A dear long time friend of mine is a member at the Hilo Yacht Club where we usually meet up before…read moreI leave the nice town of Hilo. Hilo Yacht Club is located on the edge of Hilo Bay about 3 miles from the Hilo International Airport. This visit brought us family style appetizers. The kalbi was well prepared (taste a bit too sweet for me but good nonetheless 3.5 stars), the calamari was fresh and deep fried (5 stars) with a decent tasting dredge pre-fry. The poke was okay (3.5 stars) and I say this because fresh fish is plentiful in Hilo. Knowing this I guess I expected a bit more from the standpoint of quality of fish. But, will I go back? Yup if I'm invited as the ambiance is relaxing and decent. Our server Justin was a great guy and made me laugh the entire time I was there! But if you've not gone there, be sure to use your global positioning service because the location is off the beaten path!

Sorry I have to mention that it's a private club. Hilo has…read morelimited upscale dining options and this place has consistently good service but kind of inconsistent food. No shorts/slippers in the dining room, but come as you are for the more casual outdoor dining section. We were impressed with their food options and pricing for a private party we had. Highly recommend if you know someone with a membership. Also it's weird they're a yacht club that literally has no yachts or even a dock.

Must see near Hilo! Super inconspicuous from the road, but very cool spot where you can walk…read morethrough two caves. The entry point is a very steep staircase and the terrain is rugged inside the caves so best to wear closed toe shoes with traction. I'd budget 20-30 minutes to spend here as you can't walk too far into the caves.

Very cool experience to walk through 2 caves…read more Bring a flashlight / headlamp. Your phone flashlight won't be as strong but can work if you have no options. Ideal shoes would be hiking boots but gym shoes will work. There are steep steps going down and then uneven rocks until the cave. The cave is uneven as well. Parking: maybe room for 10 cars, so parking could be difficult. When we went around 1pm on a Saturday, we didn't have a problem. Park and walk across the street to enter. Bathrooms: I did see some. Didn't use them though.

Wow. This view was breathtaking!…read more I visited in April and we definitely got lucky. I hear that all the tour busses come by and parking is often difficult to find. There is a slight hike so if you aren't physically able, this might be inaccessible for you. Tourists used to be able to access the property below the valley but that has changed since the pandemic (unfortunately). Still, nonetheless it doesn't cost a penny and it's a stunning view.

This was such an epic view. The lookout is a short but steep walk from the parking lot and had…read morebathroom facilities. This is definitely worth a stop if on the big island. The day we went, was right after rain and there was a waterfall falling onto a black sand beach. Where else in the world can you see that?

I didn't make for the E-dance or Holiday Festivities or New Years Festivities but I met some people…read morewho partook in them and expressed a good time. I went for a yoga class led by Marcia, 90 minutes flew by. There's places to stay, a store etc

Michael the bald guy who works at kalani is so rude…read more He told me to fuck off this morning because I pulled into the "wrong" entrance Because two women and two dogs were standing in the entrance He met me with such aggression first thing in the morning, I asked for an apology and he refused. I'm amazed that they want to treat their customers this way, I live nearby and go there every day. This is not okay, I'm not sure why he can get away with treating people this way living right in the front of the retreat center. Not Pono.

You'll never see more gorgeous views than you will from these tennis courts at the Mauna Kea. The…read moreviews alone are worth 5 stars, but the drills were super fun too. I was told by the concierge ahead of time that I didn't need to worry about booking tennis until the day before so to just wait until we got to the resort. It turns out the drills book up fast and way ahead of time so when I called on arrival day I ended up being #9 or 10 on the waitlist. Eek! Fortunately, the waitlist moves since people get busy with other things to do in the Big Island so I did get in to 2 classes. Joseph and Dan (i think) taught both drills. We started the drills with a warm up and then did a bunch of mini games. I'd say most players were at the intermediate level and they did a good job of pairing us up so that the levels were well matched. An hour of drills flew by, especially when looking at that view! My daughter also took one of the kids drills, which she enjoyed. The ages ranged from about 10-15 so at 14 she was one of the older kids, but all of them hit pretty well. The instructor did a great job of keeping them engaged with games and the hour seemed to move pretty fast for them too. Two other days I reserved courts (that you do the day before- i recommend calling in the morning since they fill fast)) and hit with my kids, which was a lot of fun. It can get pretty windy out by the ocean and a little hot too, but they drop off water while you're playing to keep you hydrated. We left our racquets back at home (less to pack), but we just rented racquets which was also a good way to try out some new ones. I have my eye on a Yonex after playing pretty well with it one day! The pickleball courts were even more full than the tennis courts. I stuck with tennis this trip, but would love to do both next time!

