Kona Hawaii Photo Dump

I would like to give you details about our trip to Kona, However it was quite a while ago and I forgot many details.  So i’ll give you what I remember.

A week trip to Kona started off with a 6 hour flight from Seattle.  We landed at Kona airport.  I would say this is one of my favorite Hawaiian airports due to the outdoor design.  It is basically a gated set of mazes, with an umbrella like a roof.  There are a limited number of gates and one lounge for Hawaiian Airlines.  If you like to people watch and airplane watch, no lounge is necessary. 

We stayed at the Hilton Waikaloa Village north of Kona.  It was an older building in multiple sections.  Although we walked from the front entrance to our tower, which was at the very end, there is a tram that is provided.  We ended up walking faster than the tram. 

The hotel is located within Waikaloa village area, which has nice walking sidewalks, stores, some shops, golf courses, etc.  We initially took Uber to the hotel and rented a car for only two days due to the high cost.  If you plan to stay within the village area, you’ll be fine without a car.  However, if you plan to travel around the island, a car will be necessary. 

The view around our hotel was beautiful.  The big island does not have nice beaches, and any of the sand that you see is more or less shipped in. 

We drove around the southern part of the island, leaving in the early afternoon.  Our destination was the Kilauea volcano.  We arrived in late afternoon and stayed into the night so that we could watch the lava glow. 

We did not plan well as we were wearing shorts during the day.  It was warm.  However, as the sun fell and night took over, it became cold.  Very cold.  We stayed in the car until the night was solid.  We hopped out and obtained our photos and ran back to the car to warm up. 

The drive back seemed like it took forever, late at night.  We stopped off at Mauna Kea, hoping to drive up to the top and see the dark sky.  But it was closed.  Sitting at the gate, we were able to gaze into the dark sky.  Photos were not taken.

The following five or so photos are a dump of beauty and tropics.

 

Our final night we had dinner at Halani at the Mauna Lani Auberge Resort Collection.  The atmosphere was beautiful.  The food is delicious.   Desert fabulous.  I recommend this place.