got a nice xmas pressie. Flights and accomodation for 5 nights in honolulu (outrigger waikiki) and 5 nights on the big island staying at royal kona. No kids, yeehaa! This isnt till the world champs are on in october, but any must do’s/donts when visiting either island? We will be renting a car apparently in kona and im contemplating taking my bike since hiring is ridiculous $$. Not sure yet on the latter, i would like to ride the queen K as i mostly do short course tri’s and unlikely to ever qualify for this sort of thing! I hear Kona itself isnt packed with much to do? Im really there to watch the IM, but would love to know what else is around and any tips anyone has to an aussie going there for the first time.
Book a rental car now (I mean right now) and check the price repeatedly over the next few months. Rebook every time you find a better price. This can save you quite a bit if you check frequently.
Having your bike with you is a great option if you can swing it. My wife and I rode the entire course in sections over the time we were there.
plenty to see & do
great snorkeling, dolphins,turtles,fish
good surfing
coffee farms
honey farms
& lots of triathlon equipment, triathlon stars etc etc.
if your bored, visit hugo’s on the rocks in the mornings & watch bob babbit interview the pro’s
I personally wasn’t a fan of Honolulu at all (touristy, meth heads, busy, overpriced) but I have friends who love it. I live in a city so when I go away I prefer to not be in one. I’ll let other recommend stuff
Check out the North Shore of Oahu where the big surf competitions are. It won’t be big surf season at that time so you can find some mellow places to do some surf lessons. If the big waves come early you can hang out at the Banzai pipeline, watching the waves and surfers. It is amazing. If you head up that way, you can check out the Ka’ena Point State Park where there is a bird sanctuary and some cool views (we saw seals chilling on the beach); and slightly to the east (Kuaokala Forest Reserve, I think) there are loads of trails from old military exercises that all link in together. If you go far enough you can get high enough to see the coast on both sides. It’s hilly but mostly cleared and is fairly dry around there.
On the Big Island there is so much to do. In and around Kona you can get everywhere by bike, but a car is definitely a must have for a number of activities. Must dos in my opinion:
General Activities
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BUY THIS GUIDE BOOK: http://www.hawaiirevealed.com/books-apps/hawaii-the-big-island-revealed. If there is one piece of advice you take home from this, is, BUY THIS BOOK. Or check if they have lender copies at the hotel. Having it ahead of time will allow you to plan better. Big Island still isn’t very touristy in terms of how it marks trailheads/trails/etc but this book has great detail.
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Pololu Valley (north). There are 3 valleys linked together with a pretty well marked trail. It’s 3 steep descents and 3 steep ascents. You have to use ropes in places to hoist yourself up and down. There is tropical fruit along the way (guavas, etc) to eat and at the end there is a black sand beach next to a lush set of coconut trees. It’s not as busy as other places such as Waipio.
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Waipo Valley (north). More accessible than Pololu. If you have a serious rental (i.e a good pickup truck or a good 4x4) you can drive straight down into the valley. A number of locals will do this and take BBQ stuff down to the beach there. It’s not that far of a walk down but it is very steep down. At the bottom you can go left for the waterfall or right for the black sand beach (at the far end of the rocky part of the beach is another waterfall). My girlfriend twisted her ankle when we were going out to that but one of the locals was nice enough to give us a lift back up. Note, the roads between Waipio and Pololu are circuitous so it’s quite a long drive between the two despite looking close.
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Mauna Kea observatory (north-ish). Get there in the early evening, maybe after one of the hikes above. Sit at the top and watch the sunset. If you drive straight to the top you’ll go a little doolally because it’s 14k feet. Once the sun is set drive back down to the visitor center and watch the stars. You can use their telescopes and see different planets (not sure what will be visible in October).
So a good day might be: get up early and do one of the hikes above. Head to Waimea, to the Big Island Brewhaus for beer and tacos. Drive to Tropical Dreams Ice Cream and have one of those (it shuts about 4:30pm). Drive to Mauna Kea observatory and do that then head back to Kona for drinks/more food.
