In August of 2022 our family took an epic two week trip to Hawaii. This would serve as both our yearly summer vacation as well as a chance for Cami and I to check off two National Parks. Hawaii is not next door to our home outside of Boston so we wanted to do as many ‘notable’ things as possible.
We started our journey flying from Boston to Honolulu and after a short a layover to our first stop onto Hilo at the big island. Fun fact, the 12 hour flight from Boston to Honolulu is the longest flight you can do between any two points and still be in the United States. Both of my children are champs and great travelers and we had no issues making the long trek.
For the Big Island we flew into Hilo and made the ~45min drive to our airbnb way up on the mountain near Volcanoes National Park. Most people who visit the Big Island fly to the other side at Kona and stay in one of the many resorts there. Our focus for this island and really our trip was on the parks and nature. We avoided many of the more developed areas of this (and the other) islands.
The AirBnb we found was truly stunning, sitting just 10 minutes from the entrance to the park and surrounded by nature located in the historic Volcanoes Village. The story that we heard was that our house was originally the plantation manager’s mountain cottage. A place for him and his family to escape the heat (and work) and relax. During the evenings we had temperatures in the 60/50s and I don’t think we could have found a nicer play to stay. If there was a downside it was that everything, other than the park, was a far drive. Beaches, stores, waterfalls, the other mountains all required a minimum of an hour drive each way.
Hawaii Volcanoes National park encompasses two active volcanoes, Kilauea one of the most active in the world and Mauna Loa the world’s most massive shield volcano. The park was first established in 1916 as Hawaii National Park, later split into Volcanoes and Haleakala National Park in Maui. The park encompasses a massive 323,431 acres and half the park is designated as Hawaii Volcanoes Wilderness area. The park spans from the sea all the way to the peaks of the volcanoes and protects a diverse environment.
The park has been home to volcano activity throughout its history. The most recent eruption was in 2018 forcing the closures of the Kilauea volcano summit area including the visitors center and park headquarters due to explosions and toxic ash clouds from Halema’uma’u. Some of the park’s roads and accesses are still closed to this day.
Kilauea and the Halema’uma’u caldera are traditionally considered the sacred home of the volcano goddess Pele. In 1790 a violent eruption occurred killing a party of warriors along with women and children who were in the area. Their footprints in the hardened lava are still visible to this day.
We spent the bulk of our time exploring the National Park. We spent two sunrises at the Kilauea Overlook. It was a very short drive from our house in Volcano Villages and if you get there very early you can see the glow of the lava in the crater. It’s a really peaceful place and a wonderful spot to enjoy a sunrise.
We spent a lot of time on the Chain of the Craters Road. It’s a super fun drive and has a ton of very interesting places along the way to stop and explore. The Pu’upuai Overlook is a very different view than you get from Kilauea Overlook and very much worth a stop. Sadly the Lava Tubes were closed due to earthquakes and unstable rocks. We did a few of the hikes along the road that were very interesting with a surprisingly diverse landscape. There are also a number of smaller craters along the road to explore.
After a while driving down the road the jungle sort of stops and you find yourself in lava fields for as far as you can see. There are a number of lookouts that start to give you ocean views. After those you go through a series of switchbacks all the way down to sea level. Right before you reach the ocean are the Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs. We did the short 30 min hike and it was a great time for the family.
If you continue down to the ocean you can stop along the way for a number of great views of ocean cliffs and watch the waves crash into the island. At the end of the road it’s a short walk to the Holei Sea Arch. This road proved to be wonderful for both photographing and exploration. We had a ton of fun exploring all of it.
Since our AirBnB was rather remote and there were few choices of restaurants in our area we made most of our meals at home. With two notable exceptions, my wife found a taco truck that was only open one of the days and it was amazing. If you are ever in the Volcano Village area you should check out Rico’s Tacos, we wished they were open more days. The second was Ken’s House of Pancakes, where we had a number of meals. This place seems like a fixture of Hilo and was well worth the drive.
