Hawaii Big Island Travel Guide: Featuring Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

To put it simply, everyone in my family loves to visit the Hawaiian islands. We love the mild tropical weather, the fabulous beaches and coastal life, and the relaxing island culture. And since it is part of the U.S., we have no bothers with passports, currency exchange, or major safety concerns. Red Bear says it is his favorite place of all to visit.

The State of Hawaii actually has 164 islands, large and small, but we mainly think of the 8 largest ones when we talk about visiting the State of Hawaii — Hawaii itself is the biggest of these islands (over 4,000 square miles), and it is often simply called, “The Big Island.” The other large ones are Oahu (596 square miles, and home to most of the people, where Honolulu and Pearl Harbor are located), Maui (727 square miles), Kauai (562 square miles), Molokai, Lanai, Ni’ihau, and Kalo’olawe.

There are a lot of places to visit in Hawaii — each island is so different! I have visited Honolulu many times, and really enjoy the bustle of its city, and the beautiful beaches and shopping and restaurants. But this summer I wanted to see something new (to me), so I decided to vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii — my first visit there!

The Big Island is much different than Oahu — it is much larger, and has far fewer people. It is made from 5 different volcanoes, and there are old lava fields all over, which makes for interesting sightseeing. Much of the island is dedicated to various kinds of farming — including the delicious and famous Kona coffee. We loved that so many buildings and fences are made from volcanic rock — so exotic and beautiful!

This year, we spent our vacation at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, set on the Kona-Kohala coast in the north-west part of Hawaii island.  “Hualalai” is the name of an old volcano that can be seen from the Resort.  Before I went, I wondered whether the ongoing eruption at the Kilauea volcano would affect us, but it did not at all.  Fact is, we learned that this volcano has been active for 35 years, and the eruption is nothing new.  Anyway, the island is big, and that volcano is far away from Hualalai (almost 100 miles).  So, not an issue at all.

Without further ado, here is my “Hawaii Big Island Travel Guide,” and the story of my trip.

Where to Stay:

Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

I am sure anyone who has visited this resort would agree that it is the best place to stay on the Big Island! In fact, right after we landed at the Kona airport (KOA), a man who worked at the airport asked where we were going to stay, and when we said, “Four Seasons Hualalai,” he also told us the same thing.

The Four Seasons Hualalai here is an amazing luxury resort, spread over more than a square mile (863 acres, to be exact) right on the coast, with wonderful white sand beaches and black lava landscapes and tidepools. It has a great golf course, and 7 different swimming pools — more on them later.

Both my husband and I traveled a lot before we met, and we both agree that this Four Seasons Resort Hualalai is really at the top of the list of hotels or resorts we have seen.

We stayed in one of the O’hana Suites — “O’hana” is the Hawaiian word for “family.” It comprised two large rooms, and no fewer than 4 choices for bathing: one room for a shower, one for a bath tub, one for a combination steam and shower, and finally, Red Bear’s favorite — a private shower in an outdoor grotto, surrounded by lava rock walls, flowers, and vines. So exotic!

Now for the interior of the suite, it’s so airy, and restful! I love all the details that the rooms provided, including these Hawaiian style robes. The staff even brought a kid’s Hawaiian robe for our son, which he liked a lot, too!

I really give the Four Seasons staff a”thumbs up. They attended to every detail, even if we didn’t ask. For example, on our first day, a housekeeper straightened up our pile of sunglasses in a neat row, and then brought us a special cloth for us to clean them.

Our suite opened through large sliding doors to a private patio, and beyond that was one of the 7 swimming pools and the sea, all close enough to walk to them in a minute or less. We spent a lot of time relaxing on the patio, feeling almost like Hawaiian royalty.

In fact, one of the most noticeable features of the Four Seasons was the uniformly excellent and pleasant service — every single person there greeted us with a smile and a friendly, “Aloha,” every time we passed by them. And there are so many fun things to do there, we literally didn’t need to leave the resort premises for our entire stay (although we did go out one evening, just to justify having rented a car and to see something of the surrounding landscapes and seascapes).

Where to Eat:

When we travel, I usually use Yelp to search out good restaurants around us, which can be challenging in some places because my son and husband are vegans. In Hualalai, lucky for us, Yelp says all the best restaurants are located on the Four Seasons property!

The Beach Tree

We dined here our first night in the Resort. First thing to know: you can dine outside, and the restaurant is right at the beach, where the sound of the sea is so pleasant. They provided a vegan menu for us, and all of the food was truly delicious, cooked with delicate and perfect seasoning. With relaxing live music in the background, the Beach Tree was a memorable place to dine.

What other restaurant recommendations from us?

‘Ulu Ocean Grill + Sushi Lounge

This oceanfront restaurant is also within the Four Seasons Hualalai Resort. We actually took our breakfast here every day except one, when we ordered from room service. You really can’t complain too much when you are enjoying the romantic ocean views and having a big buffet breakfast on the beach!

‘Ulu Ocean Grill offers a menu, but we all chose the buffet — so many wonderful choices, and many of them are vegan-friendly. We especially enjoyed all the sweet tropical fruits, and a dish they called, “Ancient Grains.” I also loved their made-to-order omelets.

Even the birds like it, so Red Bear and his dad invited/tempted some of them to join us!

 

I highly recommend trying the buffet breakfast at ‘Ulu Ocean Grill when you are visiting the Big Island.

