The Big Island of Hawai’i
The Big Island of Hawai’i is home to some of the most incredible natural sites on earth - from the world’s most active volcano, Kilauea, to black (and green and red) beaches, to light pollution-free stargazing. You can scuba dive with manta rays, snorkel in a marine reserve, and learn about Hawaiian cowboy (paniolo) culture while horseback riding. With 8 of the world’s 12 climate zones, the Big Island is diverse, rugged and simply beautiful!
(left) Sailing canoe adventure at Kona Village Resort
The Big Island - Lay of the Land
The Big Island - so named because it can hold twice the landmass of the other Hawaiian Islands combined - has only 14% of the state's population, so despite its popularity, it always feels remote and slow-paced. The island has a mountainous middle - Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea dominate the horizon - with a ring road that traces from the airport and Kailua- Kona on the east, to Waimea to the north, Hilo on the west side and South Point (the southernmost point in the greater US) and black sand beach to the south. One really successful strategy - that I did twice on my first trip, once clockwise and then counterclockwise - is to rent a car and drive the ring road, stopping along the way at whatever looked interesting. Morning coffee in Kona, lunch in Hilo, stop at Volcano National Park, a beach or two and back home for a sunset mai tai. Yes, it takes around 6 - 8 hours to circumnavigate, but you go through tropical, savannah, pine forest and all the other climate zones, with ever-changing ocean views, so it’s a day well spent.
Kona Village
First opened in the 1960s and tragically shuttered by a tsunami in 2011, Kona Village returned in July 2023 after a thoughtful and sustainable rebuild as part of the Rosewood Hotels & Resorts group. The hotel has a storied past - an abandoned fishing village in the 1960s, rebuilt as a labor of love resort by Johnno Jackson and his wife that attracted a cult following, including being Steve Jobs’ favorite resort in the world, before devastation and 13 years of dormancy. Opened less than 2 years ago, it has already topped Travel and Leisure’s best resort category.
At Kona Village, your room is a standalone Hale, or Hawaiian house, some of which are perched on stilts above the lava rocks. Peaceful, private and stylish - it’s pure magic!
Here’s the inside view of my Hale, number 123!
New Moon - my new favorite bar!
The only original element to survive the tsunami of 2011 was Johnno Jackson’s sailboat, the “New Moon.” Salvaged from the harbor, she is now repurposed as the Shipwreck bar, the social hub of the resort. It’s legendary barman, Conrad, whose decades of service are memorialized in the cocktails “Conrad’s Mai Tai” and the “Mick, the jungle bird”- named after his mina bird, his avian companion often perched on his shoulder. Pulling up to a seat here is just so much fun, and to hear people ‘talk story’, it makes it even better.
Kona Village - dining, spa and recreation
The resort has a few dining options, the main restaurant is Moana - with fresh from the sea catches of the day and a very decent wine list. There’s a more casual option, a coffee bar and the Shipwreck bar serves sushi in the evenings as well. Their spa is also a Vogue Top 100 spa - with separate men’s and women’s areas, plunge pools, treatment rooms and a killer chill space out back. The watersports are also really fun and always at your service. Check out this incredible resort!
Beaches
Makalawena Beach
This might be the best beach you can’t reach by road. Hike or take a Jeep over the extremely bumpy lava field, and you are rewarded with as remote and pristine beaches as you’ll find in Hawai’i. The locals come here and that’s about it. Secluded, inacessable without a lot of effort but oh so worth it. Take a 4x4! Thank god for my brother Brian and his rad Jeep!
Hapuna Beach - the quintessential ‘white sand beach’ - it’s hot, sunny, and you’ll need an umbrella…but when you just want ‘a day at the beach’, this is where you come.
Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach
Just amazing
Volcano National Park
You can’t come to the Big Island without seeing the Volcano. While I missed the latest episode, I was 2 days too late to see the 1200-foot plume of lava, it’s still worth the trip to drive the caldera crater. Stop at Volcano House for lunch, drive out to the edge and be in awe at the bubbling activity just below the surface! If that’s not enough, there’s a winery just down the road!
Scuba and Snorkel
The Big Island has great scuba, especially the manta ray dive I did on a prior trip, and snorkeling at Kealakekua Bay is about as good as it gets in Hawai’i, apart from Hanauma Bay, my Oahu favorite. Diving with Aloha Scuba Dives is awesome, and snorkeling with Fair Winds - they’re the tops in snorkel tours! Kealakakua is the site of the Captain Cook monument - where he was killed on a return trip after discovering (?) Hawai’i in 1779. The area is a marine park - so the coral heads, aquatic life and clarity of the water is unmatched.
There’s SO MUCH to do on the Big Island - I’ve written before about helicopter rides to see the volcano and scuba diving with the manta rays. Check that info out here. Mahalo!
Parting Shot…Look Up 4 Falling Coconut
