Since we had already been to Kauai and Maui, the next Hawaiian Island to explore was the Big Island. This trip was in the summer of 2016. The image of the Big Island from the plane was not attractive at all. Gradients of black and gray mostly defined the view, with the serpent road cutting through. I didn’t realize at that time, the Big Island is actually the ‘Youngest’ Island in the Hawaii archipelago, somewhere between 400,000 and 800,000 years old. You can still see lava fields mostly everywhere on the West Side of the island.  

Weather wise there are two sides of the Big Island: the “Dry” Side on the West or Kona Side and the “Wet” Side or the East or Hilo Side. We chose to stay on the West Side where the big resorts are. But I definitely felt in love with the Wet Side of the inland. More on that later. The resorts are big green oasis of vegetation in the “black lava desert.” We chose to stay at Mauna Lani resort. The grounds were beautiful with an abundance of local trees and plants. It was the first time seeing breadfruit and noni tree. Right by our condo was a mango tree..unfortunately not ripe yet. Plumeria trees were everywhere delighting us with the elegance of flowers and fragrance.

While there, we explored multiple beaches in the area. Our favorite was Hapuna Beach. Hapuna Beach is a large, fine sand beach with crystal clear water. Being in the Bay, the waves are calm and safe for little ones. The snorkeling was best on the North Side of the beach by the black lava rocks. Our daughter who was 5 at that time, had her first snorkeling here.

Beach 49 – the beach in Mauna Lani Resort is a black sand beach, kind of small but one afternoon we decided to explore it. While the black sand was neat and we built black sand castles it was not our favorite beach.

Wailea Beach or Beach 69 is a secluded, rocky beach with some good snorkeling. If you are looking for a local feeling beach this is the one. No many tourists here. We even met a group of school students in a field trip. There is plenty of shade and some trees for climbing.

Tips: Wear water shoes to protect your feet from the rocky terrain. Snorkeling is good around the big rock in the water and farther north.

We dedicated one afternoon to explore Kalahuipua‘a Fishponds right there in our resort(Mauna Lani). These ancient Hawaiian fish ponds are fed by the fresh water springs and are still producing fish being managed like in the old time. There are seven ponds and you can walk between them. On the shores there are hundreds of palm trees and at the time we were the magnificent shower trees were in bloom.