Honeymoon in Hawaii: Part II « Newest Obsession

Jan 21st, 2013 by Lauren

In case you missed it: Part I

After two long days of travel and exploring, we were ready for a good nights sleep. We went to bed hoping we weren’t awakened by the rooster in the front yard of our rental. Sure enough…somewhere around 2:00 in the morning the rooster started cock-a-doodle-doodling-all-night-long. At about 5:00 am we both realized we were both awake, and we started researching another place to stay for our third night before heading down to the volcano. We came across the Kona Coast Resort and called in to make a reservation as soon as we could. Luckily, they had a room available, and it was open so we were able to check in early. Before making plans for the day, we admired the beautiful view from our lanai…

Suddenly, two restless nights of rooster cock-a-doodle-doodling melted away. We were pretty tired, so we decided to stick around the resort for the day. We read by the pool, ate lunch on the lanai, and went snorkeling in Kahalu’h Beach Park just 1/2 mile away.

View larger map After paying a mere $9/pp for snorkel gear at our hotel, driving just down the road, finding parking right away, and walking straight into the public beach area, I honestly had little expectations for seeing any fish; I was just looking forward to getting a swim in. As soon as I put my head under the water, I popped back up, and said to Scott “Babe, there is fish everywhere!!” And there sure was; it was incredible. Angel fish, yellow fish, long and skinny fish, florescent fish, striped fish, and more. Check out this site for some pictures of what we saw. I had been snorkeling in Cozumel, Mexico before, but this might have topped that experience because of the easy access and shallow waters that allowed for close proximity to the fish. We liked it so much we went back the next morning!

That evening, we enjoyed the sunset views from our resort.

And went out for some Japanese food at Teshima’s.

The next day we drove around most of the Big Island to make our way to Volcano, HI. Along the way we stopped at Tex Drive In and tried some of their famous Malasadas along side some local grass fed Big Island beef burgers. Malasadas are Portugese sweet bread fried dough rolled in sugar, very similar to a donut, definitely not gluten-free, but a must try! As we continued along the drive admiring the coastline, we pulled into Akaka Falls State Park, where we took a self-guided walk through the lush tropical gardens (in the rain) to the 442 foot falls (higher than Niagara falls).

Paparazzi photo.

Next, we made our way to Whats Shakin’.

We enjoyed an incredibly refreshing and smooth papaya, coconut, and banana smoothie. Yum.

From there we made our way to our final destination, Volcano, HI. It was a little “chilly” and rainy when we got there, but we were delighted to check in to a cozy and comfortable place where we would stay for the next two nights. I was excited to find that it was equipped with a heating blanket with separate settings for each side; his and hers!

After researching a dinner spot on Yelp, I realized our options were limited to a fancy German restaurant and a mildly overpriced Thai restaurant. We, of course, went with take out Thai food to serve alongside a bottle of wine we picked up from Walmart.

We shared the chicken pad thai and the Mahi Mahi curry.

While many reviewers complained that their prices were too high, I thought it was totally worth it for some incredible Thai food in a remote location. Definitely satisfied my Thai takeout craving.