Date of trip: January 24-31, 2021
Hawaii was just starting to open back up for tourism in January 2021 so I wanted to take Steve to celebrate his 40th birthday. I think only the Big Island and Oahu were open at that time and I picked the Big Island so we could explore Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park. We’re not “beach people” so we opted to book most of our trip near the jungle and only two nights on the beach.
Day 1: We flew from Atlanta to Kona with a stop in Seattle. It was the earliest of Covid travel so we had to navigate getting our negative Covid tests within 72 hours of landing (which meant driving to a Walgreens in Birmingham Alabama the day prior to leaving). But we made it and even got upgraded to Delta One for the long-haul flight!
We landed very late in Kona and had to have a Covid test again at the airport. Then we made the 2 hour drive to Pahoa where we’d be based for the majority of the trip.
Day 2: We stayed in essentially a tiny home on a fantastic property equipped with volcanic baths from the natural steam vents and a view of the sea. I’ve linked the airbnb below called the “Puna Rainforest Retreat.”
The Hilo side of the Big Island is a lush rainforest, so it’s usually rainy, which made for a super relaxing atmosphere. Even though I kind of hijacked Steve’s birthday trip, and we didn’t really do much relaxing at all. Our hosts left us some great local recommendations, so we decided to check those out on our first day.
The Puna Trail:
This was a trail along the lava path from the 2018 eruption of the Kilauea Volcano. It was a fun and wet 5.2 mile hike we did during what we considered a monsoon but was likely just normal rain to most. The views of the seaside cliffs made the hike worth it.
Puna Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/puna-trail?sh=sxlnu6&u=i
The trail was nicely shaded. But oh so muddy
Apparently there is a beach down there somewhere ⬇️
I’ll post some videos to my instagram of the “monsoon!”
After the hike we drove along Beach Road and stopped for all the view points. It wasn’t exactly picnic weather but we sat and enjoyed this spot in Paradise Park and enjoyed some hot springs.
Next we went to Kehena Beach to check out the black sand. This was before our Iceland trip and I had never been on a black sand beach (it’s also a nude beach FYI).
Here’s the view from the top, you have to walk down some rocks to make it to the beach.
I really really enjoyed capturing the contrast of the white sea foam to the black sand. Careful though, a sneaker wave came out of nowhere and sucked me into the ocean. Luckily Steve was right there and snatched me out! And even luckier, I had my phone in the waterproof portion of my fanny pack (wasn’t even distracted with pictures at the time the wave got me!).
Look closely and you can spot the black sand all over us!
Day 3: We headed to Volcanoes National Park and went to the ranger station for recommendations. The Kilauea Volcano was actively erupting so we wanted to plan our hikes accordingly.
We started with the Kilauea Iki Trail which begins in a rainforest
Kīlauea Iki & Crater Rim Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/kilauea-iki-trail-and-crater-rim-trail?sh=sxlnu6&u=i
Then transforms into what I imagine the surface of the moon looks like
Due to the rain and covid, there was absolutely no one else on the whole trail and it felt so eerie.
Views of the erupting Kilauea in the distance
We then drove Crater Rim Drive to Kilauea Rim Overlook for closer views.
At the advice of the Ranger, we hung out in the Lava Lounge on the military base and had a few beers until sunset.
The volcano after sunset was remarkable.
We stayed pretty late but fortunately it was only about an hour back to our Puna Rainforest Retreat.
Day 4: This was such an exhilarating day. We started by driving to Waipio Valley (2 hours north) to enjoy views from the cliffs and do a hike I found on AllTrails where you walk down over 1000 feet to the valley below where there are beaches, an amazing waterfall and even wild horses.
We decided to go on foot although with our 4×4 Jeep, we could have driven. I read where people often lose control and slip off the cliffs so I wanted to be cautious (and in fact, we saw lots of decaying car ruins on the route). The road was slippery and extremely difficult going down although the views were stunning.
Even once we were down, the trail was pretty technical and muddy, traversing through mud puddles and over trees.
But so worth it!!
As we were attempting to navigate a particularly muddy section of the trail a couple living nearby for work offered us a ride in their 4×4 truck and we happily obliged.
They had been living in the area only a few weeks but had been down to this valley prior so gave us a tour of the area and showed us the beautiful Hiilawe waterfall along the route.
They offered to save us the 1000 foot hike back up, but after fishtailing a few times we hopped out and finished by foot
They actually ended up needing to be towed because it was so slick that their truck couldn’t make it up the hill (confirming our decision not to drive our Jeep!).
And also probably explains why the trail seems to be permanently closed. I’ve included the AllTrails link regardless.
To quote a review from AllTrails:
“You need a 4×4 to get into the valley and a permit to hike. The valley is closed to visitors but the guards are not at their posts before 7am. Your presence will not be welcome by the locals and it could get violent. That said, the valley is stunning.”
Waipio Valley Trail [CLOSED] on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/waipio-valley-trail?sh=sxlnu6&u=i
From Waipio Valley, we drove to the much safer, more touristy Akaka Falls State Park an hour back toward our airbnb.
We wandered the park and did a short hike to the falls.
Akaka Falls Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/akaka-falls-trail?sh=sxlnu6&u=i
It took an hour to get home and we arrived just as the sun came out, so I we could actually see the ocean from our resort for the first time in our whole trip.
