Big Island of Hawaii
The Big Island of Hawaii
Officially called Hawaii Island, there is always a bit of confusion as to what some one is talking about, so The Big Island of Hawaii has become the most common way of referring to Hawaii County. The Big Island of Hawaii is 4,028 square miles and is almost double the size of all the other Hawaiian Islands combined. With a population of only 175,784, The Big Island of Hawaii is really quite small when compared to Oahu.
The Big Island of Hawaii – Facts
At only 800,000 year old, The Big Island of Hawaii is the youngest of all the Hawaiian Islands. If you have visited any of the other islands, it will be obvious to you that this is much newer land compared to any other island. There are two major mountains (volcanoes) that comprise most of the island and they each have their own bragging rights. Maunakea Mountain, at 13,796 feet about sea level is the tallest mountain in the world. It gets the rank of tallest because when measured from it’s base at the ocean floor, it’s actually 32,000 feet tall. The other is Maunaloa Mountain with bragging rights of being the most massive mountain in the world. The third and probably most well known mountain is Kilauea. When most people think of Hawaii, once they get past the image of Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach, they will think of volcanoes. This is where Kilauea comes in. Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It has been erupting continuously since 1983 and is one of the most thought of scenic attractions in all of Hawaii.
The Big Island of Hawaii – More To See
Although Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is the most commonly thought of site to see on The Big Island of Hawaii, there are many other points of interest that shouldn’t be missed during a visit. There is the historic Kailua Village – now Kailua/Kona, and the capital of Hawai County –Hilo. You can visit Waimea and catch the Paniolo’s, or Hawaiian Cowboys. And if you’re a coffee connoisseur, Holualoa and the coffee fields will be a sure stop during your visit. There are the famous black sand beaches that you won’t want to miss, but did you know there’s also a green sand beach? Also, if you’re up to a bit of a side trip, you can drive to the farthest point south in the United Stated and with a little luck may see the cliff divers in action!
The Big Island of Hawaii – Conclusion
In this article I’ve only pointed out a few of the sites and things to do on The Big Island of Hawaii. If you’d like to learn more about The Big Island of Hawaii now, you can download and view Hawaii’s Big Island Vacation Guide. In future posts I’ll be going into some of the specifics and details of all that The Big Island of Hawaii has to offer.
Maridee,Unfortunately, the mouth of the Waipio Valley faces a north eastern ditrceion and the sunrise (from the east) would be blocked by the eastern valley wall. The Waipio Valley Lookout would also not offer you a direct view of the sunrise either not because of the trees, but because of the ditrceion that it faces and the finger of land that juts out to the north adjacent the lookout (to its east).Regardless of the sunrise, I highly recommend taking the trip down to the bottom of the Waipio Valley and exploring the valley and its beautiful black sand beach.A good sunrise idea that we’ve heard of but never tried ourselves is to go to the Volcanoes National Park and drive down to the bottom of Chain of Craters Road (leading to the ocean) and watch the sunrise from here. We’ve heard it is spectacular!