hawaii tips & travel

Paradise found on these gorgeous tropical islands.

Whether your ideal vacation is a jam packed outdoor adventure or a catch your breath & soak up the sun get away, Hawaii is the place for you! This was my first time bummin' around the Big Island and I absolutely loved it. Something about these Pacific Islands just steals my heart. Having bread brown skin, salty curly hair, biking from beach to beach, being barefoot for days on end.. my ideal paradise!

Best of all, there are cheap & easy flights from the west coast Canada/America! If you haven't made it over to the wild, wet, sandy, and exotic Hawaiian islands, you need to do yourself a favour and book a trip! With literally just a 6 hour direct flight and a minimal time change, there's no excuse! Here are some of my favourite spots on the Big Island!

For the able bodied adventurers

• Jump into Queens Bath and take a refreshing swim to the back of a little cave. There is also free camping here. (Permit required) Directions: Take the exit called Kiholo Bay Access Road off of the 19. Drive to the day parking spot, walk to the ocean and turn to the right. You will shortly come across a little entrance into the woods where you'll find this gorgeous hole with cold clear water.

• Swim with Turtles at Kiholo Bay. We walked here along the beach from Queens Bath. (Continue to the right, along the beach from the bath for about 30 minutes.) Beautiful island you can swim to and observe turtles doing absolutely nothing. It's awesome! Bring some beer and enjoy the show.

• Day trip to hike Pololu valley! Super quick hike, about 20 minutes each way. Steep, and I can imagine it being very muddy if rainy, but easy. You can easily spend a few hours at the bottom, we brought a picnic down and relaxed at the beach and explored through the lush forest. Magical! You'll pass a little town of Hawi along the way, at the most northern point of the Big Island - gorgeous little town, stop and enjoy some sushi or walk through the art galleries! And be sure to stop at Fresh Off The Grid food truck (local farm & market) after you get up from the hike and enjoy a fresh smoothie!! The 'creamy dreamy' was delicious. They grow all their own products and sell tons of fruit & vegetables at the stand.

• Day hike down to Waipio valley. The view from the parking lot of Waipio valley looks quite similar to what you'd see at the top of Pololu valley, although the hike is very different. Waipio is also short and relatively easy, but it is a mostly paved, extremely steep road. If you have sensitive knees that hurt hiking down hill, I wouldn't recommend it. Apparently if it was a completely paved, legal road, it would be the steepest road in the United States. The black sand beach and waterfall at the bottom is very beautiful and definitely worth it! This is also the trailhead for Waimanu Valley, which is one of the most difficult places to reach by foot on the Big Island. Most people hike in and sleep the night in the lush, wild valley and hike back out the following day. When returning to the Big Island this will be the first thing on my list!

• Hike down to Captain Cook for the best snorkelling on the island! About a one hour moderate hike each way. Once at the bottom there is no beach/grass, just a rocky entrance to the gorgeous reefs. (Which we should be really careful not to stand on - to keep it so full of life!) My boyfriend and I dove into the water and were swimming for less than 5 minutes when I heard a woman delightfully yelling SHARK! I pounded on Ben's back waiting for him to hear her and jump out of the water. Not surprisingly, he had a different idea. He whipped around in the direction the woman was pointing and dove towards the shark. Being absolutely terrified of swimming alone in the ocean, I found myself right on his tail. Thankfully as soon as we saw our friend I found myself sighing with relief, then giggling with amusement. It was a 5 ft white tipped reef shark, which was still big - but no MEG that I was instantly picturing. It ended up swimming right towards us and we got to inspect it from less than 2 meters away! WAY COOL!

