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Our family spent the most amazing week on the big island of Hawaii. We stayed a total of 12 nights in Hawaii. Seven of those on the big island, and five on Maui. Come back to check out my Maui post in a few weeks. This article is all about helping you create the perfect vacation. I want to share recommendations for where to stay, where to eat, and more importantly what to do on the Big Island.
Where to stay
When traveling as a family, the best options are a hotel or a rental. Depending on the age of your children, you may need or want two separate rooms and two bathrooms. In some hotels, two rooms will exceed the price of a rental.
Additionally, a rental offers the possibility of cooking some meals. Everything in Hawaii is very pricey compared to the mainland. Other than lodging and airfare, eating out was the largest expense during our stay, even though we ate half of our dinners at our condo.
On the other hand, a hotel or resort may offer more activities. I’d recommend assessing the pros and cons of both for your family.
We opted to stay in Kailua-Kona on the West Coast of the Big Island. Kona is also known to be located on the dry side of the island whereas Hilo, on the East is more of a tropical forest and is rainier. You can travel from Kona to Hilo if you rent a car. The trip takes about 1.5 hours and offers pretty views. Some also chose to book a stay in Kona for a few days and move to a different accommodation in Hilo to continue their trip.
We rented a phenomenal condo right on the ocean. The place was spotless and well-stocked. We were able to walk to several restaurants and shops. The condo is next to a small public beach. The beach is super cute and is even the location of yoga classes each morning. I attended one, and it was so much fun.
Where to eat
As you may have guessed, we ate “home” a lot. Seriously, did you see the view we had? It was hard to beat at any restaurant. All of our breakfasts were consumed at home, while we ate all of our lunches out and did about half/half for dinners.
Here are the restaurants we tried that I would recommend:
- Huggos on the rock: this is a primarily outdoor restaurant right on the water in downtown Kona. The food was average but the ambiance is great with live music, hula dancers, and a view of the sunset. They also make really good mai-tai.
- Resident beach house: this restaurant is part of the beautiful Four Season resort and Golf course. It has an ocean view and is mostly if not all outdoor. We went there for lunch and I had a delicious poke. Their fish n’ chips were also great. As a bonus, we saw our first sea turtle resting on the beach.
- The fish hopper: great food with the best creamy coleslaw I’ve ever had with pineapple pieces in it. Check out this live cam installed outside of the restaurant to get a sneak peek at Kona.
- Hilo bay cafe: as the name suggests, this restaurant is located in Hilo. It has delicious food and gets really busy. We lucked out and they had one table left. I would recommend a reservation if you chose to go. The harvest salad with shrimp was so fresh and tasty.
- Peaberry and Galette: Nice breakfast or lunch place if you are a fan of crepes. I had the smoked salmon one, it was so good.
- Jackie Rey’s: Outstanding food! The seafood trio with purple sweet potato was amazing and so was the chocolate gelato. This restaurant isn’t by the water but is very popular. I highly recommend making a reservation.
- Umekes: the restaurant is also a fresh fish market. I had delicious fish tacos and we also had poke which was so fresh. A must-try if you are in the area.
What to do on the big island
There is so much to do on the big island. Depending on your areas of interest and the time you have on the island, you can draft many different itineraries for your family. We had seven nights on the Big Island. Here is what we did.
Day 1
We landed at the Kona Internal Airport around 1 pm. Getting our luggage and the rental car was simple and took no more than an hour.
Speaking of rental cars, I do think they are essential when visiting the big island. It is a vast island! You will need a vehicle unless you plan to stay at a resort during your entire stay.
After leaving the airport, we went to Costco to stock up on wine and a few food items. We then stopped by the grocery store (there is a Safeway near the condo we rented) to buy the rest of our groceries. By the time we were finished, it was time to head over to our Condo to check-in.
We took in the beautiful views, unpacked, and rested for a bit before heading out to dinner. We walked over to Huggos on the rock (see recommendation above) for our first dinner. Everyone went to bed early as we were all quite tired.
Day 2
We woke up and enjoyed breakfast by the ocean. Our very first stop was to get our snorkeling rental gear at Snorkel Bob. If you enjoy snorkeling, this is a very convenient way to get good-quality equipment for the duration of your stay. You can even do an inter-island transfer which we did. They’ll have everything on the computer, and you can pick it up at any Snorkel Bob on the next Island.
Special note: they even offer prescription masks! My son who is nearsighted and doesn’t wear contact lenses was able for the first time to see clearly while snorkeling. This was game-changing!
We then went to explore some of the coast north of our location. We first headed to Manani’owali beach in Kua Bay. This gorgeous white sand beach is clean and great for boogie-boarding or surfing. They usually have a lifeguard on duty.
As we were getting pretty hungry, we decided to head up the road to the Resident Beach house restaurant on the Four Seasons resort. This is a fantastic spot for lunch with a beautiful ocean view. We even saw a sea turtle on the beach. I enjoyed a delicious poke bowl.
As we drove back down toward our condo, we stopped to see the Keahole point blowhole. This blowhole was formed by lava after the 1801 eruption. When waves are strong (especially during the winter months) and hit just right, you can see water forcefully ejected from the blowhole. The entire area is covered in lava rocks. We all enjoyed this unique experience.
