Stefan Verbano

Kaimu Black Sand Beach shore Best Beaches, Black Sand Beach Beaches

Kaimu Black Sand Beach – A Short Hike Across 30-Year-Old Lavafield

Kaimu Black Sand Beach is a quarter-mile hike across a barren lava field of smooth, ropey-looking black rock, following a footpath paved with finely crushed red cinder stones, to the rocky shore of crashing waves and tumbling boulders of Kaimu Black Sand Beach. This is an isolated and stunningly beautiful stretch of coastline carpeted with …

Kaimu Black Sand Beach – A Short Hike Across 30-Year-Old Lavafield Read More »

Mauna Kea Big Island Big Island Snow, Highest Mountain Hawaii, Mauna Kea Beaches

Mauna Kea- A Big Island Tradition of Stars, snow, and Lore

There is simply no better place on Hawaii Island to see the stars than from the summit and flanks of Mauna Kea – a dormant volcano towering more than 13,000 feet above sea level that makes up much of the island’s landmass and is indispensable to ancient Hawaiian spirituality. Above the cloud line, the night …

Mauna Kea- A Big Island Tradition of Stars, snow, and Lore Read More »

Kua Bay beach Big Island Beaches, Hawaii Best Beaches, Kona Beaches, Kua Bay Beaches

Kua Bay – One of the Best Beaches on the Big Island

Kua Bay. An uninterrupted half-mile of fine white sand waits for Kona-side beachgoers at Hapuna Beach, a long stretch of pristine, sun-drenched shoreline and electric blue water sandwiched between rocky bluffs dotted with luxury hotels and parched, spindly trees along Big Island’s Kohala Coast. The beach is found within the much larger Hapuna Beach State …

Kua Bay – One of the Best Beaches on the Big Island Read More »

Spencer Beach Park big island 3 Big Island Beaches, Big Island Hawaii Beaches, Hilo Beaches, Spencer Island Beaches

Spencer Beach Park – One of the Big Island’s best places to Picnic

The finely ground soft white sand of Spencer Beach Park delivers swimmers, snorkelers, kayakers and board-riders into the crystal-blue waters of the surrounding bay, which on a typical sunny North Kona afternoon is calm enough for small children to safely frolic. Spencer is one of the northernmost white sand beaches on the island, and a …

Spencer Beach Park – One of the Big Island’s best places to Picnic Read More »

20221204 115108 Beaches

Maku’u Farmers Market – A Sunday Morning Fixture of Local Handicrafts, Hot Food and Farm-Fresh Produce

Every Sunday morning along a nondescript stretch of highway in Big Island’s Puna District, local vendors of every stripe arrive at Maku’u Farmers Market to set up their elaborate village of pop-up tents, flea markets, produce racks, food trucks and display tables crammed with all sorts of handmade merchandise. They arrive to the market space’s …

Maku’u Farmers Market – A Sunday Morning Fixture of Local Handicrafts, Hot Food and Farm-Fresh Produce Read More »

HobbyGarden8 Beaches

Hobby Garden – Pahoa’s Quirky Amusement Park and Botanical Garden With A Rideable Model Train

Along an unassuming side street within Big Island’s Hawaiian Paradise Park neighborhood is Hobby Garden – the brainchild of long-time island resident Johnson Lum, who many years ago sought to build a one-of-a-kind amusement park on his acre of rural, agricultural land that was equal parts science fair, petting zoo, museum and teaching farm. Johnson …

Hobby Garden – Pahoa’s Quirky Amusement Park and Botanical Garden With A Rideable Model Train Read More »

Pohoiko Beach 4 1 Beaches

Pohoiki Beach – The Black Rock Shores of Big Island’s Newest Beach

Few places on Big Island have been changed by its recent volcanic activity quite as much as Pohoiki Beach, which until a few years ago wasn’t a beach at all. What is today a long stretch of raw, isolated oceanfront land – a gently-sloping shoreline of smooth lava rocks mixed with finely pulverized black sand …

Pohoiki Beach – The Black Rock Shores of Big Island’s Newest Beach Read More »

Reeds Bay Beach Park 5.jpg Beaches

Reed’s Bay Beach Park – Come for the beach, Stay For The geese

Reed’s Bay Beach Park is a hidden gem along Hilo’s looping scenic oceanfront byway known as Banyan Drive – named after the rows of gigantic Banyan trees lining the road – and features a short, crescent-shaped white sand beach studded with coral rubble that gently slopes down into the vividly clear waters of the shallow …

Reed’s Bay Beach Park – Come for the beach, Stay For The geese Read More »

Keaukaha Beach Park 1 Beaches

Keaukaha Beach Park – A Safe, Leisurely Hilo Kid-Friendly Swimming Hole With Exploding Waves In The Distance

Just east of the City of Hilo’s two-mile long breakwater sits Keaukaha Beach Park; a rocky shoreline of calm tidepools and swimming holes protected from the onslaught of rolling waves charging in from the open ocean. It’s a collection of unassuming windswept inlets and inviting tree-lined coves found just off of Kalanianaole Street – the …

Keaukaha Beach Park – A Safe, Leisurely Hilo Kid-Friendly Swimming Hole With Exploding Waves In The Distance Read More »

Lava Highway 132 header Beaches

Lava Highway 132 – Puna’s Hilly Drive to the Coast Through A River of Hardened Rock

Lava Highway 132, Hawaii’s newest lava field is found on Big Island’s eastern flank, in its rural and agricultural Puna District, and is traversed by a gently curving highway that was opened just a few years ago: Lava Highway 132. This is a pristine broad-shouldered, two-lane road built on top of the vast sea of …

Lava Highway 132 – Puna’s Hilly Drive to the Coast Through A River of Hardened Rock Read More »