Travel Guide2021-05-04T15:23:10-10:00

Top 33 Things to do on the Big Island!

Top 33 Things to do on the Big Island! #33- Kau Coffee Mill The Kau Coffee Mill offers free tours of their coffee orchards as well as the roasting and milling facilities! You can enjoy some samples and buy some of their amazing coffee or other unique items! #32- Panaewa Rainforest Zoo The Panaewa Rainforest Zoo has a wide variety of animals and birds to see. It has free admission and just got two Bengal Tigers! #31- Punaluu Bakery [...]

Big Island Travel Itinerary & Tips

Big Island Travel Itinerary & Tips to Make The Best of Your Big Island Hawaii Vacation There are so many unique activities on Hawaii Big Island to see and do. Make the best of your Big Island Adventure by using this guide to plan out your trip. We are conveniently located in a great location to do day trips to many locations. There are also a lot of tips to help you while you’re planning your trip. Since a lot of information on the internet is misleading, we have created this page to help you [...]

Big Island 5 Day Itinerary

Big Island 5 Day Itinerary In this article, you will learn about how to make the most out of your Big Island trip by visiting the top and most famous attractions throughout the Big Island in 5 days. You will be able to visit the North, South, West, and East side of the island. Big Island has so much to offer but we understand that you don’t have unlimited time here, so here we offer the best things or must-sees you can do in 5 days. If you have more than 5 days, we [...]

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; What to Do, & Where to Go!

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park This is your to-go guide for what to do in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Learn about all the attractions and must-sees in the Volcano Park as well as various hiking trails. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is huge and you can easily spend a day or two exploring the different areas of the park. Get the latest eruption information, maps, and day hike trail guides, safety precautions, road conditions, and more from the rangers at the front desk of Kilauea Visitor Center. Check out the which ranger guided tours are available that day. Watch this parks' famous [...]

4 Day Trips You Can Take While Staying At Volcano Inn

4 Day Trips You Can Take While Staying At Volcano Inn   Not sure what to do while you’re staying at Volcano Inn? Here are a few day trips you can take while staying at Volcano Inn! Also some more good general recommendations: Top 33 things to do on the Big Island, Big Island 5 Day Itinerary, Big Island Travel Itinerary & Tips.   Day Trip: Volcanoes National Park                   Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is the most famous attraction here. You can easily spend 2 days touring around the park to [...]

Big Island on a Budget!

Exploring the Big Island on a Budget! Nothing beats the most affordable of the Hawaiian Islands. We recommend always renting a car - because you guessed it - Big Island is big! The Big Island's 4,028 square miles represents almost 63% of the state's total land mass. So the Big Island is bigger than all the other Hawaiian islands combined. The Big Island is even bigger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined! We recommend checking out the app Turo, it can be a more afforable and convienant option than a traditional rental car company. The Big [...]

Top Ten Reasons to Stay at Volcano Inn

Top Ten Reasons to stay at Volcano Inn Number 10: Pay the lowest price in Volcano Village Hands down Volcano Inn offers the lowest accommodation price in the Volcano Village. The B&B rooms start at $159/night. All of the rooms have a nice tree-house feel with awesome garden views of the surrounding rainforest. The most popular Corner Window rooms start at $189/night. There are also family style rooms to accommodate large groups up to a party of 8 in one suite. See rooms. Number 9: The Longer You Stay, The Less You Pay Multiple night [...]

Kilauea Day Hikes in Volcano National Park

While the 2018 volcanic eruption has ended, there are a few notable changes to our beautiful island.  Hawaii Volcano National Park has seen it's fair share of those changes.  A few of the parks once popular attractions remain closed, but many of their one of a kind hiking trails are open. There's a little something for everyone if you're looking to experience what this special place has to offer.  The open trails range from easy to challenging. No matter if you're a solo, intrepid, adventurer, or a family of all ages and abilities, you can all enjoy the national park. [...]

Should I fly into Kona Airport or Hilo Airport?

