Day 4 -- Big Island, HI

06/05/2017 Monday

Itinerary:

• Breakfast at Cafe 100
• Hawaii Volcanoes National Park -- Visitor Center, Steam Vents, Jaggar Museum, Thurston Lava Tube, Holei Sea Arch and Kilauea Iki Overlook
• Punaluu Black Sand Beach 
• Dinner at Restaurant Kenichi

Big Island is the largest island among all the Hawaii islands. It takes probably ~ 6 hours to circle around the island and ~2.5 to 3 hours to travel from Kona (West side) to Hilo (East Side) depending on which route you take. There are 2 airports in Big Island, one in Kona and the other in Hilo. Most tourists stay at the Kona side of the island as it is where the nice beaches and good snorkeling sites are, however it will take about 2.5 hours or more to get to see the live volcano.

Since we didn't want to spend a lot of time driving, we decided to split the time between the west and east side of the island. We stayed at Hilo for 2 nights so that we can go to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and also explore the town Hilo.

Today, we decided to spend the day at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Before that we decide to have breakfast at Cafe 100 and also buy our lunch there since there are no restaurant inside the park.

We ordered the loco moco, breakfast plate and saimins. All the food were delicious and the price was so cheap that I wonder if I was indeed in Hawaii.

We ordered our sandwiches from the cafe to bring along with us on the trip to the  Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It was an easy 40 minutes drive to the park. The road was pretty straight and not curvy like the drive to the Haleakala volcano in Maui. There wasn't a lot of cars on the road as well.

After we paid our $25 entrance fee which is good for 7 days unlimited returns, we went to the visitor center to find out where to go. The park ranger recommended driving to see the steam vents and Jaggar Museum where we can see the live volcano. The kids also participated in the junior ranger program and we watched the 30 minute video at the center on how the volcanoes were formed.

First, we drove about 5 minutes and reached the parking lot of where the steam vents are. A little walk took us to the steaming bluff overlook where we can see steam coming out of the crater. Also, along the way, we saw small steams coming out of different places.

Next we drove to the Jaggar Museum where we can see the eruption of the Halemaumau crater. It also has the best panoramic view of the Kilauea Caldera and a geological exhibit inside.

The park ranger also set up a few telescopes so that visitors can view the red lava clearly.

 After the museum, we drove to Thurston Lava Tube which is about 15 minutes away. We have to walk pass the lava tube which is dark, so we had to use the flashlight feature of our phones. I would recommend having a torchlight as the light from the phone was not as bright and there were puddles of water inside. We didn't have any issues with the low ceilings since we weren't that tall :-)

 

Next, we wanted to drive on the chain of craters road to see the Holei Sea Arch. It was about 19 miles drive to the end of the chain of craters road before we could see the Holei Sea Arch. Along the way, we stopped to see Lua Mana Crater as it last erupted in 1974. There are many stopovers that you can do along the way but we didn't do it as it was a pretty hot day without any shade.

The drive to the end of the chain of craters road was a scenic drive as we get to also see the ocean.

Nene is Hawaii's state bird and are endangered. So we were told not to feed them and also be careful not to hit them as they might be crossing the road.

Finally after a 30-40 minutes drive, we reached the end of the road. We not only could see the Holei Sea Arch but this is also the place where we can hike to see the lava pouring into the ocean. We didn't go for the hike as it would take ~8 miles roundtrip and under the hot sun without any shade.

After viewing the Holei Sea Arch, we decided to go to head back to the visitor center as the kids finished their junior ranger booklet and wanted to get their pin. On the way back, we stopped by the Kilauea Iki overlook.

After the park ranger checked their handbook, asked them some questions and the kids sworn to protect the land and eat vegetables :-), they were each given a pin and also a poster of the park.

With that, we moved on to our next destination which is the Punaluu Black Sand Beach. It's another 40 minutes drive to the south to reach the beach. We were also very excited as we saw the sea turtles.

 

We spent some time at the beach before deciding to head back to the hotel as the kids wanted to go swimming. It was about 1.5 hours drive to reach the hotel and there wasn't much cars on the road as well.

While the kids were swimming, I was yelping for the restaurants for dinner. I was finally able to find a restaurant that closes at 9pm and had good reviews. It was a short drive to Restaurant Kenichi and the restaurant was on the same street as Cafe 100. By the time we reached there, it was about 8pm and there were still a waiting list to eat there. We waited for about 20 minutes before we were seated and we thought that the food was delicious and the portion size were huge although we did finished all the food as we were hungry.

After finishing our entrees, I was thinking about having something sweet, so I asked the waiter if they have any desserts. He bought out the dessert menu and we picked the green tea and vanilla ice cream.

He asked me how many scoops we would like and I said 2 scoops each flavor. I didn't expect the 2 scoops of ice cream to be this huge. But we still finished the ice cream :-)

After dinner, we head back to the hotel and call it a night.