DESTINATION BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII

Hawaii is said to have been named for Hawai'iloa, the legendary Polynesian navigator who first discovered it. Other accounts attribute the name to the legendary realm of Hawaiki, the realm of the gods and goddesses. Captain James Cook, who called them the Sandwich Islands, was killed on the Big Island at Kealakekua Bay.

Quick Links Kohala Mauna Kea Kilauea World Botanical

DISCOVER THE BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII: Akaka Falls, Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hilo, Hualalai, Kailua, Kilauea, Kohala, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Rainbow Falls, World Botanical Gardens,

AKAKA FALLS STATE PARK Akaka Falls State Park is a state park on Hawaii Island. The park is about 11 miles north from Hilo, west of Honomu off the Hawaii Belt Road at the end of Hawaii Route 220. The accessible portion of the park lies high on the right shoulder of the deep gorge into which the waterfall plunges, and the falls can be viewed from several points along a loop trail through the park ...

HAWAII TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN The Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden (17 acres) is a nonprofit botanical garden and nature preserve located off Route 19 at 27-717 Old Ma-malahoa Highway. It is open daily. The garden is located in a scenic valley opening out to Onomea Bay, and features streams, waterfalls and a boardwalk along the ocean ...

HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, is a United States National Park located in the U.S. State of Hawaii on the island of Hawaii. It encompasses two active volcanoes: Ki-lauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world's most massive volcano. The park gives scientists insight into the birth of the Hawaiian Islands ...

HILO Hilo is home to the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii, as well as the Merrie Monarch Festival, a week-long celebration of ancient and modern hula, which takes place annually after Easter. It is also home to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corporation, one of the world's leading producers of macadamia nuts. It is served by Hilo International Airport ...

HUALALAI Hualalai is a dormant shield volcano on the island of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is the third-youngest and the third most active of the five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii, following Kilauea and the much larger Mauna Loa, and also the westernmost. Hualalai is estimated to have risen above sea level about 300,000 years ago ...

KAILUA Kailua is the start and finish of the annual Ironman World Championship triathlon, the annual Kona Coffee Festival, and the Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament. Kona coffee is the variety of Coffea arabica cultivated on the slopes of Mount Hualalai and Mauna Loa in the North and South Kona Districts ...

KILAUEA Kilauea is one of five shield volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaii. Kilauea means 'spewing' or 'much spreading' in the Hawaiian language, referring to its frequent outpouring of lava. Lava less than 1000 years old covers 90% of Kilauea, and the volume of erupted material is enough to pave a road across the world three times ...

KOHALA Kohala is the oldest of five volcanoes that make up the island of Hawaii. Kohala is an estimated one million years old - so old that it experienced, and recorded, a reversal of magnetic field 780,000 years ago. It is believed to have breached sea level more than 500,000 years ago and to have last erupted 120,000 years ago ...

MAUNA KEA Mauna Kea is a volcano on the island of Hawaii. Standing 4,205 m above sea level, its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. However, much of the mountain is under water; when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is over 10,000 m tall - significantly taller than Mount Everest. Mauna Kea is about a million years old ...

MAUNA LOA Mauna Loa is the largest volcano on Earth in terms of volume and area covered, and one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. It is an active shield volcano, with a volume estimated at approximately 18,000 cubic miles, although its peak is about 120 feet lower than that of its neighbor, Mauna Kea ...

RAINBOW FALLS Rainbow Falls is a waterfall located in Hilo, Hawaii. It is 80 ft tall and almost 100 ft in diameter. At Rainbow Falls, the Wailuku River rushes into a large pool below. The gorge is blanketed by lush, dense tropical foliage and the turquoise colored pool is bordered by beautiful wild ginger. The falls are accessed at Wailuku River State Park, and are best seen from the viewing platform ...

WORLD BOTANICAL GARDENS World Botanical Gardens and Waterfalls is a commercial botanical gardens with a large waterfall, located between Umauma and Hakalau, at the corner of Leopolino Road and Hawaii Belt Road, State Highway 19 (near mile marker 16), north of Hilo, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii. The gardens are open daily with an admission fee ...

BIG ISLAND HOTELS & ACCOMMODATION

BIG ISLAND TOURS, TRAVEL & ACTIVITIES