Travel With Me: Big Island, Hawai'i (Days One & Two)
The last time Ryan and I went to Hawai’i, it was for our honeymoon in 2021, and we visited the Big Island and Kauai (read about that trip here). This spring, when we found out we were expecting our baby girl, the first big plans that we wanted to make were for our babymoon, and we figured what better place to go to celebrate our growing family than where we celebrated our marriage. Flights were cheapest to the Big Island (by several hundred dollars) and since it was our favorite island, we opted to return there for a few of the days on our trip. The other part of our time, we wanted to explore a new island, and we decided on Maui.
Accomodations/Transportation: Big Island
After all the news about Airbnb hosts cancelling guests stays due to double-booking and general dissatisfaction with the cost/conditions/cleaning requirements of the last few I’ve stayed at, we chose to stay at a bed and breakfast for this portion of the trip. The Hale-Hoola B&B is located in Captain Cook, which is fairly close to Kailua-Kona and the airport on that side of the island. We loved our experience here. We had a private lanai with a gorgeous view into nature, they had plenty of snorkel gear/sunscreen/towels that we could use, and the breakfasts were exquisite. Every morning, we had fresh fruit (nothing beats Hawaiian pineapple and bananas—and I don’t even like bananas!), eggs or quiche, avocado, bread, and a homemade baked good (like a slice of cake or muffin), cooked fresh by the owners of the B&B. They had bird feeders on the deck for some breakfast entertainment (don’t judge us for enjoying birdwatching now, we’re old). The geckos, however, were a constant menace, trying to get into our food. They were very cute though, and we left them little bits of mango to nibble on.
As far as transportation goes, we decided to go the same route as last time and rented a car. We used Thrifty again, and aside from the scorching heat at the airport as I waited outside the rental car pickup spot for Ryan to navigate the massive line (which was expected, since we went through the same thing last time), there were no issues. We actually coincidentally got upgraded for free again to a fancy sports car. I don’t know what kind of vibe we give off to the Thrifty employees, but we are not sports car people.
Day One: Arrival, Pine Tree Cafe, & Dinner at Manta
After our flight and picking up our rental car, we headed to what is now cemented as a tradition (twice makes a tradition, right?) of our arrival on the Big Island and headed to Pine Tree Cafe. This restaurant was recommended to us on our last trip by a bus driver at the airport, and it was legitimately one of Ryan’s favorite meals the whole trip. This garlic fried chicken changed his life, and we now recommend it to anyone flying into KOA. Last time, I wasn’t especially impressed by my fried fish plate, but this time, I got the fish burger, and it was amazing.
We then checked into the B&B and napped (we hadn’t slept much on the flight over) before embarking on the long drive north to Manta Restaurant at Mauna Kea Resort. This was one of a couple of fancy restaurants Ryan wanted to splash out on now that we could afford it, and the prices were certainly not cheap. The setting was gorgeous (and would have been even better at sunset), with the outside tables on a patio overlooking the water. I don’t know that I would write home about the food—they were oddly out of a large number of menu items, and the mac-nut crusted mahi mahi was not as good as much cheaper meals that I had on this trip. I did enjoy Ryan’s kampachi more than my dish, and the wonton chips they served in lieu of pre-dinner bread were randomly really addictive.
By far, the best part about this restaurant was that there was a little path you could take down to a viewing platform beside the water. There, they had massive lights set up to attract plankton, and you could watch manta rays feeding. This was a really cool opportunity for me because I knew I would never be able to suppress my thalassophobia enough to join Ryan on a night-snorkel to see the mantas up close.
DAY TWO: Farm Tour & SNorkeling at Two Steps
After breakfast at the B&B the next morning, we set off for a farm tour at Kuaiwi Farm, a small local fruit, coffee, and chocolate farm in Captain Cook. The tour group was very small, and they were still taking strong COVID precautions. We really enjoyed learning more about the history of agriculture on the island, the production process for such a small farm when making coffee and chocolate, the stages of growth for these plants, as well as tasting a variety of fruits fresh off the tree and even getting to crack our own macadamia nut! The tour ended with a tasting of different products made on the farm, including coffee, dried bananas (a surprise favorite of ours), and chocolate. Overall, this tour was extremely interesting, informative, and tasty—I’d highly recommend it as an affordable two-hour activity in the area.
After the farm tour, we got lunch at another of our favorite spots from last trip: Shaka Tacoz. After a somewhat anxious wait for a seat at the bar outside, we enjoyed some excellent fish tacos with a sweet little gecko friend.
We then headed back to the B&B to get change and grab some snorkeling gear before driving down to Two Steps. Using our National Parks Pass (which we made sure to remember this time!), we parked for free at the adjacent Puʻuhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park, which we’d toured the last time we came. You can read more about the park and Two Steps in the post about our first trip.
The weather was a little rougher than the last time we were here, making it slightly more difficult to get off the rocks and into the water due to the short wave intervals, especially while 20 weeks pregnant, but we were rewarded with some great snorkeling. The highlight this time was getting to see two eels fighting after one mistakenly tried to slip into an already occupied spot in the reef.
For dinner that evening, we tried out a new restaurant that I’d seen recommended on Reddit. Teshima’s began as a store and tofu shop in Kona in 1929, opened by a Japanese immigrant. In 1957, his daughter, “Grandma Teshima,” transformed the store into a restaurant that fused Japanese, local Hawaiian, and American cuisine. Teshima’s was the best discovery we made on this trip (and it was so good, we even went back on our one last day on the Big Island on the way home). Ryan ordered teriyaki beef and shrimp tempura, for which they’re rightly renowned, and I got the most flavorful fish I’ve probably ever had (the misoyaki butterfish). This was another meal that Ryan immediately wanted to recreate once we got home—it was just that good. The only things to note are that the fish does have bones in it (so be aware, if that freaks you out), and they don’t have reservations/make you wait outside until a table opens up. Luckily, this isn’t much of an inconvenience when the weather is as beautiful as it is in Hawaii!
Thanks for reading!
Up Next: Hiking at Polulu Valley & Adventures in Hilo