The Big Island of Hawaii: A Wild Welcome
Big Island of Hawaii
Day 1: A Rocky Start
Royal Kona Resort
We arrive much later than planned at the Royal Kona Resort in Kailua-Kona. Exhausted but relieved, we check into this oceanfront gem. Perched on lava cliffs, it offers cozy rooms, a saltwater lagoon, and waves crashing below. There’s an inviting tiki bar and restaurant right at the hotel, so we stop in for dinner. It is perfect for a late-night collapse after a long travel day. The hotel has two towers – our room is in the Lagoon Tower that is undergoing renovations. We get a really large corner room on the second floor with a wrap-around balcony that indeed has a small ocean view.
Day 2: Northern Trails and Sunset Peaks
Pololu Historic Trail
Quinn’s Almost by the Sea
Mauna Kea’s Summit at Sunset
Stargazing and an Astronomy Lesson
We are taken to a small rest area where we are the only vehicle. As we enter the rest area, our driver gets out to turn off each streetlamp illuminating the road behind us. There is one port-a-potty here and he hangs a red light inside so we can see. The red light will not interfere with stargazing. He sets up a large telescope (about 1 foot in diameter) and distributes hot chocolate and cookies while the nine of us take turns using the facilities. He uses this amazing lighted laser pointer into the skies to spend about 2-hours teaching us and pointing out the North Star (and its significance), the Milky Way, several constellations, the elliptical line of planets (Saturn, Jupiter and Mars) and areas where there are galaxies and nebulas. He aims the viewfinder of the telescope at the Andromeda Galaxy as well as the Orion Nebula and all visible planets. We all take turns looking at these gorgeous star clusters. The area has a special night vision camera that he uses to take photos too. The photos you see below are from his camera – and shows what we saw through the viewfinder.
Day 3: Volcanic Wonders
Kailua-Kona to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Steam Vents
Kilauea Caldera
Chain of Craters Road
Hilo and Back to Kailua-Kona
Laverne’s Sports Bar in Kailua-Kona
Day 4: Backcountry Thrills
Hawi
We arrive almost an hour before our departure, so we take some time to walk around this tiny town with little infrastructure. We opt to purchase pre-made sandwiches at the local grocery store and enjoy a picnic lunch in the sunshine.
Kohala UTV Adventure
Thai Rin Restaurant
Day 5: North Shore Farewell
This is supposed to be our last day on the Big Island and therefore, our plan is to sleep in, take our time packing and not check out of the hotel until the last minute around 11am. Our flight doesn’t leave until 8:55pm so we don’t need to be to the airport until 6pm at the latest. We plan to spend some time driving along the northeast shore today.
Another Try at seeing the Eruption
Harrison rises around 6:20am and checks his phone. He learns the volcano started erupting again last night around 8:30pm! We quickly pack our suitcases, grab breakfast at the closest McDonald’s and head out for the 2-hour drive to Kilauea, very excited! We pass through the National Park entrance around 9:15am and head to the Kilauea Overlook area by the steam vents. By the time we drive there and walk to the overlook – the eruption has once again paused – specifically paused at 9:18am. There is a small chance it will kick up again within minutes, but as those minutes tick by, it becomes apparent the eruption is truly paused. Nearby tourists show us photos they took earlier in the morning. A few show us photos from the night before – people who came after 9pm (we were not aware the park was open through the night when eruptions occur, but then again, we were asleep before it had started erupting so it is just water under the bridge).
We leave the Kilauea Overlook area and drive to a spot we didn’t go to when we were here a few days ago – Devastation Point. It is a 1/2-mile easy hike along a now closed road that traverses through an area devastated by the 1959 eruption. Informational signs tell us much of the area was buried by falling cinders. It is very cool to see the recovering landscape and witness the return of life.
On to the North Shore
Honoka’a
Honoka’a Public House
This charming little town with plantation vibes has a delightful pub called the Honokaa Public House. Located in an old bank building, this place turns out to be our haven for killing time. We learn that as part of the rich history of Old Honoka’a, the exterior of the building must remain in its original form. Locals flit in and out and we enjoy hearing their stories of why they live in this town and what life is like. We order pizza and it is honestly incredible! We decide to order more to take with us on the plane tonight, since we looked at the menu for our flight and it was unappealing.
Waipi’o Overlook
The owner of the restaurant tells us about another overlook just a few miles up the road. We head to Waipi’o Overlook to see yet another stunning clifftop view of the ocean shoreline. Then, it’s time to transition back to the other side of the island, to the KOA airport to wait for our flight.