I do not know the club members nor the coaching staff here but I do know that this is one of the…read moremost epic places to play tennis possibly in the world. Funny I live near a small town called Seaside and grew up playing at one of the tennis clubs, in regards to ambiance nothing compares to this fabulous resort tennis club. Here to celebrate a close family friend's wedding we decided to play a little mixed doubles and sweat out some of last night's libations. It was hard for me to focus as I heard the waves lightly crashing ashore and the view of the palm trees didn't help as I raised my face into the sun to hit a serve. This club is run by a friendly staff as they remembered that family that I arrived with, they are as regular as visitors to hit island get and the pro shop is neatly laid out and it was hard for me not to buy one of those bright signature orange Mauna Kea Beach Hotel logo-ed hats or shirts. Lucky for me, the color orange and I do not get along... well at least not Tony the Tiger orange. If you enjoy the game of tennis and you want to hit a few while visiting the Kohala coast, I recommend hitting up the Seaside Tennis Club. If not for tennis, just check out the club grounds to see how magical and refreshing it would be to play here. Open 8:00am-5:00pm Daily

We wanted to play tennis while visiting Waikaloa, however the court available to us was usurped by…read morepickleballers. We had visited the Mauna Lani tennis facilities on prior visits but hadn't played there, so we decided to book a court. The price was reasonable (about what we'd paid visiting other clubs in California), and we played longer than the time we had booked. They have a lot of demo rackets (Wilson, Yonex & Head) to play with as well, so don't worry about bringing your own racket. The staff is incredibly welcoming & made sure we had everything we needed for our game. The court rental included water as well as chilled towels, brought out in a cooler for us. Nice touch! The courts are recently surfaced, on the slower side but beautifully maintained. I look forward to playing again when we visit next spring!

My wife and I bought a couples pass for a week for ~$470. All the fitness equipment you need is…read moreavailable here except kettlebells and a 35 lb barbell which my wife wished they had. They have Peloton bikes, row machine, treadmills, and elliptical machines. The treadmills are a bit dated and there were a few machines out of order which is why I gave it 4 stars. Overall though a great place to workout especially if you have stayed at the Marriott and Hilton Waikoloa resorts and have seen their joke of a fitness center.

This has been a fantastic day. We got here at the very beginning of the day and went to the…read moretemporary visitor center. We bought some souvenirs and spent some time with the park Ranger. Within walked right across from the front side of the temporary visitor center down a short trail to see steam vents and then we began a two or three hour journey through various parts of the park, including a 3 mile round-trip hike that we took to go to the lava tubes. One thing I would recommend is getting up and out early because the crowds are much less and more easy to manage the earlier you begin the journey. I highly recommend a visit here if you have the opportunity, it is amazing and really hard to describe if you've never seen it. The rock and the landscape that are created by the lava flows is something to behold. The road that takes you down through the park from the visitor center area all the way to the ocean was built in about 1969 and since that time there's only been about 13 years where the entire road has been passable due to active lava flows all through the many years since the road was built. It's an amazing story that you can see and in my opinion, you can see the fingerprints of God all through the amazing tour that I took today with my family. We got to see the glow of the eruption and see some fire and lava from the top at Volcano House!

It'd been over several years since our last visit to Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island…read more The visitor center is closed. There's a temporary one near the military camp. We passed it and went on the rim center drive. We stopped first at the steam vents then headed to the rim. We parked the car, and headed on the gravel trail. New to us. Kept walking uphill. Then we recognized where we ended up. The Jagger Museum is gone. Found out later at the temporary visitor center that the 2018 eruption shook so hard the museum collapsed. It was built from wood. Now there's only an outline of where it once stood. The restrooms withstood the eruption as it's built from rock. We missed the current eruption by several hours on May 30 last Saturday. The ranger said it was imminent. We were in the park around 1pm. Kilauea erupted around 6:30pm lasting nine hours. No way we wanted to drive back 2 1/2 hours the next day from Waikoloa although it would have been bragging rights. The rim trail has improved. It's a longer trail than before. We didn't drive down to the sea this time.

