The third and final island we visited on our trip to Hawaii was the Big Island. Our first afternoon there mostly consisted of driving from Kona to Volcano which is where we stayed the first 2 nights. We did one stop on the way which was Punalu’u Black Sand Beach where we saw more turtles. That evening I went out on my own to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to photograph the Milky Way. It’s amazing when you can just look up and easily see it overhead.
Day 2 the whole family explored Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It was cool to see Kīlauea although we missed an eruption by about a month. We also explored the Thurston lava tubes which were pretty cool. We saw some petroglyphs, a sea arch and finally found some nēnē (endangered Hawaiian Geese). Afterward we ate lunch at the edge of the Kīlauea crater and then went to Rainbow Falls near Hilo. Afterward we drove home and hung out at our AirBNB as tropical storm Calvin blew through with a bunch of rain.
Day 3 we hung around letting tropical storm Calvin blow over before leaving to drive to Kona. We stopped again at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach and did some tidepool exploring. The next stop was the southernmost point in the US. There is no marker or anything, just the ocean at the end of the road. We took some pics and dis some more tidepool exploring here. Our final stop on the way to Kona was Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park. Emery got another junior ranger badge here and we saw some more geckos and some cool tikis. That night we di maybe the coolest thing of our trip, a night dive with manta rays.
Day 4 on the Big Island we did a 2 hour or so horseback trail ride. This was followed by a trip to see Akaka Fall, a 442 foot waterfall near Hilo surrounding by beautiful greenery. I even caught a nice rainbow that evening from our hotel.
Day 5 was our last full day in Hawaii. We started with a visit to Kiholo State Park which had a black sand beach. We did some snorkeling and playing in the sand. We also stopped at the Waikolloa Petroglyph Fields and saw a flock of 11 nēnē hanging out on a golf course. Our final stop was at Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site where Emery got yeat another junior ranger badge. This evening I caught a nice sunset in downtown Kona. At night we drove up to Muana Loa for a star watching tour.
Our final day before our late evening flight out was started with a ride on Atlantis Submarine. It was interesting to see a few shipwrecks and a variety of fish. We then spent several hours at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park. Emery got her 5th junior ranger badge (out of 5 available in Hawaii) and we saw a few more turtles.
