20221204 115108 Activities

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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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Mermaid Ponds – Isolated, Tranquil Lava Rock Tidal Pools Great For Swimming and Sunbathing

Along a desolate stretch of coastline within Big Island’s Puna District, a group of tidal pools naturally formed long ago by a massive lava flow can be found among the endless stretches of unforgiving cliffs and crashing waves. Known as the Mermaid Ponds These are known collectively as “Mermaid Ponds” by locals, and they serve …

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Visiting the Big Island’s Planetarium and Science Museum: The Imiloa Astronomy Center In Hilo

There is simply no better place on Big Island for science nerds than the Imiloa Astronomy Center – or for anyone else looking to learn more about the island’s geology, ancient maritime culture and massive mountaintop space telescopes – than at Imiloa Astronomy Center, located within the University of Hawaii-Hilo’s Science and Technology Park in …

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