The Big Island: some reservations and some enthusiasms
Written: Apr 02 '05 (Updated Apr 11 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: scenery, snorkeling, beef
Cons: humidity, wind, overbuilding, drivers
The Bottom Line: I prefer Kaua'i and Maui.
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| Jiahong's Full Review: Hawaii |
As in writing about another intensely popular destination, New Orleans, my celebration of Hawai'i (the island, not the state) is accompanied by recording some frustrations. The somewhat negative emphasis is, probably, in part due to being unhappy with being stored for a week in what was almost certainly the worst room in a large resort hotel, the Outrigger Keauhou. Color me somewhat jaundiced!
The primary trouble with the Big Island is that it is too big. Yeah, yeah, I know that there are bigger islands (Taiwan for one, Java for another, but each of them has a large population and one does not expect to be able to zoom around either island). It takes a long time to get anywhere on the island of Hawai'i. In part, this is because there are no freeways, even around the two largest cities. It is necessary to stop at many traffic lights to get through Hilo. Highway 11 goes around rather than through Kailua Kona, but there is so much traffic on it that it takes 20+ minutes to go from Keauhou to the airport with protracted stops at red lights unavoidable. It's only going to get worse, since there is a house- and condo-building boom, so that there will be even more vehicles on the roads.
In my opinion there are too many churches. The reason I say this is not that they are architecturally uninteresting, which they are, but because they seem to have failed to instill the "Golden Rule" enunciated by Jesus Christ: "Do unto others as you would have done to you." In California on winding two-way roads if more than three cars are lined up behind one, the driver is required to pull over and let them around. The idea of letting anyone go faster than you are going by letting them around it entirely alien to drivers on Hawai'i. I realize that a large number of those driving are visitors, but visitors are driving new rental cars. They do not behave much better than the locals, but the very obese drivers of older vehicles are the most prone to cutting others off and not permitting others to pass.
I assume that the drivers riding the brake down after decline are from the flatlands (as I myself am, but I learned to shift down long ago). Those jerking onto the road cutting me off seemed to me more often to be locals than visitors.
Climate: Perhaps it is not always as muggy as it was Holy Week 2005, but the fierce winds have made the beautiful beaches (and the rocky snorkeling ones) unswimmable on each of the three times I have gone to the Big Island (in November, February, and late March, so there is the possibility that this is not the case during the summer—when it is hotter still). In my (wintertime) experience, Hilo and Kailua are usually overcast—and Hilo has a lot of rain.
It seems to me that there are not enough restaurants. Those I tried, both the good and the bad, were crowded. Parking to go to those in Kailua is inadequate, part of why we returned to Uncle Ibea's, ten miles south of Kailua (just south of the mile 111 mile-marker).
One good thing is that the paved roads have mile markers, so that it is possible to provide relatively precise directions. However, the various guidebooks (including free tourist-oriented magazines) often fail to specify the mile marker closest to a destination.
One very good thing is that all of the coastline is public and that the state parks have no admission charge. There is parking for most places marked "Coastal access," and substantial parking lots for the most popular beaches (except those within Kailua). Toilets/changing facilities are generally well-maintained and most public beaches have outdoor showers to wash off salt and sand before leaving.
Many of the beaches are very rocky—which provides shelter for fish and makes for good snorkeling (if the surf is not pounding). There are "classic" white sand beaches along the Kohala coast (these tend to have high winds blowing out to sea, so that the waves are decapitated; the downside of this is that getting in and out of the water feels more chilling).
