| ictvuser |
First time going to Hawaii (big island) for about 5 days, with two kids 10 and 14, next month.
Staying at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort on the Kona coast.
Any suggestions on what to do?
I heard the snorkeling is good at a near by beach, but I do not know if it is a place for kids who are just beginner swimmers. Any recommendations on a place to rent snorkeling equipment?
Will be trying to rent a 4x4 w/GPS.
Will try to see the lava flow at night. Is there a path or do people just walk over harden lava?
Any good waterfalls or rain forests to visit?
Any recommendations for a Luau?
Any must do, must see things?
Thanks for the help |
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| jay |
| Drink some really fresh coffee!:D |
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| mgorbsk |
| Ahhh Man..... if you're a coffee drinker, bring back a huge sack of 100% Kona coffee beans. It's my favorite coffee in the world, but it's like $26-$30 a pound here and I'd maybe get a couple of weeks out of that. It's gotta be cheaper over there. |
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| steelblue |
Will try to see the lava flow at night. Is there a path or do people just walk over harden lava?
-You have to walk over harden lava. At the rangers trailer, flash lights are provided for night hikes but bring your own just in case. You can easily spent a day at the Vocanoes National Park. Call the park ahead of time as condition may change due to volcano activities.
If you want waterfall, you have to go to Hilo side of the island. It's more tropical.
Have fun. I am leaving for Kauai and Oahu in two weeks. :2: |
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| Josey92 |
My family was just there in June and it's always so relaxing -- even just to hang out.
Since you are staying on the Kona side try taking a drive north (start in the morning) one day and hit Akaka Falls (also known as Kahuna Falls). It's a hike through a rainforest but before you see the falls but there are plenty of native plants and flowers to see on the way there.
Then you can keep heading east towards Hilo and have lunch there in one of many local eateries there. Continue towards Volcano National Park and try to stop a the Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm just south of Hilo -- keep an eye out for the Zoo on the right side (has albino Bengal) because on the other side of the median from there is the farm. You willl have to do a u-turn to get to the drive/road to the farm.
After the farm, you continue south and, if you are interested, the Akatsuku Orchidarium will be on your left about 10 miles (not certain about the distance).
As you make your way south, depending on how much daylight is left, you can continue past Volcano National Park (VNP) and hit the black sand beach of Panalu'u where you can catch some turtles resting on the shore. You may want to save that for another day though as it may take you too far past VNP, and there is plenty to see there.
You can probably plan to hike in and around VNP before he evening hike to the Kilauea. There is even a fairly decent buffet at the lodge for dinner.
On another day you may want to try to drive the opposite way (counter clockwise) where you will see various places to stop for coffee just south of Kona. Continue on til you reach a sign that reads Southern-most point in the US. You can either see what's there (we haven't yet in our 6 visits) or you can continue on to Panalu'u Bakery where you can get some tasty super-soft only-on-the-island breads. Grab a teriyaki burger there too. You will just have been heading north on the "Hilo" side of the island when you reach the bakery. This is about 10 minutes away from the black-sand beach.
You can also try horseback riding or ATVing in Waimea (north of Waikoloa).
As far as snorkling, we haven't done that since our first 2 visits when we didn't have young children (3 and 4) but I remember there was a marina just north of the Keohole Airport that had snorkling trips for the whole family. They will provide your children with waist floaters if they like and all the equipment.
There are tons of coupons and directories you can pick up from any hotel or at the airport that can give you a ton of ideas also.
If you want more details, I can try to provide them if you'd like -- like there's another set of fall somewhere just past Akaka on the way to Hilo that we visited for the first tine this year, that has a beautiful 3-tier waterfall as well as a garden and a smaller rainforest. And you can rent bikes (i prefer mountain bikes) to tour the road or many trails.
Just remember to have a relaxing time and hit the beach often.
Aloha! |
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