We did explore a bit more of the island. Including a number of the waterfalls around the Hilo area. Twice we drove to the far side of the island to the much more populated Kona area. We hit a few of the beaches including Kailua Beach in the Old Kona Airport Recreation Site. This site was harder on the feet as the beaches were mostly lava rock both in the water and along the shore. Many of the beaches we tried to go to were state parks and they unfortunately closed and gated off the access roads well before sunset. There was the option to hike in but it would have been a far walk back in the dark for the kids. I took full advantage of the west side of the island and would stay and photograph sunset.
We also made the drive to the top of Mauna Kea. A volcano with a peak of 13,803 feet and home to the world’s largest astronomical observatory and 13 working telescopes. If you have the chance it’s well worth the drive to the top. The views are out of this world.
After our time in the Big Island we headed to Maui, though we had to take a little detour as we missed our direct flight. However lucky for us Hawaii Airlines flies almost every hour (or less) between most of the islands and Honolulu. So it’s rather easy to catch a later flight and find your way to whatever island you are looking for.
In Maui we once again chose to stay away from the more populated and touristy areas and found a great AirBnb in Kula. The property was surrounded by farms and ranches and had a view of the volcano. However, unlike the big island it was much closer to shops and restaurants so it made life a bit easier for us.
The main attraction for us at least was Haleakalā National Park and all the wunder it had to offer. The park derives its name from the dormant volcano Haleakalā. The park spans an impressive 33,265 acres or 52 sq miles. The park was first protected along with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in 1916. It was separated into its own national park in 1961. The area is also designated as an International Biosphere Reserve. The park is split into two sections; the very popular summit area and the coastal Kipahulu area past the town of Hana.
Haleakalā has an incredibly diverse climate. Starting with a tropical rainforest near sea level and then into a tropical monsoon climate. As the altitude progresses the climate becomes oceanic to Mediterranean, reaching, at the very top of Haleakalā, an alpine climate. All of this in one park, in one drive, it’s truly incredible.
At the summit you will find a visitors center and also the Haleakalā Observatory. The summit lies above the cloud inversion so the sky is almost always clear. This is a wonderful dark place if you’re into stargazing. If you come here before / after the moon is up or on a new moon you will see a sky full of stars.
Sunrise at the top of Haleakalā volcano is the main attraction here and something we had to do (twice). The top of the mountain is just over 10k feet from sea level. To get to the summit you must travel a 37 mile winding road. We were fortunate that our AirBnb was close to the start of the road. You want to get to the gate of the park a few hours before sunrise, to give yourself an hour to get up and early enough to find a good spot. Those who stay in town have to leave an hour or two earlier just to get to the base of the volcano.
They ‘limit’ (more on this in a second) how many people can come for sunrise. You have to have a reservation through recreation.gov. The cost is only a dollar and the idea is to stop overcrowding at the summit. On the first sunrise Cami and I were the first in the parking lot, however only moments after cars started to stream in. We had visited the summit the day before and I knew exactly where I wanted to set up. We made the short walk to a spot that is at the very edge of the crater and sheltered by the visitors center. In my opinion this was the very best view for sunrise. More and more people started to jockey for a spot at the rim, and then tour buses started to show up. By the time the sun came up the place was jammed with people. While the experience was truly stunning the massive crowds took a bit away from it. I will say the native Hawaiian tribe that sings every morning was extremely special.
For our second sunrise adventure at the top I chose the parking lot you come to before the summit. After a short hike you can have an equally stunning view with almost no people. I think by the time the sun rose above the clouds below us there were only 10 people there.
If you’re in Hawaii get tickets, get up super early and go here to watch the sunrise. The clouds are almost always below you, you can see out to the ocean and other islands. It’s maybe the best sunrise location I’ve ever seen.
If you’re not a sunrise type person you can always stop along the winding road on the way down and watch the sunset. That is what we did on our first night, and it was equally spectacular.
Many people had warned me about the drive ahead. There is a belief the drive is very hard and scary. The road is long and winding, gaining just shy of 10k feet of vertical elevation, and with some grades over 15%. The road is well maintained but without guardrails. There are some rather steep drop offs, blind turns, etc. However, if you take it easy you should be fine. I had a blast driving up and down the volcano road in fact. If heights are not your jam then there are the tour buses (as I talked about above) who will take you from the hotels all the way to the top. Since the hotels are so far away you do have to get up very early for the buses.