Some local food is good, in particular beef, bananas, onions, and Kona coffee (pure Kona coffee, that is, to have the label requires only including ten percent of the beans originating on the Kona coast). The onions may come from Maui, famed for its sweet onions, and I couldn't guarantee that the beef actually originates from the island of Hawai'i. It is surprising that the immense Parker Ranch does not have a restaurant serving its own beef in the Parker Center (in Waimea), where there is a food court of no interest. (In addition to Uncle Ibea's Steakhouse, south of Kailua, the Outback Steakhouse in the Coconut Grove Marketplace on Ali'i Drive in Kailua served exceptionally good beef,)
Although Kaua'i is reputed to have the most native birds, we saw more different kinds of birds and more native Hawaiian birds on the Big Island (though we only heard o'meao and did not see any i'iwi, of which there are supposed to be some on the island). The wilderness trails are little used, so that few others are encountered on them (a plus) and they tend to be overgrown (a minus). The grueling Makuna State Park Nature Trail produced the most life birds (elepaio, red-billed leiothrix, Hawai'i amakihi).
Seeing a steaming caldera and flowing lava in Volcanoes National Park make it the #1 tourist destination. I would advise mainlanders visiting the island to go to the park on the first day (having arrived form some earlier time zone, makes it easier to get an early start, and VNP is overrun with visitors as the morning wears on). (The standard national park entrance fee of $10 for up to a week applies.) For more information on VNP see Jo.com's characteristically exhaustive epinion at http://www.epinions.com/content_72275168900.
The #2 destination, the Waipi'o Overlook (or descent into the valley which was the capital of the kingdom of Hawai'i—for the few years between the unification of the kingdoms on the island of Hawai'i and the conquest by Kamehameha the Great of other islands) is highly photogenic, but is only worth the effort of getting to if one is driving from Hilo to Waimea (or Hilo through Waimea to Kailua). For an account of the drive down to the valley, see Joli's at http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-5882-8093C70-38DD340C-prod3 (I don't think visitors are allowed to drive down even with 4-wheel-drive vehicles now.)
The #3 destination, Pu'uhonau o Honaunan National Historical Park is also out of the way and, in my opinion, unimpressive. It has an ancient wall (to separate the royal compound from the place of refuge to which those who had broken one or another of the many kapus (taboos) could swim and be pardoned. It has no petroglyphs (a forthcoming review will describe the three main concentrations of these; one is in VNP), and modern replicas of a few buildings (why make a half-size replica of a thatched-roof wooden temple?). However, the lave flow has tide pools with fish (there are also mad-made fish ponds) and we saw half a dozen green sea turtles resting out on the lava "beach." This national park does not honor entry fees from other national parks (like, say, Volcanoes or Haleakala, which is visible from North Kohala beaches) but has its own $5 entry fee. Other than that change, Jo.com's epinion on the park at http://www.epinions.com/content_81523805828 is comprehensive. Hularider's at http://www.epinions.com/content_41446051460 is also interesting, if overly rapturous.
The rocky beaches (probably including the one besides PHNP) are good for snorkeling, though one is very likely to scrape against coral and/or a'a (the rougher kind of lava). Several publications laud the snorkeling at North Kohala beaches, but the wind (at least in winter) is so unrelenting that I don't want to go in the water there.
The wind can be intense even on the beautiful white-sand beaches of South Kohala. The most extensive (and boogie-board infested) one is Kahalu'u. An even more beautiful and less heavily populated one is the Waikoloa Beach on 'Anaeho'omalu Bay (abbreviated by many to "A-Bay") just south of the Marriott at Kings' Shops. There are dangerous riptides off most all Hawaiian beaches, so be careful about going over your head into the waters!
There are also many waterfalls on the windward (east) side, but having circumnavigated Iceland, I'm blasé about waterfalls on volcanic islands.
I'd say that there are also too many golf courses, but will leave that to the coming water battles between the condos that are being thrown up and the golf courses. The golf courses provide habitat for gray francolin (which we saw at the edge of two of them as we were leaving the two major petroglyph sites not in VNP).
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I prefer Maui and Kaua'i to Hawai'i.
I've written about Kaua'i beaches at http://www.epinions.com/content_48110538372,
Kaua'i trails/birding at http://www.epinions.com/content_48110341764,
what to do on Maui at http://www.epinions.com/content_89952259716,
and about a day trip from Maui to Lana'i at http://www.epinions.com/content_89531911812.
Aloha!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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