Return Flight from Hell
- Boarded shortly after 8 – seated in row 50 (of 52 rows). The flight seat configuration was 3 seats on the left, 4 in the middle, 3 on the right. As the flight attendant was moving our carry-on bags from our overhead storage to the middle section overhead storage, an announcement over the loudspeaker informed us they were trying to balance the weight on the plane so they could get the last 6 passengers on-board.
- Doors closed “on-time” (we presume 8:45pm), another announcement that the weight had been balanced and all passengers were able to board.
- About 9:15pm, we taxied from the gate and started our take-off. But the take-off aborted and we pulled over to the side. The captain made an announcement that runway renovations had begun “today” and the runway was 4000′ shorter, from 11,000′ down to 7000′ and we would need to figure out what to do. We were told we were the first plane of this size to attempt a take-off on the shortened runway. We were going to burn some fuel off to lighten our load while we wait for our next steps. We decide to eat the pizza we packed.
- About 9:30pm, the captain came on and told us we would need to return to the gate to off-load 13,500 lbs of cargo. They told us the engineers had done the calculations to ensure we could safely take-off on this shorter runway. We were told 2 other planes were in the same situation.
- About 10:00pm, there was an announcement that 6 passengers had been removed along with enough cargo – but none of our luggage. We would depart in 5-10 minutes.
- At 10:20pm, we received a text that we are likely to miss our connection in Denver, it is taking longer than expected to load our cargo and should now depart at 10:29pm. A second text informed us that our maintenance team needs to evaluate an issue with cargo on our plane before we depart again.
- About 10:30pm, there was an announcement that unfortunately, it had started raining and that was going to add another 4000 lbs of weight to the flight, so they needed 20 volunteers and their carry-on luggage to leave the plane. They would get a hotel room, transportation to/from the hotel, meal vouchers and $400 electronic United credit – but not their checked bags. FYI – we googled this and rain does NOT add any significant weight.
- About 10:50pm, there was an announcement that they still needed 6 more volunteers.
- About 11:10pm, there was an announcement that they had all 20 volunteers and we would leave soon. In fact, we needed to leave by 11:24pm or the crew would time out and that would mean cancelling the flight.
- About 11:40pm, there was an announcement that we missed the crew-time out, but they had come up with an alternate plan. They submitted paperwork to fly the plane to San Francisco (instead of Denver) to shorten the flight time which meant the crew would NOT time out.
- About 11:50pm, they announced that the bathrooms were now available and water was available. (This aligns with federal tarmac regulations – 2h after sitting on the tarmac).
- At midnight, they announced that the food originally intended for service during our flight had all spoiled and there would be no food served once airborne. It’s a good thing we brought and ate that pizza!
- About 12:40am, they told us we could “egress” the plane if we wanted (also aligns with federal tarmac regulations – 3h after sitting on the tarmac). We were told if we left the plane we had to take our carry-on baggage with us. We were told if you left the plane, not to leave the gate area because security was closed and we couldn’t get back to the gate. And if we left the plane, there might not be time to get back on to make take-off. If people leave the plane and get back on, they have to repeat the safety instructions, etc. before take-off and time was going to be of the essence.
- About 1:00am, they were told the paperwork still hadn’t cleared, but asked everyone to get to their seats so we could expedite take-off as soon as they got the word. The pilot also tells us not to worry about the shortened runway, that this plane arrives and departs from the Maui airport all the time and it’s runway is also 7000 feet long.
- At 1:24am, we receive a text confirming our flight is delayed and should leave at 1:30am.
- At 1:45am (5h), the announcement told us the paperwork had not approved in time, the crew was now maxed out for flying the alternate shorter flight, so our flight was canceled. We were told to deboard the plane and get our luggage from the baggage claim area. We were told gate agents would be available to rebook us and to get in line.
- At 1:50am, there was an announcement that someone had thrown up in the left aisle so everyone would have to exit the plane via the right aisle.
After 5 hours on the tarmac – the ordeal to rebook flights begins
- At 2:05a, we were off the plane, had our luggage and got in line. Having sat in the back of the plane, the line in front of us was long and about 20 folks were behind us.
- At 3:04am we received a text apologizing for the flight that was canceled due to “an unexpected operational issue”. People in line all try calling the United help line at the same time and that makes it a challenge to get through. The person behind us finally gets connected and they try to unravel rebooking over the phone. They are about to select a flight when they get a text saying they’ve automatically been rebooked to another flight. The phone agent is perplexed but they agree to end the call.
