Big Island Activities

The Big Island is a very special place and is quite impressive in its natural diversity. While visiting this beautiful island there are a lot of activities for you and your family.

For those that want an experience out of the ordinary, you might want to go and swim together with dolphins. There are a few tours that can bring you to places where dolphins can be found and there you can have close contact with them, swim together and play. For an even more up close experience, you can go to Hilton Waikoloa Village and there join the dolphin quest. Here you will swim for about half an hour in small groups in a lagoon, together with bottle nose dolphins. Certainly an unforgettable experience.

Parker Ranch is another place well worth a visit while at the Big Island. This ranch was founded in 1847 and is one of the largest in the whole United States with its 150 000 acres of land. On the ranch are about 50 000 cattle and 400 horses. The ranch has a lot of historical interest and is open daily to the public. The activities offered here are among others wagon rides, museum tours, historic homes, shopping and dining. It’s a fun place to visit and great for kids.

You’d probably like to go on at least one boat cruise while at the island to get to know the marine life around this island. To go on a tour with a glass bottom boat cruise is a great way to do this. There a few different companies that offer this and you will be introduced to the reefs with all the colorful fishes, turtles and reef sharks.

For a natural experience out of the ordinary, you can visit Waipio Valley on the north of the island. This is a 6 mile long valley with all the wonders you expect to find in a tropical paradise. In this canyon, that leads its way to the ocean, with a beautiful black sand beach, you find hundreds of waterfalls and fruit trees and flowers of all kinds. By car you can see some of it, but the best way is to go on a hike and really get into the nature found here. You find tours that offer horseback riding through the valley, which is a great way to experience it.

At the Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, located about 20 miles south of Kona you can get to know a bit about the history of the Big Island. Here you can find a lot of archeological sites and other historical landmarks and really get a feeling of how the island once was. Along the coast of this site you can also get to see some green sea turtles who are feeding in the waters in this area.

These are a few of the things you can entertain yourself with while at this remarkable island.