Big Island, Hawaii - 6/17/11 -6/26/11

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8

The arrival/view of our room

Tennis/Lunch/Lagoon

Welcome Dinner

The food

Lunch at Ba Le

Dinner at Daniel Thiebaut

Anaehoomalu bay

Pacific Lua

The Food

Legend of the pacific Show

Hapuna beach

Burger challenge

Excursion

Mauna loa volcano

Black sand beach

Dinner at Sansei

Touring the resort

Tour continuation

Tower palace/Wedding

Farewell dinner

Dancing

Sunset

First Day - The arrival

The Island of Hawaii or Hawaii Island is almost universally called the Big Island to avoid confusion with the Hawaii state.  The Big Island is a volcanic island, and it is home to the most active volcano in the world, which are located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  Mauna Loa is the largest mountain in the world in volume and Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world as measured from its base on the sea floor to its peak (more details on Day 6)

The Big Island is situated in the eastern-most and southern-most of the Hawaiian islands chain in the North Pacific Ocean (see 1st map). With an area of 4,028 square miles (10,432 kmē), it is larger than all of the other Hawaiian Islands combined and is also the largest island in the United States. 

Map of all the Hawaii State consisting of five islands: Maui, Hawaii, Oahu, Kauai, and Lanai

Map of the Big Island. 

Our hotel is located about 20 minutes of drive from the Kona Airport (left hand side )

 

Every other year our friend Dung takes all of his employees for an all paid vacation and depending on the destination, our family and the group would join them!  The last time we tag along was the Bahamas trip back in 2007 and the kids really had a real good time there.  This year Dung is taking his employees to the Big Island and we decided to join them.

 

We just landed at the Kona airport and as soon as you step out of the airport you know that you are in a tropical weather, hot, humid, but luckily there was nice breeze so it was very comfortable.

We arrived at the Hilton Waikoloa resort.  We met up with Maily, Chi Phung and her daughter.  Here we are waiting for the tram to take us to our room.  The tram ride is about 10 minutes to our rooms.  We could also walk but since it was already dark and we did not know where we were going it is wiser  to take the tram and get off at the last station where our rooms are.

The tram is here... and we are ready to hop in.

One of the bed in our room.  On top of the bed they left a stuffed dolphin toy and we thought that it was a gift from the hotel... After reading the tag on the dolphin, we realized it is not free.. $15 to keep the dolphin.. I'll pass on it.

 

Double beds.. one for us and one for Kevin.

Day 1 - The view from our room

Hilton Waikoloa is a huge resort and it took us a few days to tour the whole resort! The resort is nestled within 62 ocean front acres.  The resort has everything from a four-acre swimming and snorkeling lagoon, three freshwater swimming pools,  beach, waterfalls, exotic gardens, trams, canal boats and lush surroundings.

We arrived fairly late in the evening, darkness already descended, and it was simply too dark to check out the resort. After a good night sleep, we woke very early in the morning, opened the curtains, and this is the view from our room.

Lagoon view from our room. It is such a relaxing view almost like paradise.

 

Tall coconut trees everywhere...

 

We stayed at the Ocean tower (they have 3 towers: Ocean tower (the best of the 3 towers), the lagoon tower, and the Palace Tower.

In this picture you can see the lagoon tower in the distance and our Ocean tour is in the far right.

 

Partial view of the Ocean tower.  The resort is so big that they have public mass transportation to get you from the lobby to each of the three towers! It takes about 10 minutes to walk from our room to the main lobby.  We found out that it is faster to walk vs. taking the tram.  If you are not in a hurry, walking  around and discovering the beauty of the hotel is also a nice experience.

 

Morning coffee

Every morning we woke up around 6:00/6:30Am and we would come down to get a cup of coffee and a scone to start the day.  This is how we start our day for the next 8 days on the resort!

 

Bar and grill located in front of the coffee shop.  They don't open until 11:00AM that's why it looks empty because the picture was taken around 7:00AM.

 

 

Fancy Lamp post

Grabbing my coffee and taking a quick stroll to tour the property.

This is the lagoon beach.  Man made water fall in the background.

The Lobby

Iced water mixed with fresh lemon slices in the lobby for guests.  We drank the iced water each time we came back through the lobby.  The water is a really nice touch to quench our thirst. 

 

Green foliage center piece in the lobby

 

As you walk in lobby this is what you see.  In the back ground is the canal boat station where they pick up hotel guests.

 

 

When you walk out of the lobby there is a huge drive way and adjacent is the Hilton Waikoloa village sign.

 

 

Picking up Loan and Minh and the airport and while Minh's is checking in we took a few pictures in the lobby.  Minh and Loan arrive before 3:00PM so the hotel could not check them in their room so we hang around.

 

Canal Boat
Hilton Waikoloa Village's complimentary canal boat ride is another way of getting around the resort beside the tram.

Notice in the background there is a wedding in progress.  The resort is so beautiful that there are so many people getting married on the resort.

 

Going back to our room but this time instead of the taking the tram we decided to take a boat ride.  It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to get to our building.

 

We met up with Chi Huong and Anh Phuong on the boat by chance.  We were a bit surprise to see them there.

 

Loan and Minh enjoying the boat ride.

This first day at the resort we did not do much!  The whole day is basically waiting for Minh/Loan, Phuc/Huyen and Hanh/Tuan to arrive. 

Now that Minh and Loan are here, we are waiting for Hanh/Tuan, Phuc/Huyen, Kevin, Nicky and Spencer.  They are scheduled to arrive later in the evening.

Next.. Day 2 - Tennis & beach

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