Island Tours, Kailua-Kona

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Kealakekua Bay is a beautiful area about 10 miles south of Kailua-Kona.
It not only is beautiful it is also historical.
The first Christian burial service in the Hawaiian Islands was preformed here by Capt. James Cook.

When Capt. Cook returned on his 3rd and last voyage here, there was a skirmish and he was killed. Across the bay, with a steep bluff as a backdrop, there is a small peninsula with a monument near the spot where Capt. Cook fell.

An Australian ship comes here annually so the crew can tend to the monument and plot of British soil.

There is good snorkeling in this bay also.

Admission: Free

Go snorkelling....

Take the time and go see the falls and volcanoes.

There are the Akaka and Kahuna falls 20 minutes north of Hilo.

The rainbow falls, in Hilo. These are not as impressive but the boiling pots a short distance away are nice.

Rent a car and drive. Some of the structured tours prevent you from seeing a lot of the local/native stuff.

Take the Blue Helicopter deluxe tour... Expensive but worth it....and they include a videotape of the 2hr flight..

Although we did not do this, I have friends that have and highly recommended it. Needless to say, I chickened out due to high winds.
They fly over scenery not visible by car such as active volcanoes, lava flows, lush rainforests, hidden waterfalls, and spectacular sea cliffs.

Blue Hawaiian has a heliport in the Waikoloa area.

2 set tours and one custom tour are offered at the Wailkoloa heliport.
Kolola Cost Adventure - 45-50 minutes, $175
Flies over the coast, beaches & valleys
Big Island Spectacular - 2 hours, $340
Flies over rain forests, waterfalls & lava flows
Create your Own - $1,365.00 per hour, can customize for weddings or special events.

Blue Hawaiian Helicopters in Waikoloa, there's two tours: One, two hour tour to the Active volcano on Big Island and waterfalls that goes out every two hours everyday with the earliest flight time at 7:15am and latest out at 2:30pm &
The second tour they offer is the Kohala Coast Adventure a 45-50 minute tour that goes into the valley's of the Hamakua coast(808) 886.1768.
Best Safety Record, Best Pilots, Best Customer Service and the Best Equipment.
Blue Hawaiian Helicopter's are the Cadillac of Helicopters:)

Book on website to get 15% internet discount.

Mauna Kea sunset and driving to
http://maunakea.com
Vulcano and Mauna Loa
Scuba Dive Hawaii's water
http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Hawaii/TBI/index.htm
Rent Harley,
take Hummer Safari www.hmvtours.com
So many,
Wine Tasting, Hike...Horse Ride

Call Bob Twogood (that is his real name) to rent your Kayak. Plan to get a waterproof camera and wear a hat.
The beach at Kailua is usually calm and easy to paddle. I had never paddled before and found it to be not too hard and very fun. We saw a turtle as we paddled about 3 feet away. Incredible.

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For a daytrip around the island you can take the excursion in process by Roberts. It is a full day. You start early in the morning and you will arrive back at your hotel in the evening. You start in Kailua Kona, going in the south direction, around the corner going east, then going up north and finally arriving Kailua Kona again. There are about 10 points where you can go out of the bus and see the spot that is interesting. This is what you will see:

Kona Coffee Plantations
Kealakekua Bay Overlook
Punaluu Black Sand Beach
Volcanoes National Park
Kilauea Iki Crater
Thurston Lava Tube
Fern Tree Jungle
Steam Bluffs & Crater Rim Drive
Jagger Museum & Hawaii Volcano Observatory*
Big Island Candies Factory
Rainbow Falls
Orchid Nursery
Sugar Cane Fields
Hamakua Coast
Parker Ranch Lands

Your rental car company will tell you that your insurance is void if you take your car on the Saddle Road. As our guidebook told us, this regulation is completely outdated. There is no reason that you shouldn't be able to drive the Saddle Road. It's completely paved and they're working to improve it and widen it even more at this writing. There are a couple of oddly banked curves, but nothing to really worry about. And you certainly don't need 4 wheel drive. Any car can make the trip.

Why would you want to drive the Saddle Road? There is some really great scenery! Driving from Kailua-Kona, you'll see Mauna Kea on your left and Mauna Loa on your right. The Saddle Road rides the "saddle" between the two giants. And if you want to go to the top of Mauna Kea where the observatories are then you have to use the Saddle Road to get to the Summit Road. Also there is a great lava tube off this road, which is a really fun adventure getting to and exploring it.

Yes, we took our rental car, flouting our contract. We had no problems whatsoever and didn't see any potential problems on the road. We also took the car up Mauna Kea Summit Road. We did have 4 wheel drive and I would recommend it for the summit only for the drive down because of the lower gears available. You need to be in very low gear driving down the mountain so you don't wear your breaks out. You can take a 2 wheel drive car on the summit road up to the rest station at 9000 feet with no problems.

This cruise was a memorable experience.
Lots of fun food dancing, and really letting your hair down.. The Mai Tais were pretty darn good also.. ;-)

Typical Tropical Valley
You'll never get an so easy chance to see a so beautiful valley with waterfall, black lava beach and this green tropical mountains!