My first visit to the Big Island of Hawai’i was two years ago in 2023. That trip was perhaps a bit overscheduled. By the end of my stay, I was ready for a vacation from my vacation. When I revisited in 2025, I wanted to make sure I relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine. The Big Island is home to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, which was again a highlight of my trip.
On this trip, I revisited a few places and saw some new sights.
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The Big Island, Hawai’i
Length of stay: 5 nights
Where I stayed: Marriott Waikaloa Beach in Waikaloa
On my previous trip to the Big Island, I stayed at the Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Marriott in downtown Kona. On this trip, we stayed in Waikaloa, about 30 minutes north of Kona. At the beginning of our trip, I was wistful for the central location of the Courtyard hotel, located right in historic Kona Village. It’s about 15 minutes from the airport, 8 minutes from Target, 5 minutes from an abundance of (touristy) restaurants in the village, and 0 minutes from an ABC Store. The downside is that the beach is right next to a busy pier, and the water isn’t great.
The Waikaloa Marriott is 30 minutes north of the airport, and has a stunning beach area and pools. It’s in a developed area, near some shopping and stores. While the hotel was beautiful and the service terrific, Julia and I drove down to Kona for something or other almost every day, which meant a lot of time in the car listening to Normal Gossip.
It did, however, have a tremendous Continental Breakfast, which we ate every day while overlooking the ocean.
I used my Bonvoy points for the hotel, which has a “buy 4 get one free”, and the points were actually less than the Courtyard points would have been. The hotel itself is very nice with several pools, two hot tubs, and a nice beach with lounge chairs etc. There is one restaurant and one smaller coffee shop.
I did a short roundup of places to stay on the Big Island elsewhere on Ye Olde HFIL.
National park sites visited: 2; Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Kaloko-Honokōhau NHP (NPS site for all of Hawaii’s five park sites)
National park passport stamps acquired: 2
On my previous visit, I visited all 5 sites and created an itinerary so you can do the same. On this trip, I focused on the two that I liked the most.
Kaloko-Honokōhau is near the airport and has a series of lava rock pools where you can see so many green sea turtles (honu honu). And of course we visited Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park where we were able to see Kilauea erupting in all her glory.
More About Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
An in-depth guide to viewing the volcanic eruptions at Kilauea, Hawaii’s Volcano.
Why I visited: If you have ever been to the Pacific Northwest in the winter, you know the need for some sunshine. I used my Alaska Airlines companion fare to bring my sister with me so we could both enjoy the sun and warmth. It started snowing as we were leaving the airport so I think I made the right decision!
Highlights: What’s funny is that my previous Big Island trip report said, “Seeing a real life erupting volcano, eating lots of fish tacos, Kaloko-Honokōhau NHP” as my highlight. 10/10, no notes. I also got to see one of my friends, Ryan, who was also vacationing at the same hotel!!
Lowlights: My day job had a lot of chaos, reorganization and layoffs while I was on vacation, so I spent a lot of time talking to folks about what was happening. That was a layer of stress I didn’t really need on this trip.
What I did: Rested and read by the pool a lot, ate fish tacos, visited Koloko-Honokōhau NHP, saw lava at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, went thrifting with Julia, ate more fish tacos, read some more by the pool
What I didn’t do: go hiking, go kayaking, go snorkeling, see the manta rays, overschedule myself like I did on my last trip
Food highlights: I’m generally not a foodie, but I had some great fish tacos twice on this trip. We went to the Kuleana Rum Works in the Queen’s Marketplace near our hotel twice, and I had the fish tacos both times. They were probably the best I had on the island. Fish taco index: $27 for three tacos.
One of our servers gave us a poke recommendation “above Costco” and he did not disappoint. Pau Hana Poke in Kona was excellent and well priced. I ordered the keiki (child) portion of the spicy mayo poke for $8 and had plenty of food. We also tried Shakaz Tacos down near Captain Cook and liked it.
Aperol Spritz Index:
Aperol Spritzes at the hotel and Kuleana Rum Works bar/restaurant were $16 apiece. Other cocktails at the Waikaloa Marriott were $20+. I found this to be a bit high given the service at the pool bar and amount of alcohol in the cocktail.
Approximate trip cost:
Airfare: $900 (total, includes companion fare taxes and fees from Seattle), Rental car: $500, Hotel: on points except resort fee and parking $600, Food: $honestly no idea, Gas: $100 = $2000 plus food
I didn’t book the rental car early enough or pay in full at booking so with fees, it was higher than I wanted. When I stayed at the Courtyard, it had a lower resort rate and they cut me a deal on parking. The Waikaloa Marriott had a daily $40 resort fee and $35 parking fee. Highway robbery if you ask me! I also did not do any tours this round, although Julia did a coffee tour and roasting for $65 at Heavenly Hawaiian Coffee.
Other Trip Reports:
South Carolina’s Congaree National Park – easy hiking similar to Hawai’i’s park sites
Wintery Zion National Park – Beautiful vistas like Hawai’i Volcanoes
If you visit Hawai’i or find this information helpful, please let me know! Follow me on IG @HiFriendsItsLaura and Threads @HiFriendsItsLaura
I acknowledge her majesty Queen Liliʻuokalani yielded the Hawaiian Kingdom under duress in protest to the United States. You can read about this in her own words in “Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen” written by Queen Lili’uokalani.
