The Big Island 2011

(If you click on the map and then enlarge it, you'll be able to see the places I am talking about where we went).

After a fun and busy week in Waikiki, we flew over to the Big Island for our last week of vacation. We flew between the islands on Mokulele airlines. Flying Mokulele was a lot different than flying Westjet a) the plane was a lot smaller than we expected - it held maybe only 40 people and had only 1 flight attendant. b) We had to ground load - which was a fun new experience. c) There was no assigned seating - it was first come first serve. But thankfully, because we were traveling with small children, we got to board first and have our pick of seats. (One of the only perks of vacationing with children!!) The flight was super short - maybe only 30 minutes in the air, during which we got to see humpback whales from out the window.

Neither Mark and I had ever been to the Big Island, so we didn't know what to expect. But, we were pleasantly surprised, we LOVE the Big Island. One of the things we loved most about the Big Island was the condo we stayed in. We rented a 3 bedroom 3 bath condo in Waikaloa Beach Resort. Waikaloa is along the Kohala coast (40 minutes from the Kona Airport and right along Anaeho'omalu Beach (aka 'A' Beach). The condo was HUGE (bigger than our house at home) and super nice. We (Mark and I, my parents and Ray & Donna) each had our own room and bathroom. Logan slept on the hide-a-bed in the loft and Katie in a pack and play in my parents' walk in closet. Our condo backed onto the 15th hole of the golf course and the complex had a HUGE infinity pool and hot tub. Staying in the condo also allowed us to cook all of our meals in - so no more waiting 45 minutes to be seated or screaming children or restaurant bills!

We also loved the beaches on the Big Island. They were way less crowded than Waikiki Beach. Our kids could run and play and we didn't have to worry about them stepping on other people's towels or losing them.

'A' beach was right near our condo - a 15 minute walk (or a 5 minute car ride, which we always did since it was easier with our kids, chairs, beach toys, umbrella and cooler). 'A' beach was a in small, sheltered little bay - so there were never any real big waves. There were a ton of palm trees, so finding shade was never an issue.

Hapuna Beach was a bit further down the Kohala coast - maybe a 20 minute drive, but definetely worth it. The sand at Hapuna beach was super white and soft. And both times we went the surf was quite high - so there were a lot of local surfers and body surfers to watch (as well as some humerous wanna-be tourists who got rolled over pretty hard by the waves).

Mark wanted to join in on the action, so he was out in the water probably 95% of the time we were there. He did pretty well too - no big funny wipe outs. Although the first day he didn't have a rash guard on, so his stomach got pretty beat up. I didn't get any pictures of Mark out in the really big waves - I was too busy worrying he was going to break his neck!

Puaka Beach was also near our condo - although the day we checked it out there really wasn't any beach to be found due to high surf - but I mention it only because there we saw a TON of turtles. They were swimming so close to shore that we waded in right up to them and watched them eat. We also saw humpback whales breaching out in the distance - so even though we didn't get to sit and enjoy the "beach" it was still worth while checking out!

A big highlight of our trip was the day we went across the island to the Kalapana district. Kalapana used to be home to a neighborhood of houses, however lava flowed and burned all of it down. When we went to check it out lava was flowing right there - so close that we could walk right up to it. It was super hot and really cool to see the colors and how it "moved".

On that same drive we stopped at Punahuu, a black sand beach. There we also saw a turtle feeding in a tidal pool.

Another day, when the weather wasn't so great, we took a drive to see some of the water falls. We also stopped at Waipio lookout. All really neat to see.

Mark and my dad also got several rounds of golf in, although being the camera hog that I am, I didn't let Mark take the camera with them. And lets face it, he probably wouldn't have taken any pictures anyways.

We LOVED the Big Island and are already planning to go back! It was a relaxing and fun vacation - even with our kids along with us!!