Want to explore Big Island, the island that contains the world’s most active volcano? I’ll explain how to go around this island, full of wonderful landscapes.
ITINERARY - HAWAII: here is the full itinerary for a tour of the Hawaiian Islands.
Big Island is not only the largest of the Hawaiian Islands, it also houses the world’s most active volcano, Kilauea! But more than that, there are also black sand beaches, waterfalls, indigenous temples, fishing villages …
With that being said, let’s go to see the details of the schedule:
Day 1: north shore
Tip: you can also click on the link down below from your smartphone, to open the itinerary to follow on google maps: « north shore » tour
First of all, there are two airports on Big Island: Kona and Hilo. Back then, I took a flight to Kona, so that’s where I started my tour of the island. This first day will then be dedicated to visiting the north shore. Compared to the other islands, you’ll immediately notice a difference about the distances which are much bigger on Big Island, due to the size of the island. Then you’ll also notice a change regarding the landscape which is volcanic, that is to say full of black rocks and not green like on the other islands.
The first visit is located 10 minutes south of the airport and it’s the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. Back then, when arriving there we were lucky to come across a Park Ranger who gave us a sort of little guided tour along the way to the beach. And once you get to the beach, the landscape will leave you in awe. There are kinds of straw teepees on the beach and you can even go to see sea turtles.
Then, go for lunch before heading to Lapakahi State Historical Park which is a former fishing village. Before beginning the visit, don’t forget to stop by the visitor center in order to collect a map that will show you the path to follow and will also give you explanations about the various elements of the village.
Tip: a bit before arriving at Lapakahi State Historical Park, on the way, you can stop at Pu’ukohola Heiau. Over there, you can go for a 1 hour hike which will allow you to explore the remains of the site, and in particular the ruins of the last major Hawaiian temple!
After this short walk, head to Waipio Valley. To do so, you have two options, or you continue north from the Lapakahi State Historical Park in order to take the Kohala Mountain Road (route 250) which passes through beautiful landscapes, however the journey will be twenty minutes longer compared to the second option. This second option is to turn back from Lapakahi State Historical Park, and to take the road that leads to the east of the island. Once at Waipio Valley Lookout, you’ll see a cliff and a small black sand beach. If you want to go down to the beach, you’ll need a four-wheel drive car!
For the end of the day, head to Akaka & Kahuna Falls. A short 30-minute loop trail among lush vegetation, will take you to Kahuna and Akaka waterfalls. Parking fee is $4.
Once you’re done visiting, head to Hilo for the night.
Day 2: Volcanoes National Park!
Tip: you can also click on the link down below from your smartphone, to open the itinerary to follow on google maps: « Hilo » tour
For your second day on Big Island, try to get up early, as the drive to Volcanoes National Park is pretty long. On the way, I recommend making a few stops. First stop is Carlsmith Beach where you’ll have a nice view.
Next stop is Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots, where you can spot the Pe’epe’e Falls.
And finally, before heading to Volcanoes National Park, make a final stop to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Visitor Center where you can sample all kinds of macadamia nut treats. If you like it, you can go to the gift shop in order to buy some boxes of chocolates to take home or to give.
When arriving at Volcanoes National Park, if you’ve booked a nearby hotel, go to drop off your suitcases before going to explore the park which houses the world’s most active volcano.
The park is pretty large and you could obviously spend several days hiking there, but be aware that in just one day, it’s still possible to have a fairly complete view of the park. Admission fee is $30 per vehicle (valid for 7 days) but it’s free if you have the « America the Beautiful » pass.
Tip: I highly recommend planning your itinerary into the park before going, because park rangers won’t help you doing this. They’ll only answer your questions and eventually, if you are lucky, will give you some advice.
Basically, there are three parts to visit in the park:
- Crater Rim Drive: which is pretty easy to explore on foot and it’s from this trail that you can see the famous Halema’uma’u crater
- Kilauea Iki Crater: you can go hiking in the crater of this dormant volcano
- Chain of Craters Road: it’s a travelled by car road along which you can make many stops, either for hiking or just to enjoy the view
Tip: you can also click on the link down below from your smartphone, to open the itinerary to follow on google maps: « Volcanoes National Park » part #1 - tour
For this first day at the Volcanoes National Park, I recommend beginning with Kilauea Iki Crater and the Chain of Craters Road, in order to keep the Crater Rim Drive for the next morning, since the area is pretty close to the visitor center and that it’s pretty quick to explore.
