Caren and I attended the HICSS 2014 conference on Big Island, Hawaii. Before the conference, we took five days of holiday to explore the island.
We started in the beach city of Kona. We had a bad case of jet-lag, which we treated with lots of good Hawaiian-grown coffee.
Kona coffee on the sea front at ' Lava Java'
We stayed at the Royal Kona Resort, right on the sea-front in Kona. It was lovely to wake-up to the sound of the pounding surf every morning. I really recommend this hotel if you are looking for a good value place to stay with a bit more soul than some of Big Island's mega-resorts. Its also an easy walk to the Kona shops, restaurants and bars.
View from our room in the Royal Kona Hotel
One of the best memories of our visit was a dawn whale watching cruise with Captain Dan McSweeney, a whale researcher who also does pleasure cruises from Honokohau harbour. We saw a pair of humpback whales breaching and jumping, as well as large schools of acrobatic spinner dolphins. Captain Dan was was an excellent tour-guide and I'd highly recommend him.
A pair of whales swimming together
A paddle-boarder with a humpback
After a few relaxing days in sunny Kona, we hopped in our hire-car and drove across the 'saddle road' to Volcanoes National Park. Big Island is made up of five volcanoes, the magma from which has built up the island over time. The most ancient flows are now verdant coffee plantations, pasture and forest, while the more recent flows are still bare black rock. Crossing the island over the saddle road means climbing 2000M (6400ft) through green foothills onto the scorched plateau of Mauna Loa and then back down towards the rainy capital of Hilo, before climbing another 1000M (3200ft) into the rainforest surrounding Volcanoes National Park. We rented a beautiful cabin in the Hale Ohia holiday village about two miles from the entrance to the park.
Our Cabin at Hale Ohia
The next day, we drove to the lookout at 6:30AM and saw dawn break over the glowing crater.
Volcanic Crater at Dawn
We spent the morning hiking through the park past steam vents, sulphur banks and through beautiful forests.
Steam Venting over the Cliffs
Caren and I on the Crater Hike
Magma Covered Road
A Black Sand Beach
After a couple of restful nights in Volcanoes National Park, we packed up the hire car and headed to Hilton Waikoloa resort for the conference. To be honest, the 60-acre purpose-built resort, with its trains and mad-made lagoons was a little soulless for my taste, but fortunately it was an easy 3KM walk to the gorgeous public Waikoloa beach and the great Lava Lava beach bar.
The Hilton Resort
Waikoloa Beach
A White Sand Beach
The ocean was teeming with life. I swam with lots of different kinds of fish and also sea turtles. My digital camera is waterproof but crappy, so excuse the quality.
An Inquisitive Little Fish
Swimming with Sea Turtles
Our visit to Hawaii was amazing. I would never have imagined that one island could have so many different faces. I hope I can return one day.
Our Last Sunset at Waikoloa Beach