Day 3
We had the “opportunity” to see one of Hawaii’s biggest storms on our third day. The storm impacted all of the Hawaiian islands. According to some residents, it was the biggest in 50 years!
We used most of the morning to plan the rest of our week. We managed to step out for lunch to the delicious Fish Hopper restaurant and to pick fresh fish and some veggies for dinner.
The power went out at about 5 in the afternoon and didn’t return until 8. It was fun to be creative and use the grill outside to prepare the entire meal. It was also quite the sight to see the teenagers trying to make it through this challenging time without wifi. We taught them to play euchre and had a great evening despite the storm.
Day 4
The blue sky and sun were back on day four, and we were ready to get out. We got up early and left the house around 7 am to head to the other side of the Island.
Our first stop was the Kaumana caves near Hilo. The caves are located in a state park of the same name. The caves are really lava tubes that were formed during the 1881 eruption of Mauna Loa. Make sure to wear good non-slip shoes and bring a couple of good flashlights (your phone flashlight will not work as you advance in the tube). We all loved this unique experience.
We continued and headed to Richardson ocean park to view one of the rare Hawaiian black-sand beaches. If you have not seen a black-sand beach before, this is pretty interesting to see. This beach has a lifeguard on duty and relatively low currents, making it a great location for snorkeling. We enjoyed the variety of fishes we saw around the reef.
At that point, everyone was hungry and we headed to Hilo Bay cafe for lunch. This is a great spot for lunch or dinner and I would recommend making a reservation if you plan to go. The food was delicious and the bay view was pretty.
With a full stomach, it was time to continue our East coast visit. Next on the list was the Hawaii tropical bioreserve and garden. The family was skeptical about this stop I had planned for them but everyone was pleased with the visit. It was a great way to see a variety of plants, flowers, lizards, geckos, birds, and breathtaking views of the ocean. The visit took us about 75 minutes. The garden has an entrance fee but I recommend it. I would do it again if I return to the area.
The last spot for the day was Akaka falls. There was also a fee to visit but these gigantic 442 feet tall waterfalls are worth it in my opinion. You need to hike a short way to get to the falls. The trail is fairly easy but not wheelchair accessible because it has many stairs.
After a full day on the Hilo side, we headed back to Kona and had a quiet dinner at the condo.
Day 5
This was my husband’s birthday and we pretty much let him decide what he wanted to do for this day. He chose to book us a tour of the Heavenly Hawaiian coffee farm. This farm is located right in Kona and the staff offers a great 1-hour tour of the facility and explanations about how they grow, harvest, and prepare the coffee for sale. And yes, you get to try the outstanding coffee!
For lunch, we stopped by Peaberry and Galette for crepes which is one of my husband’s favorites. Near the restaurant Kahalu’u beach which is a great snorkeling spot near Kona. The beach is good but quite busy and so is the water. There was a great variety of fish but you bumped into people quite a bit while floating in the water. All and all a great beach that I would try to hit early in the day.
After getting showered and refreshed, we had an amazing dinner at Jackie Rey’s. Check out my review above, I highly recommend it.
Day 6
We were back on the road on day 6, this time to visit Volcano National Park. I think the park is a must-see when planning what to do on the big island. Unfortunately, we missed the 2022 eruption of Mauna Lao by about two weeks.
Tip: If you plan to visit more than 3 national parks during the next 12 months, consider buying the America the beautiful annual pass to save money.
If you plan to do the entire crater road and most of the stops along the way, plan for a full day. We left the house around 6:30 in the morning and didn’t return until after 6 at night. Kona is about two hours from the Park’s entrance and there is a lot to see once you are in the park.
I strongly recommend getting the Shaka app if you do this visit. The app is GPS based and tells you exactly where to stop along with explanations of what you see. In between locations, the app shares cool stories and legends. We all enjoyed the app. The app itself is free but you need to pay for the actual tour you want to take. The fee for the Volcano National Park was $19.99.
Special Note: There is only one restaurant inside the park which is located near the visitor center. The food is pretty good considering this is in a national park and the view overlooks a crater which is cool. Because the restaurant is at the beginning of Crater road, you should eat before you start or pack a lunch to eat along the way.
We arrived back home a little after 6 and simply walked over to a nearby restaurant that was just okay and therefore not included above. We all slept really well that night.
Day 7
This was our last full day on the Big Island. We started slow with a Yoga class on the beach for me.
We then chose to visit the seahorse farm which is located near Kona. The visit is guided and last about 60 minutes. You learn interesting information about seahorses and even get to hold one at the end of the visit. It is a little pricey, but we enjoyed the visit and felt the money went to support a good cause.
Our final lunch was at Umekes. I wish we would have found this place earlier to go buy fresh fish from. It was the perfect final lunch.
We ate dinner at our condo, watching one last stunning Kona sunset.
Day 8
We fed our lanai chicken one last time before packing our bags and heading to the airport to continue our Hawaii vacation on the Island of Maui.
In conclusion
This trip could not have been better and more magical for our family. We will forever cherish these memories and I cannot wait to return. I hope that this blog post about what to do on the Big Island was a helpful resource to you as you plan your trip.
Let me know if have questions.
Bon voyage!
Cat xx
[…] Seven of those on the Big Island, and five on Maui. If you are also interested in the Big Island, make sure to check this blog post before planning your trip. This Maui travel guide is all about helping you create the perfect vacation. I want to share […]