We visited the big island of Hawaii last year, and my younger brother recently asked for advice on the must sees, so I thought I’d share my thoughts for a broader audience.

Our two kids were 8 and 10 at the time, so that prevented us from doing a few things – mainly the adventurous ziplines on offer amongst the waterfalls and ravines – which I was dead keen to try! We also found that one week wasn’t quite enough: a bit more time, in particular to explore more of the rain-soaked Eastern side of the island, would have been great. Since we stayed (as most people do) on the sunny and dry West side, on the day we ventured over to Hilo by the time we had got all the way around there we didn’t have as much time to explore as we would have liked.

With that brief background, here are our highlights:

1. Stargazing at the Mauna Kea Visitor Center

2. Snorkeling at Kahaluu Beach and Captain Cook Memorial

3. Volcanoes National Park

4. Hike into Green Sand Beach

5. Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park

6. Manta Ray Swim

Stargazing at the Mauna Kea Visitor Center

I put this one first because it takes a bit of effort from a timing perspective, but is absolutely worth it. Every day, the volunteers at the visitor center on the slopes of Mauna Kea set out a bunch of telescopes as the sun starts to set, and then wait for the mist to dissipate to reveal the amazing vista that is the Milky Way. After a bit of time to take a look through the decent-sized telescopes which have been pointed at various stars and planets, one of the volunteers then proceeds to walk everyone through (with the help of a handy laser pointer) some of the constellations and other highlights of our galaxy. This might sound a bit dull, but let me tell you it is anything but, and when you realize that what you thought were wispy remnants of cloud are actually clouds of stars, you will know you’ve never before experienced what our ancestors could see in the sky almost every night.

Just make sure you take warm clothes, as it is really chilly up there.

Rather than stop at the visitor center, quite a few people continued to drive up to the top of the mountain. But we didn’t feel like we needed to do that.

Snorkeling at Kahaluu Beach and Captain Cook Memorial

We weren’t too sure how realistic it would be to take the kids snorkeling much, but Kahaluu Beach was a perfect safe introduction for the kids (and us!), has a wide array of fish, and in the end was the only place we saw a sea turtle while snorkeling. We went a few times, since it was the closest beach to where we were staying (at the Kona Coast Resort).

Once we had the hang of snorkeling there, we wanted to try somewhere else, and being Australian we were intrigued to see the Captain Cook Memorial, which we heard was also a good snorkeling option. There are tour operators that go around there by boat, and guided canoe trips are also on offer, but we decided to hike down, which was an experience in itself. The top of the trail-head is very hidden, but it is actually where it’s shown on Google Maps, in between other properties that butt right up to the road. The route itself starts down between tall cane plantations which have no qualms about growing into the trail itself. After a km or so of that, it opens up into the lava flow terrain so typical of the Western island with raw rocks intermingled with vegetation that is starting to re-establish itself. This is where it gets pretty hot, and why it is suggested to do this early in the day if you can. We actually did it around lunch time which was fine on the way down, but very warm on the way back. Take everything you need (plenty of water, snorkels, food) since there are no supplies at the beach. Once you’ve found your way to the memorial you can jump into the water with your snorkel and flippers and experience the steep coral drop off and crystal clear waters off. There are quite a few tour groups that wind up here as well, but it didn’t really feel crowded out in the water.

One thing that didn’t work too well: the cheap disposable underwater camera we picked up at the supermarket. My advice: Either get a proper waterproof digital camera, or don’t bother.

Volcanoes National Park

There’s not too much to say here. It’s a typical US national park with excellent brochures, signposting, car access to the trails and visitor center. Oh, and there’s a live volcano in the middle. The walk through the main sulphur-fuming self-guided walk not far from the main visitor center is worth it, as is the crater rim museum. The scale of the main crater is pretty amazing. The lava tunnel is also kind of cool. Be prepared to get wet. It was raining on and off the entire time we were there, which given it is in the transition zone towards the wet East side of the island I assume is to be expected.

Hike into Green Sand Beach

Drive down towards Ka Lae and continue around to the left (East) instead of actually going to South Point and you will end up at a somewhat dishevelled parking area. Here the drivers of various pick-ups, 4 wheel drive multi-seat golf carts and various other modes of transport will offer to take you along the 4 kilometers or so of rutted trails to the remarkable Green Sand Beach. You are not allowed to drive yourself the remaining distance, (and your rental car agreement certainly would not let you do so in any case) but we weren’t alone in opting to walk instead. This offers opportunities to see dolphins playing in the sea as you wander around the several small coastal headlands along the route, or in places where you opt for the more direct route, to remark over the meter deep trails winding across the sandy terrain that have been made by the many tourist transportments.

Once at Green Sand Beach, the sand is, well, surprisngly green, caused by the high content of volcanic olivine in the rock. You can swim in the sheltered bay formed in the volcanic caldera if you wish (although be prepared for the possibility of an uncomfortable sand-chafing walk back if you do), or just lie down and remark on the formations around the cove. A sea turtle did make an appearance off shore while we were here, but there were too many people around for it to want to come in close.

Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park

This immaculately maintained historical park imparts a real sense of native Hawaiian life from only a few hundred years ago. The self-guided tour takes you around a number of points in the open air beach-frontage terrain that comprised the royal grounds for a Hawaiian chief of time gone past including several replicas of original dwellings and other structures. There is also a long beach nearby set up with tables where you can have your picnic lunch. No snorkeling is permitted in the park, but Hanaunau Bay which is just to the North has a popular drop-in point called Two Step from which you can snorkel around a large sheltered bay teeming with fish.

Manta Ray Swim

Although a bit pricey, and not guaranteed to deliver results, the chance of a close encounter with these amazing and majestic creatures seemed too good to pass up. The mantas (not sting rays, they don’t have stingers!) learned several years ago that the lights from some of the beachfront hotels attract plankton, and they started gathering to feast on in it. Now enterprising boat operators will take you into the water and use bright lights in the water to (hopefully) attract the same. In the hour or so we spent hanging onto a pontoon in the water, we saw a couple of mantas gliding past on the sea floor only about 5 meters away. And it would have been incredible if they had swooped up towards up while scooping up their evening meal. Sadly, there wasn’t much plankton around the night we went (you can actually see these bright blue tiny creatures wriggling about in the water) so we didn’t get to experience that, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying! We found a smaller operator that just took us four out – and apparently they have a very high success rate – but no-one, including the bigger operators, were having any luck that night.