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Green Sand beach (south). It’s actually called Papakolea Green Sand Beach. It’s prob an hour or so south or Kona (check google maps for driving times). The driving times seem slow everywhere but they’re pretty accurate due to low speed limits and winding/hilly roads. You’ll get to a parking lot and it’s a mile or so walk to an enclosed beach with green sand. Again if you have a good 4x4 you can drive or you can hitch a ride with locals. The sand wasn’t as green as I was expecting but I suspect I’m a bit colour blind as it was patently obvious to everyone else. Depending on the swell you can get some waves that you can play about in. I think some of the books advise not to enter the water (due to currents) but everyone was on the day I went. There are no lifeguards or any help of any kind so if you get sucked out, you’ll be floating to Tahiti.
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Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (south). There is an observatory with loads of interesting information and in the evening you can see the glow of the lava. There are also some hikes through some of the old craters and lava tubes which are easy going, well marked and pretty cool. The visitor center info has loads of info on it. You pay entry as you drive in and from there you can drive right up to where you want to go next. For food around there check out the Ohia cafe if during the day which has a good range of food and religious posters on the wall. My missus is gluten free and there was soups and gluten free baked goods if I remember. For something a bit more upscale go to Kilauea Lodge which is also a great place to stay overnight. It’s got an old world feel and great food at the restaurant. The food is a little more on the pricey side but it’s the best you’ll find on that side of the island. There are also a few spots to get food in Naalehu which will be between the green sand beach and volcanoes park.
Combining those 2 is a good day. If you’re an advanced hiker then check out the Pu’u O’o crater hike. Read about it and then decide if you want to go. There is sulphar from the volcanoes that can blow in your direction and ‘take you out’, and additionally, the locals are necessarily welcoming to hikers. It’s also a hunting trail at times. I don’t say that to put you off but those points are additional to the ones we saw in the guide book.
Other ideas:
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Pu’u wa’a wa’a cinder cone state park. Cool hiking. We got completely lost (despite it being seemingly well marked) and ended up having to use Google Maps and GPS to find our way back to the car. If you do this, you’ll realise it is probably harder to get lost than to find your way. On a clear day you can see both sides of the coast. This park is in between the two volcanoes so it can get cloudy and if the clouds are low you are amngst them.
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End of the world. Cliff jump just south of Kona. It’s well documented on teh internet.
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The swimming pool. Check out the masters swim team. It’s run by Steve Borowski who is the coolest man on the planet, maybe tied with Bill Murray. He put together the original ironman swim course and designed the pool.
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Old Kona Airport rec area. You can cycle here from the centre of town in a jiffy. There’s lots of beaches and is a good place to watch the sunset. There are a couple tide pools where the water comes in and you can sit in it without the waves hitting you directly. During the day that water will be really warm as it gets heated up. There is another tide pool on the beach behind 75-6016 Alii Drive. All coast is public access in Hawaii so you’ll see loads of Shoreline access signs around the place. At times it feels like you’re tresspassing a little bit but don’t worry, it’s fine. This tide pool is a concrete one rather than a natural one that some of the locals built years ago. It fills with salt water from bigger surf. You can see it on Google Satellite images. This is where the beer mile was held this year.
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For beginner surfing check out Kahalu’u. There is a surf shop nearby where you can get lessons. All the surfing around Kona are reef breaks so it can be shallow and filled with reef. You’ll want rashguards and the ability to deal with a sense of impending doom. There is also Pine Trees but it’s out of the way and you’ll need a local to point out the beginner breaks. The locals are pretty cool with sharing the water, but around Ironman time I’m not sure if they’re overwhelmed with visitors.