- About 4:00am we received a text letting us know we had been automatically rebooked to Denver on Flight US1911 at 5:45pm “today/tonight” – then almost immediately, a text that it’d been delayed to 7:45pm. We check the United app and not only aren’t we aren’t sitting together, but there’s only 55 minutes to catch our connecting flight to Dulles. We see seats together if we want to pay $120 to upgrade to better seats – but we want those comp’d – so we stay in line to get assurance and answers.
- MIND YOU – the KOA airport is tiny. There are no walls – just a roof. There are only a few hard benches. Everyone was taking turns with their travel companions either standing in line or sitting on a bench. Everyone was respectful of the process and just trying to make the best of things. Security offered blankets, water and granola bars (all ran out quickly with over 350 passengers). Everyone was exhausted – hard to catch more than a 15-minute nap between announcements while on the plane. We learn the two other flights did manage to take off (some people in line had family/friends on the other flights).
- About 4:30am they announced they were out of hotel vouchers, but if we could find out own hotel and get a reservation, they would assist with transportation to/from. We would all be provided with meal vouchers. The women in front of us in the line called the Royal Kona Resort and was given a hotel room for $450 – and much explaining that they didn’t want to check it at 3p, but ASAP and not check-out at 11:00a, but a late check-out (as late as possible, but no later than 4:00p). Other callers weren’t having luck. Hotels weren’t interested in having someone check in about 5 hours before check-out time. Mind you, this was now Friday – a weekend – a busy time for hotels.
- At 5:00am, we came up with the idea of renting a car for the day and using it to sleep in, somewhere like the shade. The rental car shuttles started running around this time. I tried booking on-line (with Hertz – where I’m “gold”) and the only option was to start at noon and it was almost $200. We decide we’ll just wait til we have our boarding passes, then take our chances on a shuttle to Hertz to see if they have a car.
- At 6:40am we received a text with four $15 meal vouchers.
- At 6:55am, we finally reached the desk with gate agents. We were comp’d the better seats so we could sit together. We were assured that 55 minutes to catch our connecting flight was more than adequate (even checking that we only needed to walk about 1/4 mile to get to the departing gate from the arriving gate). We were told the 2h delay was just because they had mis-entered the departure time when they created the new flight (our plane that still needed to get to Denver). Our gate agent was told he had to be done with us by 7 or he would max out on his time (wow – gate agents can max out too?). We were given 10,000 miles each as compensation for them not having a hotel for us. We left the gate agent and looked at our boarding passes and realized he moved us together for the wrong flight – so we still weren’t sitting together. We got back in line and only had to wait about 10 minutes before another gate agent straightened everything out.SO – 5 hours on the tarmac followed by 5 hours waiting in line to be face-to-face with a gate agent….then 12 hours and 45 minutes until our replacement flight leaves.
Day 6 – unplanned “bonus” day
We honestly need to count our blessings that something like this happened to us at the end of our trip, only delaying our arrival back home. Had this cancelled flight happened mid-trip, it would have meant contacting the next hotel and car rental company to inform them to hold our room/car.
A Nap at the Beach
- At 7:15am, we boarded the Hertz shuttle. The lady took pity on our story and gave us one of the only 3 available vehicles for a mere $85.
- We went and got breakfast at Denny’s where we spent $45 of our $60 worth of meal vouchers. Then we went to the beach and fell asleep for about 2.5 hours.
Kaloko Honokhau National Historic Park
We drove up the coast for a bit and found the small Kaloko Honokhau National Historic Park. The focus is on Hawaiian culture.
A late Lunch at the Harbor House
Nearby the park, we stop in the marina area where we find the old-school, non-touristy restaurant called Harbor House. We order lunch and talk with folks, sharing our overnight ordeal. They buy us “pity beers” which actually does ease our pain a little.
Back to the Airport
We know the airport has only 1 restaurant, and we just had a full lunch, so we stop at Subway to get a sandwich to take on the plane (with the same unappealing menu). We once again board on-time and the flight takes-off without a hitch. As it turns out, we arrived late in Denver and had a mere 20 minutes to disembark and get to our gate – as it was closing!
Summary
Which is your favorite Hawaiian Island? Drop it below—we’d love to hear your take!
Here are links to our other Hawaiian Adventures:
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