We boarded a small Hawaiian Airlines plane in the afternoon, which was a quick but bumpy 40-min ride to Kona airport. It was even smaller than Maui’s airport, and it’s outdoors! We got our rental and off we went to check in at our next Airbnb in Kona. It was getting late and rainy still, so we grabbed dinner nearby at TK noodle house for something warm and comforting. Tried some kind of appetizer (don’t remember but maybe it’s shrimp), I had one of the udon soup and he got an oxtail pho! The AC unit was quite noisy so we didn’t sleep well that night.

We picked up breakfast at a local cafe and loved the winter decor displayed throughout the stores. We also stopped by Costco to see their selection and also picked up some crispy cookies from Mrs. Barry’s Kona cookies, any fresh cookies are the best!

We booked a 12:15 pm tour at the Abalone Farm on the maintenance and selling of them across the country. At the end of the tour, we got to hold one before grilling one up to try. I know, a little morbid but they were quite tasty and fresh! The tour price has doubled over the years, it is now $25/person.

After the tour, we took a quick walk by the waters and admired the lava fields on this island.

We had booked a 7-8 hr tour with the Mauna Kea Summit Adventure, which included a hot meal after stargazing for $225/pp (pickup was 2p). It’s about $281/pp as of 2023. There was a bad snowstorm up on Mauna Kea so they canceled the trip and we got our money back. Bummed we couldn’t use the telescope at the top to see the sunset and stargaze, I guess maybe next time!

We stopped by two local family-owned shops, Doris Place to see what they sold (candy of sorts) and grabbed a quick bite at Kaaloa’s Super J’s. Their homemade Hawaiian plate of pork laulau with the potato/macaroni salad, lomi salmon, and white rice was basic and delicious.

We decided to use the Hawaii annual pass to visit the Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park to spend that afternoon instead. We walked around the site for and learned about the spiritual sanctuary this place meant to all people.

We picked up dinner at Umekes for poke, macaroni salad, and rice. I also picked up a small boat noodle soup and thai tea at Lemongrass Bistro (permanently closed). We took them home to eat on the Airbnb balcony table.

We started the morning with a quick stop for Kona coffee at Royal Coffee Farm, it smelled heavenly but I am not a coffee drinker. We grabbed a turkey sandwich at Malama Market before our hike.

We drove to the trailhead of Green Sand (Papakōlea) Beach, it was a dirt road trail (5.5 miles total) with cliffs and water on one side. Locals offer to take visitors for a fee in their 4×4 cars, but we hiked it and it was dusty when they drove by. Eventually, we got to the top of the beach and climbed down some steps to see the green sands up close. The trek back to the car was long and the sun started to beam down on us. We bought a fresh coconut from the locals to rehydrate and then noticed a group of folks by the cliff, with some brave souls jumping into the water below. We didn’t realize it was the southernmost point of US (Hawaii).

He decided to jump as well, after apologizing to the crowd for being in his briefs and I was lying down on cliff filming him as he fell 40′ into the deep blue ocean below. There is a slippery ladder to climb back up on and he doesn’t regret jumping though. I’m glad the ocean was calm and clear. There were even some local fishermen fishing from the cliff!

We stopped by the Punalu’u Bake shop afterward and got some yummy treats. We really enjoyed the fish jerky by Kaimana Jerky – you can get them at any grocery stores and we also ordered some online after we came back home. There was a black sand beach nearby, Punaluʻu Beach, but we decided to return to our Airbnb to wash up for a luau at night.

We walked over to the luau area early, and watched some canoe crew wrapping up. Then we lined up to get in the luau. I had a drink or two at the beginning of the Kona luau and I got “lei’d” with real flowers. The show started from the waters, and then they made it to the stage. We also watched the staff pull up the “pig” from underground cooking to be served.

Our table was signaled to get up and grab some food, where we tried a little bit of everything. I was starting to feel light-headed and sick, so I made my way to the bathroom. But I didn’t want to pass out there so I made it back outside and sat down in the garden. The staff was worried about me but I assured them I was ok. Before leaving the show, we got to take pictures with some of the dancers. 

It may have been exhaustion and dehydration from the earlier hike, which was made worse with the alcohol. Back then, I didn’t realize how sensitive I am to dehydration and now I pre- and post-hydrate before heavy hikes. Otherwise, the food was all delicious and the show was very festive!

