Big Island Girls Trip

Last week I went to Hawai’i with my two roommates. The reason I booked this trip was because I wanted to see Kilauea, the volcano that had erupted in November. Watching a volcano erupt is a once in a lifetime experience and I’m truly so so grateful that this trip worked out! If you know me, or have read my blog post where I reflect on my time in Hawai’i you’'ll know that I actually used to live on O’ahu. There isn’t a word that exists yet that can sum up my time there. Moving on, I had only been to the Big Island once before, in February 2022, and I was still living on O’ahu at the time so it wasn’t a huge deal to jump on a plane to Hilo. This time however, I’m living in Los Angeles so there were a couple more hoops to jump through to get where we wanted to be. First thing was first we had to book an Airbnb. There were 3 of us going on this trip and I was fortunate to find an AirBnb close enough to Hilo and the park. The host, Kerianne, was lovely and their backyard was full of animals and if you do end up going to visit the park I really recommend this AirBnb https://abnb.me/SljUhdTwOwb .

My roommate booked a rental car and longterm airport parking. I’m so glad with did this! I had no idea how crazy it is to try and get an uber or lyft into or from LAX. It was so easy parking my car 15 minutes from LAX and then they call a shuttle to drop you right at your departures. We used PrimePark LAX Premier SelfPark Garage and honestly like 8/10 recommend. The van’s rearview mirror was hanging on by a thread. It only cost us $35 for 4 days (ish) of parking, which, it you know anything about Los Angeles is really a steal.

On Friday morning, our flight departed at 9.10 so we decided to get to the parking garage around 7.30 and we got to the airport around 8. It was a very smooth airport experience and I wasn’t sure what to expect so I’m glad it wasn’t too busy. At the gate they were looking for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for some travel credit but we already had such limited time and weren’t able to change any of our other bookings so we were very thankful to those who volunteered. Because of this however, our flight was a little delayed. The flight was rough, full of turbulance, but we landed in Kona around 1.30, we got our bags that we unfortunately had to check and then headed straight over on a shuttle towards budget car rentals. I have always used turo because I’m under 25 and that seems to be the best option, so this was my first time using a car rental agency. Even though it was cheaper, I think Turo would’ve been worth getting because we were waiting 2 hours for our car. When I use Turo I can literally walk out of the airport and drive away which is really nice. After waiting all that time, we were starving and decided to get some poke at Pau Hana Poke (10/10). Seriously, although it was a little too spicy for me (the girl who can’t handle mild salsa) it was some of the best poke I’ve ever had.

After our well deserved poke, we drove just over 2 hours over to our AirBnb and crashed for the night. The drive was super cloudy, at some points we could barely see anything in front of us. I kind of thought it was common sense to put your low lights on in intense fog, but some cars didn’t have any lights on which was scary. Then out of no where it cleared up and the sky was blue without a cloud in the sky. I forgot how Hawaiian skies can change in an instant like that. We were going to go see the lava that night but it was too much, we were all so exhausted after our travel day we kept sleeping through our alarms and timers. We figured it would be better to just rest and wait and I’m so glad we did, I slept like a (lava) rock :)

The next morning I work up really early and got ready to go on a 10.3 mile hike called Chain of Craters Rd. The hike was eh. Probably a 4/10. It was pretty, but I know what Hawai’i has to offer and it’s so much more than walking on a dirt road for 10 miles. We ended up walking on the lava field for the last mile towards the turn around point. There were zero trail markers and it was really confusing trying to navigate. I can thank AllTrails for getting us there safely. We stopped for lunch at then decided it was time to head back. The walk back was brutal. We ended up clocking 12 miles and 2/3 of us ran out of water. I got pretty roasted by the sun. I forgot how strong the UV is over in Hawai’i. Wearing sunscreen is no joke it will literally save your skin and even your life. After the hike we drove around the park for a little pulling off at some overlooks, taking in the scenery. We then headed back to our AirBnb to change and eat some lunch before heading out to the beach. We drove up a little past Hilo and went to Wai’uli Beach Park, we got in the water a bit and walked around taking it all in. I contemplated life a little and really realized how proud of myself I am for how far I have come since the last time I was on that island. I got out of and unhealthy relationship and move to LA. Even now as I type that out I still can’t really believe it. I had a really hard year and all of it is behind me now. I’m going to be real here, being in Hawai’i again was honestly a lot on my mental health. I was at my worst for the last six months that I lived here. Being back in the jungle was hard. That being said I was so grateful to make some new and happier memories and I really can’t wait to go back to O’ahu to make some better memories there.

That night we went home to sleep a little before getting up to go see the eruption. It was surprisingly far less crowded than I would’ve imagined. I pictured waiting in line for over and hour for a parking spot, but we went at 10pm and there were ample parking spaces. It was really a magical experience. It made me feel really small, but in the best way. My roommate, Raquel had the idea that we should go back at watch the lava at sunrise and that sounded like a perfect idea to me, so we left for the evening and tried to get some more sleep before waking up for sunrise the next morning.

On Sunday morning, we decided to see the sunrise at Waipio Valley, and then slowly drive down the coast. We went on a short hike at Akaka Falls and it was so magical. That’s probably one of my favorite places in the whole world. We drove down past Rainbow Falls and made our way to Punalu’u Beach where we spent the rest of the day. We saw sea turtles and walked around on the most amazing (and first) black sand beach I’d ever been to! We stayed for a few hours and just relaxed a little listening to the waves. We drove back up to the AirBnb and watched the coolest documentary on Hulu about two volcanologists who were in love and spent their life chasing volcanoes, called Fire of Love. It was such a well made documentary, I really recommend watching it. Once it was over, we made some dinner and decided to call it a night before waking up for the lava sunrise in the morning.

It was unreal. We parked at the Devestation trail parking lot and walked about 2 miles down the road, away from the crowds. We just sat and listened to the eruption while watching the sunrise over the mountain behind the lava. I could feel permanent and amazing memories forming in my brain and I was just so elated to be there witnessing it all. We sat there for a long while before heading back to the AirBnb to check out. Cleaning, packing, all that took about an hour and then we said goodbye to the little cat who had become our friend before headed back down the road towards the park and hiking Kilauea Iki Trail. This is one of the more popular hikes in the park, we almost had trouble finding parking. We started the trail, then ventured off towards the lave tubes before finishing the loop back to the parking lot. It was so hot, and my shoulders were so burned, but it was a really fun experience. Back in the car we headed towards the sulfur banks and steam vents before calling it a day and hitting the road back towards Kona. I loved the views while driving, but I think if I had to do it again, I would definitely fly into Hilo, even if it meant stopping in Honolulu for a quick layover. Hilo would’ve been just way more convenient for what we were doing.

We stopped at a little park, I honestly can’t remember the name of it, but we were able to get into little tidepools and see so. much. wildlife. We saw snails, coral, sea urchins, and hundreds of fish. It was the most perfect sunset, albeit slightly cloudy, I felt like I was floating. For the first time since leaving Hawai’i, I missed when I lived here. I spent the most formative years of my life on these islands and coming back with perspective, I wouldn’t change my time here for the world. I learned and lived so much and I’m so grateful.

When the sunset, we decided to grab a quick dinner in Kona before heading to the airport for our red eye flight back to LA.

I desperately tried to get someone to cover my shift but unfortunately I had to work an 8 hour shift after landing back in a freezing cold, pouring rain, LAX at 6 in the morning. A very unfortunate snap back into reality after a really perfect few days off <3