September 2021

I was here for four days and it was not enough time! I have listed the places of things to see, do, and places to eat in alphabetical order. I have added some photos & information below the list that I have experienced. We stayed at an Airbnb on the Kailua-Kona side (west side) of the Big Island. You need to rent a car here to get to places. We drove all around the North & South of the island and to the East side to Hilo. The drive was gorgeous with the ocean view, volcano rocks on the side, and the luscious greenery everywhere! It rained a bit in Hilo, so do not forget to pack an umbrella or a rain jacket! I would recommend planning your itinerary of things to do in a particular area for that entire day. For example, if you’re planning to explore the South of the Big Island – plan to be and see everything in the South that day, that way, you do not have to drive back and forth from one area of the island to another.

Also, Hawaii has a COVID travel policy/requirement, so if you are planning to visit, please stay up to date with the news or the government website: State of Hawaii Travel & Health Form. From my experience, if you are vaccinated, you will need to create an account, fill out your personal information, your stay information, and upload your vaccine card. Twenty-four hours before your flight, you will need to fill out a questionnaire form from your account, and you will receive a QR code in your e-mail, which you will need to present at the airport. You need to show your ID, vaccine card, and QR code. If everything is correct, you will receive a wristband to bypass the line once you land in Hawaii. 

If you are unvaccinated, I am not sure what the rules are, so please stay updated on the website. But… if you are not vaccinated, I think you should get vaccinated 🙂 stay safe, everyone!

Now onto the travel blog!

Things do see/do:
Akaka Falls
Hapuna White Sand Beach
Island Breeze Luau
Kona Village Farmers Market
La’Aloa Bay/Magic Sand Beach
Pololu Valley Lookout
Punalu’u Black Sand Beach
Rainbow Falls
Snorkel at Kealakekua Bay
Sunset Sail
Volcano National Park
Waipio Valley Lookout

Food/Drinks:
808 Grindz Cafe
Aloha Mix Food Truck Cafe
Da Poke Shack
Foodland Waimea (market)
Hawaiian Style Cafe
Kona Brewery Company
Lava Lava Beach Club
Punalu’u Bake Shop
Umekes Fish Bar & Grill

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Things to do/see:

Akaka Falls
This was my favorite waterfall that we saw on this trip! It cost $5 per person and $10 for parking to enter. You can also save $10 and park outside the parking lot and walk-in. There is also a restroom here. This entire falls area is a loop and takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. If you want to take photos and enjoy it thoroughly, it can take about 45 minutes to an hour. I seriously loved the greenery and the sound of the water.

Hapuna White Sand Beach
Warning – the sand was not white, haha!! It was regular standard sand color! It’s okay, we weren’t too disappointed, we were excited to be at the beach! It was a bit cloudy and windy on the day we went, but the beach is very big and has a large parking lot! It has restrooms, outdoor showers, picnic tables, etc. I’m sure if it were a sunny day and had less wind, we would have enjoyed it a lot more!

Island Breeze Luau
We booked this luau through Marriott Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. It was my first luau, and I liked it! Check in starts at 5:30pm, but the show did not start until 6:30pm and ended around 7:45pm. I was impressed with the space, food, decoration, service, and show. I would say come earlier than 5:30pm, so you can take pictures, soak in the environment, and get your plate(s) of food and unlimited alcohol (until a certain time). Also, park inside the Marriott parking lot, take the ticket with you to get it validated, so you don’t have to pay for the parking. The luau show was filled with many dances, outfit changes, and history lessons. It was a bit expensive, but a good show, I would recommend it. 

Kona Village Farmers Market
This market was small but had some cute souvenirs and tons of fruits and vegetables to shop for. You can also walk down the walkway, and you will see a beach with tons of restaurants and stores to check out. 

La’Aloa Bay / Magic Sands Beach
We had so much fun at this beach! The beach is a bit small, but we had a great time with the waves! They are a bit strong, and we got whipped a few times, but it was so much fun! They have a few picnic tables, restrooms, and an outdoor shower. The parking lot is tiny, but we were lucky and found free street parking right next to the beach.