To get to Kilauea Iki Crater, after making a stop to the visitor center, go to park your car at the Kilauea Iki Parking Lot. When getting out of the car, a pretty easy trail will lead you to some viewpoints that allow you to have a beautiful view of the crater. From there, you’ll also be able to see a white line in the middle of the crater, which in fact is a mark left by hikers when walking into the crater. Of course, you can become one of these hikers if you go down into the crater.
To do so, at the end of the trail, you can reach a downhill trail which will allow you to get into the crater. Once down there, you’ll be able to walk the crater from end to end. And to get back to your car, there should be a path that goes around the crater, but back then, we’ve preferred to turn around.
Tip: don’t forget to take some water for this big trail.
After this first hike, it’ll be time for lunch. As there is no restaurant inside the park, I recommend bringing some food. There are some table available.
UPDATE: Thurston Lava Tube is now reopened, so right after hiking the inside of the Kilauea Iki Crater, be sure to check it out. It had been closed following the big volcanic eruption of 2018, so when I visited the park, I didn’t get the chance to visit it.
After lunch, head to Chain of Craters Road. But just before entering the road, stop at Pu’u Pua’i Overlook where you’ll have another perspective of the Kilauea Iki Crater.
Then drive Chain of Craters Road along which you’ll be able to make some stops in order to reach various points of interest.
Just after entering Chain of Craters Road, you’ll be able to spot four successive craters: Luamanu Crater, Puhimau Crater, Hiiaka Crater (a bit hidden) and Pauahi Crater.
A bit after Pauahi Crater, still driving Chain of Craters Road, turn left and at the end of the road there will be a parking lot. From there, a small road will lead to two different hiking trails: the Pu’u Huluhulu Trailhead on the left and the Mauna Ulu Trailhead on the right. I recommend the Mauna Ulu Trailhead which is a short trail where you can walk on ancient lava flows, and also observe lava ramparts and lava tree molds.
Once you’re done hiking, go back to the Chain of Craters Road and stop at Mau Loa o Mauna Ulu. You’ll then be able to see, on one side, Mauna Ulu, a volcanic cone, and on the other, the ocean.
A bit further on the road, you can make another stop at Kealakomo Overlook. It’s pretty much the same view as before, but this time you can enjoy it from a small wooden terrace.
Then continue driving until reaching Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs Trail. However, it’s not a proper stop because you won’t find any parking lot, you’ll have to park on the side of the road. Then follow the indicated trail. But be prepared as the hike is quite long before arriving in the petroglyph area. And once you get there, you’ll see that the area is pretty small but still worth it!
And the last stop, which also marks the end of Chain of Craters Road, will be Holei Sea Arch.
Unfortunately, there is no more lava in the park. Back then, the night was a really good time in order to observe volcanic eruptions. There were two main observation points:
- End of Chain of Craters Road: a trail starting at the official « End of Trail » sign was allowing hikers to see active lava flow and new land formation
- Jaguar Museum on Crater Rim Drive: to see the crater glow at night from an observation deck
Back then, spending the night near the park made sense, but not anymore. So nowadays, a 2-day visit is no longer required.
Day 3: south-west shore!
For this last morning in Big Island, the lasts visits will be the little northern part of Volcanoes National Park, and then a few stops along the road that will bring you back to the airport.
Tip: you can also click on the link down below from your smartphone, to open the itinerary to follow on google maps: « Volcanoes National Park » part #2 - tour
To begin, go to park at the Kilauea Visitor Center parking lot, as the tour will be on foot. Then head to Crater Rim Drive where you can start your hike, everything will normally be indicated. Over there, you’ll be able to visit Sulfur Banks, Steam Vents and Steaming Bluff.
At the end of the trail, you’ll even be able to see the Halema’uma’u Crater.
And to go back to the parking lot, just turn back.
UPDATE: Crater Rim Drive is now reopened until Kilauea Overlook, so right after the hike you can drive there in order to enjoy the view.
Tip: you can also click on the link down below from your smartphone, to open the itinerary to follow on google maps: « south-west shore » tour
Once you’ll be done visiting Volcanoes National Park, it’ll be time to head to the airport. First stop on the drive will be Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. Over there, the landscape is pretty special, it’s really uncommon to see black sand. But in my opinion, it’s pretty charming.
Then continue driving for about an hour and you’ll arrive at Pu’uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park. Over there, you’ll be able to hike two different trails:
- a little 800m walking tour: it allows you to go through the park’s major sites which are numbered
- a 3,5km round-trip trail: it’ll take you to the abandoned village of Ki’ilae
Back then, I only had time to go through the first one and it was already very beautiful to see.
