We were in Portland, Oregon. Soo-Jin would be done with her exam soon. We had our airline points expiring. What shall we do to celebrate the end of her exam before heading back to a cold Minneapolis winter? Why not some beach time under the sun in Hawaii! As one may imagine, lying around the beach with a margarita in one hand and napping on a sofa bed next to an elegant swimming pool at a resort was not our envisioned vacation. Instead, we planned our trip with our camping gear all around the Island of Hawaii, aka “Big Island.” We started from the north side of Hilo, and curved around the west side of the Island, Kona, where there are beautiful beaches one after another. We ended with a long hike through Volcano National Park in the south. As we described our plan, one local friend on the island named our trip to “Hawaii, Pow! Pow! Pow!”
Sunil’s cousins, Adam and Sarah, lives in Hilo, Big Island where we spent our first night. On our way to Sunil’s cousin’s from the airport, we had several stops including Rainbow and Akaka Falls. The waterfalls were not actually what captured our attention, but the lushness of the jungle and lime colored green grass and enormous trees did. It was the beginning of many microclimates on the island, many of which we had never seen. That night when we visited with Adam and Sarah, we ate fresh Ahi tuna and poi (taro root paste) and were treated to a Hula show by one of their friends. They had even bought a jar of Kim-chi especially for Soo-Jin! How considerate hosts they are!
The next morning, we kicked off our official first day with a hike through Waipi’o valley. The Z trail was 5 mile round trip with 1200 feet of elevation gain over the first 0.75 mile. The trail started from the black sand ocean to the top of the other side of the valley. With the warm temperature and humidity, we were all out of breath and our shirts were soaked with sweat. The hard work paid off as we were greeted by a view overlooking the beautiful valley and crystal blue ocean! Special thanks to Adam for hiking the trail with us.
After the hike, we headed to the Mauna Kea observatories to see a beautiful sunset. Mauna Kea is an astronomical research facility located at the volcanoes 14,000 foot summit. The driving was dynamic, passing by rolling pastures and a military base, followed by layers of mystic clouds, and finally a desolate landscape of red volcanic rock without a blade of grass, shrub or tree in sight. At the summit, the clouds were beneath our feet while rays of red, orange, and yellow painted a serene sunset overhead. We felt like we were on another planet, perhaps heaven itself. It was simply miraculous! That night, we drove to Spencer beach, the campsite for the next two evenings.
We woke up our second day with a beach view from out camping site! Yes, we had an ocean view from our tent! It was now time to immerse ourselves in the water! We had scheduled a tour to “Swim with the Dolphins,” snorkeling early in the morning, and swimming with Manta Rays that evening. The first boat left early and took us off the coast of Kona. We were on a mission to find sleeping dolphins! A family of four dolphins were sighted. As they were swimming up and down the ocean, we followed their route, thus “Swimming With Dolphins.” We then moved on to the bay of Captain Cook Cove to observe 70 different species of fish and other sea life. There were so many fish in different shapes and colors! After the dolphin swim, we had a break before starting the Manta Ray swim. We visited Makalewena beach. The main road to the beach was closed, so we had to put our Wrangler’s off-roading capabilities to the test and hike another couple of miles thereafter. The trip was well worth it as we found pure white sands against turquoise blue waters. Because the main road was closed, we were also the only two people there and it felt like our own private oasis. After Makalewena, we had the highlight of the day to look forward to – swimming with Manta Rays at dusk. In order to attract the Manta Rays, the tour boat sets up a small floating dock with lights underneath to attract plankton, which then attract Manta Rays. We held onto a bar around the dock and watched the Manta Rays swim beneath us while they had their dinner. The 10-12 feet Manta Rays would swim in loops underneath us and come so close that sometimes they would touch us. It was so cool that the adults around us were giggling like little kids. What a cool experience!
We were in Hawaii and had to do our beach time! The next day would be filled with beach hopping! Soo-Jin ran along the white sand at Hapuna beach, while Sunil took a few conference calls. Later we swam in the water by Mauna Kea beach and took a sweet nap. It was so peaceful and we were happy to relax in front of one of the world’s most beautiful views.
After leaving the white sand beach town in Kona, we headed to the Papakolea green sand beach. To reach the beach, we had to hike 3 miles each way along the coast. Most of the trail was a flat grassland, but it was interesting because of the off road trails snaking through fields and sometimes more than 4 feet deep. When we arrived at the beach, it was definitely unique with its dark green color and it was refreshing to cool off in the ocean. We later learned that green sand was created by a unique volcanic rock, called Olivenite. In fact, it is one of only four green beaches in the world! After visiting the green beach, we headed to a black sand beach. The beach was a dramatic change, with jet black sand, a pink lilly pond nearby, and sleeping sea turtles along the shore. That night we, headed to Volcano National Park, where we camped for the evening. Before tucking in for the night, we hiked to the top of the active crater and watched the red lava from Jagger Museum. When we came back, it was really cold due to the elevation. We realized how little prepared we were for the chill.
Our final day would compose of lots of hiking through lava fields! In the morning, we drove through the park and did a few mild hikes, including a walk along the Kilauea Iki crater that last erupted in the 1950s. It was really interesting to see the lava fields that were created so recently and understand how quickly a landscape can change. In the afternoon, we drove around to the other-side of the park with one goal in mind, visiting the active lava up close! The hike was 16 miles round trip, and given that the temperature was above 90, we made sure we had lots of water and snacks. Rather than biking the first leg, we decided to walk under the bright sun and enjoy the landscape. After enduring the 6 mile hike along the lava road, we were finally at the lava fields. The only challenge was the active lava was about 2 miles into the field without a defined trail to guide us. It was daunting experience as we were on our own and were not exactly sure when and where we would encounter the active fields! The terrain looked like hell on earth and the sun was scorching. After hiking for about an hour, we spotted a group of hikers on a guided tour in the distance and made a beeline for them. When we caught up to them, we found ourselves surrounded by glowing red rocks, with fumes of smoke coming from the earth and it was extremely hot above the molten lava field. It made us nervous not knowing how deep and fragile the crust was above the molten lava. We carefully found our way over the glowing rock. The sun was setting, so we raced back to the main road to avoid getting lost and made the long slog back to the car. Walking on the live lava was an exotic experience. In total, we hiked 16 miles that day, but the long trip was well worth it!
The next morning we flew back to Portland. Our last meal was Hawaiian, – Spam sushi. For those of you planning a beach vacation on the islands, try something different – it may just surprise you 🙂
SooJin & Sunil 