The Big Island - Days 1 & 2

Alison and I were brainstorming ideas for Valentine’s Day. We wanted to go somewhere, but none of the destinations we looked at made sense. Then we looked at the Big Island. Everything lined up. Flights were inexpensive. We could book a room at the Hilton Grand Vacation timeshare which is included in our timeshare ownership at no additional cost. This trip also allows us to escape the cold in Utah - a huge plus for Alison. And we could go scuba diving. We love diving. We were sold. The only potential issue was the time off work. Getting the time off wasn’t an issue, but we have quite a few other big trips planned that will require significant time off. While we have incredible flexibility with both of our employers we self-moderate to keep our time off each year reasonable. So we decided to work a couple of days while we will be in Hawaii. This was a good compromise since we don’t think we will have a jam-packed agenda on the Big Island anyway. 

We left on Saturday morning. We flew from Salt Lake to Seattle and then Seattle to Kona. The flights were uneventful. We arrived around 6:30pm local time. Upon arrival, we immediately hit a snafu. While Alison’s bag arrived just fine, mine did not make it onto the plane in Seattle. It was very disappointing, but what can you do? Using the Delta app we could see the bag was now scheduled to arrive mid-afternoon the next day. We talked to the baggage rep and filed a claim with Delta to make sure we would get the help we needed. Then we moved on with our vacation. Sometimes when you travel things don’t go the way you planned. In those moments you have a choice to make you can let it derail your trip or you can move on. We moved on and didn't get too hung up on the delayed bag. 

The view from the plane flying out of Seattle

Next, we had to get our rental car. Rental cars are currently crazy in Hawaii right now. Alison booked our car well in advance. Because of her work travel, she has status with a rental car company. At most big airports this means we can skip the line, but at a small airport like this, it normally doesn’t make a difference. Expect it did this time. On the shuttle, they asked if any emerald club members were on board. We raised our hands and they confirmed our name. When we arrived at the center we got to skip the line. We still had to wait a few minutes for them to clean a car (cars were being rented out as fast as they could clean them). Then we were on our way. It was slick.

Since I didn’t have my bag we knew I would need a few things. We also wanted to buy groceries. We drove to a nearby Target. I bought a swimsuit and a day's worth of clothing, as well as some toiletries - Delta, reimburses reasonable expenses when they lose your bag so they bought me an outfit in Hawaii. We also purchased groceries - we will have a kitchen at the resort so we will cook breakfast and some lunches during the week. 

All of these errands made for a stressful start to our trip. Getting groceries on such a long travel day is already asking a lot and then you add in the chaos of a lost bag and it is a lot. Plus it was late - the time was creeping past 11pm back in Utah. Our day wasn't even close to done. We still needed to eat and then check into our resort. We were hitting a wall. We went to L&L. It is a classic Hawaii place, plus it is quick and easy. It hit the spot. 

Finally, we were on our way to our accommodations. It took about 30 minutes to get to the resort. The sunset soon after we landed. The island is so dark at night so we couldn’t see anything. We were excited for the next day when we will actually be able to see the landscape. 

We are staying at the Bay Club in Waikōloa Beach. We will be in a one-bedroom condo all of this week. We were immediately impressed with the room - it is spacious and quite nice. We only got an initial impression because we crashed as soon as we put our groceries away. 

We had to be up early the next morning to go diving. That really wasn’t a problem - thanks to jet lag. We were both awake at 6am (and would have been awake even without our alarm). We made breakfast burritos, a vacation breakfast staple, before driving back out to Kona. 

