Visiting Big Island

Big Island, HI is the largest island on the chain of islands that make Hawaii state. Formally, it’s Hawai’i County in the state of Hawai’i (yes, it’s confusing.)

When I first came to Hawai’i, I was visiting a friend and that trip was magical.

I was expecting a tropical beach paradise, kind of like what I saw in Oahu, the Hawai’i island that has Honolulu - the most urban city in Hawai’i.

What I found on Big Island is raw savage nature. Big Island is the “youngest” of all the island chains, with active volcanos and lava flows.

The most recent lava flow that destroyed civilization was in 2018, that also destroyed one of my favorite parts of Hawai’i - Ahalunai Park, aka Millionaire’s Pond.

Although the name is “Big Island” - it’s really made of lots of small towns connected with long roads. Although the distance between each town is not that long, say, 60miles, it will take you more than an hour to get there - the roads are small and usually one lane for each direction. Expect to drive lots to see lots of nature. 😅

For me, the appeal of Big Island is finding these “hidden gems” - where no one else really knows about, the Earth itself is just forming.

The way to find it is you need invitation, either from a person or from Mother Nature’s guiding hand.

On the flip side, another part of Big Island I love are the observatories on Mauna Kea. Driving up there 14,000 feet above the sea, you can see clouds below you and the stars above. The sunset is magical and seeing all the stars out after brings me a sense of amazement of where we are in this Universe.

For me, Big Island has amazing natural wonders from the sea to stars.

❤️