The Kipahulu section of the park is not connected to the summit section by any roads. The only way to get there is to take the windy mountain Road to Hana. Once there you find two main attractions: the two dozen pools along Palikea Stream in the gulch called ʻOheʻo and the Waimoku Falls. Much of the remaining area is closed to the public as it is designated the Kipahulu Valley Biological Reserve. This area is set aside to preserve the fragile ecosystem.
We spent an entire day taking the Road to Hana and I will say that it is the most incredible road we have ever had the pleasure to drive. The road is only 52 miles long however, the very windy, narrow road passes over 59 bridges, of which 46 are only one lane wide. There are approximately 620 curves along the road. Most of the one lane bridges and concrete work date back to 1910.
The best part about the drive is all the places to stop and explore. The entire drive is in a rainforest, going up and down mountains and following the coast line. There are many waterfalls and other attractions. There is however very limited legal parking, and the trick is to find a place to stop and not get ticketed. Even in our short time at one of the popular locations we saw police come and ticket almost 20 cars.
After driving through Hana you arrive back in the National Park. We did the waterfall hike up the mountain. Well Cami and I did the entire hike, Cat and my son Collin only made it to the first waterfall before heading back. I can’t really blame him, the entire hike is uphill. The bamboo forest near the top of the mountain was maybe my favorite part of the hike.
On the way back we found a roadside stand selling burgers with all locally raised meat. It was a really great way of ending the day. Driving the road to Hana in the dark is something everyone tells you to avoid. However, for us I think this worked in our favor. During the day the road was packed with cars and very slow going. At night without many cars the drive is much faster. Though you still have to slow down for the one way, 240 degree blind turns around a mountain with a thousand foot drop off to one side.
When not exploring and hiking we spent some time on the various beaches of Maui. The first day we took the kids snorkeling at Olowalu. As you’re driving up the coast on Route 30 look for mile marker 14. There is plenty of parking under the trees and off the road. There are over 400 acres of coral off the beach and the waters are relatively calm which makes it a great spot for families with kids. The coral here is estimated to be over 500 years old and we saw some of the most amazing fish including the humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, the state fish of Hawaii. We also hung out at the first Kamaole beach (1 of 3). There wasn’t any coral where we were but we still got to see some fish, and several sea turtles swam right by us which was Cat’s biggest wish.
We again in Maui made many of our meals in our AirBnb. However, just down the road in the closest shopping plaza we found a food truck area. We went there for lunch a number of times, and they had amazing options and it was all really good.
After our time on Maui we flew to Honolulu where we would spend our last two days in Hawaii. Since we spent all our time on the first two islands far removed from civilization we did a 180 and stayed in the middle of Waikiki.
The only major activity we did over the two days was to head over to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. We spent a good afternoon there, and managed to get tickets to go see the Arizona Memorial. This is maybe one of the best run, setup, and saddest of all the National Monuments. An incredible amount of effort was put into making this place a true lesson in history and a wonderful learning experience.
A quick note if you’re heading out this way, going to the Arizona is almost a must in my mind. You have to buy tickets well in advance and they sell out very quickly. We had no luck buying them when they first came on sale. They released a few the day before and we were able through sheer luck to pick them up. Oftentimes the hotels and tour groups try to buy up all the last minute tickets and sell you very expensive tours that include Pearl Harbor and the Arizona. I was happy to not have to pay that penalty.
Other than going to Pearl Harbor we spent a good amount of time walking around Waikiki. We enjoyed our hotel pool, local shopping and dining. It was a wonderful way to end our Hawaii trip.
We did have a bit of an adventure getting home. Our first play was delayed, after we boarded late, they found mechanical issues with the plane. We had to change planes and we landed in LAX very late. This made us miss our connection home, but with some luck and fantastic service from JetBlue we were able to get on a later flight and made our way home.
All and all Hawaii was a 10 out of 10 experience for the entire family.
