Visiting the Big Island Without a Car

Recently, friends of mine visited the Big Island of Hawaii. Naturally, I tried to help them plan their vacation - I offered tips on where to go, what hotel to stay at, and overall tried to steer them towards the http://www.letsgo-hawaii.com/ website for all of their vacation planning needs.

Unfortunately, I must have forgotten to mention that they would need a rental car (but, who goes on vacation without renting a car?)... Well, these friends arrived at Kona Keahole Airport without any plans for a car and then simply took a (very expensive) taxi to their hotel in Kailua-Kona town and began their vacation. Later on I did find out why they did this -- although they had never been to the Big Island, they had previously visited Oahu many times and were impressed with the robust public transportation system that exists there (namely the public bus) -- they thought the Big Island 1.) was smaller with attractions closer together and 2.) there was good public transportation. Wrong on both counts.

So, for the first several days all they did was venture a short walking distance from the Royal Kona Resort hotel on Alii Drive -- never even making it to the Kohala area beaches or Kahaluu Beach Park, or Captain Cook or South Kona -- because they did not have a vehicle. They remarked to me later, "There are no beaches on the Big Island!" - and I thought to myself, what a strange thing to say (until I realized they never even made it to the beach!) Eventually, for the last few days of their trip, they rented a car and drove to the Volcanoes National Park, Hilo, and then up the Hamakua Coast and back up over to Kona - probably the best part of their trip.

So, the moral of the story is - RENT A CAR on the Big Island. There is so much more to do and see and everything is so spread out compared to the other (smaller) islands. Rent a car (and pack some comfortable walking shoes) and you will be able to access all of the islands splendid attractions.

Backcountry Hiking Plans

My brother and I have laid out some plans to do some backcountry overnight hiking on the Big Island sometime in the next several months. I have wanted to hike deep beyond the Pololu Valley, past the Honokane Nui and beyond. I previously read a blog (that I can no longer find online) that described a wonderful hike many valleys beyond the Pololu, venturing over steep ridges, passing rain-soaked valleys, and far from the casual hiker or passer-by. I've been pouring over a 1:24K topo map of the area and see several marked trails - but I have no idea what the actual condition of those trails actually is. I would like to make this trip an over-nighter, so that we don't have to rush back in the dark -- however I also do not know where an appropriate (or even legal) campsite may be... I'll post more information when we have more figured out.

Our second option is to hike down into the Waipio Valley, across the mouth of the valley, up the intimidating"zig-zag trail" (a.k.a. Muliwai Trail) up and over the staggering ridge, eventually into the scenic and peaceful Waimanu Valley. This valley has been more frequented by hikers and campers - and there are plenty of blogs and online photos of the Waimanu. I think it would be a challenging hike and a very pretty spot to camp out.

Our third option is to hike the Napau Crater trail at the Volcanoes National Park. This is a long hike - with a small campsite located enroute to the spectacular views of Pu'u O'o Crater. I took a look at the trail head and the information published at the Volcano Visitor's Center as well as online trqavelogues -- this looks to be a very interesting, challenging hike. There are several high-terrain points along the route with sweeping views of Napau Crater and other depressions. The grand finale is Pu'i O'o - which I heard is wonderful viewed from here at night. No doubt there would be few if any other persons encountered on this hike. Park rules state that you must register at the Visitor's Center before commencing this hike.

The last hike proposed was enthusiastically brought up by my brother who is looking for a herculean challenge: hike to the summit of Mauna Loa. This looks to be the mother of all hikes on the Big Island - something we would need the right gear and the right conditioning before we attempted this. And I heard it can be brutal -- the rate of altitude change is such that altitude sickness (adema) is felt by many that attempt this hike.

We will be taking a look at all of these options and planning which hikes we will be doing. I have already begun accumulating the gear that I will need for any of these hikes. I recently bought a new pair of hiking boots -- the sturdy and very supportive Asolo 95Ns, as well as a full set of rain outerwear (top and pants), water purifier + tablets to tackle even the tiniest Leptosperosis particles, and I plan on finally getting a good set of trekking poles (something from Black Diamond). We'll keep you all informed of our upcoming backcountry hiking and hope to post several entries as well as photos of the trip itself.