Hawaii Trip (Part 2-Big Island)

Contd... from Part 1.....

The previous post was about the first part of our trip to Hawaii. The first three days were spent in Maui and we planned to spend the next three days in Big Island. This post is about our trip in Big Island..

So, Big Island... one thing is for sure. This island is really bigggg.. atleast comparing the Maui island.
Big Island has two airports and we decided to fly to Hilo (the eastern airport). Luckily, flying to Hilo was cheaper and also all the activities that we planned were close to Hilo. This worked in our favor. Going in to trip details...

Day 4: 
We were lucky to get a nice hotel in the budget and the views from the hotel were amazing. After checking in to the hotel, we took some rest and decided to go to Mauna Kea visitor center to check out the star gazing program they had for the visitors. My suggestion is.. the FREE star gazing program is not worth the effort. First of all, it is at a higher elevation about 9000ft. Next, it gets so cold during night. And finally, the people who talk about the stars did not do a good job at it. So, if you want to go for star gazing, try paying a professional group who can explain you well. However, one thing about the drive to Mauna Kea was that we had to drive through the clouds and it was a new experience. Also, after reaching the top, we walk through the clouds and it was fun.

View from Hotel lobby

Day 5: 
We planned Day 5 for ziplining. None of us did zip lining before and we can say this is the HIGHLIGHT of the entire trip. It was amazing and fun. We did the one where the last zip line would go over Akaka falls and the sight of Akaka falls from the zip line is awesome. The good thing about the Skyadventures eco tours is that they have a total of 7 zip lines and the lines gradually become longer and fun. This way when the time for the 7th and final zip line comes, we are ready and prepared to enjoy the view of the waterfall... Highly recommended if you like zip lining..

During zip lining

Zip lining

Akaka Falls in the background

Day 6: 
This day was the day to visit Volcano National Park. It was hot that day. So, we planned to take the drive route to the Sea arch (Also the starting point of hike to visit flowing lava). On the way we saw craters, lava tube and older lava flows. From the top looking at the previous lava flows shows how we are insignificant in front of the nature. Those lava flows ensured the removal of two villages.

View from Sea Arch

View from Jaggar Museum

Inside a lava tube

In the evening of Day 6, we caught a return flight to San Diego from Hilo. We reached San Diego the next day morning, took some rest and finally headed back to Phoenix and Tucson that afternoon after lunch in San Diego.

Overall, it was fun and all of us enjoyed a lott. Next time, maybe we will plan to spend for more days in Maui as both myself and Munny liked Maui...

Hawaii Trip (Part 1-Maui)

So, finally decided to go on a trip to Hawaii in September, 2017.

We started our trip by driving from Tucson to Phoenix to pick up one of our friends, Kundana. All three of us started driving to San Diego. We met Prasad in San Diego and caught a flight to Maui the next day morning.

For the first time, we tried airbnb for accomodation and all of us were presently surprised. The condo is pretty good and it has a wonderful view of the beach from the patio.

View from the Balcony...

Day 1:

After waking up, we decided to drive to Kaanapali Beach and Napili Beach. On the way, we had a stop at a scenic point and drank fresh coconut water. The coconut was soo huge, it was more than sufficient for two people. Later, we had a stop at the Banyan Tree park. The place was very good to hang out with good shade. We spent most of the time there that day until around 3-4pm. Later we started to the beaches. Had a nice view of the Napili beach and later finally got to the Kanapali beach for sunset view. I expected a lot I guess for the sunset. However, it was not very great compared to some wonderful sunset views in Tucson. After dinner, we went early to bed as we had to wake up early the following day.

Sunset at Kaanapali Beach

Day 2: 

This day was reserved for viewing the sunrise from Haleakala Mountain. We had to wake up around 2:30AM and start to Haleakala. The drive has many curves and we had to drive carefully. It was super cold on the top. We had to stand for about 30 minutes on the mountain above the clouds to view the sunrise. And finally, when the sun started to rise above the clouds it was an amazing experience. I loved this and would definitely recommend this. Later, we started down to the hotel.

Sunrise from Haleakala

Sunrise from Haleakala

Day 3: 

We planned to do the "Road to Hana" on this day. The drive was very good and we had stops at the Keaneu Arboretum, Keanue peninsula, Wainapanapa State park. Visiting the Arboretum was kind of ok. It was like hiking as we do not know much about all the different plants in there. The peninsula was good. The view was nice and we had banana bread in one of the stalls there. It was delicious and all of us liked it. The best thing in Wainapanapa state park was the black sand beach. We get to see some picturesque locations there. Later we went to the final stop. The goal was to hike to have a look at Waimoku falls. On the way, we came across the bamboo forest which was spectacular. Never did I see such tall and dense Bamboo trees. Finally, after hiking about an hour and 15 minutes, we reached Waimoku Falls. The falls was awesome. It was falling from so much height and it was the tallest falls that I have seen so far. So, it was spectacular and the hike was worth it. Finally, we started back after staying there for about 30-45 minutes.

Waimoku Falls

Black Sand Beach @ Wainapanapa State Park

Bamboo forest

That was the end of our Maui trip. On Day 4, we had to get ready to take a flight to Hilo on Big Island. More about this in the next blog.....