This won't be my usual detailed, day-by-day account. I waited too long to blog! Instead, I'll make some generalizations and discuss highlights and lowlights.
Food:
- Malasadas. The world famous malasadas truck. I'm not a donut gal, but these are worth the wait/worth going early for.
- Ali'i Gardens Marketplace/Shaka Tacoz. Kevin said other location was better, but I lovvved my fish tacos. Little shopping area to walk around. Want to try the shave ice next time.
- Queen's Marketplace across from our place at the Waikoloa Beach Villas. Easy walk.
- Poke bowls were pretty good.
- Delicious loco moco.
- Ube pancakes sooo good.
- The workers here are awful and things are pretty slow. There are different counters for different things; the main one with meals isn't too bad, but forget about the ice cream counter.
- King's Marketplace a little farther down the road has a decent shave ice place; not super authentic and long line.
- The Fish & the Hog. Every single thing was so delicious here and completely worth the wait. We happened to get there at a time where the wait was only 20 min (about 2pm on a Saturday).
- Kona Brewing: food was just okay? Nice atmosphere for fam/larger groups, and decent beers to sample.
- Broke da Mouth Grindz: really good chicken; need to return and try other things.
Beaches/places:
- Hilton resort. No problems sneaking in; parking nearby. The walk isn't tooo bad but it's never fun to schlep. Fun to see the dolphins. Lagoon is snorkelable; water is cold. The pools are fine but hardly any shade. It was hottt and there were bugs that kept going on us (at least not moquitoes). We didn't try food here.
- Mauna Lani beach club. Gorgeous water, very kid-friendly cove. Ours loved playing on the rocks. Cliff and Tim saw a big manta ray while snorkeling. We were here the day Maui fires were going off/Hurricane Dora winds were insane; our shade sail couldn't withstand it. The lunch food at Napua is okay; dinner was much nicer. I hated the walk/schlepping over to the beach from the parking lot, but it's worth it. On a not so hot day, it would actually be enjoyable because there's a big pond. A worker tipped us off that they were doing construction and the gate was actually open/we could've parked in the lot close to the restaurant.
- Kua Bay. Just freaking gorgeous water; lots of turtles! Little bit of a walk from parking that fills up quickly, but worth it.
- Hapuna Beach. Not my fav. Lonnng stretch of beach. We set up on the very south end though, and Ryan liked playing in a little cove of rocks there.
- Kona downtown: get Scandinavian Shave Ice. Will try the natural flavors next time.
- Hilo: fun to visit the farmer's market. Loved Puna chocolate company. Nice little drive from here up and around to Waimea. Kaumana caves: Cliff loved exploring these. Kids and I only went just inside. Really green around there and pretty flora (and fauna!? We saw an adorable black bunny there. And chickens)
- Kamakana Playground: big wood structure; kids liked it but it was hot and mosquito-y for me.
Our condo was nice; I would stay there again. The pools were both great to cool down in after a long day; not super cold which I liked. Mongooses could be spotted (the babies are sooo cute...Kevin had to rescue one out of the pool at one point). Not many exciting birds. Mosquitoes!!! So bad. Back patio didn't have shade in afternoon and got pretty toasty.
Next time:
Maybe do Volcano, Puna Chocolate farm tour (actually in Kona)
Explore Waimea area more? Def revisit Fish & the Hog.
Captain Cook stuff?
Stop thinking you won't get burned even under shade sail. Set timer to reapply sunscreen to kids. I wouldn't compromise on swimwear either; they need rash guards and to be covered as much as possible, keep hats on. Sunglasses for the kids too!
It was so worth it to pack our shade sail!
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