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.

Big Island Beaches

The Big Island of Hawaii, also called Hawaii, is the largest of the Hawaiian Islands - in fact it is bigger than all of the other islands combined! The Big island has over 100 beaches to choose from with sand ranging all the way from pure powdery white to shimmering obsedian black and there is even a green sand beach.

On the west coast of Hawaii, you find the lovely sand beach Ai’opio Beach. It is protected by offshore reefs which makes the water calm and great for swimming. You might also be lucky and see some of the turtles that comes to this cove to feed on the grasses provided.

One of the most beautiful beaches on the island is Kaunaoa Beach. It is an almost 1/4 of a mile long strip of white fine sand and a natural rock reef provides some protection from the surf. This is one of the most popular beaches on Hawaii and is great for both swimming and snorkelling.

To experience a beautiful black sand beach, you could go to Kaimu Black Sand Beach, a picturesque beach with black sand made of lava from the volcanos. This beach is situated on the south side of the Big Island and is well worth a visit.

Anaeho’omalu Beach on the north west of the Big island is a beach with white sand and black lava mixed together, giving it a “salt and pepper”-look. It is a beautiful resort area with some hotels and tourist facilities in the surroundings. The water is quite calm and good for swimming.

On the south-east side of the Big island near Pahoa is a black sand beach very popular with the local hippies. It is clothing optional and every Sunday they have a big drum circle - this is Kehena beach.

At Kealakekua Bay on the south west shore of the Big island you can find some of the most beautiful reefs in the whole state of Hawaii, making it a perfect place for scuba diving and snorkelling. Napo’opo’o Beach at the southern end of this bay is a mostly rocky beach, but with historical interest - this is where captain James Cook first landed when he arrived to Hawaii in 1778. The water is calm and clear here with beautiful surroundings which also makes is a great place for kayaking.

One of my favorite beaches is Ho’okena on the southwest side of the island. You can camp on the beach and a couple times a week you’ll see pods of dolphins and if you like you can swim with them! This is a magical experience.

These are just some of the many amazing spots to visit while on the Big Island of Hawaii.