Four Seasons Hualalai Room Service

One morning, when I was “in a groove” editing photos and couldn’t pull away for breakfast, we ordered from room service, and ate on our suite’s patio. It felt like home (at least, if your home is in Hawaii with the ocean right outside), and we all could “do our own thing” during breakfast — playing video games, reading newspapers, working on a blog, etc. I even took a few minutes to have some breakfast in the bathtub!

Four Seasons Hualalai Luau

On our last night, we attended the Luau at the resort, which is a combination of food and culture, with lots of Pacific islands music and dancing. It was a big buffet, spread near the outside stage, and it had a big selection of different salads, fruits and vegetables, many kinds of meat and fish, and desserts. They knew we had vegans in our group, and the chef even made them a special vegetable noodle dish, which they both loved! While we enjoyed the delicious food and drink, we also enjoyed a very entertaining show, including an amazing “torch dancer.”

Kona Town

One evening we drove a bit (30 minutes or so, taking into account the low highway speeds in the area) to nearby Kona Town (it’s also called Downtown Kailua-Kona), a popular tourist area where we were told there were many good restaurants with incredible sunset views. And we wanted to try some different dishes, too. Kona Town has one long street that runs along the beach, Ali’i Drive, and it is jam-packed with all kinds of restaurants and tourist shops. The trick is finding parking, but we managed to do that, and walked around a bit to enjoy the scene — very fun! Be aware that Kona Town is a real beach hot spot, so it is quite hard to get a good seat at a good restaurant — prepare to wait. We discovered that another trick in Kona Town, if you want to watch the sunset from your dining table, is to arrive early, and then sit at your table a long time, until the sun goes down. People just don’t leave their beachside tables until the sun is gone!

We were frustrated and couldn’t get a table until after sunset at our first, second, or third choice restaurants, but we were hungry, so we went to the Kona Inn Restaurant, where there was no waiting, and we got a nice harborside table — but not an ideal view of the sunset. The service was fast and friendly, but the food was just so-so. But for not having to wait, and for the gorgeous view of the harbor, I give them an 8 out of 10. P.S. You can walk right onto the beach from your seats, which is great!

What to Do:

First of all, as explained earlier, the Kilauea volcano didn’t really affect us. The only effect for visitors is that the Volcanoes National Park is temporarily closed, but every other attraction on the Big Island seems to be open. But in my family, we are more ocean lovers than hikers or volcano explorers, so we had plenty to do. If you’re wondering exactly what do you while you’re here, try any of the following:

RIBcraft snorkeling adventure

A “RIB” is a “rigid inflatable boat,” and it describes a kind of boat that is used by Navy SEALs and other elite forces; they are small, light, and have powerful engines — lots of potential for fun! Arranged at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, this is one of the favorite ocean exploring experiences we have done anywhere. In fact, Red Bear said it’s the best! In our RIB with a crew of two, we went out early in the morning for some snorkeling along the coast — and our first stop just happened to be in the middle of a pod of maybe 50-60 spinner dolphins! They were SO beautiful and curious/friendly — when we were in the water, they would swim right at us, veering away at the last moment. So exciting! We made several stops to swim and snorkel, and saw lots of other fish, too — including lobsters, octopi (one even squirted his ink when one of us got too close), and turtles. (We even took some underwater video with my new GoPro camera, but I’m sorry that I set the lens to “ultra wide,” so the fish seem farther away than they really were — I’ll know better next time!) Anyway, the RIB outing is highly recommended — probably the most memorable part of our memorable vacation.  By the way, the ocean water was nicely warm — 84-degrees.

Hiking

Try waking up a bit early and enjoy the stunning natural beauty along the seaside. So breath-taking and serene!

“Kids for All Seasons” in Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

The Kids For All Seasons (KFAS, for short) program has adult counselors there, and it is a great attraction for the children. Red Bear spent a couple days time there and made friends in the Kid’s Center. They swam, drew, took outrigger canoe lessons, swam in the “King Pond,” which is a saltwater, natural swimming pool filled with something like 75 species of fish. Oh, and they watched movies and had lunch together, too. Kids can come and go at KFAS (with parental permission), so it never gets old. Red Bear really likes it!

Swimming

Hit the pools, and the beach. There are 7 pools inside the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, including an ocean pool, family pool, adult pool, children pool, and the “King Pond” which full of fishes. We got to explore every single one of them, and the beach time was always relaxing and romantic, too.

Ka’upulehu Cultural Center

On the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai property, this Cultural Center is operated by some wonderful retired Hawaiians, who can tell so much about Hawaiian history, culture, and lore. You can also take ukulele lessons or learn about historic star navigation, and other things important to Hawaii. The Cultural Center has so many fun things to offer — for example, we made a few shell bracelets there — the best gifts to ourselves and to our friends! (Well, chocolate covered macadamia nut candy is another good gift, but that’s another story.)

 

 

Or just laid back and do nothing!

What to Wear

Anything light, breathable, colorful, and make yourself comfortable! As you can see from our pictures, we spent a lot of time in swimming suits.  I should mention that they have quite a nice clothing store within the Resort where some great and suitable clothes are available; it is called Seaside.

Most of the time the weather is warm enough, even at night, that you will not need any jacket. We enjoyed “low” temperatures of about 73-degrees, and “high” temperatures of about 82-degrees! I think the only exception is if you plan to take an outing to the peak of one of the mountains — some of them are quite tall, and cold at the top.

And that’s it for my official mini “Big Island” Hawaii Travel Guide. Let me know if you’ve been there, and what was your experience?

 

We give big, special thanks to Four Seasons Resort Hualalai , and all their amazing staff,

for their wonderful hosting and working with us on this story.

 

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