Should I fly into Kona Airport or Hilo Airport? The two biggest towns on the Big Island are Kona(west side) and Hilo(east side). Before we get into talking about which one you should fly into, let's first understand these two towns on the Island. Kona Kona is the more popular town among tourists for one reason: Kona is how we image Hawaii to look like. It has hot weather with beautiful beaches. If you goal is to sit on the beach while staying at your luxury beach front resort for your entire Big Island vacation, then Kona is perfect for [...]

Kilauea Visitor Center at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Kilauea Visitor Center at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park Kīlauea Visitor Center Hours: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Located near the park entrance, the center is typically the first stop for the 2.6 million people who visit Kīlauea Volcano. Exhibits give the public an overview of the park's environmental, historical, and cultural features. Visitor exhibit designs and content reflect consultations with Native Hawaiians and the islands' leading biologists, ornithologists, entomologists, botanists, and volcanologists. There are exhibits on island formation; the arrival of life by wing, wind, and wave; ecosystems from sea to summit; the sights and sounds of the rain forest; [...]

Steam Vents at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Steam Vents at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Wahinekapu aka Steam Vents Get a volcanic steam facial at Wahinekapu! The steam vents area is less than one mile past the Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. The Hawaiian place name for this area is Wahinekapu. At this steam vent location, fresh rain and ground water seeps into the warm volcanic rock and returns to the surface as steam. You can safely feel the heat from the Kilauea Volcano through exploring this special thermal area. You may notice the landscape change from rain forest to grassy fields in this special [...]

Punaluu Black Sand Beach & Green Sand Beach On Big Island of Hawaii

Black Sand Beach & Green Sand Beach On Big Island of Hawaii Be Amazed By These Beaches If we talk about beaches, surely white sand and blue sea surrounded by palm trees will come to your mind. Nevertheless, on Big Island of Hawaii you will find more than that. How about if we can tell you that the most beautiful and amazing beaches on this island are black and green sand beaches. They are surrounded by unusual natural beauty. Join us to discover the best and different beaches that will blow your mind, and your hair!  Green sand beach (Papakōlea) [...]

Kaʻū Desert Hike at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park: Kaʻū Desert Hike Kaʻū Desert Footprints Trail Kaʻū Desert is another fascinating facet of the Big Island. This area is composed of different lava features, volcanic ash, sand and gravel. The Kaʻū Desert lacks any substantial vegetation, due to acid rain. A short 25 minute hike will lead you to awesome views of rolling ash-sands and out to the footprints area. Kaʻū Desert is both fascinating and other worldly. As you look around the landscape, imagine hundreds of years ago, this was the main "foot path" highway for native Hawaiians traveling from Puna district to Kaʻū district. The "Footprints [...]

Volcano Village Activities

  Volcano Village Activities One of the most asked questions our staff gets is "What can I do besides exploring the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park inside Volcano Village?" We decided to poll our staff for what they do in the village when they aren't playing in the National Park or serving guests here at Volcano Inn. The Lili House Farm The Lili House Farm popped up as a number one way to entertain friends with kids. With a farm tour, petting zoo, and delicious baked goods, a trip to the Lili House farm is both a culinary and educational experience [...]

Black Sand Beach On Big Island

All you need to know about Black Sand Beach On The Big Island (Punalu'u) The Big Island is known for its black sand beaches. When you come visit the Big Island and if you've never seen a black sand beach before, you got to check one out. Punalu'u Black Sand Beach is the most famous black sand beach on the Big Island. There're many other beaches on Hawaii Island that has black sand made of basalt but if you can only see one, Punalu'u Black Sand Beach is the one for you. It's a beach in the southern district on the island. [...]

What happened with Kilauea Eruption?

What happened with Kilauea Eruption in 2018? Kilauea Volcano was previously labeled "The Most Active Volcano In The World" and she is living up to that name! Accurate eruption information is hard to find if you're watching mainstream news stations. This page is to help you get accurate eruption information, instead of the hype from the media. First of all, in contrary to what some news outlets are putting out there, the roads around the island are open. You can still do a circle island tour. All the heightened lava activity you saw on the news was going on in [...]

Can you currently see lava in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park?

