Hawaii travel

The Big Island of Hawaii

The Big Island of Hawaii, the island that lends its name to the entire 1,500-mile-long Hawaiian archipelago, is where Mother Nature singled out all the stops. The Big Island is the largest island in the Hawaiian chain (4,038 sq. miles - about the size of Connecticut), the youngest (800,000 years), and the least populated (with 30 people per sq. mile). It has the highest peaks in the Pacific, the most volcanoes of any Hawaiian island, and the newest land on earth.
The Big Island has it all: fiery volcanoes and sparkling waterfalls, tropical rainforests and alpine meadows, black-lava deserts and snowcapped mountain peaks, golden, black, and even green-sand beaches. The Big Island has an unrivaled variety of terrain and climate. A 50-mile drive will take you from snowy winter to hot summer, passing from end to end spring or fall along the way.
The five volcanoes have created this continental island, which is increasing bigger daily. Its central point is snowcapped Mauna Kea, the world's tallest sea mountain, complete with its own glacial lake. Mauna Kea's nearest neighbor is Mauna Loa (or "Long Mountain"), creator of one-sixth of the island; it's the largest volcano on earth, rising 30,000 feet out of the ocean floor (of course, you can see only the 13,796 ft. that are above sea level). Kilauea's eruptions make the Big Island bigger every day - and, if you're lucky, you can stand just a few feet away and watch it. In just a week, Kilauea can create enough lava to fill the Astrodome.
Some tourists are taken aback at the sight of stark fields of lava or black-sand beaches at The Big Island of Hawaii. You must remember that it's very big. And you may have to go out of your way if you're looking for traditional tropical beauty, such as a typical sand beach.
On the other hand, if you're into watersports, this is paradise. The two tall volcanoes mean the water on the leeward side is calm 350 days a year. The underwater landscape of caves, cliffs, and tunnels attracts a stunning array of colorful marine life. The island's west coast is one of the best destinations in the world for big-game fishing. And its miles of isolated coastline are a kayaker's dream of caves, quiet coves, and crescent-shaped beaches accessible only by sea.
What to do there:
On land, hikers, bikers, and horseback riders can head up and down a volcano, across beaches, into remote valleys, and through rainforests.
Golfers can find nirvana on a wide variety of courses.
Bird-watchers are satisfied with sightings of the rare, rapidly decreasing native birds of Hawaii.
The Big Island of Hawaii is the least-explored island, but where else can you witness fiery creation and swim with dolphins; ponder the stars from the world's tallest mountain and catch a blue marlin; downhill-ski and surf the waves in a single day? You can do all this on only one island in the world: the Big Island of Hawaii.

Planning a trip to Hawaii

Most people arrive on the Big Island at Kona International Airport, on the island's west coast. From the airport, Kilauea volcano is to the right and the ritzy Kohala Coast is to the left wise. The number of visitors in Hawaii is up, the number of airplane seats coming to paradise is up and the opportunities to have the vacation of your dreams are better than ever. If you plan to visit Hawaii, book in advance, secure your rental car when you get your accommodations and expect your Hawaiian vacation to cost considerably more than it may have the last time your were here.
Also traffic, always an issue on the urban island of Oahu is now gridlock on Maui, Kauai and in West Hawaii on the Big Island. In fact, Maui now has three "rush hours:" the normal commuting drive times (6-9 am and 4-6 pm) and now mid-day when most of the airlines from the mainland arrive, dumping thousands of rent-a-cars onto the road to the resorts. Of course there is a reason that all these 7.5-plus million visitors a year are flocking to Hawaii.

Hawaii promises every kind of vacation you can imagine from eco-adventures to romance to just relaxing on a sun-kissed beach and watching the surf roll in.

Big Island of Hawaii Handbook: Including Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the Kona Coast, and Waip'io Valley

Hawaii Atlas & Gazetteer: Hawaii Atlas and Gazetteer

Moon Handbooks Big Island of Hawaii: Including Hawaii Volcanoes National Park