After such an event day, we enjoyed soaking in the volcanic baths for hours until it was dark outside.
Day 5: This was my favorite day of the whole trip. Started with my signature vacation alarm:
We drove back to Kilauea Overlook to catch the views from the caldera at sunrise this time.
And to our surprise we were rewarded with a moon rainbow!! A phenomenon I had never seen or even heard of before.
This was a time I definitely wished I had a real camera because the moon rainbow was astounding. I kept pinching myself to see if it was a dream.
And the volcano was showing off as well!
The moon rainbow fell into the volcano?? Is there a pot of gold??
Once my excitement wore off a bit and the run began to rise, we continued the overlook trails enjoying the views.
We then drove the whole national park and hit all the viewpoints including to the top of Mauna Loa.
We also drove the popular Chain of Craters Road and did a few hikes. Our first was the Hilina Pali Overlook.
Hilina Pali Overlook on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/hilina-pali-overlook?sh=sxlnu6&u=i
It’s a 10 mile trail but we just did a few miles out and back.
Then we hit the road heading to our next hike on the sea. Views along the drive of the lava fields:
We got to the trailhead for Holei Sea Arch which is short trail with views of all the rock formations along the coast.
Holei Sea Arch Viewpoint Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/holei-sea-arch-viewpoint-trail?sh=sxlnu6&u=i
The trail varies from walking on an access road, to lava fields to a prairie looking oasis.
Next we noticed on the forecast that there would be snow on Mauna Kea and the road to get there would be open so we decided to divert our course and head to Mauna Kea in time for sunset! It was a 2 hour drive from where we were on the Crater tour in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
I’ve included a link we used to monitor weather and road conditions from The University of Hawaii at Hilo.
https://hilo.hawaii.edu/maunakea/visitor-information/station
The summit is 13,803 feet above sea level so they recommend stopping at the visitor center for a period to acclimate to the altitude (and it’s recommended not to scuba the same day).
The drive there looked like we were driving on the moon
It took about 40 minutes from the visitor center to the summit. We watched all the locals swap their surf boards to their snowboards and play on the hills.
Always so well prepared for cold weather
My expert driver then made the 2 hour trip back to Pahoa making for a very long day. But definitely my favorite of the trip.
Day 6: We had planned to get up early and hit green sand beach on the way to Kona but after the long day prior we skipped it and headed to our lovely beachside condo. I’ve linked the airbnb below. The lanai was so perfect for listening to the waves crash.
https://www.airbnb.com/slink/aevpsIu6
Due to covid, no restaurants were open for celebrating Steve’s birthday so we hit the grocery store for cocktail supplies and grabbed some poke bowls to go to celebrate on the lanai. The piña coladas were delicious and the sunset was beautiful.
Day 7: I wanted to get up for sunrise in Pololu Valley but in we had too many cocktails for Steve’s birthday so I let him have a day off of 4am adventuring. So I chose what I thought would be an easy hike down to a beach. I’ve linked the AllTrails below:
Kaʻawaloa – Captain Cook Monument Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/ka-awaloa-captain-cook-monument-trail?sh=sxlnu6&u=i
Notice the “hard” tag on the AllTrails (because I didn’t). It was only 3.7 miles but you walked down 1272 feet (then back up). And there was no shade. We wore hiking shoes at least. Some folks were wearing flip flops for this “beach hike.”
Here’s the Captain Cook monument where British explorer Captain James Cook was killed in 1779.
We made it down to Kealakekua Bay and took off our shoes to enjoy the beautiful waters. It’s a popular spot for snorkeling. We definitely should have brought our bathing suits but decided just to swim in our clothes.
A really nice guy from Alaska let us borrow his paddle boards while he took a break so we were able to explore the cove a bit.
The water was absolutely captivating and so glad it was worth the hike because the way back up was grueling and hot.
Even the mountain goats were struggling.
After the hike we went to Heavenly Hawaii Kona Coffee farm for gifts for everyone back home. Here’s a a pic from the property.
We grabbed tacos from the popular Finn’s Food To Go and headed back to enjoy the evening.
Day 8: This was our last day so I convinced Steve to do one more 4am wake up to catch the sunrise from Pololu Valley. It was an hour and a half from our condo but we got there by 6am while still dark. We parked at the lookout point and waited until the sun came up before we started the hike down.
The clouds made a pretty pattern of colors but also made for some cool pictures of the valley.
This is the trail we followed down:
Pololū Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/pololu-trail?sh=sxlnu6&u=i
It was only about a mile with 344 ft elevation gain. Super muddy and slippery on the way down but oh so wonderful views.
The trail continued along the beaches and valley floor with stunning scenery and even a little swing. We felt so lucky to have this to enjoy all to ourselves.
The way back up wasn’t too bad compared to Captain Cook the day prior! And I loved seeing the viewpoints with the different light.
We ventured to Hawi next which is a hip artist neighborhood with art galleries and great coffee shops. We stopped for coffee and window shopped but during covid, most things weren’t open.
Next we headed toward Kua Bay to walk along the coast.
Fortunately our airbnb host let us stay until our 8pm flight so we were able to go back to the condo and relax before our flight. We were treated to a fabulous last sunset.
Questions?
This was one of my most favorite trips to date. I hope you enjoyed following along. If you have any questions or if I can help you plan your Big Island trip, feel free to comment below or send me a message!
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