Located across from the Ironman start/finish marker, at N 19° 38.371 W 155° 59.839 /…read more5Q E 185645 N 2174356 on Kailua Pier in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Known as Plymouth Rock of Hawaii, this historical landmark has a placard commemorates the 195th anniversary of the arrival of the first missionaries in 1820. This is just a short walk from the oldest church on the island as is a must see religious as nd historical site for Christians.

This is a NPS managed site that protects the ancient fish traps and fish catch ponds. centuries old…read more, all by hand to catch fish that come in on the tides to feed. One Way traps. A marvel to imagine

Always stop and spend time here when I'm here, serene and spiritual setting. Much of the area is…read moreposted as off-limits because of historical reverence , but unfortunately many tourists I've seen treat it as a disposable Disneyland and walk right past the signs, no respect.

Hikiau Heiau at Kealakekua Bay is a nice state park we went to for snorkeling. I saw a few big…read morecrabs but not a whole lot of other creatures. Once you get in the water at the rocks, the ground becomes a gray sand and it was relaxing swimming there. There are a few areas at Kealakekua Bay to snorkel around.

If you want to connect to the Hawaiian people, this is a great start. See real history and stand…read morewhere the ali'i did!! Amazing and free to boot! Well worth the drive and the small amount of walking involved. This is what you come to Hawai'i for!

Beautiful hike in the big island! This hike has it all, including wildlife, views, nature, and so…read moremuch more. You start on a rocky dirt path that's surrounded by trees and tall grass. After a mile or so it really opens up and you get amazing views of the ocean and surrounding hillsides. It is around here that you can see a lot of mountain goats. Once you reach the bottom, you get to the main attraction, the snorkeling. I found that snorkeling very close to the rocks had a lot more fish. Lots of people go out to the deeper waters, but most of the fish are clustered in the rocky areas that are about 3 feet deep. You can also view the captain cook monument, which has surrounding plaques that describe his legacy. Bring lots of water, the hike back up is all uphill and can be very hot!

A really rewarding out-and-back hike to the Captain Cook Monument with great views, but it's one…read moreyou definitely need to be prepared for. The trail starts and ends with some nice shade, but the middle section is very exposed, sunny, and hot. Sturdy shoes are a must as well as lots of water. There are no restrooms or facilities at the bottom so bring what you may need to change at the bottom as well. The numbered trail markers (8 total) were helpful, and we even saw goats and pigs along the way. Try to arrive early to snag parking along the shoulder near the trailhead and to avoid the worst of the midday sun. At the bottom is an amazing spot for snorkeling and you'll see both the monument itself and a separate stone marker in the water near where Captain Cook died. One thing to watch out for: the mongoose are everywhere and very bold. They will try (and likely succeed if you let your guard down) to steal your food. Challenging hike but definitely worth a visit.

We did a Captain Cook snorkeling tour with Sea Quest Hawaii today and were very impressed. Erin,…read morethe phone representative, was friendly, patient, and answered all my questions, which made me choose this company. Captain Natalie and Assistant Anna were fantastic, knowledgeable, funny, and very attentive throughout the trip. Captain Natalie shared interesting stories about Captain Cook and the surrounding lava caves, and she even helped me with my snorkeling gear and inflating the vest. The snorkeling spot near Captain Cook Monument was incredible, and we saw so many fish. They also provided fresh fruit, chips, cookies, and soft drinks. Thanks to Captain Natalie and Anna, all six of us had a great time and would highly recommend this company.

Hands down one of the coolest things I've ever done. We popped over to the Big Island with cousins…read morefor Spring Break and didn't book until a couple days out because of weather. Thankfully, they had space for our entire group for the sunset time (615pm check-in) and we didn't have to wait for the late-late slots. Online booking was easy-peasy (no kama'aina discount, unfortunately). We checked in (parking is street parking and there are several boats leaving from the same area, so it can be a bit of a challenge) pretty easily - there were folks out front directing us where to go for Sea Quest. I decided the $35 for the GoPro rental was a steal compared to trusting my waterproof phone pouch and I have no regrets - you can leave the camera running the whole time and they give you the SD card at the end. It was no trouble to do that once we got there, as I didn't add that when booking. They have a decent gift shop and the keiki in our party bought themselves some stuffed souvenirs. We got fitted for shorty wet suits and prescription masks if needed, and then waited for them to split us into boats and groups. We were accompanied in the water by Wylen (sorry if I butchered the spelling) and Abram, and they had the perfect blend of aloha, humor, and information. Super chill, but you also knew they meant business about Rule Number 1. From there, we boarded the boat, a small zodiac-style craft, for the 5 minute journey to Manta Village. The website made it seem like we could leave things on board, but that really wasn't the case. We left all bags, clothing, towels in a secure room on shore, slippers got collected on the pier, and small things like eyeglasses were stored in a bin on the boat. No trouble, but I wouldn't plan to take anything with you on the boat. Getting into the water was easy, and we had one keiki who was a little apprehensive about everything - they took great care to lower him into the water, and when he wanted to go back to the boat a little early, they accompanied him back to the ladder no problem. There were plenty staff around to help and also identify the mantas by their markings. And there were SO MANY mantas! We had an amazing evening watching them - I lost count and forgot many names, there were so many swimming past. We had 30-40 minutes in the water and we had multiple mantas around us the whole time. I thought the time was plenty - by the time we had about 5 minutes to go, my stomach was ready to be back on land. My only regret is not stretching my triceps beforehand - I was not expecting my arms to be so sore after holding onto the bar around the light board! We paid $135ish plus fees per person (all ages) and it was the highlight of the trip, for sure.

