Hawaii’s ‘Big Island,’ is famous for the active Kilauea volcano and Kona coffee. With eleven distinct climate zones generating everything from East Hawaii's tropical rainforests to desert lavascapes, to snow-capped mountaintops, Hawaii never fails to seduce and fascinate.
A must-see for any first-time visitor is Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Here you’ll see the magnificent spectacle of simultaneous creation and destruction: scorched deserts, a moonscape of lava flows, and the unpredictable Kilauea volcano, which has been erupting since 1983. It is believed the Hawaiian goddess Pele lives in Kilauea, so great respect must be paid here whether it’s your first visit or your fifteenth.
The Big Island is the largest in the Hawaiian archipelago, and is a place of incredible diversity – no less than eleven different climate zones generate everything from lush rain forests to arid deserts, volcanic black sand beaches (and yes a great deal of white ones too), to savannah grasslands and snow-capped mountaintops. Perhaps because of this, the island is increasingly devoted to eco-tourism and discovery with a gentle touch.
Hawaii’s Big Island offers experiences and pockets of adventure that are unique in the Pacific You’ll find a cattle ranch and paniolo (Hawaiian cowboys) in the cool uplands of Parker Ranch; at 150,000 acres it purports to be the largest ranch in the USA. You’ll discover unparalleled stargazing by night, and skiing by day atop 13,779-foot Mauna Kea….”Ski in the morning, lunch on the beach, surf in the afternoon” is an often used cliché on the Big Island, but nonetheless true.
Wherever you choose to stay you will be offered everything from authentic Hawaiian, to welcoming
and upscale private homes offering bed & breakfast, to truly world class oceanfront resorts. And along the pristine beaches that thread the length of the Western Kailua-Kona coastline, the sun invariably sets to a remarkable kaleidoscope of gold and red at the end of each day.
Hawaii Highlights
* Volcanoes National Park
* Hawaii Tropical Botanical garden
* The Parker Ranch
* Whale Watching (seasonal)
* Mauna Kea Observatory
* Peepee Falls, Rainbow Falls and the Boiling Pots in Hilo district
* Puuonua O Honaunau National Historic Park |