Cycling:
If you’re not going to do the whole Ironman course in one day I wouldn’t bother splitting it up and do it section by section. It’ll suck up loads of time and you’ll get the ‘feel’ for it after one ride. Here’s a description of the course: Kona town, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, Hawi, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, lava fields/wind, Kona town. Because of the speed limits (35mph in many places on the highway) you might find yourself driving an hour north, riding for 2 hours then driving an hour south back to Kona. That’s 4 hours (it’ll eat up half a day). If you do that 3 times you’ve massively eaten into the other AMAZING stuff you can do on the island. Please don’t get too caught up the Queen’s K. I know it’s the championship, but there is so much amazing stuff here. Some ideas for rides:
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60 miles. Drive to Waikoloa Village (free parking and you can hang out at the beach without staying there - due to the public shoreline access rules - love Hawaii!). If you’re with someone else they can stay at the hotel and hangout while you ride north to do the Hawi hill and back. You’ll get a feel for some of the lava fields/wind as well as the hill.
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100-105miles. Kailua Pier to Hawi and back. This is basically the ironman course without the extra loopyness they add in to make it 112 miles. I wouldn’t bother doing the full course because the extra miles are in and around town and will be a pain to follow if you don’t have a TOMTOM telling you where to go.
There are always loads of people on the highway so if you get into trouble you’ll be okay. There are loads of cyclists so if you have a puncture you’ll have backup if necessary. That said, you’ll go through water very quickly if you don’t live somewhere hot already. There is rarely cloud coverage over the lava fields. Even if it’s raining in Kona, it is probably belting down with heat on the highway. If it’s hot and clear in Kona then be prepared for a tough day. When the wind blows your legs have to work harder, when there is no wind your body starts to cook. I think that’s what makes the course so tough. If you wear black and do the full course take a picture of your back when you get home, it’ll be covered in white from the crystals of salt from your sweat. Anyway, I digress. Water/Coffee stops from Kona to Hawi (miles are from Kailua pier):
5 miles: Kona Mountain Coffee/Pine Tree Cafe. Pine tree cafe is a bit crap and mountain coffee is lovely but overpriced. (That reminds me, coffee in Kona is very overpriced - you’ll think Starbucks is cheap afterwards. If you want to save money buy a half pound of coffee at the market and make it yourself). I had to stop here a few times on tough days to get some water coffee and psyche myself up for the last few miles home. Make sure you have at least 2 water bottles to make it to the next stop (unless you start at 6am when it’s cooler).25 miles: Waikoloa Village (Shell gas station for water/soda, Queen’s Marketplace for Starbucks/food court, etc. There is also a BikeWorks shop there if you need to pick something up). 35 miles: Kawaiehae. There’s gas station and a market here. The market was up for sale I think so not sure it’ll still be there by the time you go. 50 miles: Hawi. A few places here.If you ask nicely they gas station people will let you fill up your water bottles with ice and water for free. During IM season they might be less patient though. I highly recommend taking advantage of this. You’ll also want the therma cool bottles that keep everything cold. With the ice and a good bottle, the water might stay cool for an hour. Make sure you fill up at Waikoloa if you’re not full. On a hot day those 20 miles can be tough if you run out of water. I’m quite slim and deal okay with the heat and I would ride with 2 water bottles and occasionally run dry, so I started buying an extra 500ml water bottle on the way back and putting it in my jersey pocket for emergencies.
Other non-Queens K ride that I loved:
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60 miles (via Waimea). Rather than do the lava fields you can head inland on the Mamalahoa Highway. There isn’t a shoulder in places so it can feel a bit sketchy but there aren’t really any blind corners and speed limits are low so I felt safe on it. People generally aren’t in a rush on this island so don’t buzz you on narrow sections. This is a really undulating ride and if the wind is blowing it can be very tough. It is extremely beautiful and more enjoyable than the Queens K (even if it doesn’t have the same history attached to it). There aren’t ANY stops between Waimea and Kona to pick up water unless you go into the golf course and ask nicely, so stock well.
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Circuit around the island. About 240 miles I think. Due to the expanses of nothing you need to be careful about supplies. PM me if you plan doing this. I did it on a road bike with a little backpack and it was great (except when I ran out of punture repair kit!).
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Alii Drive. Go south out of town and it’ll get hilly before you know it. This is a great place to do hill repeats in teh morning or evening with very little traffic. (At least this year there was little traffic as they are still building the highway, maybe it’ll be really busy by the time you go!). There is also another hill on Kamahameha III Road. Both hills are 1-2km in length and pretty steep.
