When I saw that my time at the Banana Bungalow would include a Saturday, the day of their famous Haleakala hiking trip, I briefly considered changing my dates. Yes, it’s true, I’ve become somewhat of a hiker lately, but this was another beast entirely. And while obviously the free tours aren’t mandatory, there’s no way I…

If I ever return to The Big Island (which I truly hope to!), I’ll do things a little differently. I’ll rent a campervan and take a week to circumnavigate the island slowly and leisurely, rather than hopping around like a madwoman and logging millions of hours in the car. To be honest, I was a little…

I’ve said it before — and this is pretty groundbreaking stuff guys — but The Big Island is big. So big, in fact, that Heather and I often felt our butts go numb from hours logged in the car. While we were staying somewhere between Volcano and Hilo, we quite literally drove all the way around…

I had seen The Big Island from deep below sea level, I had seen it from the ground, I had seen it from the mountain-top. But I wanted to get higher. When Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tours invited me on their Circle of Fire Tour, I didn’t need much convincing to say yes. But it certainly didn’t…

To visit Volcano National Park is to make a pilgrimage to the ongoing birthplace of Hawaii. The island chain is constantly evolving, in part thanks to the two active volcanoes held within the park. The gently sloping Mauna Lao makes up over half of The Big Island’s landmass, while Kilauea draws visitors from far and wide…

Read Part I of my Big Island diving experience here. So far, our night was brimming with good fortune. Our boat’s wake became a playground for passing dolphins, and our first dive was filled with colorful coral and mysterious critters. We had even spotted a manta ray in the distance as we began to ascend —…