• Surfs up baby! Although I was a little disappointed to find that the Big Island isn't the biggest surfing destination, there are still some decent spots to catch some waves. I would recommend Pine Trees, a long beautiful beach with lots of parking and tons of locals surfing and enjoying the beach. Stop where you see people surfing and ask any local on the beach about the conditions and where dangerous rocks and reef are. If you're hoping to surf more than once and you don't have friends with connections on the island, Costco's 8'0 soft top board for $114 is a great cheap option! I'm still a beginner but got up on it. I have the app called Surfline and found it great to check the conditions before planning your day and hitting the beach. Online I found a lot of good reviews for surfing at Kahalu'u just south of Kona, but when we showed up ready to surf we were skeptical with the layout and were warned by a local of a large list of elements to be careful of at this beach. To get a good wave, you have to stay pretty shallow and because of that, pancake fall to avoid slamming into reef, which is fine if you're experienced and not worried about breaking borrowed boards! We ended up just snorkelling there instead as it is one of the best places on the island for that! You can also surf at Hapuna Beach strictly with soft tops only. Here you'll find there's no surfing designated area or locals surfing, but lots of tourists boogie boarding and playing in the waves, so just be cautious! Roxy's adorable 2019 POP surf collection is sustainably made from reclaimed waste and perfect to catch waves in! https://www.roxy.com/en-ca/pop-surf-collection/

For every tourist

• Marvel at the stars at the Mauna Kea Reserve. Go for the sunset & bring enough warm clothes and blankets and tea to stay until the stars come out! There is a small peak close to the first parking lot that is a super easy 15 minute climb, we enjoyed laying up there with blankets listening to my dad play the trumpet. Some of my favourite moments in life are when my problems and me feel really small and insignificant. Laying up here under a blanket of stars provides a place to feel just that.

• Daring enough to dip your toes in a pool full of flesh eating fish? Walk into the Beach Club at Mauna Lani and wander over the gorgeous ocean pools until you find a man made rock pool filled with those tiny dead skin eating fish! Such a hilarious experience. Go for dinner at the Beach Club's restaurant, all local and fresh food! You'll need an access card to drive into the club, but I believe non resort residents can walk through. You'll find the path to the pool to the right of the restaurant. Wander through the paths and you'll stumble upon it eventually off the right hand side.

• Sacrifice a vacation sleep in and go for a morning swim with dolphins at either Kealakekua Bay or Two Step beach. Those particular dolphins are nocturnal and hunt through the night then come back in the morning to sleep through the day.

• Yoga! Daydream Cafe provides yoga every morning from 8:30 - 10:00 on the upper balcony with a drop in fee of 10$ and $3 dollars to rent a mat. Gorgeous view and lovely instructors! Beautiful way to start your day. Then drop into the cafe below to get a green goddess smoothie. Ooo la la. There are so many yoga studios around the island, as well as quite a few resorts that provide morning yoga in gorgeous settings!

EATS EATS EATS

• Fresh Off The Grid

• Malasadas!! (Portuguese donuts)

• Daydream Cafe in Kona. Gorgeous view and really yummy drinks & meals.

• Kona Joe's Coffee. Gorgeous coffee farm with its own cafe overlooking the ocean. 15 minute drive from downtown Kona, definitely worth it! Super generous and kind staff. Mean chocolate coffee shake!

• Lava Lava Beach Club - Waikoloa. The trick for this packed, trendy, expensive place is to go for happy hour. They have lots of fun appetizers to fill the table & bellies! Great for sharing. Take a stroll along the beach after dinner and watch the sea turtles beached looking just about as full as you feel! Or if you're like me, stare (and drool) at the sailboats peacefully anchored off shore.

• On The Rocks, restaurant on the beach in Kona. Great fish taco's!

• Fosters Kitchen in Kona. Fresh seared Ahi!

• Any fresh fruit stand!!!

Logistics

We were blessed with enough connections on the island to stay either for free or to rent a friends place. For the remainder of the time we used Guest to Guest, a wonderful website which allows travellers to pay using a point system instead of money. Websites similar to this like couchsurfing and house-sitters make me so happy! Taking money out of the equation and providing travellers a platform to both host and travel for free. Feels so right. One of the farms we stayed at had an insanely gorgeous 180 degree view of the ocean! And several fruit trees we could pick from and eat at our leisure. HELLO ALL FOR FREE?! I also have a very cheap car rental connection I would be happy to share with any of you if interested! Comment below or contact me and I can provide the details. No guarantee of the state of the car but hey... for 20 dollars a day who needs door handles anyways? Ha. Until next time Hawaii, it's been grand.

Photos by the sweetest Adam Combs, thank you!