Swimming
Go to the pool or to the Kailua pier if you’re by yourself. You can swim Kailua Pier by yourself if you’re competent but there are always loads of nice groups you can just join if you ask them. Most groups will leave the pier between 7-8am. There are lots of markers out to the Half IM turnaround point (i.e. 0.6 miles/1km into the swim). From there you have to swim out to the next buoy without markers and it’s hard to see until you get a bit closer. You can use the trees in the distance as a marker but ask locals for reference points when you get there. There are beaches to the left every so often, so if you tire you could drop out and do the walk of shame back into town. There are often dolphins swimming in the area (i.e. most days). As you swim look out for boats, SUPs, etc and if you see a congregation of them, it’s not because they’re waiting to clap you as you swim over. There can be pods of 50+ that dive and come up and occasionally do flips and stuff. This was the best experience I had, abandoning a training swim to just follow them about until I was exhausted and dehydrated.
Hapuna beach is really beautiful and has a good bay for swimming (probably about half a mile from end to end) and there are lifeguards there. I don’t remember which (Four seasons or Waikoloa Hilton) has a small bay where you can swim too but it’s only a couple hundred yards from side to side and quite busy with snorkelling folk.
White Sands beach (a.k.a Magic sands beach) is a great hangout and a couple miles out of town. It’s a snorkelling spot and has a beach volleyball court. Stop of at Banyan Mart on the way down and grab snacks to have on the beach. If I remember correctly there is also a public BBQ grill here too.
Running
For easy running, stick to Alii Drive. If you want to join a group go to the Big Island Running company and at 6pm on a couple evenings per week there is a group run that’s free and has a very wide range of abilities.
For tough running go to the energy lab on a hot day and see how you fair. You can drive to the energy lab and park inside it although around competition time I’m not sure whether they’ll let you do that, although you should be able to park somewhere nearby.
For something hilly just head inland. If you’re near the beach just aim inland and before you know it you’ll be running on a 7-20% incline that will go on longer than you can.
Eats/Drinks
Depending on the time of year the sunset moves along the horizon. I think in October you can see it from pretty much any of the shoreline bars/restaurants in Kona. In the middle of the year you’ll want to go to Huggos which has a better angle for seeing the ‘summer’ sunsets. If it’s a really clear day you might see a green flash as the sunsets. I didn’t see it once in six months because I wasn’t persistent enough with it, but my girlfriend saw it 5+ times. Even if it seems really clear often there are clouds 100 miles away that block the sun right on the horizon. Anyway, my eats recommendations:
Umekes. I could eat here every day of my life. If you like fish you’ll love this place. It’s basically extremely fresh fish (you can sit there and watch the fisherman drop off their morning’s catch) in a sauce with rice/quinoa and a side. If you don’t like the fish the beef dish is still tasty but not in the same league.
Huggos. A generally chilled spot to listen to music and have a beer and maybe some food in the evening. Great views of the ocean.
Daylight Mind Coffee. If there is a boat race on then go here, sit on the balcony and eat or drink. It’s chilled and very nice.
Island Lava Java. I really liked this place but it’s more on the pricey side. The coffee milkshake was great.
Oceans Sports Bar. Happy hour tacos. They’re cheap and some of the best on the island. The tacos are normally made fresh by a lady at the front of the bar which is cool.
Humpys. Probably the liveliest spot in Kona. In Ironman week Humpys and Huggos tends to host the parties and you can do the celebrity spotting in there on the evening of the race and the night after.
Bongo Bens. This is a great breakfast/brunch spot. On ironman day we had breakfast while Kienle came running past followed by the rest of the field. (Okay, I got up late that day!)
Kona Brewing Co. Makes craft beers, decent food. Bit overpriced.
Other places that are okay: Quinns, Splashers, Big Daddys, Original Thai Cuisine, Lemongrass, Longboard Pizza. There are probably others. If you get stuck just ask someone on the street. Any local will know EVERY eatery and be able to help out.
