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.

When we went it was on and off raining. The stairs are quite steep- down to the two caves. One on…read morethe right and one on the left. If you have trouble with balance etc. you should consider waiting in the car as the caves were wet and slippery. Was just accross the street from the parking lot. We were there for about 1/2 an hour. And it's FREE! I enjoyed seeing what the lava had created. We went to the volcano after this. Recommend flashlights and at least one head lamp. Phone lights are just too little!

This Beach park happened by accident when my niece was looking for a place for us to eat lunch in…read moreKona. This happened to be the closest picnic area that we could come to, thanks to a little tik- tok video she watched. If you're looking for a traditional beach with sand, this isn't the place. But what you'll get instead are the famous black lava rock formations Kona is known for that spill into several lagoons full of crystal clear water. As for eating, there are plenty of places to lay down a blanket in the grass, picnic and relax. The park has several trash cans for you to use as well and I did happily notice that the park was clean. I did not have to use the bathroom here so I can't comment on that. What impressed me the most was that they had built in stairs for you to walk into the ocean. In my entire life of traveling, I've never seen a beach park with built in stairwells to walk into the lagoons. This was a treat for me. If I have one big tip, it's to remember to have your water shoes because the rocks are sharp to walk on and can easily cut you if you're not careful. I also did read that they do have outdoor showers but I didn't see them when we were here. Lots of folks brought their own snorkeling gear because there were a lot of fish, not to mention at least 3 turtles that I saw swimming around. As I'm writing this review, I'm already missing Kona and the uniqueness of this island. If you plan on going to Kona, you must come and enjoy this place. It's truly special and I would recommend it to anyone.

A favorite spot when visiting Hilo! Perfect snorkeling and swimming spot with beautiful blue…read morewaters and landscape. I mostly love that it's a spot for locals and love the island vibe music playing.

Great waterfall Beautiful gals not much of a hike just a…read moresmall walk from the tiny parking lot. Have to pay to park and enter. It was a gloomy day. Lots of bugs up Top by the pretty trees.

I get monetizing this spot because it's an awesome view, but don't charge an absurd $10 per car and…read more$5 per person for what literally will take you maybe 15 minutes to check out before you want to move on. Also, if you go up the stairway to the top, there's a broken, rooted path to the left that leads you to a shaded grove. The rudimentary trail continues up, but abruptly stops where there are signs warning you not to enter or you will be fined. So I guess one dude ignored that and walked past the sign. He came back like 5 minutes later and said there was some half naked guy down there with his shorts down in some kind of trance and chanting something. Yeah, so don't go past those signs.

Check for access before planning to visit Coconut Island. The pedestrian bridge connecting it to…read more land collapsed earlier this month under the weight of a small excavator. The bridge was closed pending repairs.

Fun, beautiful hang for the whole family. Definitely a great location for swimming and on my top 5…read moremust visit spots in Hilo town

This part of the river and state park was also worth checking out!…read more The river is so fast, and it's such a gorgeous area! You can't get close to the area that is the boiling pots or the falls, but it's a cool little area and observation area. We enjoyed our time there, and took so many pictures. The area wasn't what we were expecting, but it was a cool little day trip!

This was a mike above Rainbow Falls. Another special…read moreexperience. We were alone on the lookout. Surreal .

Lucky me we had the entire beach park to ourself. Not meant for adult swimming or diving deep to…read moresnorkeling but for a families with young kids or those who can't swim this is the best to cool off. Known for the sandy shallow ocean pools and a bountiful tide pools to explore. The natural lava rocks surround the area making protected lava pools blocking the crashing waves. The parking itself was plentiful, but when school is out and the island is at its peak tourist season you never get the seclusion I got today. The park has tables, restrooms and even horseshoe courts. Anytime I can get out and dip in the water is a win!

Fun place for kids. I would never come here without kids. The place was nice but they seriously…read moreneed to clean the bathrooms. I'm literally traumatized at how disgusting it was, floor was flooded, stepped in god knows what, then in the toilet there were 3 HUGE roaches walking around, horrible.

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.

Totally need to come here when you were on the big island! This place was fantastic and so…read morebeautiful! So it cost us $27 for parking plus the entrance fee. It's a very small parking lot, but there is parking on the side of the road as well and you can walk pretty close by to get in. It was raining pretty heavily when we entered so do bring a rain jacket and an umbrella because it does rain a lot up here. But then it cleared up and it was perfect. There's so many beautiful flowers and plants and trees and of course the waterfall is breathtaking! Definitely worth it!

A great park for filling your lungs with fresh air and sight with fresh colors. And, your canine…read morebuddy will think the same. Say Aloha to the Kolea birds from September to April and meet a stranger everyday with a nod and smile. No bathrooms, so prepare yourself before visiting.

Review #9 for 2021…read more Machado Park is a great park to walk your dog and to get some fresh air and exercise, especially during the pandemic. I don't know what my family would've done this last year without this park! There's lots of space in the park for people to stay spread apart, and the paved trail is great too. Some nice park goers tie plastic bags on the bordering fence so that in case others forget to bring bags to pick up after their dogs, there are bags available. The grass is well maintained, and the surrounding neighbors are all really nice too. Parking is only allowed on the park side of the street.