We hopped in an Uber at 5am on a cool Florida morning, in early February. After spending the holidays home with family and friends, we were finally loaded up with our gear, and headed to the airport to continue our adventure. A little wiser, we had repacked our bags getting rid of all the things we thought we needed the first time around, but never touched. Last time we left as overpacked scouts, this time, we left as agile travelers.

One of the Hawaiian Islands from the window of the plane — One of the islands from the plane

We flew United Airlines from Tampa through Houston, and on to our next stop, the state of Hawai’i. Thanks to the magic of chasing the sun, we left at 7am, and even though we had a small layover in Houston, and changed planes in Honolulu, we landed on the Big Island of Hawai’i in the early afternoon.

Cozy area with a hammock at Sheraton Kona — The hotel had a lot of small chill places

We rented a car, and checked in at the Sheraton Kona (now Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa). It was a nice resort right on the water, nicely decorated with local sculptures and artwork. You could see people out in the ocean enjoying whale watching, kayaking, boating and more. We spent time exploring the resort and watching the sunset on the boaters. We had dinner at the resort, excellent ahi tuna poke.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, and then Gary, the concierge helped us plan out our next 3 days. We drove down to Ka Lae, also known as “South Point”. It’s not only the southernmost part of Hawai’i, but all 50 states.

Afterwards, we met some locals, Sam and Janine, who gave us a ride, for a price, to Green Sand Beach (Papakōlea). If you don’t want to pay a local, you can do the 2+ mile hike along the shoreline and trails to get there.* The sand did have a nice golden green sheen to it. The beach itself was down in a cove between cliffs, and since it’s more difficult to get to, it wasn’t that busy. We enjoyed the water, and relaxed in the sand for a while before heading back to the car.

*You are now prohibited from traveling by vehicle to the beach. If you choose this adventure, pack your walking shoes.

A view of Green Sand beach from the top of the hill — Green Sand Beach

We grabbed lunch at Punalu’u Bake Shop, the southern most bakery in the US, famous for it’s Hawaiian Sweet Breads and malasadas. The bread was really good, but we didn’t linger and headed to our next stop, Punaluʻu (Black Sand Beach).

Punalu’u was my first truly volcanic sand beach. The sand is pitch black, and the surrounding scenery is beautiful. This was a more tourist frequented beach it seems, because there were a lot of people around. It still didn’t take away from the majesty though.

"Love" spelled out with lava rocks at Black Sand Beach — “Love” at the Black Sand Beach

We caught a lot of sea turtles hanging out in the shallow waters and along the beach. More sea turtles than I have ever seen in the wild anywhere else on earth. They didn’t seem to be bothered by humans being around, and it was nice to see tourists and locals keeping a respectful distance. Here in Florida, it always amazes me how people sometimes have no concept of not bothering animals, but in Hawaii it just seemed natural to leave them alone. I don’t even remember seeing too many signs about it.

Our final stop for the day, as if we hadn’t seen enough awesome stuff, was Volcano National Park. We explored a Lava Tube, a massive cavern shaped by magma flowing through the rock a long time ago. We also saw sulfur vents and took in a panoramic view of Kīlauea Iki crater.

We made our way through the park and enjoyed education, a beautiful sunset, and a nighttime view of the volcanic eruptions from the Jager Museum and Observatory. As the sun set, our guide, Ranger Michael, kept the crowd awed with more and more information about the island, local and Polynesian mythology, and more geology than I’ve had since high school.

Kīlauea Iki crater in 2017 — Kīlauea Iki crater

We drove back towards the resort through the black island, and this was the first time we were truly able to experience the Dark Sky experience in Hawaii. The only other time I have seen a sky that dark and that full of stars was on a trip to the Grand Canyon as a kid. Simply amazing.

Side Note: You don’t have to go all the way to Hawai’i to experience a dark sky location. There’s an organization dedicated to protecting the sky for stargazers all over the world, the International Dark-Sky Association. Check out their interactive map here and go explore the galaxy.

Kauila and the Sea Turtles of Punalu’u monument

The next day, we slept in a little and grabbed brunch at Da Poke Shack. Some of the best poke I’ve ever had to this day. I live in a beach town, so we have our share of fresh fish and poke spots, but there was something truly special about this place. My mouth is watering just thinking about the assortment of fresh poke we got to try.

We drove north to check out Hamakua Macadamia Nut Co. I have seriously never seen so many different flavors of nuts in one place, but we kept trying samples of everything we could. The only one I couldn’t get behind was the spam flavored ones. I guess I’m not Hawaiian enough to get on the spam train yet. You should see the selection of different flavors of spam they had at the grocery stores. Incredible and scary.

We drove through Hawi and saw the Kamehameha Statue, but everything in the small town was pretty shut down, so nothing special from what we could see.

We drove a little further and checked out Pololu Valley Lookout, which offered some amazing views of the lush valley below and the pure blue ocean.

I will say the drive around the island was beautiful. Rolling green hills and snow capped mountains. Great views of the ocean here and there. We even stopped to hang out with some horses.

On the way back to the resort we cut through the middle of the island and headed for the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy (Hale Pōhaku). Named after the Hawai’i-born astronaut Ellison Onizuka (one of the heroes who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion), this center is high up the mountain, Mauna Kea. Technically, Mauna Kea is an active volcano, and it’s peak is the highest point in the state of Hawai’i. The visitor center and telescopes comprise the Mauna Kea Observatory.

Onizuka Center for International Astronomy (Hale Pōhaku) up on mount Mauna Kea

Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Center Sign

We weren’t able to visit the telescopes and check out the night sky unfortunately, because the weather was too windy and cold (we were above 9k feet at that point). Anne almost killed the engine of our car just trying to get up to the visitor center, and the telescopes and peak are even higher up and can only be reached with hiking or off road vehicles. The center itself was interesting, so it was hard to feel too bad about not being able to check out the telescopes, but if I ever go back, I’m definitely heading back up there for the full experience.

We finished the night hanging out with some fellow guests of the resort, Jim and Tracey, at Kona Brewing Co. I’ve had Kona Brewing’s beer plenty back in Florida, but getting to try some of their lesser known brews was a treat.

Day 3 saw us grabbing breakfast at 808 Grindz for a huge breakfast. We needed it because we drove the long way around to the other side of the island to check out the lava flow from Kīlauea volcano. We rented some bikes for $20 to ride the 3 miles over packed and gravel roads to check out the lava rock formations. The observation area is a ways off from the actual danger, but we were able to see fresh lava flowing into the ocean causing large blasts of steam and rock as the resultant mix continuously exploded.

Volcanic gravel road with lava rock around it

Lava spews out of a cliffside into the water — Lava Falls

There were boats keeping a healthy distance, and even some helicopters flying around the area, so there’re plenty of different ways to experience this. Some more adventurous visitors may have even ignore some safety signs and gotten a better angle on the experience. Not that we would do anything like that…

After the lava flows, we were able to get our first experience with Shave Ice. Not “Shaved Ice”, not a “Snow Cone”, trust me, they frown on these comparisons. In fairness, the way they chopped their ice up made it a fluffier, almost snowy ice, and their syrups were fresh and flavorful, not heavy and artificial like some of the stuff I’ve had on the mainland.

We spent our last night back in Kona and tried Jackie Reys. Some excellent marlin and ribs were on the menu, and it was the perfect end to our time on the Big Island. Next stop? Maui!