We left Kona (west coast) and made our way up and around the island, stopping by the Hamakua macadamia nut company. I love macadamia nuts so it was cool to see where they get processed and try all the different flavors! We also stopped by Parker Ranch (Pukalani stables) to see a heritage center, with saddle displays, food vendors and even snow from the mountain (as well as a pair of whippets)!

Our next stop, we parked at the Waipi’o Valley lookout and decided to walk down a steep (45% grade) county road and then a muddy beach road to see the black sand beach up close. It wasn’t a long walk (1.5 miles) and you have to get out of the way when locals drive on the road. They recently closed it to tourists in Feb 2022 due to safety, so I’m not sure when they will fix up the road. There is a way to view the waterfalls up close but it’s hard when it’s surrounded by private properties. So you can see I’ve pointed it out in the picture below.

Then, we stopped at another waterfall place, ‘Akaka Falls state park, which has a fee that I thought we paid in cash back then. It looks like there’s a fee for entrance and parking, so I strongly encourage you to check out their operating hours and pay with ParkMobile ahead of time, due to limited cell reception. We did the 0.4 mile loop trail to see the falls closer and along the way, there were tons of tropical vegetation. It was so humid that day so there’s always mosquitoes around.

Finally we made it to the east side, Hilo to check out the Hilo farmers market. I got two unique tank tops from a vendor and then we stumbled upon a fresh mochi shop by Japanese ladies (Two Ladies Kitchen). We ordered a box of different fruit and flavors, it was so delicious. We liked it so much, we visited them again and pre-ordered a box for the flight home to pick up in a few days. Then we checked in our Airbnb (Kealohapau’ole) in the mountain, near the Volcano NP entrance. Fresh fruit bowl and wonderful views. 

We went out to find dinner at this happening night event, Uncle Robert’s Awa Bar and Farmers Market. Lots of vendors and the food was delicious. We had an amazing nacho bowl and a few other things. I don’t recall if I bought anything else there, but there was music and people. 

After taking my last nursing informatics exam online before we headed out to explore the last park of the tri-park pass, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Since this was before COVID, there wasn’t a NPS app, so we relied on good old brochures. Check out the NPS site to plan your visit. Below are the hikes we did that day – check out others.

1. From the visitor center, we learned it was too dangerous to walk on the crater rim trail because of an active Kilauea summit caldera. But, you can observe it from afar. The summit collapsed in 2018 and overtook some roads so I’m sure things have changed since then too.
2. Kīlauea Iki, 3.3 mile loop, a steep descent (400ft) and back up the other side. We walked across the bottom of the crater, which was a little terrifying as there was still sulfur steaming up from the floor.
3. Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube), 500-yr old, which is 1.5 mile round-trip from the Kīlauea Iki Overlook. You walk through the tube, which is lit between 8a-8p, and imagine lava flowing through the same space!
4. Puʻuloa Petroglyphs, 1.4 mile roundtrip, walk on the broadwalk to see ancient petroglyphs on rocks!

We drove to the end of Chain of Crater road to visit the Hōlei Sea Arch. Then, we discovered an emergency access road to see the lava enter the ocean, which was an 8-mile walk so we planned to tackle that on our last day in Hawaii.

I also didn’t realize there’s another section of the park that we didn’t visit this time. If you have time, check out the Kahuku Unit.

We had a quick breakfast at Honi Wai Cafe, which has unfortunately been closed since Oct 2020. Then, we started early by driving down the Chain of Crater road and started our long hike down the emergency access road. When the road ended because the lava field took over, so we navigated up and down the uneven, rough terrain using a walking stick someone left by the sign. The air also burned a little from the sulfur drops as we were near the active lava falling into the ocean, causing a volcanic plume!

The trail wasn’t a direct path but we finally made it to the other side of the paved road to take a break by the waters. It was a surprise to see a few bicyclists pull up to our same spot, after a grueling long hike across the fields. Next time, I would rent a bike! We couldn’t quite see the orange lava enter into the ocean, but we saw several helicopters touring nearby.

We eventually made it back to the park side of the road, laid the stick by the sign for the next hiker, and were even offered some water by the rangers who drove by in the truck, checking on hikers. We got back to our car and said g’bye to the park.

We picked up our mochi box (no fresh fruit through security) and grabbed Thai dinner at Sombat’s Fresh Thai Cuisine (also permanently closed since Dec ’23) to eat at the airport before our overnight flight home the next day.