February 7-11, 2019 | Brian & Vanessa
Big Island was a huge challenge for us, because we have planned so much in advance of all the things we wanted to do together, but day after day, night after night — it rained, and rained, and rained some more! According to locals, Big Island is notorious for their microclimates, and on the Big Island itself, they can have up to 11 mircoclimates in one day! We didn’t exactly count how many we had for each day, but we adapted quite fast and by our second (full) day we have learned that even though the town we are staying in is raining, the next town over can be super sunny and dry. And so, we started playing this game of dodging the rain.
Visited Points of Interests
National Parks
We manage to visit 3 of 4 national parks on the Island of Hawai’i –
please feel free to click on each one to visit them virtually!
Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau
National Historical Park
Pu`ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Where Did We Stay?
We stayed in Waimea, which is on the north side of the island. To put into perspective of how far we are away from the main attractions:
- KOA Airport – 0:47
- Pu`ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site – 0:15
- Pu`uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park – 1:23
- Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park – 1:40
All in all, we were very happy with the location as everything was in a reasonable distance. Planning ahead for places to visit en route to your destinations was also super helpful in making the longer drives feel more enjoyable.
The Airbnb we stayed in was a one bedroom and a private bath. Our host, Katherine, is a very knowledgeable local and provided us with a lot of recommendations and local tips that were extremely helpful for us to get around. We highly recommend staying at her place!
Scenic Views
Lapakahi State Historical Park
Distance
0.8 miles
Elevation Gain
59 feet
Route Type
Loop
ʻAnaehoʻomalu Beach
After visiting Pololū Valley Lookout, Lapakahi State Historical Park, and Pu`ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, we settled at ʻAnaehoʻomalu Beach aka A-Bay for some R&R. Took a stroll along the beach, spotted some sea turtles, found a nice spot, laid down a mat, took a nap, and watched the sunset before calling it a day.
Other Places We Visited
A Taste of Big Island
An Unexpected Storm
On our last night, we got hit some really big wind and rain late afternoon that went on through the night. It was quite an experience! On our way back to Airbnb, we came across a lot of tree debris on the road, fallen power lines, and then it got dark really fast – this all probably happened within 30 minutes. Click here for an article on the storm!
En Route to the Airport
Luckily, everything cleared up the next morning! We managed to catch an amazing sunrise en route to the airport. Although there were still some clouds in the sky, hopefully it’ll stay in the Big Island for now.