| The Big
Island is where you will find crystal turquoise waters, spewing
volcanos and the world's finest coffees and chocolates. You can
visit coffee plantations and try all their coffees before buying
some for all your friends that didn't come with you! The Cacao (Chocolate)
Farm does tours only by appointment so call ahead - it is well worth
the adventure it takes to find!! Bob and Pam Cooper at THE ORIGINAL
HAWAIIAN CHOCOLATE FACTORY are friendly and know everything about
chocolate and will give you directions from your condo or hotel
and yes there will be tastings offered. (808.322.2626) |
| 2006
was a great trip, we stayed at the WorldMark just down the street
from all the shops and restaurants, just far enough that it was
a good walk into town (we didn't do it - hey we were on vacation).
We went scuba diving for 2 days and really enjoyed the crew from
Big Island Divers. Since I hurt my knee getting on the dive boat
last fall in the Keys I was very nervous about getting in and out
of the boat, these guys were understanding and took the time to
make it not so scary for me. |
| In
2004 we stayed in Captain Cook for 3 days at The Rainbow Plantation
B & B, Pahala 3 days in a old plantation house and then back
to Kona for 2 days at the "locals" hotel. Unfortunately
when you are going around the Island like that you end up going
up and down in elevation from sea level to almost 5000 ft.just to
go to the beach or out to eat, therefore no scuba diving on this
trip. On our next trip in 2006 we will be sure to schedule lots
of time to go down into that gorgeous blue water, it was so clear
when we snorkeled that the underwater pictures we took look like
we used a flash. We had the best experience at a luau so far at
the King Kamehameha Beach Resort, the food was hands down the best
and the floor show was as good as the Old Lahaina Luau on Maui.
We enjoyed sampling coffee at many of the small coffee plantations
along the road - and they are everywhere on the Kona side as well
as some south of Hilo. Kilauea was again erupting, but was not showing
herself except for a glow in the sky at night - it was a 16 mile
hike and we were short on time so it wasn't at the top of the "have
to do this trip" list. |
|