Other Activities:
Dolphin: as mentioned above you can see the dolphins if you swim and hunt around for them. The boat tours kind of suck as you’ll just see them occasionally when they surface or jump. Much better to earn it and really get involved in the ocean. There are dolphins in an oversized swimming pool south of kona at one of the hotels if you want to spend lots of money helping keep a few of them captive.
Parasailing. This was pretty cool and you go up really high. I’m not great with heights although try to embrace them occasionally. It’s very serene up there and you get to see quite a lot. On the north shore of Oahu there is a skydive place BTW.
Golf. I don’t golf but there are a few courses around.
Manta Ray diving. I didn’t manage to chalk this up. It’s pretty cheap and pretty amazing. They put loads of plankton in the water and the manta rays come out to eat it. You can get in the water and observe them from close up.
Ironman day:
On ironman day you can’t really watch the swim from the pier because that’s where transition is. That whole area is a pain in the ass all day because it’s busy and you can’t cross the road as they block it off for athletes so you have to wait for the road to be clear (which can be a long time at periods of the day). Most of the businesses open at 4am to watch the start. You can do this and then go back to bed while everyone is on the bike course. I think the Queens K is shut down for traffic. I’m not certain on this because the airport is on the highway so figure they have something figured out for that.If you have the inclination you could drive to Waimea and get on your bike and drop down to the highway and watch the athletes cycle past at the T junction before Kawaihae. It’s about 30 miles into the bike so if you hustle you could get them, watch them come past on the outbound and wait a while for them to pass again on the way back, before heading back to town. This was my plan but I woke up late and hungover and missed the swim and most of the bike. For the run, it’s cool to hang at one of the Alii Drive bars watching people come by. Again I think but am not sure, that they close down the Energy Lab to everyone so there is purposefully no support at that section to make it a real test of mental strength. The finishing shoot will be really really busy although we went down at midnight and we were able to get an okay spot to watch the last people come in. That was the highlight of the day for me. There was one person who just missed midnight and the whole crowd went completely mental cheering them in. Rinny and a bunch of the other pros were out that same evening drinking and partying for a little while at Humpys. The town isn’t that big so if you just go to the busiest spot that evening, it’s probably because a bunch of the pros are in there.
Lastly:
There are lots of Kamaina discounts (I forget the exact word). Basically it’s a discount for locals. If you do an activity and have the gift of the gab you can pretend you live there and get a hefty discount. They’ll probably want to see your Hawaii State driving license though.
I forgot to mention the waterfalls on the north side of the island. There are loads in the guide books. If you’ve been to Niagara/Victoria/Foz d’Igacu you probably won’t be that impressed. The sheer number of them is crazy. The touristy ones are roped off so you only see them from a distance but some you can get right up to.
The coffee farms mentioned above is agood shout. Try the chocolate covered coffee beans. They are packed with caffeine and sugar. Addictive and delicious.
This race is generally the Sunday before IM Kona on Oahu. It’s got pretty spectacular scenery and totally closed roads.
2015 date is not posted yet, but I would definitely recommend it if you are going to be on Oahu.
wow! thorough!
thanks all for your help! will definitely keep on the car rentals…looking forward to it!
Love the Outrigger. Great place. Enjoy the vacation.
Definitely take your bike. There is great cyxling all over the island. You can set up rides to both Pololu and Waipio depending on where you want to start. Also consider adding Kohala Mountain Road on your Hawi loop if it is a clear day. Lots of riding right above Kona without driving anywhere. Much more scenic than the Queen K between Kona and Kawaihae.
The slowest driving on the island is south from Kona to South Point or Volcanao. Leave really early if you do this as a day trip. I’d skip the green sand beach if you are hiking from south point. It is a long hike.
The Saddle Road is now one of the nicest roads on the island despite all the past warnings. If you want to see Mauna Kea don’t hesitate. Also use it one direction if you want to see Hilo or the Hamakua Coast.
On race day you can also access a few miles of the Queen K from Kona on a bike if you are careful. Get a place on the Ali’i sea wall before the swim start as it is a great view. The road is open south of the pier until closer to the pro men’s bike finish.
It will be a great vacation. The biggest challenge will be rationing your 5 days!