Let me start by saying that flying for 10 hours isn’t the most fun, but landing in Hawaii makes it all worth it.
My first flight landed in Honolulu with enough time to grab a bite to eat before the second flight to Kona. The first full day we jumped in the jeep and took off exploring. We started going north around the top of the island stopping at beaches and lookout points.
Green Sand Beach on the southern point of the island was my favorite. Luckily, our 4wd jeep was able to make it in because it’s about 5 miles one way and it was, of course, sunny and hot. Once we parked the jeep among the other 4WD vehicles [only about 3 others] we trekked down so we could explore and get in the water, which was amazing. After some more exploring we decided to make our way back to the main road and drive to Mauna Loa volcano.
We went to the lookout point of Mauna Loa, but it was hard to see the actual crater because of all the steam. After, we drove past all of the hard rock [lava] to the Holei Sea Arch. There is rock everywhere and it all looks different depending on which lava flow it came from and how recent that flow was. It’s incredible.
We ended this day by stopping at the visitor station of another volcano, Mauna Kea. This volcano is dormant. By the time we got to station on Mauna Kea it was dark outside so we didn’t go all the way up. The visitor station is full of telescopes though, which was great. We were able to see so many constellations and stars from this point.
We explored and stopped at so many beaches while on this island, but there is still so much to see and do. I’ll just have to go back!
