Spring Break! I freaking love Hawaii! In 2018, we went to Maui. In 2021, we went to Oahu. So this year, we decided to try The Big Island of Hawaii. It was definitely very unique. The West side (Kona) was dry and covered in lava rocks, which was super cool! The East side (Hilo) was wet and had the rain forest.
We stayed in Kona, but we drove to the Hilo side multiple times during our stay. It was cool to see the weather change so drastically as we drove from one side of the island to the other. We would see the sun, then the clouds, then the fog, then the rain. It rained every time we were on the Hilo side. And it was kind of chilly, too.
Day 1:
We left Phoenix in the morning, so we arrived in Kona in the late afternoon. We didn't do much... we checked out our place and had dinner nearby.
Day 2:
We explored the area surrounding our condo. I'd asked William if he'd consider golfing while we were there, and he hadn't... until we got there. The golf course we stayed on was so amazing that he decided to book a tee-time for himself and the boys. Thankfully, I'd purposely not overbooked ourselves to allow for free time.
We explored the lava rocks and cliffs by the condos, and William wiped out within the first 30 minutes. He was bleeding from the chin pretty badly. We were grateful he didn't hit his head. That would have been really bad! I bet people slip and die all the time. These rocks are sharp and super dangerous!
That afternoon, we went ziplining. It was on the Hilo side of the island and the only place that allowed 5-year-old to go down the ziplines. There were 9 lines in all. An expert went down with Alexis for the first 8, then he allowed Alexis to do the last one on her own. She loved every second of it!
It did rain a little, but fortunately it didn't last long.
After grabbing a late lunch, we got some snow cones. We were determined to find the best snow cones in Hawaii, and Wilson's definitely set the bar high! It's the sweetened condensed milk that does it for me!
The next day we drove back to the Hilo side of the island again to visit the crates and the volcano. It's amazing how these formations were made by lava, by nature.
It was super cloudy/foggy when we got there, so we couldn't see the crates all that well. Plus William started getting altitude sickness, I think. He didn't feel well at all. Because of that, we didn't spend much time up there. We could have gone down into the crate, but we didn't. Instead we opted to check out the Thurston Lava Tubes. It had started raining by then, but at least we were covered in the lava tubes.
After leaving the Volcano National Park to eat lunch, we decided to go back and do the driving tour. The weather had cleared up a little by then. As we drove down toward the beach, the weather got nicer and nicer. We made a total of 14 stops along the way, each one to see a different crater from different eruptions in different years, some as old as the 1960s. On a sidenote, I am still super bummed that we didn't fly over to The Big Island in 2018 when there was actual lava flowing out of the volcano. Next time it happens, we're definitely going!
Day 3:
Beach Day. Our condos had access to a private beach, so we took full advantage of it. It was super nice to be on a beach that wasn't overly crowded. Plus it had its own little restaurant with yummy food.
Later that afternoon, we drove 15 minutes away (still on the Kona side) to Lava Lava Beach Club. I'd heard amazing things about that place, but they didn't take reservations, so we showed up at 5, hoping to beat the crowds. We didn't. There was a 2-hour wait. On the bright side, it had a big lawn area with a variety of games, like ping pong and corn hole. It also had its own private beach where we explored and took family pictures. And it had these super cool trees that the kids enjoyed climbing on, completely ignoring all the "no climbing" signs. (There were many other kids climbing the trees.) The food was good, but the ambience, the venue, and the sunset were definitely the best part of the experience. 5 stars review.
Day 4:
While the boys went golfing, the girls and I went back to the beach. We rented a board for an hour, and the staff told Alexis that she had Maka Nani (= beautiful eyes). Kendall's back got burned and my belly got burned. Ouch! But we still had fun. I took the girls, one by one, out on the board. We actually went pretty far, which Kendall enjoyed but made Alexis a little nervous.
That afternoon, we went to a market and then walked around the shopping area of Kona. We didn't really get anything, besides a coconut bag for Alexis, but it was still fun. And we had snow cones at Scandinavian Shave Ice, which had THE BEST snow cones!
The trip was too short. I wish I would have booked an extra 2 days. But we created fun memories and had a great time in Hawaii. 'Til next time...
