Kohala Coast Vacation Rentals

Big Island Stories & articles by Big Island residents and visitors

We'd love to hear from you with your personal special moments in Paradise... hiking adventures, ocean encounters with our special ocean creatures, Mauna Kea summit visit, experiencing a live volcano in Volcanoes National Park, viewing the Big Island's unique beauty from a helicopter, exploring old Hawaii, its culture and traditions or whatever made your visit to our island remarkable and unforgettable. Share your Big Island stories or articles - and photos, if available - with our Kohala Coast Vacation Guide visitors.

Not only will our Big Island visitors appreciate your personal experience but it will allow you, the writer and author of the article, to include your business and website. We reserve the right to refuse a website at our discretion, based on website contents. No ads, please.

Write a story or an article about your Big Island vacation under the title 'Special Moments in Paradise'. The essay should have no less than 150 words and no more than 350. One or two photos can be attached. Your story will be displayed on this 'Big Island stories' page together with other Hawaii articles. We are looking forward to hearing from you about your special vacation in Hawaii. So write us an email with the subject 'Hawaii Vacation Story' and you will hear back from us immediately. You can also submit your article to 'Hawaii Articles'. Read here about Hawaii article submission guidelines.

Mauna Kea Summit Adventures written by Big Island visitors Chris and Jaclyn

We would like to share our trip to Mauna Kea summit with fellow Big Island travelers. When staying and enjoying our Big Island vacation with Aloha Vacation Cottages on the Kohala Coast, we used Mauna Kea Summit Adventures for our trip to the summit. The cost is about $165 per person, however, since we booked 2 weeks in advance, we received 15% off. It sounds expensive but it's definitely worth every cent.

We met with the group at Saddle Rd junction which is just 15 minutes from Waimea. There were about 10 people in each of the 2 vans (4-wheel drive). It took us on a beautiful ride to the visitor station where they provided sandwiches for us, passed out coats and gloves and then we headed for the summit. We watched the sunset from the snow covered summit (it was March!) and then moved back down to about 10,000ft to watch the stars with private digital telescopes. The guides were absolutely great, and were very good historians and astronomers as well. The stars were amazing! Not to miss. If at all possible, request to be on a tour where Buck is the guide - he has been doing this for years and is very informative, but mentioned that he only does tours 4 days a week. In all, they picked us up at 3:40pm and we were back to our cars by 10:15pm. Big Island visitors Chris and Jaclyn.

Note by Kohala Coast Web editors

When you are a Big Island visitor, you can can find lots auf authentic stories by Big Island residents in our 'Hawaii Island Journal'. If Mauna Kea summit is of big fascination for you, don't miss this story Rescue in a Hawaiian Blizzard by Tom Peek published in our 'Hawaii Island Journal' February 15 - 28, 2005. Luckily, it's still available in the archives of 'Hawaii Island Journal' as many of the other interesting articles are. By the way, if you want to read more about the Big Island and stay in touch with our island life, you can easily subscribe to getting the Journal mailed to your home on the mainland. Just go to www.hawaiiislandjournal.com for more information.

Encounter with the Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins by Big Island photographer Victoria McCormick

Slipping out of a kayak and into the waters off a Hawaiian Island to observe wild spinner dolphins is indeed magic. You can hear them coming before you see their parallel formations in the ocean depth. They join one another, playing and making their wonderful graceful patterns as if dancing. Groups crisscrossing from all directions. You lose track of time and irection. What else matters but these lovely creatures? They circle the bay as they rest and play their play. They spin in the ocean before they thrust their spinning bodies magnificently into the air rejoicing to be alive. As I observed all this wonderful behavior, I suddenly had the feeling I was being observed myself. I turned to see these dolphins. A magic moment for me indeed.

For the last twenty years Victoria has photographed in the Hawaiian Island Chain recording special moments in time. She hopes her images will help raise awareness of the need to preserve the integrity of Hawaii's natural treasures. Take a moment and view Victoria's unique photos at victoriamccormick.com.

Vacationing off the Beaten Path...Wood Valley, Pahala written by Big Island visitors George & Paula

"Aloha Tom & Missy!
Just wanted you to know that staying at your 'Big Island cottage' took center stage of our vacation. We could not have been more pleased with everything. Thank you very,very much for sharing this special place with us. We were speechless when we arrived. The cottage, the landscaping and the seclusion was exactly what we dreamed of but didn't think existed until we found your place. We were only looking for a base camp while on the island to view the sights but the cottage far exceeded our expectations. It was the highlight of our vacation. Also worth mentioning was the comfortable bed and those beautiful sunrises. The caretakers of the cottage did a great job at maintaining the grounds.

Our journey to your place took us about 19 hours. We left our house at 5:00a.m. for Manchester N.H. airport, stop over in Chicago then to Honolulu before flying to The Big Island. It was 9:00 p.m. when we entered Pahala. It was dark by then and we drove past the markers to the cottage and ended up past Whitney's farm. Needless to say Paula was quite upset with my navigation skills and wanted to turn back and stay at any hotel room for the night. After turning around we finally found the driveway. We couldn't see very much at night but the following morning we were so surprised. The beautiful sunrise made it paradise found. We didn't want to leave the cottage but did and explored the big island. We took the helicopter tour of the volcano with the doors off. It was exhilarating and exciting. We also drove to the top of Mauna Kea , breathtaking. We drove down to south point to the black sand beaches and to Kailua-Kona. We hiked the volcanoes and Thurston Lava tube. We didn't get to go to Waipio Valley but it gives us an excuse to come back. After leaving the Big Island we went on to Maui, then Kauai and finally Oahu. We stayed at The Makani AKai condos in Maui on Maalalea Bay, Hanalai Colony Resort on Kauai, and we stayed on Kailua beach at a private home with a doctor and his wife on Oahu. Our vacation in Hawaii was a dream come true made extra special by two people we will never forget. Thank you Tom and Missy for sharing your cottage with us. We hope to return someday. Mahalo George & Paula"

Big Island Stories on Best Hawaii Vacation Blog

Big Island Secret Beach written by Pua on 5/19/08

Best Big Island Luau written by Pua on 8/18/08

Celebrities in Hawaii written my Pua 2/13/07

Does the Sun always shine on the Kohala Coast? written my Pua 1/11/07

Hawaii Game fishing on the Kona Coast

Hawaiian Gifts from the Aloha State written by Pua on 2/24/07

Hawaii Secrets - Blow hole Diver Video

How safe are Hawaii beaches written by Pua 8/5/07

West Hawaii Today - Whale Story written my Pua 2/7/07

Looking forward to more Big Island Stories from Hawaii residents or visitors.

Kohala Coast Vacation Guide offers Hawaii vacation & travel related websites a free listing of their URL and short description. A reciprocal link is required. Kohala Coast vacation homes, vacation rental or vacation condo listings, Big Island vacation rentals, Hawaii vacation rentals are featured listings and not included in the free link exchange. Contact us for a featured listing. Alternately, our 'Hawaii Ad Program' allows Hawaii vacation rental owners or other Hawaii business owners to advertise their Hawaii property or business with link to their website

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