Absolutely a must visit to see, feel and understand Hawaiian history…read more It was sad that the volunteers were not even faintly familiar with anything. Names, events and even basic royal history questions were not answered...only empty smiles with oh- there is so much history here...sadly they didn't know hardly any of it. I even asked about the hula group that teaches there, again no idea. They need to train the volunteers to actually know something about the place where they are volunteering.

Hulihe'e Palace is a beautiful piece of Hawaii history museum that sits in downtown Kailua-Kona…read more This palace was built in 1838 for Hawaiian royalty stayed here, in 1973 it was place on the national register of historic places, it was originally built out of lava rocks, the lava rocks fance today still secure the palace. The museum has lot's of priceless artifacts like furiture photos quilts and other cultural Items. I was sad because it was close on the day we dock there, a good reason to come back to Kona.

What an amazing experience! Addison was our tour guide and did amazing with our 9 person group. He…read morewas extremely knowledgeable about every single aspect of this tour, we absolutely loved that he spoke about the Hawaiian history and explained everything very thoroughly. During the summit trip I personally did not adjust well to the high elevation but Addison reassured me and was great at helping me to stay calm. Regardless of my elevation problems I still had an amazing time and still got to experience a lot! Well done Addison, we appreciate you!

Excellent experience! 10/10…read more Highly recommended! Bring layers! It gets pretty cold. Jackets are supplied but that may not be enough with the wind.

Going to Mauna Kea was a must-do on our trip to the Big Island. We planned for our visit to line up…read moreperfectly with sunset. The visitor center is cool. Lots of good info. There's quite a bit of parking. It was super busy for a Sunday evening. We were in an all-wheel drive vehicle (Ford Edge) and the ranger gave us the green light to go up, even though all of the signs say 4-wheel drive only. They said they can no longer turn all wheel drive vehicles away. He recommended we stop every so often on the way down to let our brakes cool. The road is rough. Not paved. It's basically gravel and dirt the whole way. We only made it a mile of the 8 before turning around. The sun was so bright in our eyes we weren't able to see the road at some points and there is definitely some steep terrain going up. Our vehicle was already needing to have the gas all the way just to make it up. The thought of going down 8 miles of that sounded quite anxiety-inducing. So, we got back to the visitor center in time to hike the trail up the mountain across the road and catch the sunset. It's spectacular. The altitude change is no joke. I could feel how much harder it is to breathe with just a few steps into the hike. Be careful! The views are stunning though. So pretty. Definitely an experience worth checking out.

Unique place to explore, experience your lung and enjoy the view of sunset above the cloud. Make…read moresure you have 4wd or AWD car with LO gears option and a full tank of gas. Everybody has to stop at the visitor center (9200 ft) for 30 minutes acclimate time and Pitstop. After that you can continue the drive up to the top after a small talk and car check with the ranger. There is a bout 4.5 miles of rough terrain and the rest 4 miles is smooth sailing. Total time about 30 minutes. The view is breathtaking. The air is really thin so you have to take more breath you can stay to enjoy the sunset above the cloud and that is all the difference, but you cannot linger till the sky is dark. Everybody has to leave 15 minutes after sunset. Recommended to stop at the visitor center in the way down, stay longer and see the Milky Way by your naked eyes. Remember to keep warm.

The Big Island tour was excellent! Our guide, Chris, provided a lot of history, which was awesome…read more Learned a lot from Chris! The island is beautiful and seeing the Kilauea volcano was a high light. Chris' driving was good and lunch provided hit the spot.

Mia was our driver. It was so great doing an all day tour with someone who lives on the island…read more Mia was able to point out so many places that would not be on a scripted tour. Great value for the price.

I've attended many luaus in Hawaii before and this one felt very commercialized. For general…read moreadmission, you'll be seated at long tables with other groups. This wasn't a huge deal, but the venue was on a slope and the tables were spaced fairly close together which was uncomfortable. Some drinks had spilled and just ran down the table into other guests' areas. Early on in the luau, guests had the opportunity to view an Imu Ceremony which was cool and something I haven't had the opportunity to witness at other luaus. My group was immediately started with 2 drinks each which was sugary and didn't have much alcohol in it. And apparently their policy is that each guest can't have more than 2 drinks at a time, but you could ask to swap out your drinks (you don't have to finish it). The buffet had a good spread of items, from basics like salad to regional flavors like kalua pork. The quality was fine - obviously not Michelin star quality, but it wasn't school cafeteria food either. I appreciate the large plates because you could fit a little bit of each item on there so you could try it all. I didn't see many people go back for seconds. Clearly the luau organizers are strategic about the food lineup so people don't overload on the meat at the end. The entertainment was fine. The performers were great, but honestly I didn't feel like there was much energy from the stage nor the crowd. Overall, the experience could've been better. Many of the employees looked tired and stressed and seemed to be on auto-pilot. It felt a bit like the guests were like cattle being shuffled around.

All you can drink, all you can eat, and authentic pork, sign me up! We ended up attending a Friday…read morenight and the event starts at 5 PM. They started handing us drinks left and right as we sat down. After drinks, they had a demonstration of how they were smoke the pork in the dirt and the staff would pull the pork out from ground. We were able to relax a little bit and had dinner service, which was pretty good for a buffet. It was all you can eat, but honestly, I filled my plate up so high that I did not need seconds. They had storytelling, against, and fire! Overall, it was a great experience in Kona. I always opt in for a luau when I am in Hawaii.