Hawaii ~ A Journey to the Happiest State of USA

Our first reaction upon landing in Hawaii: "How did Hawaii become a part of the US", perhaps because in just a few minutes it felt like a massive change in geography. Our top 3 reasons: 

Different Language (Hawaiin) | Change in Weather (we will talk more about it later) | Different look of people 

December 25th to January 3rd: We traveled to Hawaii during the times of Covid and felt much safer than back home in New York. The level of precautions and safety maintained was commendable, and we did not mind the procedures because ultimately it was all worth it. A glimpse Why:

Quick tips before we get into the details: 

1. If you have to select Islands - DO NOT MISS THE BIG ISLAND

2. No matter what, "DO RENT A CAR" (it comes in very handy so no hassle) 

3. Do not worry about the language if you know English. Knowing two Hawaiin words "ALOHA" and "MAHALO" will take you through the journey very smoothly.   

4. Always keep a swimsuit and flipflop handy and be ready to dive in the Pacific

5. Keep an offline map downloaded on your mobile for the Island you are in. 

6. Keep a windcheater in your car at all times. Yes, we were talking about the swimsuits above, but you will know why. 

7. Be OBSERVANT, especially when near the Sea, you might spot a Seal taking nap, sea turtles swimming or colorful fishes around the coast, and sometimes humped whales (on tour only). 

8. STAY HUNGRY and do not think of any diet on this Island. Stop for super fresh fruits now and then and if not a vegetarian Seafood will be your go-to. A vegetarian's taste buds are also satisfied on this Island. 

9. We mostly went for Airbnbs and were not disappointed. It all depends on your budget. 

Unique Stay Recommended: Look for Tree House stay in Volcano area for a peaceful, luxurious, and feel-good place. 

Cheap and pretty good: Arnott's Lodge in Hilo

Day 1:

An early morning stroll near our Airbnb in Kona and made our 1st stop at Cook's Bounty fruits open stand. Do try their very favorite and local passion fruit juice. 

We then happened to read about this place in our Lonely Planet book: End of the World (Beach) 

It was our first encounter with lava rocks all over the beach with very high tides at certain junctions:

If you are into coffee, do try the Kona coffee. We did a tour of Greenwell Coffee Farms and experienced Coffee beans, Oranges, Avocados, Peeper (image below), and even Mangoes during our walk. 

Then we found a local farmers market and strolled through the stalls and headed for Lunch at ThaiRin. 

We had to head to Hilo area soon and hence we took the Driver's Paradise - The Saddle Road. 🌈

At the beginning it was hot and then in just 45 minutes from that we reached a super windy point and then rainfall. Be sure to spot rainbows now and then:

We had our Dinner at Mexican Reuben in the main market of Hilo and then headed for our stay. 

Good Food. 

Day 2:

We started with coconut water from Hilo Farmers Market and then spent some time at the Mo'oheau Beach Park, where the sand was black and ocean once again breathtaking:

Soon we realized this Island has the finest of Banyan Trees, and this was just the beginning: 

After lunch at Cafe Pesto (Hilo) - Good Food again, we started heading to places towards destination (VOLCANO AREA).

Arrived at the longest lava tube (dormant as of now) and went for a hike at  Kaumana Caves:

PS: be flexible, it requires even crawling at certain point. 

We drove through the Forest Reserve Waikiu to check-in the Tree House (stay we were very excited about). Once there we knew we need to find food at the earliest because one can not find a lot of places near the Volcano Area. Catching up with the sunset during the drive to the Thai Thai restaurant. 

Next was the much awaited Halema'uma'u Crater - Night view, a glimpse of dark orange that you see in the sunset image below is the smoke from the volcano which was active 10 days ago due to the earthquake. 

☝☝☝☝Sunset from Car - enroute the crater overlook (also known as Kailuia) 

☝☝☝☝ an exgerrated picture version of the volcano 🌋from phone because we could not capture exactly what human eye was experiencing. A slight dimer picture: 

No matter what, for people like us who had never seen a volcano, it was something which left us at a loss of words. 

We went back home with images in our mind and wanted to see more of it, so we decided to take a quick look at how the place looks like in the morning, and we could see how the huge land area was shifted beneath and how destructive it must have been. 

