The Big Island - Hawaii 2024 — Carol & Scott On The Road

What’s not to love about Hawaii! Step off the plane and immediately you’re relaxed! Our visit to Hawaii was a special springtime getaway to see the island and take beautiful hikes enjoying the nature throughout the island. The big island is the youngest of the eight major volcanic islands, several atolls and smaller islets. The islands and atolls extend 1,500 miles from the big island of Hawaii in the south to the northern most Kure Atoll.

We were particularly interested in exploring the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Our highlight was hiking through Halema’uma’u Crater in the volcano of Kilauea. The crater was dramatically modified in May 2018, when magma moved from the summit to a lower zone, causing earthquakes and collapsing the crater, and draining the lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu. The summit area sank by 1,600 feet and the crater's diameter more than doubled. We were able to hike to the rim of the crater with views of a cloud forest opening into the crater. We then descended into the floor and hiked across this massive crater and hiked up the other side of the crater. Also, we took a short walk through Nahuku Lava tube. It was all an incredible experience!

We also took a day and drove around the island making stops and taking short hikes with amazing views of the volcanoes, beaches, waterfalls and of course, the Pacific Ocean! Some of the stops we took included: Kailua Kona, PePeekeo, Waikoloa, Pahoa – Keaua, Punalu’u Black Sand Beach, Hilo, Wailuku River and Rainbow Falls, Papaikou, Akaka Falls and Honokaa – Waipi’o.

One afternoon, we decided to take the Mauna Kea Volcano Summit & Stargazing tour. This excursion took us from sea level to the nearly 14,000-foot summit of Maunakea. We were lucky and had great weather which gave us incredible clarity of the Hawaiian night sky. It truly looked like another planet!

Hi.

May 23 The Big Island - Hawaii 2024

Hi.

May 23 The Big Island - Hawaii 2024

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