Another one of the things in Hawaii that we did wrong simply because we had a lot of crap packed…read moreinto our schedule over a very large area of the island, so things had to get cut or modified and this was one of them. We made two visits at night, which I highly recommend. Why? No $30 entrance fee - amazing views of the night sky - superb vent glow We had, like everybody, hoped to see an eruption. Kilauea was building up for episode 53 and we missed that by hours. That episode started while we were on the tarmac in Kona getting ready to depart. So, what did we see? Visit #1 - The most amazing clear night sky. Not a cloud out there and the difference in temperature compared to Hilo was fantastic. There was also a good bit of smoke and vent glow and while there were some people out along the Crater Rim West trail, it wasn't crazy for 8pm on a Friday. Visit #2 - Very cold and blustery and completely clouded over. Pitch black darkness along the roads and trails and very spooky taking the drive over to the overlook on Crater Rim Drive East since nobody else was there. Who would have thought episode 53 would start the next day? The amount of smoke and glow from three days prior was remarkably less. If there is ever a next time, I'll make it a priority to be here during the day for all of the traditional things like the Visitors Center, Steam Vents and more of the trails and lookouts. Either way - five stars - easily

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!

Great stop for you to eat that picnic lunch I know you packed for your road trip to the volcano or…read moreblack sand beach! Lotsa locals and tourists alike enjoying this park. Good parking. Nice people smiling and saying hello. Good snorkeling in the bay that is amazingly protected by the volcanic rock sea wall! There were some gnarly waves out there but the bay was so calm and nice. Even spotted turtles!

Sea turtles! Sea snakes!…read more Whittington Park is a must on your trip down south in Kona. It was not on our list but decided to take a detour and glad we did! This park is secluded and we did not see one tourist here but only 2 locals fishing. From where we parked, we started off walking along the beautiful coast. The water is shallow for a good distance and we walked in it exploring the sea life. There are lots of beautiful colorful fishes. The bf ran into a sea snake....got freaked out a little bit. I preferred to stay by the shallower end and took photos instead! Then we walked over to the far left side. There is a large pond...carried by the ocean currents from opposite side. It was peaceful and calm with a lot of greenery. We both stepped in not knowing what to expect. The bf, once again, ran head to head with a beautiful green sea turtle. I grabbed my camera real quick and got several nice shots. To our surprise, there were more turtles....lots of them. They were swimming in from the ocean along with the current into the pond. It seem like a little safe turtle haven. The bf tried to grab one of them by the shell to take a photo. The poor turtle was sleeping and shot out like an energizer bunny once he got a hold of him! For the record, turtles are NOT slow! Besides sea turtles...we also saw lots of different species of fish just hanging out. The cool thing was that they were so close to us. We ended up spending over 2 hours here. Definitely worth stopping by on your way to South Point.

This new portion of Volcano's NP is stunning and has very few visitors versus the main HVNP sites…read more The property was acquired by the Nature Conservancy for the HVNP in 2003 and used to be a ranch with cattle, pigs and sheep but is now in its natural state. There are several hikes from short and easy, to all day loop hikes. Nearly all of the hikes traverse grassy trails, which is easier on the body than the a'a lava on many of the other park hikes. We started with the Pu'u o Lokuana loop and diner cone hike which is 2 miles in length and very close to the visitor center. This hike has a huge variety of landscapes and plant life starting out with a somewhat arid first 10 minutes, then quickly goes to grassy tree filled areas, then lava, then an old 1940's airstrip and finally up to the red cinder cone for great views of the various meadows. Next we took the 4.9 mile Forested pit crater trail which was really stunning. The Pit crater trail is uphill the entire way to the crater with a very steep section at the beginning - not for those with a lack of training. The vegetation changes subtly along the way with great views and the crater is very large and goes straight down. Pictures of the crater do not do it justice as you need to see it in the full context. Highly recommend this portion of the National Park

Amazing experience being able to be here the same time the Volcano is active. We arrived just in…read moretime as it was oozing out Lava with many peeking bursting upward.

We drove down to the beach from the highway 11. It was not…read moreeasy drive, though worth it. As a photographer, I took the most colorful local photos here. This is a very small beach that locals hanging out, I think. In front of a little yellow church stand a loud speaker pole. I can imagine when tsunami comes or volcano errupt.. One of the most beautiful sea color I saw here.