Pololu Valley Lookout
We were lucky when we went because we saw a double rainbow!! It was pretty! You can hike down to the bottom of the beach, but we didn’t have enough time. The view was lovely from the top. The parking lot was tiny and this lookout is at a dead end so you will not miss it.

Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach
This beach was a bit small, the sand was not as soft, and the waves are rough! It is more of a touristy beach than a beach for you to lay out and swim at. It is pretty cool to see black sand though! They have some picnic tables and a small gift shop. There are lifeguards if you wanted to swim! We saw some people fishing here too!

Rainbow Falls
It is a very quick stop! You just park in the parking lot for free, walk out for 30 seconds, and you will see the waterfall! It is good if you do not want to hike to see a waterfall and want something quick. Unfortunately, we did not see a rainbow when we were there, but we went to Pololu Valley Lookout afterward, and boom! We saw the double rainbow as shown above 🙂 I guess Pololu Valley Lookout was looking out for us, haha! 

Snorkel at Kealakekua Bay
We booked the snorkeling tour through Hang Loose Boat Tour! The time was scheduled from 8am-12:30pm, but it was actually 8:30am-12:00pm. We arrived at 7:50am and did not get onto the boat until 8:30am or so. They checked us in, gave us snorkeling gear, and the boat ride was about 15 minutes to the Kealakekua Bay. The boat ride was breathtaking! It was so sunny, and the water was pure blue and so clear. It was beautiful. Once we got to the Kealakekua Bay, we saw Captain Cook’s statue, and the tour guide, Adam, gave us instructions, and we were off! They had pool noodles, and we used those and WOW…I wish I owned a GoPro – the coral reefs and fishes were soooo pretty! We saw Yellow Tangs, Moorish Idol Fish, Fairwind White Spotted Puffer Fish, sea urchins, and many more fishes that I do not even know the names of! Adam told us that there are more than 50 types of fish here. We swam, enjoyed the water, and then hopped on the boat to get a photo. Then, Adam joined us to jump off the boat together! It was super fun! It was a great experience. They provided lunch and snacks for us. I was also happy with the group of people we had on our boat. Super chill! I wish it were longer because we had a good time swimming and jumping around. Then, on the ride back, we stopped at 3 locations: an inspired Moana rock statue, saw one of Oprah’s beach houses, and the snorkeling area with the Manta Rays.

Sunset Sail
We booked our sunset sail through Ocean Sports. We did not book it through their official website because it was apparently “sold out,” so we bought our tickets through another website, but it ended up being Ocean Sports, thank goodness! They had a quick response by e-mail. I would say the location of the parking and finding the actual dock can be confusing, so give some buffer time for you to find it. It is behind a Marriott hotel, and the boat area is called “Anaeho’omalu Bay.” You have to park and walk over to the bay/water area. We checked in and received orange necklaces. When you board onto the boat, your feet will get a bit wet. We sat in a glass boat but did not see any fishes beneath us. Then, we boarded the official boat and were greeted with Mai Tais. This sunset sail had unlimited alcohol! The boat ride was smooth sailing and had light music in the background. I loved the people on our boat, just meeting and mingling with people from all around. Everyone was chill, and the guide was super nice! Too bad we did not see any dolphins or any animals that popped out, but the sunset was incredible, and with the alcohol…it made it more fun 😉 it was about a 2.5-hour ride! 

