If you saw our last blog post about top honeymoon destinations for 2016 for My Vacation Lady, you would have seen that many of our honeymooners choose Hawaii fro their dream honeymoons.  We are planning to head back to Hawaii this fall and we need to get back to the Big Island.  We haven’t been there in a while and it’s time to go back and check out some of the hotels.  Obviously, we want to have some fun in the Big Island too and hubby wasn’t sure what there is to see and do there.

What is there to discover in the Big Island?

Last time, we didn’t have much time, so we took a full day island tour, starting on the Kona side and driving all the way down to Punaluu – the Black sand beach in the southern most point of the Big Island.

Papakolea Beach on the Big Island

Papakolea Beach on the Big Island

We didn’t have time to do the 5 mile round trip hike down to the Green Sand Beach- Papakolea Beach.  This time, since we’ll have more time, I’d like to drive there ourselves and either hike or take a jeep down to Papakolea Beach.

Last time, we went into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park but didn’t really get to explore it.  It was part of our full day tour.

This time, I think we might stay in or near the park for a night or 2 so that we can take a ranger led hike and hopefully see some lava flow!  We didn’t get to see the Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo since it wasn’t open then.  They have some great interactive exhibits and planetarium shows.

Rainbow Falls

Rainbow Falls

Last time, we drove through the town of Hilo on our way to Rainbow Falls (which was gorgeous) but we didn’t get to stop at the Akaka Falls.  There is a 4 mile Onomea Scenic drive between Hilo and the Akaka Falls, that I would like to do next time.

There are some great waterfalls on the Kohala side as well.  Our son and daughter in law took an excursion that took them to 7 of them in a small group.  I’d like to do that too!

We didn’t get to do any snorkeling last time and I would love to try a sunset swim with the manta rays in Kona.   If we go November or December, I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of some whales, too.

We went up to the visitor’s center at Mauna Kea Volcano but couldn’t get to the observatory to go star gazing.  Even another visit to the visitor’s center would be great.  We didn’t get to go horseback riding or zip lining or take a helicopter tour.   We can see some Petroglyphs right in the Kohala resort area.  At the Puako Petroglyph Archaeological District, there is a mile and a half trail where 3000 designs were identified.   And of course, we need to get some more Kona Coffee!

I think if we had a week or 2 just in the Big Island, we could find even more to see and do and experience but we may only  have 5 or 6 nights.  So much to see and so little time 🙂

My Vacation Lady is a Hawaii Destination Specialist and we can help plan your next vacation or your dream honeymoon to the Hawaiian Islands.