To finish, I had my flight home at 4 p.m., so after this visit I went for lunch before heading to the airport.
And so that’s where my trip to the Hawaiian Islands ended!
Tips
Money
American dollars
When going to Hawaii, in order to get American dollars, I think that the best solution is to change money before leaving. Because on the island, finding a currency exchange office won’t be easy and withdrawing cash will make you pay taxes and fees. And it’s the same thing for payments by credit card.
Note: throughout the Hawaiian Islands you’ll only find Hawaiian banks, there are no American banks over there.
Taxes
Purchases
In Hawaii, like in the U.S., all stores display prices without tax. The tax is approximately 4% in Hawaii. So you just need to know that prices will be higher at checkout. However there is an exception on all unprocessed food because the tax doesn’t apply.
Restaurants
If you are planning on going to the restaurant, be aware that the bill can quickly become very expensive because on top of the price of the meal is added the 4% tax and you also have to add 15% tip.
Supermarkets
In the Hawaiian Islands, you’ll see « Foodland » supermarkets almost everywhere, you’ll find everything there. In particular they have a « catering » section, where you can create your own poke bowls. They have various marinated tuna recipes, but also octopus, scallops, mussels… They put the seafood in a small plastic pot and in addition, you can also order small pots of rice. So that will make a good meal to take away! Just remember to bring cooler bags.
Tip: I also recommend getting a loyalty card at Foodland because it’ll save you a bit of money. Some products are on sale, but only for cardholders. The first hotel where I stayed gave a loyalty card to all hotel guests. But you can also request one at the front desk of any store.
Hotels
To visit Big Island which is a pretty large island, it’s necessary to book several hotels, one for each day. It’s different than for Kauai and Oahu, where it was possible to book only one hotel for the entire trip. So at least, you’ll have to book a hotel in Hilo and another one at Volcanoes National Park. And even one in Kona, if you want to explore the area.
In Hilo, I stayed at Hilo Reeds Bay Hotel. It’s a kind of little apartment hotel, nothing too fancy but OK for one night. However, it’s pretty well located.
Description: apartment hotel with a very small kitchen and a very small bathroom, with a shower. The size of the bedroom is OK.
Price: about €150 per night in September.
Location: well located, by the sea and not too far from the city.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| functional and decent sized rooms | pretty expensive, but like everywhere in Hawaii |
| convenient location | - |
Then, at Volcanoes National Park, we stayed at At The End of the Road Bed & Breakfast. The stay was very pleasant and the price pretty OK, especially since it’s located right at the entrance to the park.
Description: It’s a couple that rents two rooms in their house, each room has its own bathroom, and the living room is also available. In the morning, a breakfast is offered (waffles, fruits and juice), you can even make a few choices the night before.
Price: about €100 per night for a room, in September.
Location: very well located, at a 10-minute drive from the entrance to the park.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| comfortable room and amenities | - |
| price | - |
| breakfast included | - |
| very convenient location | - |
Transportation
Car
In order to visit the Hawaiian Islands, the best solution is to rent a car on each of the different islands from the airport. Moreover, you won’t need an international drivers licence for a trip up to 3 months. Just remember to take out CDW (included into Gold Mastercards and Visa Premier cards) and LIS insurance when renting a car.
Tip: for car rentals in Hawaii airports, you’ll always need to take shuttle buses in order to reach the car rental agency whom you made your booking with, because they are all located outside the airports. There is a shuttle for each company, so don’t get the wrong one in order to avoid being yelled at.
GPS
To be able to find your way when driving the car, there are several options available:
- Google MAPS: it works even without any connection, it’s just that there won’t be traffic information. All you have to do is to save the maps before going or even once there, as long as you have an internet connection. To do so, on your smartphone, in the application, click on your profile picture at the top right of the screen, then click on « offline maps ». And then click on « select your own map » and zoom out the map until you see the area you want to save. You have to repeat the operation several times if the area to be saved is too large.
- GPS rental from the rental car company: you can rent an optional GPS from the rental car company, but it’s pretty expensive and you won’t have traffic information either. In my opinion, this is not an option to consider. However, if you are renting a high-end car, there is frequently a GPS already available in the car, so without extra charge. But you won’t know it until you get on board, because no one will tell you, either at booking or when getting the keys.
Thanks for reading :)