Volcano National Park: Crater Rim Trail & Lava Tube
We drove from Kailua-Kona to Volcano National Park, and it was about a 2.5-hour ride. When we went over, we saw a small sign to “Volcano National Park” but ignored it and continued to follow the maps. There was a big welcome to “Volcano National Park,” but with NO other sign, so it was another 20-minute drive to the actual entrance to the national park. I would recommend that they put more signs like “Visiting Center” in 2-5 miles or something, cause it seemed like we were driving to nowhere? There is a $30 car fee too. Once we got to the parking lot, we saw a few people, which was nice since it felt so empty driving over there. If you have some time to explore the national park, go for it! If you do not have a lot of time, I recommend to drive to your locations, step out of your car, hike/walk a little bit, take your photos, and go to the next location of the national park. We walked part of the Crater Rim Trail, and it reminded me of the Grand Canyon. It was pretty remarkable to be near the volcano…maybe it would have been better if we saw some lava or explosion….or maybe not! Haha! Then we hiked 2.5 miles to the lava tube, and there were not a lot of signage either. You can also walk down and onto the actual crater rim too! We finally went to the lava tube and the entrance to the cave was pretty, with all of the trees and leaves surrounding it. You enter the cave at your own risk! It was a bit wet, dark, but super cool to walk through a lava tube!! Then we hiked another 2.5 miles back. It was a good workout! Do not forget to bring some water! There’s also a souvenir shop there too. 

Waipio Valley Lookout
This was a quick stop to look at a view spot! The parking lot is a bit small, and the restrooms were not as clean.

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Food/Bars:

808 Grindz Cafe
I do not have a photo of this food place, but we got it for breakfast, and it was delicious!! We called ahead of time and togo it. I got the local fried rice deluxe. They packed a lot of rice and other food in there, and it was very cheap too! I ate half of it for breakfast and finished the rest of it as a snack.

Aloha Mix Food Truck Cafe
I got the general acai bowl, and it was yummy! A little pricey but yummy. They have a few tables & cornholes around to sit, eat, and chill. The parking lot is street parking. 

Da Poke Shack
We went here twice during the trip! It was yummy! A little pricey but worth it. The parking lot is tiny, and there are only two tables to eat at. The first time, we ate there, and the second time, we brought it to the beach. I got the shoyu & the spicy garlic sesame with seaweed salad. 

Foodland Waimea (supermarket)
This place reminds me of Safeway, Albertsons, etc. We got poke here, and it was so cheap! A quarter of a fish was around $2.00, and 3 scoops of rice were less than $3, and they filled up the bowl with the rice.

Hawaiian Style Cafe
There was a little bit of a wait for this place. We were initially going to order two beef stew, but they ran out of 1 of them, so we wanted to order the lechon, and they ran out of that one too, so we ordered the boneless Korean chicken. They were so nice and didn’t charge us for the boneless Korean chicken!

Kona Brewery Company
We sat outside and the ambiance was pleasant. Cheap and good beers too.

Lava Lava Beach Club
We weren’t seated outside, but inside, and we could still hear the live music outside! The food was good – not sure if it was super good because we were so hungry after our sunset sail! 

Ola Brewery
We sat inside and the ambiance was fun! It looked like a bowling alley and the beers were good.

Punalu’u Bake Shop
I did not order malasadas or anything here, but it did look tasty and sweet. My friends thought it was fine 🙂 but I did get some postcards here though hehe. 

Umeke’s Fish Market Bar & Grill
It was a chill spot—good food & service. We each also got a poke plate that is not pictured here. The poke was alright! 

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Overall, Big Island, you treated us well! I like that it was not as crowded as Oahu. I loved the ocean, greenery, and seeing the volcano rocks everywhere! I want to go back and see the stars at Mauna Kea observatory, do the night snorkeling with the manta rays (I did not want to do it at first, but being on the island, everyone talked about it), and maybe see the Papakōlea Green Sand beach. Have you been to the Papakōlea Green Sand beach? If so, let me know your thoughts. I hear mixed reviews on it – is it worth going to? We also tried going to Hi’ilawe Falls…but it was a fail…it led us to a scary forest area with a dead-end!! If you’ve been there, could you let me know how you got there and if you liked it? 🙂 

As always, thank you for visiting Vivian’s Ventures. Have you been to the Big Island of Hawaii? If so, tell me in the comments/reply section about your experience. What should I do when I go back? If you haven’t been, tell me what you are planning to do there. Any questions or comments, let me know. Let’s chat! #viviansventures