We hired Big Island Diving to take us diving. We found them on trip advisor. Today we went on a two-tank dive. We drove to their office to check in and then met up at the boat. There were a total of 10 divers with 2 dive masters. The boat we used was spacious and comfortable. We rented all of our gear from them so it was all set up on board before we arrived. Once we were on board we set out. We rode out into the ocean for ~30 minutes to reach the first dive site. Our first dive site was Kailua bay. Because my bag was lost I didn’t have my normal camera set up. This turned out to be good because instead of being focused on my camera, I focused on being still and controlling my breathing. I had one of my best dives. We bottomed out a little deeper than 50 feet and despite this depth, I was able to stay under for exactly 60 minutes. I was even more efficient with my air than Alison, which never happens. The water was crystal clear and a little cold. We both wore wetsuits to stay warm. It was a great dive. The coral was beautiful and vibrant and the sea life was quite nice, too. We didn’t see anything too big or flashy. I loved the many fish and enjoyed soaking in the little details. It is interesting to be able to be inches away from sea life and watch them go about their lives as if you aren’t there. In addition to the sea life, there were some interesting structures we encountered. We swam under a coral arch and swam into a few large sea caves. At the end of the dive, Alison headed up for her safety stop while I followed our divemaster through a coral canyon. Oh yeah, one other interesting note - one of the couples we were diving with got engaged near the start of the dive. What a memorable way to propose. 

After an appropriate surface interval, we headed to our next dive site - Crescent. This site is near the entrance to the harbor. As a result, there are often boats going by overhead. When I first heard a boat going by I couldn’t figure out what that sound was. Eventually, I looked up and realized what it was. This dive also had abundant sea life and vibrant coral reefs. One interesting feature of the Big Island is that the dept descends gradually as you move away from shore and then suddenly drops off into deep water. We saw a few interesting things on this dive. We saw a large tiger shark, but it was fairly distant. Most of our group was quite excited about this, but after Belize spoiled us, we were less excited about the distant shark. We did see a really cool Moray eel swimming around outside of coral. It was quite large and active. We also saw a dragon wrasse - I thought this was quite cool. It was another great dive. Alison didn’t have quite enough weight in her gear and began to drift up near the end of the dive. I tried to help her stay down, but eventually, she started pulling me up. This is another fairly long drive for us ~50 minutes. 

Crescent dive location from the boat

We liked Big Island Divers. They are a solid dive shop. We have a couple of other dives coming up with them on this trip. One interesting thing Alison realized, other than our dives for our advanced scuba certification, our dives today were the only dives we have done in the USA.

After diving we were hungry. We went to Kailua Kona - an old town shopping area nearby. We found a place to eat at Kona Wave Cafe Açaí Bowls and Shaved Ice. We each got an açaí bowl - they hit the spot. Fruit always tastes especially delicious after diving. Once we had some food in us, we walked around the old town area. There was an interesting old church, Mokuaikaua Church - the oldest Christian church in the Hawaiian Islands, dating back to 1820. There is also a palace in this area, Huliheʻe Palace, which is the former vacation home of Hawaiian royalty, as well as stunning ocean views. 

Mokuaikaua Church

Huliheʻe Palace

By the time we wrapped up in Kailua Kona the flight my bag was scheduled to arrive on was landing. We were near the airport so we decided to stop by and see if my bag made it (they would have delivered the bag to our hotel if it wasn’t convenient for us to pick it up). This time we were in luck, my bag arrived. It is always better to have your luggage on vacation, than not have it. 

With my bag in hand, we drove back to the resort. We wanted to spend some time getting the lay of the land around Waikōloa Village. Waikōloa is a beautiful resort area. There are many timeshares and hotels in this area, as well as some shops. The landscaping is beautiful. I loved the umbrella acacia trees throughout the property (and around the Big Island) they reminded me of Africa. We went on a walk around the Bay Club (Hilton property where we are staying). We checked out the pools and the other common areas - there are tennis courts, barbecues, games, and more. We ended up at the main pool where we hung out for a while. The pool has a slide and a hot tub, we enjoyed both of these features, but I especially loved the water slide - I guess I am a kid at heart. 

We headed back to our room to clean up and catch the last few minutes of the super bowl. It was an exciting conclusion. It feels so good to get cleaned up after a long day of sweat and seawater. Once we were dressed we headed to dinner. We went to Foster's Kitchen, which is a local place that makes all of its food fresh. They had some outdoor seating and live music - it was dreamy. After dinner, we called it a night. 

The view from our lānai