As usual, I can't really help, but I must comment. I rode a bicycle trip on the big island. I didn't get to spend a lot of time on photography, but if I ever went back for photography, I would spend a lot of time in Volcanos NP. The plants that recolonize the lava flows are interesting and the contrast in biomes (sp?) is amazing.
Pete D.
Posted by Keith Bauer on January 12, 2008 at 5:16 PM
Jack: I don't live on the Big Island, but I just spent 9 days there over the holidays. More photo ops than you can dream of. As noted by Pete, Volcanoes NP is simply amazing. Rainforest, lava, steam vents, you name it. Unfortunately, to see or photograph flowing lava now must be done from the air as the flow that was visible for years stopped last June with an earthquake swarm that apparently collapsed lava tubes and the surface flow stopped and rerouted itself to a differnet vent. Still plenty to photograph. I had to dial in at least -1-2/3 exposure compensation to get accurate exposures for images with mostly black lava.
Not too far from Volcano is the Punalu'u Black sand beach. Neat place. When we were there 2 green sea turtles had pulled themselves up onto the beach. Apparently pretty common there. There were also many other turtles in the water close by.
On the Hilo side don't miss the 4 mile scenic route north of Hilo. The Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is there and is well worth the vist. Beautiful flowers, and incredibly lush vegetation.
I would have loved to had an underwater housing for my camera to use snorkeling. Some truly wonderful snorkeling opportunities on the Kona side. Kahalu'u bay and Kealakekua Bay were both great as was Honaunau Bay. This Turtle was photographed at Kahalu'u bay.
We bought a book that we found invaluable. It is "Hawaii - The Big Island Revealed" by Andrew Doughty. A ton of great information on what to see on each road, history, restaurant recommendations (that all turned out to be great). Well worth it if you don't already have some good info.
Keith
Posted by Don George on January 12, 2008 at 7:48 PM
Keith,,,great turtle shot,,nice composition.
Posted by Kent Staubus on January 12, 2008 at 11:16 PM
The walk out to the lava is probably the most difficult hike I've ever taken my family on, but definitely worth it. We went out in the afternoon and walked back at night, under a full moon. Do not wear shorts and do wear gloves. Also, bring at least a half gallon of water for every person. Trust me on that one! The lava is one of the coolest things I've ever seen, but you need to be prepared for that extremely tough hike. Don't get caught off guard.
There were two other areas I loved, and both are far from the crowds. The first is that saddle area between the two volacanoes. A main highway runs through it and there's a lot of interesting little flowers etc. along it. I also loved the top of the tallest volcano--Mona Loa? There is a road to the top. No one was there and the landscapes were just fantastic! Do bring clothing for 30 degree temps. The sunset there was the second best thing I did on the island.
Try to stay at least a few nights at the old lodge in the national park. It's really unique and there are some great hikes in the area.
Kent in SD
Posted by Jack Graham on January 13, 2008 at 1:30 AM
Wow guys--I am in for a great week! Thanks for your help.
Any more thoughts folks.
JG
Posted by Mel Ladewig on January 13, 2008 at 3:19 AM
I spent 2 weeks on the big island in 2005.
Some suggestions.
Drive the road from Kona to Hawi (Havi). The rain shadow area is very interesting.
Visit the telescopes on Mauna Kea. The road is not bad (though I live in colorado and am used to driving 2wd cars where I should not take them).
The southern point is very cool. Nice scenery in that area including rolling hills of grassland. Just a little ways east are two interesting sites. One is the green sand beach which I was not able to visit. The other is a nice black sand beach at Punaluu where we found sea turtle resting on the beach.
I enjoyed Lapahoehoe point park. Very beautiful location and did not see another tourist there.
Waipio was cool too, but the road down to the beach is too steep for a regular car. You'd need low range. If I remember correctly we had a nice bite for breakfast in Honokaa after visiting Waipio.
Of course Volcanoes is sweet. We stayed in the park for about a week on our trip.
I don't live on the island but have visited seven times. I would stay a day or two inside the park at the Inn located right on the crater! You will be centrally located and can make daily trips down Chain of Craters road to the ocean. You should be able to catch some lava flows doing that.
Discussion
7 repliesI'll be there for a week starting Monday.
Thanks folks.
JG
Pete D.
Not too far from Volcano is the Punalu'u Black sand beach. Neat place. When we were there 2 green sea turtles had pulled themselves up onto the beach. Apparently pretty common there. There were also many other turtles in the water close by.
On the Hilo side don't miss the 4 mile scenic route north of Hilo. The Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden is there and is well worth the vist. Beautiful flowers, and incredibly lush vegetation.
I would have loved to had an underwater housing for my camera to use snorkeling. Some truly wonderful snorkeling opportunities on the Kona side. Kahalu'u bay and Kealakekua Bay were both great as was Honaunau Bay. This Turtle was photographed at Kahalu'u bay.
We bought a book that we found invaluable. It is "Hawaii - The Big Island Revealed" by Andrew Doughty. A ton of great information on what to see on each road, history, restaurant recommendations (that all turned out to be great). Well worth it if you don't already have some good info.
Keith
There were two other areas I loved, and both are far from the crowds. The first is that saddle area between the two volacanoes. A main highway runs through it and there's a lot of interesting little flowers etc. along it. I also loved the top of the tallest volcano--Mona Loa? There is a road to the top. No one was there and the landscapes were just fantastic! Do bring clothing for 30 degree temps. The sunset there was the second best thing I did on the island.
Try to stay at least a few nights at the old lodge in the national park. It's really unique and there are some great hikes in the area.
Kent in SD
Any more thoughts folks.
JG
Some suggestions.
Drive the road from Kona to Hawi (Havi). The rain shadow area is very interesting.
Visit the telescopes on Mauna Kea. The road is not bad (though I live in colorado and am used to driving 2wd cars where I should not take them).
The southern point is very cool. Nice scenery in that area including rolling hills of grassland. Just a little ways east are two interesting sites. One is the green sand beach which I was not able to visit. The other is a nice black sand beach at Punaluu where we found sea turtle resting on the beach.
I enjoyed Lapahoehoe point park. Very beautiful location and did not see another tourist there.
Waipio was cool too, but the road down to the beach is too steep for a regular car. You'd need low range. If I remember correctly we had a nice bite for breakfast in Honokaa after visiting Waipio.
Of course Volcanoes is sweet. We stayed in the park for about a week on our trip.
I have some photos from my trip here. http://www.ladewigs.com/Gallery/v/America/Hawaii/