To be honest, Hawaii was not our first choice for a holiday destination, but due to various reasons, we decided to check it out! This is our first tropical experience, and we have two conclusions: 1) We will never move to a tropical island, 2) We like it but a week is probably enough time.
We definitely enjoyed our time there, but we both agreed that this would not be some kind of retirement destination for us, unlike a lot of people on the island. It is a little claustrophobic for us, ironically, to be living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Originally, we wanted to go to Kauai and the big island, but everything is booked out in Kauai, so we ended up staying on the big island for a whole week, which to be honest, it’s quite enough to see the things we want to / can see.
Hawaii is one of the more expensive destinations, however, if you do Airbnb for accommodation and Turo for car rental, it is actually quite reasonable.
Hilo
We flew into Kona, but first, we drove to Hilo, which is in the opposite of the island for the first couple days. The climate on each side is surprisingly different. Hilo rains a lot, therefore a lot greener, and also closer to the volcanoes. A couple highlights on the Hilo side:
Mauna Kea
Depending on where you count it from, this can be the tallest mountain in the world (higher than Everest). We were determined to go to the summit, so we rented a 4WD from Harper car and truck rental that would allow us to drive up the Mauna Kea (normal rental companies won’t let you). However, when we got there the first day, it was pouring, and therefore snowing up there. The park rangers block off the road and we couldn’t go up there. We went back the next day morning, the weather was nice, but the snow and ice haven’t completely melted yet, and so we did not make it up there. We were very sad, but we took a couple short hikes around the visitor center and got some nice views.
*Note that it is advised to acclimate at the visitor center for at least 30 mins before driving up to the summit when weather permits
Due to the weather, it also ruined my stargazing plan :(
Volcanoes National Park
Another slightly disappointing experience. We were hoping to see the lava glow, but due to the recent eruption, we weren’t able to. However, it was still a very cool experience to see the crater and the steaming vents everywhere.
We did stay till night time for stargazing around here. On a clear day, you can literally see quite a lot of stars anywhere on the island (as you can imagine, light pollution is quite minimal in the middle of the pacific). And when you go to places slightly darker, you can see a beautiful starry sky. What’s interesting is that the constellations are different from those we observed on the mainland.
The waterfalls - Akaka Fall and Rainbow Fall
There are many waterfalls on this side of the island, and we saw interesting plants, wild pigs and chickens everywhere!
Waipio Valley
This is a must-go!!!! Breathtaking view from up top and when you get to the bottom. I saw a lot of people drove down with a 4WD, but you can also walk down to the valley. It was so steep that we both think walking up is easier than walking down. Once you were in the valley, you could walk to the beach and swim. It was surrounded by stunning views.
We drove up the mountain in Waimea to get a nice view of the island, and this concludes the Hilo side of the trip.