Donna wont bother to call you, even after years of playing there, to fix a wrong…read more Dont spend your money or time at a place that wont back its product, nor do what they say. Honorless

I loved the family passion of the tennis pro mom Donna and her daughter who taught for so many…read moreyears, they are famous in USTA!! They created fun musical high cardio tennis warm up that can uplift any age into a faster flow and more accuracy. Due to my broken bones from accident and age, I may never return to my strength I had when I first met this special tennis pro team , but I am willing to return after the metal is taken out of wrist and just enjoy the sun warming court passion and fun events. I used to be manager of #1 global wheelchair triathlete Randy Cadell and started teen camp with sponsorship we raised and donated teaching kids after their summercamp students were done for a yoga kids character that had them all laughing and loving our style so it would be great to support this tennis pro family. I have a background coaching Licensed Clinical Nutritional and Yogic Therapy warm up workshops for USTA in Santa Monica and would love to collaborate for events or produce professional online media with our 25 year media background and resources. We believe in uprising diversity and low income opportunities too.

Ding! Ding! Ding! This is the main event for touristy waterfalls that you can visit on the Hilo…read moreside of the island. I'll start by stating the obvious. Yes, this place is well known, and it gets busy regardless of the weather. We went a few days before Lala hit in a steady rain and the parking lot was fairly packed. Unlike Rainbow Falls where you can sneak in the "side door" under the Banyan trees and not pay, there is only one way in/out here and it is well staffed. In some form or other (be it the QR code - text link - kiosk on site) you're paying for this one. $5 p/p and $10 to park. We did get a space in the main lot, but plenty of people were parking up the entrance road. As Chuck S. perfectly points out, this isn't a hike so much as a paved loop walk. It's a big four tenths of a mile around and yes, there are some steeper steps going up/down at the beginning/end, but it's nothing too crazy. The below Google map gives a nice overview of the grounds and parking situation. www.google.com/maps/place/%CA%BBAkaka+Falls+State+Park/@19.8544917,-155.1527417,376m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x7953ada4f8d1be01:0x728c3dc44022e05c!8m2!3d19.8532104!4d-155.1549738!16zL20vMDNxYnRf?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDkwMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D Yep, the main falls are indeed majestic. We had to wait a few minutes for any pictures as when we got there, the falls were fogged in. You could hear it, but there was nothing to see. Eventually it cleared up a little bit, and we got some decent shots with a small rainbow thrown in. True there is a secondary falls (Kahuna) on the grounds you can see at the far end of the loop but it's fairly irrelevant. The other thing which is amazing in its own right is the flora and the fauna here. Lots of the amazing colors/types/species of birds, plants and trees. Seeing this is almost worth the visit in its own right, let alone the main falls. I think the key here is to take your time. During our visit I saw several people ripping through the walkway/grounds as if it were a timed event either due to their own impatience or because there were talking about cramming a ton of different falls in the same day. You can certainly do that...but why? To me, anything less than 30 minutes and you didn't experience what this place has to offer and it's definitely worth a visit here to see it all in person.

Well worth the trip all the way from the Kona side. Sure, lots of tourists show up here and it kind…read moreof gets crowded, but there's a 400-plus foot waterfall in this park! Go see it! There's a trail that leads you down to the panoramic view of the waterfall. The trailhead is right next to the parking lot and it costs 10 bucks for parking and 5 bucks per person to get in. Bathrooms are on the premises. So this really isn't a "trail," so to speak. I mean, you're not roughing it out in some canopied jungle out there. It's more like a nice, half-mile botanical stroll on a paved, fenced-in pathway. Takes about 45 minutes, most of which is spent just stopping and appreciating the beautiful flora and fauna of the park. No need to rush. It really is impressive. So the trail is one oblong, closed loop. At the beginning, you can head straight to the fall if you turn left - about a 5-minute walk. Or, if you go right, you can take the scenic route that ends up at the fall eventually. There is some uphill, so seniors and out of shapers take your time. Super worth it, brah.