Over the past few months, many customers have walked in and asked us this question: Can I still see lava flowing? After a quick search, there aren’t many good answers out there. When you search for the answer, a tour to see lava flowing (whether it’s by foot, helicopter or boat) comes up. But that doesn't help. That’s why we created this post to help answer your question in the most direct way. Before Eruption Every year people flock to the Big Island to see active lava flow or lava glow at night. Before the recent eruption that happened in [...]

Sunrise or Sunset In Heaven: Mauna Kea Summit Sunset

Sunrise or Sunset In Heaven: Mauna Kea Summit If you haven't been to the Mauna Kea summit for sunset or sunrise, you're missing out! Our staff has traveled the globe, and we whole heartedly agree, that Mauna Kea has the best sunrises and sunsets in the world. Sunset Above The Clouds How To Get There & What You Need: You will need a 4WD or advanced hiking skills to get to the Mauna Kea summit to watch the sunrise or  sunset. Take the Mauna Kea access road, you will first stop by the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Center to get [...]

Akatsuka Orchid Gardens

Akatsuka Orchid Gardens Akatsuka houses the world's most beautiful $20,000 orchid! After 5 years of driving past the place daily, I finally stopped by to check Akatsuka Gardens out. I had the pleasure of meeting Takeshi Akatsuka, the man whose father started this Orchid Garden in 1974. I had the chance to tour their place and I was delightfully surprised at how stunning their gardens were! During the tour, I was so amazed by all the gardens had to offer. I didn't even know I could be that amazed by flowers, but with an overwhelming amount of flowers, it was [...]

Why You Should Visit The Big Island?

Why You Should Visit The Big Island? Big island is largest Hawaiian Island. Its size is larger than all the other Hawaiian islands combined. Because of that, it offers a great variety of spectacular attractions that are hard to find elsewhere. Big island has 10 of the 14 climate zones in the world. That means you can experience sunshine, rains and sometimes snow all in one day depends on where you go. On the big island, you have beaches, rainforests, volcanoes, waterfalls and mountains all in one island. In this post, we will briefly talk about the unique attractions that you [...]

Kaumana Caves and Thurston Lava Tube

What Is A Lava Tube? A lava tube is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava which moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. Tubes can drain lava from a volcano during an eruption, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased, and the rock has cooled and left a long cave. How a lava tube is formed A lava tube is a type of lava cave formed when a low-viscosity lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust, which thickens and forms a roof above the still-flowing lava stream. Imagine a river freezing over in [...]

All You Need To Know About The Green Sand Beach in Hawaii

All you need to know about Green Sand Beach On The Big Island, Hawaii (Papakōlea Green Sand Beach) Do you know there're only 4 green sand beaches in the world? One of them is located here on the Big Island of Hawaii. If you're visiting the Big Island, remember to check this one out. The Big Island Green Sand beach is near the southern tip of the Island, about an hour from our rainforest resort Volcano Inn. How was the Green Sand Beach formed? The reason why there're only 4 green sand beaches in the world is because it takes a [...]

See Thousands of Hawaiian Petroglyphs at Puuloa

See Thousands of Hawaiian Petroglyphs! With over 23,000 ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs, this by far is the largest petroglyph field in Hawaii, possibly even the entire world. Take a stroll back to old Hawaii as you see the barren conditions Hawaiians endured and thrived in centuries ago. Additionally, you will also be able to see the mass amounts of carvings right around this area. An interesting point here is the location of this petroglyph field. It is in Panau Nui ahupuaa (land district) that is on the Southern Flank of Kilauea Volcano. Flows from Mauna Ulu hit just south of this area [...]

Kalapana Night Market : Fun Secret Local Hot Spots

Wednesday Kalapana Night Market UPDATE: Due to COVID restrictions the Night Market is not running at the moment.   If it is Wednesday Night, the Kalapana Night Market is the place to be! Locals and tourists alike head to there to enjoy the atmosphere, food and live music which takes place every Wednesday (5:00pm - 9:00 pm). Black Sand Before you head to the night market from the parking lot, walk towards the coastline and in 10 minutes, you will reach the shore with black sand. As you walk closer and closer towards the coastline, you will hear the loud [...]

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