Day 3:

Do spot a couple of steam vents enroute, both during night time and daylight: 

We then inquired about Mauna Loa at the visitor centre here and we were told it's worth the drive and gives a different perspective of the crater. Oh, we did go to the Volcano Winery but due to Covid it was not a great experience. 

Drive slow here, yes, this narrow road is two way but drive worthy!

☝☝ a different perspective (from far away) of the same crater 👀👀

After returning from Mauna Loa we savored on some mexican food and then Ice Shave from Kula Ice Shave (you can try Ice shave elsewhere but this was pretty good). 

Then, a quick glimpse of the rainbow fall (you can skip this, not great) before we went for a swim at Richardson Beach and saw soo many turtles. After relaxing with them we headed for a sunset from  Mauna Kea Visitor Centre. 🐢🐢🐢

A little bit about Mauna Kea: technically the tallest mountain from base to peak (33,500 feet) 😮

Yes, we did not know it was higher than Mt. Everest (29,029 ft) which is the highest above sea level. 

Do pump in full gas in the car before driving up, feel the weather change in just about 25 minutes from warm to very windy and very cold (even at the visitor centre). 🗻🌄

The Summit was closed to public. Do check daily updates for Mauna Kea due to extreme weather conditions. 

 

We settled (above the clouds it seemed) for a good sunset view and then a glimpse of star gazing. 

While driving back to Hilo we encountered crazy weather (infact weather is very unpredictable in just within a kilometer's range too). We almost entered the clouds>> faced rainfall>> came out. 

No pictures of the same because we were too busy experiencing the adventure😐😛

We ate dinner at Hilo Burger point (good food) and back to our tree house. 

Day 4:

It has been a while we talked about how rich Hawaii is its natural fruits. Do try as many fruits as you can on this Island. Feel the freshness.. 

We cooked some breakfast too 😋

Its always a good idea to begin your day with a short hike, and we arrived at Akaka Falls     

It was beautiful and we started to drive west towards Kona. We took a different drive route this time which was via the northern boundaries with sea along right side (find your route on maps). 

We stopped at Hamakua Macademia Nut Company and then Kohala Burger taco for lunch and pineapple shake. 

Next destination was Kekaha Kai State Park with Mahaiula Beach. Hmmm... we went here for a swim but the drive was pretty rough. (You can avoid this one).

The only perk of reaching here was we did spot some Monk Seals sleeping! 

After sunset we went to the Kona main market area for dinner (Kamana Kitchen - Indian Food - must try) and spent couple of hours strolling across the street with beach front (happened to catch a good night volleyball game), shopping and then back to our tent this time😴

This was all we did at THE BIG ISLAND!!! The next day we headed for Maui Island. We spent 3 days in Maui, sharing only a glimpse of our journey here: 

Must do - Haleakala National Park, Drive the Hana Road, Scuba Diving. 

Must eat at - Healthy choice bar & Roasted Chiles

A 9 passenger Inter Island Flight 😁

Aerial view during this 45 minutes fly! 

This island is equally scenic just don't get tired of the beauty and the roads are amazing too! 🚗

Do book a convertible (even if it's for a day)

Now, the road to Haleakala National Park - do pump up. Worth the trip considering the hardwork from at driver's end. ⛅⛈🌤🌦🌪

The largest Banyan Tree of USA, we could not figure out the source was which root! Perhaps this:

Our 1st stop at Hana Highway - Hookpa Beach Park - Photo does not do justice to the high tides:

We could not complete the Hana Highway and did half of it. So not much pictures. 

Early morning whale watching (Ultimate Whale watching tour) - Humped whales - rarely found: 

Wait. Where is the whale? Not that easy.. you need to have a real good eyes and presence to spot them and then a REAL good timing to capture something like this: 🐳🐋

PS: A lady from our boat captured this, we missed it!! 😉

Last picture, capturing one of our BEST experience on the Island and finally some human face :) 

Tip: Breathe in Breathe out!!! 🂱

If you made it till here I am sure you liked it, hope this blog helps you plan your Hawaii Trip. Undoubtedly, the happiest state of USA 😀😀😀