Travel to Hawaii's Big Island: Volcanoes, Beaches and... Snow?!

Aloha and welcome to the Big Island of Hawaii. Here we find Hawaii's famous fiery volcanoes, the birthplace of Hawaii's most famous son, snow (!?), kona coffee, and of course some of the most colorful and magical beaches in the world.

Magic Sands beach, a stone’s throw from my home in the town of Kona. (Source: Wikipedia)

Hawaii Island, commonly called The Big Island of Hawaii as seen from space. (Source: Wikipedia)

The Big Island is 4,028 square miles, bigger in area than all of the other Hawaiian islands combined!

What's this beautiful island famous for? Glad you asked!

The Birthplace of King Kamehameha the Great

Famous Statue of Kamehameha. (Source: Wikipedia)

Hawaii’s most famous king was born on Hawaii island. Where I graduated high school from! Kamehameha was famous for uniting the islands under one rule and establishing the Hawaiian kingdom.

Kona Coffee!

Kona coffee, perhaps the world's most coveted coffee, is grown here! (Source: Pixabay.com)

The weather in the coffee districts usually consists of sunny mornings, cloudy or rainy afternoons, very little wind and cool nights. Combine that with the porous, mineral rich volcanic soil here and the conditions are ideal for growing coffee.

Speaking of Volcanoes...

Pu'u O'o Crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Source: Wikipedia)

When people think of volcanoes and of lava, perhaps their first thought is of Hawaii. However, the only active lava flows in Hawaii are here on the Big Island.

Close up of a lava flow. Don't touch! (Source: Wikipedia)

What the lava looks like when it dries. You see a lot of this here! (Source: Wikipedia)

An interesting fact is that because the Big Island's two volcanoes Mauna Loa and Kīlauea are still active, the Big island is getting bigger. In fact, between January 1983 and September 2002, lava flows increased the size of the island by 543 acres!

Magical and Colorful Beaches!

Another view of Magic Sands Beach. (Source: Wikipedia)

Magic sands is also called disappearing sands because when big waves or storms roll in, the sand disappears for days or weeks!

Black Sands : Popular spot for tourists and turtles alike! (Source: Pixabay.com)

A panorama of another colorful Big Island beach: Green Sands! (Source: Wikipedia)

Green sand up close! (Source: Wikipedia)

The Golden sands of Hapuna Beach, regularly ranked in the top 10 beaches in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

In the winter you can actually be swimming in the ocean here at Hapuna and look up at the mountains and see snow.

Snow in Hawaii?! Astronomers too?

Snow on the Big Island's Mauna Kea Summit! (Source: Wikipedia)

Yes, it snows on the top of some of Hawaii's mountains, here near the world famous Mauna Kea space observatories.

That's just a small sample of what this wonderful island has to offer. I will delve much deeper with what I share in the coming weeks.

Please leave your feedback in the comments! I hope you enjoyed this brief intro to my island. I look forward to seeing your comments and and please upvote and follow me for more from Hawaii. Until next time, aloha!!