Hello everyone!
I wanted to thank you all for your very helpful advice! We returned from our Hawaii vacation to the Big Island and Kauai a few weeks ago. It was AMAZING!!!!!!
We were totally blown away. There were sooooooooo many incredible things we did and places we saw!
The Big Island: night snorkeling with the manta rays (just - WOW), our stay at this
BnB (incredible!), picnic lunches at Keokea, Punaluu Black Sand and Laupahoehoe beach parks, the whole HVNP including our stay at
this adorable cottage but especially the Chain of Craters Road with Holei Sea Arch AND actually hiking in before sunrise to be able to see lava - it started erupting the day before we left!, Pololu Valley and Waipi'o Valley Lookouts, plate lunches - amazing ono fish and laulau, Akaka Falls.
On Kauai: our amazing
townhouse we had at Poipu Shores, lunch at Kapaa Block with shaved ice with macadamia nut icecream on the bottom for desert (YUM!), our incredible helicopter tour of the island with Blue Hawaiian (just - wow), all of Waimea Canyon and Koke'e State Park (fabulous!), the north coast - Hanalei village for lunch, watching surfers at Waikoko Beach, Tunnels Beach, Anini Beach scenic drive and Kilauea Lighthouse (stunning!), seeing monk seals sunning themselves on the rocks and green sea turtles coming up to rest for the night at Poipu Beach, endless whale watching and sunsets from our townhouse.
What an amazing place and vacation! It was beyond our expectations. Happy to help with tips for anyone else planning a vacation.