Discover Hawai‘i, the Big Island Experience the best of Hawai‘i, the Big Island This edition written and researched by Sara Benson Luci Yamamoto 000-title-contents-dc-hbi2.indd0-title-contents-dc-hbi2.indd 1 116/05/20146/05/2014 88:22:11:22:11 AAMM CContentsontents PPlanlan YYourour TTriprip DDiscoveriscover HHawai‘i,awai‘i, thethe BigBig IslandIsland This Is Hawaiʻi, Puako ...........................107 the Big Island .................4 Kawaihae & Around ...109 KKailua-Konaailua-Kona & Hawaiʻi, North Kohala ...............112 the Big Island Map ........6 tthehe KonaKona CCoastoast 3311 Hawi & Around............ 113 Hawaiʻi, Itineraries ......................32 Kapaʻau ....................... 116 the Big Island’s Top 14 Highlights ...........8 Highlights ......................33 Pololu Valley ............... 121 Hawaiʻi, Kailua-Kona ................. 34 Waimea (Kamuela) ....122 the Big Island’s Keauhou Resort Area ...53 Top Itineraries ............. 20 Holualoa ........................59 Get Inspired ..................25 South Kona Coast ....... 62 MMaunaauna KeaKea Hawaiʻi, Kainaliu ......................... 63 & SSaddleaddle RoadRoad 131131 the Big Island Kealakekua ................... 66 Month by Month ..........26 Itineraries ....................132 Captain Cook ............... 69 Need to Know ...............28 Kealakekua Bay ............ 71 Highlights ....................133 Honaunau ......................74 Mauna Kea ..................134 Puʻuhonua O Saddle Road ................142 Hōnaunau National Historical Park ..............77 North Kona Coast ....... 80 Honokohau Harbor ..... 80 HHamakuaamakua Kaloko-Honokohau CCoastoast 145145 National Historical Park............................... 83 Itineraries ....................146 Keahole Point .............. 85 Highlights .................... 147 Kaʻupulehu ....................87 Honokaʻa & Around ....148 Waipiʻo Valley ..............152 Laupahoehoe ..............158 KKohalaohala & Honomu ........................161 Onomea Bay & WWaimeaaimea 9933 Around .........................162 Itineraries ..................... 94 Highlights ..................... 95 South Kohala ............... 96 HHiloilo 116565 Waikoloa Resort Area ...96 Itineraries ....................166 Mauna Lani Highlights ................... 167 Resort Area .................103 000-title-contents-dc-hbi2.indd0-title-contents-dc-hbi2.indd 2 116/05/20146/05/2014 88:22:14:22:14 AAMM Discover Hawai‘i, the Big Island IInn FFocusocus SSurvivalurvival GGuideuide The Big Island Directory .................... 282 Today ...........................246 Transport .................... 289 PPunauna 118989 History ........................ 248 Glossary ...................... 293 Itineraries ................... 190 People of the Behind the Scenes ....295 Highlights .................... 191 Big Island ................... 255 Keaʻau ..........................192 Big Island Cuisine ..... 259 Index ............................ 296 Pahoa ...........................193 Hawaiian Arts Legend ........................ 303 Highway 132 ................196 & Crafts ......................264 Red Road Family Travel .............. 269 (Highway 137) ............. 197 The Natural World .....272 Highway 130 .............. 202 Outdoor Adventures... 275 HHawaiawaiʻi VVolcanoesolcanoes NNationalational PParkark 205205 Itineraries ...................206 Highlights ................... 207 Kohala & Waimea p93 Volcano ....................... 223 # Hamakua #p145 Coast Mauna Kea & KKaaʻu 223131 Saddle Road Hilo Itineraries ................... 232 #p131 #p165 Highlights .................. 233 Pahala ......................... 234 p31 Kailua-Kona # & the Kona Punaluʻu ..................... 235 #p189 Coast Naʻalehu ..................... 236 p205 # Puna Waiʻohinu & Around ...238 South Point Hawai‘i Volcanoes (Ka Lae) ...................... 239 National Park Ocean View & Around .........................241 #p231 Ka‘u 000-title-contents-dc-hbi2.indd0-title-contents-dc-hbi2.indd 3 116/05/20146/05/2014 88:22:14:22:14 AAMM TThishis isis HawaiHawaiʻii,, tthehe BigBig IslandIsland We doubt it’s possible to get ‘island fever’ on Hawaiʻi. The aptly named Big Island is fantastically diverse, with miles of highways and – better yet – byways to explore, from age-old fishing villages to modern megaresorts, from snowy peaks to sandy beaches. Hawaiʻi is twice as big as the other Hawaiian islands combined, and its dramatic terrain will surprise you and take you to extremes. Less than half a million years old, Hawaiʻi is a baby in geologic terms. It’s here you’ll find the Hawaiian Islands’ highest and largest volcanic mountains – and the world’s most active volcano, spewing molten lava continually since 1983. Circumnavigate the Big Island and watch stark lava desert morph into