The Big Island in 3 Days!!! You can do it. - Hawaii - TravBuddy

(Part I)

After attending the American Geophysical Union conference in February of 2006, I decided to spend an extra three days in Hawaii and tour the Big Island. The plane ride from Oahu was around $170 and easy to purchase. Here is the story of my fastpaced-yet-covered-almost-all tour through the Big Island.

This trip was one my best travel experiences. However I do not recommend it for honeymooners, grandparents, mom or dads, anyone with kids, or anyone who are picky about what and where you eat and sleep. A young couple can do it but only if both are on the same wavelength most of the time. I went by myself and had the most amazing time.

First things first, if you do go, please get the "Hawaii The Big Island Revealed" by Andrew Doughty. It was the best purchase I made for the trip and found some amazing hideaway spots that NO ONE else visited. Trust the book and follow it.

Second, get a Jeep 4x4 for your car rental. There are a couple places offroad that you should visit but you won't be able to unless you have a real 4x4 vehicle (imagine black sand beach surrounded by hardened lava field...looking almost Martian, and right in front of you is the Pacific ocean...). Please don't get stuck, know your limits.

Third, if you are on a tight budget, sleeping in your car is a very good way to save some money and cover vast areas in limited time.

I'll quickly list the spots I covered on my 3 days 2 nights trip. In part II of the review I'll go into each in detail.

Here are my destinations:
Mouna Kea (visting top), Manta Ray dive, Kona coffee, Native Heritage museum, black sand beach, green sand beach/southern most point of the U.S., Volcanoes National Park, hiking lava field, tidal pools, warm spring pond, driving in the middle of nowhere around Mouna Kea...lastly flying out

(part II to come)