Located between miles 22 and 23 on Highway 11 outside of Volcano is Akatsuka Orchid Gardens. These greenhouse gardens are a popular tourist stop. The owner, Moriyasu Akatsuka, started the business in 1974 and has been growing and selling orchids and other flowering plants in Volcano for over 30 years. Akatsuka often has tour buses […]
Southwest of Kilauea Volcano lies a vast and mysterious land. Most guidebooks offer little to say about it and access to this place is extremely limited. Indeed, inhospitable conditions, lack of water, extreme heat, and scarcity of plant life lead most people to overlook this place all together. This is big island’s vast and desolate […]
The Puna coastline is vast and rugged. With rocky cliffs and crashing waves, there aren’t many places to access the ocean in Puna, but Pohoiki makes up for that by having just about everything right in one place. Pohoiki, also known as Isaac Hale Beach Park, is the only surf spot in Puna and the […]
“Kipuka” is a Hawaiian word that has become a commonly used volcanic term. It refers to an area of vegetation surrounded but spared by lava. An island of forest in a sea of lifeless rock. Often these areas contain life not found in the surrounding area, and trees found here may be hundreds of years […]
Far away from everything except Ocean View, Manuka State Wayside is an area that’s rather secluded. It offers a nice hike through lava forest and a great view of a large forest pit crater. Manuka (pronounced “manu-KAH”) is located just west of mile 81 on highway 11. There is no advance signage so keep an […]
The southernmost point of the United States of America is Big Island’s South Point. It’s believed that it was here approximately 1200 years ago that Polynesian voyagers first landed in Hawaii upon discovering the untouched islands. You may be surprised at how many guidebooks skip over this place, but south point has a lot to […]
Located just north of the small town of Naalehu in Big Island’s Kau district sits the remnants of a more prosperous time. The town of Honuapo was once a bustling sugar cane town but today all that’s left is the rusted skeleton of a shipping pier jutting into the bay at Whittington Beach Park. Whittington is a […]
About two miles up the road from Honoli’i, Hilo’s most popular surf beach, is the small community of Papaikou. Here you’ll find a Hamakuan bakery that many claim has the best Malasadas on island. For those who haven’t had one, a malasada is basically a portuguese donut. It’s a fried ball of sweetened dough rolled […]
Located in the north on the border between Hamakua and Kohala is a valley that many will recognize from posters and magazines – the picturesque Waipio Valley. Waipio is arguably Big Island’s grandest valley, with a black sand beach at the front and two large waterfalls at the back. Waipio is extremely lush and famed […]
Located eighteen miles from the Kona International Airport at Keahole, this huge sprawling hotel is by no means for those who are craving a private and intimate setting. The Hilton Waikoloa is the largest of several resorts along the Kona-Kohala Coast, but this one is an extraordinary collection of activity, families, conventioneers and more. The […]
