea's currently active crater, and the area along the coast where the lava ran over the road in 2003. The park is about 100 miles from Kona, so it's definitely a day trip, but it's really interesting and fun to run around on the lava! Bring sturdy shoes and lots of water, for sure. 
OH- and stop by South Point on the way! It's a 12-mile backcountry road from the main highway, but you wind up at a spit of land that is the southern-most point in the USA! How cool. If I was more awesome, I would have cliff-jumped off the edge into the water (they had a ladder you could climb back up), but it was about a 35-foot drop... Maybe next time. ;-)

We summited Mauna Kea at sunset!

2) Go to the top of Mauna Kea! We took a tour with the Mauna Kea Summit Adventure company- FANTASTIC! I would recommend this company to anyone, anytime. It was the most informative, personal, well-run tour I have ever been on (and I used to be a tour guide!). They drive you up to the top of Mauna Kea with a full-length commentary on Hawai'ian culture, history, geology, geography, animals, etc., they provide dinner at the Visitor's Center, then you watch the sunset from the summit among all of the amazing observatories, then there's a 1 1/2 hour star show a little ways down the mountain. They have incredible 11-inch telescopes for tour folks to use. They tell you a bit about astronomy and show you binary star systems, nebulae, fields of 100,000+ stars, two galaxies (GALAXIES! Holy crap!), and Saturn, complete with rings and a nearby moon! The night was crystal clear and the stars were shining like a dream. I have never seen such amazing close-up astronomical phenomenon in a telescope before. The astronomer in me (I would totally be one if I were good at math!) was seriously nerding out. It was truly incredible. GO ON THIS TOUR!

Sea turtles!!! We saw 5 total. I LOVE sea turtles.
I want to be one in my next life.

The Life Aquatic: snorkeling on the reef!

Hapuna Beach! The Big Island's finest.

3) Hapuna Beach. It's beautiful. White sand, smooth shoreline (hard to find on the Big Island), and not very crowded. It's kind of a drive to get to (about 45 minutes north of Kona), but it's totally worth it. This is my family's favorite beach on the island!

Coffee Mill tours! Kona coffee is the BEST. 

4) Coffee Tours! We went with Mountain Thunder Coffee. It's about 20 minutes up-slope from Kona in the more rainforest-y area. Well worth it! The tour is about an hour and it's free and they sample both coffee and tea and tell you about how coffee is grown/harvested/processed on the island. It was quite interesting. And, of course, you must snag a bag or two of 100% Kona coffee, as it's the best coffee in the world! Absolutely worth the spendy price per pound.

The Black Sand Beach 

Gecko hunting! My sis caught and released three, and we
photographed probably 50 of these little guys, haha.

Fun and fancy dinners!
We went all out on our last night.

5) Keei Cafe. We went here on our last night for a swanky 'finale' dinner. WOW. The atmosphere was relaxed and unassuming, yet swanky; the food was delicious and unbelievable in all aspects; the service was top-notch and personal; the price was great for fine-dining. The restaurant is located about 15 minutes south of Kona, and it's a great escape from the main drag of Kona. This restaurant is another place that I would recommend to everyone visiting the big island. My sis had fresh Monchong fish for dinner (so buttery and soft!) and mango cobbler a la mode for dessert; I had seafood pasta (w/ fresh fish, scallops, clams, and shrimp - YUM), a delicious glass of 2008 Malbec, and a tropical bread pudding with bananas and pineapple with an espresso for dessert. Superb!!  

Gorgeous.

See?? We had an AWESOME trip. :-)