Big lsland Here We Come!

[Norse]

Awesome, Norse. Where were some of your favorite snorkeling spots?

We were staying at the Mauna Lani Bay hotel, north of the Kona airport, and there was great snorkeling right off their beach once you got past the initial lava reefs. There was also good snorkeling off of the public beach that was just south of there. I heard good things about the Captain Cook area too. I have snorkled in a lot of places (Sea of Cortez near San Carlos, Catalina Island, Caribbean, Alaska - yes, Alaska, Galapagos, the reefs off of FL keys, the Dry Tortugas) and the Big Island ranked right up there both in terms of underwater geography and diversity and quantity of marine life. Enjoy!

[indysteel]

That's so cool, Norse. I've only snorkeled during trips to Key West and Oahu--and both of those trips were some time ago. DH had never been, and it sounds like we are both in for a treat.

Is it April yet?

[indysteel]

When I first posted this thread, April, 2013 felt like a long way off. And now it's finally upon us!!!!

The good news is that we both are very much in need of some R&R thanks to a lot of work stress. The bad news is that we've both been so busy at work that it's been hard to find time to plan this trip as much as I would normally like. I hope that it goes well, despite that. The weather looks mostly good (I say mostly because we are spending part of the trip on the wet side of the island, but we knew going in that it would be wet).

I'm nervous about the flight. The FAA just announced that its furloughs will begin this week and that travelers can expect flight delays and cancellations. Oh, goody. Wish us luck!

[Catrin]

Yay Indy! It sounds like so much fun, certainly a wonderful change of pace Have fun, take something good to read for the flight and have a great time in R and R!

[Norse]

Bon Voyage! I would take a wet Big Island over the 6-10" of white stuff that they are forecasting for us tonight! I am sure you'll have blast and get in some much needed down time.

[indysteel]

Le Théâtre d'Aéroport.

LOL.

Thanks for the well wishes!

Did I mention that DH has a sinus infection or at least the makings for one? He got one (the only other one he's ever had) on our honeymoon a few years ago. He's had a sore throat for the better part of a week. My guess was allergies, but he wasn't really responding to any of my various allergy drugs. So, he went to his doc today and got a Z-pack. It might be a bit premature, but we'd really like to avoid the total meltdown that he had during our honeymoon. Of course, the Big Island isn't Belgium in the spring (think chilly and rainy), so there's that......

[thekarens]

Hope the meds clear him up ASAP and you two have a fantastic trip! Take lots of pics and get lots of rest.

[spokewench]

Snorkeling on the Kona side was great in different places; great places to see turtles. The Hilo side is so green and lush absolutely incredible waterfalls going that way, etc! The botanical gardens in Hilo is a must see. The ranch on the north side of island is pretty neat and of course, the volcano on the south side. Way too much to do in a week!

[jobob]

Have a lovely, restful time!

[smilingcat]

Have a wonderful trip and if your husband is having a sinus problem, perfect place to be! Go snorkling. Saline solution by gazillion gallons for neti pot right right before your eyes. just share with all the fishies in the water. I do wish him speedy recovery for the trip.

[TrekDianna]

Have a great time. I spent three years living in Hawai'i and never went swimming at all. I am not a beach person! There is a lot to do on the big Island. I do miss island hopping to hike. I lived on Oahu.

[indysteel]

Thanks for the pointers and additional well wishes. DH is feeling a bit better, thank goodness.

Oh, there's so much to do on the island; it's overwhelming. We were definitely going to the botanical gardens, Spoke, and we have several snorkeling spots we want to hit. We're staying five nights outside of Hilo (in a rental house) and four outside of Kona. I know the weather on the Hilo side will be wetter, but we both anticipate loving the lushness. But, we also anticipate running out of time to see and do what we want. Such is the nature of places worth visiting. There are definitely worse problems!

[indysteel]

The Big Island was a blast. I can't say that we relaxed much; there was too much to do and see. We ended up traversing a good portion of the island, either by car, foot or boat. The snorkeling was fantastic. The look on my husband's face the first time we went out was truly priceless. We snorkeled in a bunch of places, but the highlight was a boat tour we took on the western side of the island to three different snorkel spots. We went with a small boat (there were 10 of us) and at two of the three places, we were the only people in the water. We saw more fish than I could count, Spinner dolphins and a bunch of sea turtles that day. So, so amazing. The only bummer is that my skin just doesn't like the sun. I wore a rash guard, which took care of my upper body, but the back of my legs broke out in a rash from the sun. This has happened to me in the past, so it wasn't a total shock. No matter how many times I reapplied sun block (we used Tropical Sands, a broad spectrum reef safe block that we really liked), it just wasn't enough. So, if I ever go snorkeling again, I'm going to wear an SPF tight or capri. The sun there is so, so strong. It's just as well that I stay covered when in open water like that.

We also did some pretty cool hikes. Volcanoes NP is awesome, although we didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked. We had planned for another half day there, but the hike we did in the morning took WAY longer than we thought it would and it was pouring rain by the time we hit the park again. Another of our hikes, in Waipi'o Valley for those familiar with the island--was far harder than I expected. Short of having a 4WD vehicle, you have to hike down a mile-long road to the beach. That part was fine, but our hike up, which we stupidly did mid-day, was really hard. The road has an average grade of 25%. Between the grade, the heat, and the lack of a breeze, I got really overheated and ended up throwing up on the side of the road. It was not a highlight of the trip to say the least.

Boy, between the rash and getting sick, I'm really making the trip sound fun! Those were just minor blips in between a whole lot of fun and amazement. The island is just so beautiful and, well, weird. The diversity of climate and landscape makes your head spin. I'm glad we split our time between the west and east coasts. They each had a distinct feel. Ironically, we go more rain on the dry side of the island, but that may have been a bit of a fluke. I want to give a special shout out to Nancy's Hideaway in Kailua-Kona. We stayed in her studio property for 4 of our 9 nights and just loved it. I'd love to go back.

Back to reality though. I slept well our first night back, but slept all of about two hours last night. I just couldn't fall asleep. I'm sure it will pass, but it makes for a rough re-entry.

[Veronica]

Athleta has swim tights in their catalog this year.

When we did the valley we were with two other not so fit couples and we did a horseback tour. They drive you down to the horses That was quite a while ago though.

I love Hawaii.

Veronica

[indysteel]

Thanks for the heads up about the tights. I'll have to add them to my Athleta wish list!

We thought about that horseback tour, but as much as I love riding, I generally hate riding in groups like that. I could kick myself though. I found out our last afternoon there about a ride you can do on an active ranch. That I would have loved. Guess I just have to go back!! We also want to bike parts of the island. Puna had these fantastic, mostly deserted roads with tree canopies out of this world.