This trip was a kick start to many firsts for us that we are thankful for!
Day-1
On Thanksgiving day, we did our first scuba dive in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean on the Kona coast,Big Island. Swimming with the beautiful fishes of all colors and feeling the corals and sea creatures like sea star, sea cucumber was a surreal experience.We went diving with BigIsland Divers in the company of Sheetal and Kalpit.Our dive master was Jeannine. She was very patient and genuinely interested in helping us go dive.By evening we were joined in by Nisha,Nalin,Neeta and Satish bringing the group total to 8.It was a fun time with friends, music and good food prepared by Nisha and Neeta.
Day-2
The day after Thanksgiving was water day too.We ventured out for some snorkeling fun to south of Kona.We did our snorkeling with Sea Quest Hawaii,Rafting and Snorkeling adventure.We snorkeled at Honaunau Bay, a secret spot with caves around and the Kealakekua Bay, the site of Captain Cook monument.They did a good job of hosting and giving details about each location. Later in the day, we went to Hula Daddy’s coffee plantation. We got an overview of the different processes involved in the making of good coffee.More than coffee I was enchanted by the mechanical time piece that had been restored at the facility. Later in the evening we went for watching the sunset in downtown Kona, local Hula dance show and dinner. Being dead tired, we crashed as soon as we reached our abode for the night.
Day-3
We headed out around 9:00AM towards Hilo along the north coast of Big Island. We stopped at a scenic overlook point in the Waipi’O valley,had a sumptuous lunch at Honokaa and drove towards Akaka falls. After a small hike and a couple of photo shoots we moved towards Hilo. Our home for the next 2 days was at 2 min walk from the ocean.Here we were audience to the all night music concert performed by the “tree frogs” in the vicinity.
Day-4
We woke up fresh and got ready to go to the Punalu Black Sand Beach. There we spotted the mighty “Honu”- the green sea turtle by sheer luck. Everyone was super happy as we had not seen any of those during our diving or snorkeling sessions.Then we moved towards the “Volcano National Park”. After getting information at the visitor’s center and watching a short documentary about the park, we headed out for lunch to a Thai place. Post lunch, we went to the Thurston Lava tube through a thick, lush vegetation of ferns.After that we did the Kilauea Iki hike which goes around the and across the crater.As recent as 1959, the crater floor was a lava lake. We could still feel the heat below the crater floor as we hiked along. After the hike we headed to Jagger museum. Mother Earth had arranged a light show for us here. In addition to the moon light,the sky was painted in vibrant orange, red, pink,and purple by the fuming vent of the Halema’uma’u crater. The view was spectacular and could only be felt. No words can describe the beauty of that moment.With content souls we drove towards our abode.
Day-5
It was our last day in Big Island. The day before the rangers at the Volcanic national park had mentioned that ocean flow of lava had started in the afternoon after about 11 months of just land based flows. We talked around and figured the best way to view lave would be to hike. Since the lave flow into the ocean was on private land, we had to engage a guide to take us there. We reserved our slots with the Kalapana cultural tours and Mikey was going to be our guide for the trip.
As we did the hike, every step on the lava floor made me feel that I was present in an advanced laboratory of sorts with reactions going all around me. Mikey kept answering all our questions and told us some fascinating stories as well.He not only took us to the ocean entry but also found us some land based flows that we could get really close to. For the ocean flows, we got some amazing views of the lava entering the ocean.With every drop, steam gushed high up towards the sky. We also got the opportunity to feel the viscosity of the lava by poking it with a stick ( which obviously burned at being exposed to 1100C ).I got my souvenir from Big Island as well in the form of solidified lava. 
The hike was a huge success because of Mikey.
After a quick lunch, we drove towards Kona.It was a tight schedule.Our flight was in 5hrs and we wanted to do Mauna Kea. So we compromised by driving up to the visitor’s center and doing a short hike. The clouds cleared and we got a great view of the summit.It was close to sunset time and the cloud cover in the west was cleared as we started driving.We managed a few clicks of the setting sun.It was a short, action-packed and fulfilling trip.
Notes:
Carry lots of water.
Bring sunscreen.
Carry an umbrella or rain poncho.
Carry a light jacket.
Keep checking the lava flow conditon in the volcano national park
Websites: http://www.kalapanaculturaltours.com/ ;http://www.bigislanddivers.com/; http://www.seaquesthawaii.com/