rolling pastureland and misty valleys, weathered by rain, waves and time. Ancient history looms large on Hawaiʻi, a place of powerful mana (spiritual essence). The first Polynesians landed at Ka Lae, where the windswept coast remains pristine and undeveloped, and Kamehameha the Great was born in Kohala. Hula and oli (chant) are powerful forms of living history on the Big Island, which has birthed legendary hula and Hawaiian music masters, as well as the celebrated Merrie Monarch Festival. Wherever Plantation days are long past, but not their colorful legacy. Waves of immigrants who you go, labored in the cane fields added their languages, foods there’s a and cultures to the mix. Today, there’s no ethnic majority and common bonds are intangible: the pidgin vernacular, sense of an easygoing manner and deep love of the ʻaina (land). freedom Hawaiʻi is untouristy. Thanks to its sheer size, and there’s lots of legroom. While Kona caters to travelers en masse, most island towns are rural and made for frontier residents instead. Even the capital seat, Hilo, is a former plantation town that’s still slow-paced and populated by kamaʻaina (people born and raised in the Hawaiian Islands). Wherever you go, there’s a sense of freedom and frontier. The Big Island is a guaranteed big experience. Pololu Valley (p 121 ) PERSPECTIVES/GETTY IMAGES © 4 001-this-is-hawaii-dc-hbi2.indd1-this-is-hawaii-dc-hbi2.indd 4 115/05/20145/05/2014 66:40:51:40:51 PPMM 001-this-is-hawaii-dc-hbi2.indd1-this-is-hawaii-dc-hbi2.indd 5 115/05/20145/05/2014 66:40:53:40:53 PPMM Honokaʻope Bay 103-4 Waiʻuli Beach Parks 169 Honokohau Beach 84 Wawaloli (OTEC) Beach 85 Honoliʻi Beach Park 169 White (Magic) Sands Beach 34 Honomalino Beach 80 Whittington Beach Park 236-7 Hoʻokena Beach Park 79 bicycling 278, 290 Isaac Kepoʻokalani Hale Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Beach Park 198 Park 220-1 James Kealoha Beach Park Ironman Triathlon World 169 Championship 45 Kamakahonu Beach 35 Black & White Night 167 Kapoho Beach Lots 198 bodyboarding 276 Kawa Bay 236 Hapuna Beach State A Keʻei Beach 72 Recreation Area 108 accommodations 29, 282-3, Kehena Beach 191, 199 Hilo 169 see also individual locations Kekaha Kai (Kona Coast) Kailua-Kona 37-8 activities 275-80, see also State Park 33 Manini‘owali Beach individual activities Keokea Beach Park 116 (Kua Bay) 86 agriculture 247 Kiholo Bay 15, 90-1 White (Magic) Sands Beach 34 Ahalanui Beach Park 198 Kikaua Beach 87-8 books 25 Ahualoa Pastoral 151 Kolekole Beach Park 160 budget 29 air travel 289 Kukio Beach 88 bus travel 290 Akaka Falls 147 Laupahoehoe Point Beach bushwalking, see hiking Akaka Falls State Park 16, 161 Park 159 business hours 286 Ala Kahakai National Historic Leleiwi Beach 169 Trail 109 Mahaiʻula Beach 86 animals 236 Makaiwa Bay 103 C area codes 288 Makalawena Beach 15, 86-7 cabins 283 art galleries, see galleries & Makoleʻa Beach 87 Cafe 100 167 museums Manini Beach 72 camping 283 arts 264-8, see also crafts, hula Maniniʻowali Beach (Kua canoeing 41 Bay) 15, 86 ATMs 285-6 Cape Kumukahi lighthouse 198 Mauna Kea Beach 95, 108 Captain Cook (South Kona Mauʻumae Beach 108 Coast) 69-71, see also Cook, B Miloliʻi Beach Park 80 Captain James car travel 290-2 B&Bs 282-3 New Kaimu Beach 202 cathedrals, see churches Banyan Drive 169 Old Kona Airport State Recreation Area 34-5 caving 19, 278 beaches 15, 275-6 Onekahakaha Beach Park Ka‘u 19 Ahalanui Beach Park 198 167, 168-9 Kazumura Cave Tours 192-3 ʻAnaehoʻomalu Beach Park Pauoa Bay 104 Kilauea Caverns of Fire 193 96-7 Pebble Beach 79 Kula Kai Caverns 242 Beach 69 15, 107 Punaluʻu Beach Park 235-6 Puna 19 Green Sands Beach 239-40 Reeds Bay Beach Park 168 Thurston Lava Tube 212 Halape 207 Richardson Ocean Park 169 cell phones 28, 287-8 Hapuna Beach 13, 15, 108 South Kohala 97 Chain of Craters Road 212-14 Holoholokai Beach Park 104 Spencer Beach Park 110 children, travel with 19, 269-71 000 Map pages Waiʻolen Beach Park 169 Christianity 250-1 228-index-dc-hbi2.indd8-index-dc-hbi2.indd 229696 116/05/20146/05/2014 112:47:042:47:04 PPMM churches emergencies 288 Waimea Ukulele & Slack Key Church Row 124 environment 247 Guitar Institute Concert Mokuʻaikaua Church 35 etiquette 258 27, 125 Star of the Sea Church hiking 153 films 25 (Hwy 130) 202 snorkelling 277 fishing 104, 106, 276-7 Honokohau Harbor 81 St Benedict’s Painted surfing 181 Kailua-Kona 40-1 Church 75 events 26-7, see also festivals St Peter’s Church 56 & events food 16, 259-63, 284, see also individual locations climate 28, 283, see also exchange rates 29 individual regions INDEX INDEX coffee 61, 262-3 condominiums 282 F G galleries & museums C-G Cook, Captain James 72-3, family travel 19, 269-71 EHCC Hawaiʻi Museum of 249-50 farms 150 Contemporary Art 173 coqui frog 29, 202 festivals & events 26-7 Gallery