Driving down a winding road for about 15 minutes to get to this beach is not really worth it. The…read morehomes get worse as you get closer to the beach. It looks like a good place to find a house to film for the show Hoarding, Buried Alive. There are numerous picnics tables at the beach that's called Miloli'i. The restrooms that are there are fairly clean. The actual beach area has numerous covered picnic tables and a small body of water that is great for small children, but it's not particularly safe for swimming due to rocky coastline. There was a cute church across the street that has a walking path to the right of it that goes to another beach that's more swimming friendly. Apparently takes 20 minutes and according to a guide book you can disregard that the road to the swimming beach says it's private. We did see two people go that way.

Great spot to take a break and enjoy the view. It is a trailhead as well. There are bathrooms for…read morepublic use.

Nice spot for relaxation and to walk outdoors, great for hiking, clean, wonderful views, day campread more

There's only 4 green sand beaches in the world, so definitely worth the treacherous hike. We…read morewoke up real early from kona and got there about 630. The hike took about an hour each way. We had the whole beach to ourselves. The sand is not that green, but better than I expected when the sun hits it. Waves were really rough in the morning. The scenery from the top is what makes this epic

This is one of those, you have to experience it, to experience it places…read more For most people, you're either staying somewhere in/around Kona or Hilo. Either way, to get here, it's a hike. From Hilo it's about two hours. There are only so many roads on the big island and you can only drive so fast. One big tip would be to not screw around with your gas situation. Between here and there, you only have so many options and the nearest gas to the beach is about a half hour away. In between, you don't have much. A lot of farms, barren desert and running along the outer perimeter of Volcano National Park. Once you get to the small parking lot, you've got a choice to make: A. Invalidate your 4X4 car rental agreement and drive to the beach yourself. While possible and I did see someone do this, the terrain is rough as hell and will test any suspension to the max. B. Walk nearly three miles in each direction. This is very possible and plenty of people do it. Note that there are no trail markers/signs and cell service is very spotty so either you know where you're going or it'll take you a much longer time. C. Hitch a ride with one of the Gaucho Amigos that hang out in the parking lot in the back of their beat up 1990's pickup trucks that probably have more miles on them then the number of hamburgers McD's serves annually in Hawaii. If you go this way, they'll give you about an hour at the beach to sit/walk/swim before going back to the parking lot. We decided to do it both ways. We walked to the beach and got a ride back. The walk itself is not bad. We got lost slightly, but no big deal. Probably made it from the parking lot to the beach in about an hour. If you go this way, as others have mentioned, you will get sandy/dusty/dirty without question. And cliches aside, you know that you're getting closer when you start to see the sand turn more and more olive. The sand is definitely not green, but more of a light olive. If you choose to walk, expect to be propositioned multiple times in the parking lot, as the trucks traverse back and forth and at the beach to make the trip back if they have space. Also note that different drivers have different prices and yes, they are situationally negotiable. Do not pay the full round trip price to only go one way and if you're only going one way and you know they have space, don't be afraid to act somewhat disinterested as that can save you $5 per person. The below map link is what the distance looks like if you come. www.google.com/maps/dir/Parking+for+Green+Sand+Beach,+Naalehu,+HI+96772/Papak%C5%8Dlea+Green+Sand+Beach,+Naalehu,+HI+96772/@18.9272776,-155.666272,4203m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x795131a9408d2c23:0x6958cad4918ebaaf!2m2!1d-155.6730438!2d18.9214781!1m5!1m1!1s0x795139eb93432f89:0x19ef898b735b1400!2m2!1d-155.6465034!2d18.9361452!3e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgxOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D Would I say that this is a must do? Eh, yes and no. It's neat and cool to see something that few on earth will ever see in any form but, IMHO, it's more like going to the state fair and paying to go in the tent to see some type of oddity. It's neat that you did, but you certainly didn't have to and you really don't need to see it again.

Beat part of the park- free, no lines, no people & endless trails to walk. Close to south point &…read morebeaches as well as Na'alehu town

Caught my first travala fish on the pier! Great sunrises and beautiful people! Say aloha to Mike…read morethe disabled veteran that fished with me! Give what you can to him he really needs it! He is very helpful knowing about the kinds of fish to fish for and he gave me a plastic bag for my fish to bring it home! I miss them already! I always meet great friends while I fish. Bring the family to hang out at the beach resort while you have some drinks. Eat shaved ice and check out the palace! Everything looks so preserved you really feel the history there and what they saw in the past!