Hawaii 2021 _ Quick guide

 Welcome to Hawaii!!!

Kohala - near Waikaloa, Mauna Lani 

Must do beaches within10-20 minutes drive

• Hapuna Beach (Boogie boarding - Jan/Feb, general fun beach later on)
• Mauna Kea Beach (Boogie boarding/snorkeling - one or the other depending on waves, swimming)
• Mau'umae Beach (off the beaten track, swimming, snorkeling)
•   https://www.southkohala.com/things-to-do/big-island-beaches/secret-mauumae-beach 
• Waialaea Beach 69 (Great snorkeling, interesting beach with lots of shady trees)
• Kekaha Kai State park (see day long experiences)
• Kua Bay (very crowded but one of the few boogie boarding spots currently)

Other nearby experiences

• Walking around in the fishponds of mauna lani (looking for the secret anchialine pond for fish pedicure or a quicl dip). ALso can add Historic park at Mauna lani for petroglyphs and a little lava tube hike)
• Queens Bath (Turn right just after scenic lookout on Hwy 19. Park at the end of the road and hike right on the beach for 5-10 minutes). Can hike just a little further (to get to Kiholo Bay - not a must do or) until you have had your fill seeing many turtles. 
• Mauna Lani beach (can rent paddleboards, resort beach with chairs/cabanas, good snorkeling, swimming - be careful of rocks). 
• Anaehoomalu beach (Waikaloa's resort beach - paddleboarding)
• Just pick a beach (resort beaches are easier - and do dinner at the beach for stargazing - we did this in A-bay)
• Kikaua point (has a sea arch but very shallow - for kids) & Kukio Beach TBD

Kona Experiences (None of these are must-dos)

• Baby beach/Keiki beach - When surf is roaring everywhere else, this is the place to be in the Kona area. Beginner snorkeling as well.
• Old Kona airport state park - Nice unique trail, interesting  runway parking, tidepools but rocky waters. TBD - snorkeling on the north end to Pawai bay.
• Wawaloli beach park - Has restrooms but only has 1 tidepool to dip in. There are many tidepools with interesting stuff.
• Kaloko Honakahau State park - Tidepools, calm little beach with shallow waters, many turtles, lots of sandy beach area to spread out. Park in the harbor (not in the park)
• Cloud forest hike - We went left and came down the road that took us to a different ending point. Kids loved the wild ginger that they found on the hike. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/makuala-ooma-trail?u=i
• Kohanaiki Beach park/Pine Trees surf beach - IF you want a bit of quiet, this is the place to be. But rocks in the water, some tidepools.
• kamakahonu beach park - tiki gods - historical site, paddleboarding

Food Experience

• Kamuela Farmers Market (Sat 9 AM) - 
• the fruit stand on the outside extreme right as you face the market has the freshest tastiest fruits ever.  Langon, star apple, papayas, mountain apple, rambutan and other seasonal fruits. They are so fresh picked that the fruits keep well outside at room temperature for about a week.
• The lady inside at the far left of the farmers market has salted boiled peanuts.
• The big veggie stand in the inside center has winged beans, moringa leaves and other veggies (some not local). Mac nuts here are not that good.
• Apple bananas, edible flowers, avocados, strawberries are other finds.
• java plum honey, eucalyptus, Lehua blossoms honey, macnut honey
• Not much experience with the food stalls. 
• Waimea Town market (Sat 9 AM)- more food stalls than produce - crepes, mexican etc, Can buy coconut and coconut water. Not a favorite. Can find Akaka honey though in all kinds of flavors. Kiawe honey
• Pure Kona Greens Market - Similar in set up to  Waimea Town market on Sunday (taro leaves, baklava, coconut, sapodilla, jabuticaba, loquat). Iris tripp studio 13714 SE 43rd St, Bellevue, WA 98006 for customized fridge magnets.
• Kona Farmers Market - Most variety of west side farmers markets, But beware of freshness later in the week, Thursday/Friday some produce are at end of life. Some things found there - Fiddlehead ferns, sapodilla, winged beans, and so much more.
• Mid Week waimea farmers market - Baklava, different produce vendors than saturday.
• Tropical dreams Mac nut ice cream (found in  Kohala Coffee mill - Hawi or in Foodland grocery store). Surprisingly the same Tropical dreams ice cream in Kona is not the same quality.
• Keaohou Farmers market - Rare fruits. All very local produce - Icecream bean, abiu, golden egg fruits, loquat, jabuticaba, Sweet limes, great macnuts, macnut pie. surinam cherries, tree tomatoes, black sapote.
• Hamakua Farmers market - tree tomatoes, abiu.
• Hilo farmers market - Lavender honey, mac nut with flower honey, Banana lumpia,

Day long experiences

• Kekaha kai state park (bumpy road but can be done by regular car). Possible to see monk seals resting on the beach at the end of the drive. The tidepools can sometimes be very interesting when calm. Can snorkel sometimes when sea is calm (we swam with a turtle). 10 minutes hike to the right to Mahaiula beach. hike further (20-45 minutes) to get to Makalawena beach. Pack food and make a beach day out of it. Alternatively need a 4WD to reach Makalawena by a very rough 4WD trail). 
• Alternatively hike left from the parking left to a black sand beach about 30 minutes (nothing special about the beach but saw a monk seal resting - very hot hike)
• Pololu valley hike: Hike down to the valley is only 15-20 minutes. Pack lunch and snacks and you can spend the whole day in the valley. Beach is too rough and we spotted the very dangerous Hawaiian Blue jellyfish. But can frolic in the river (enter though the sandy area close to the ocean) and hike further to the ridge and a second back sand beach/valley. (TBD The hike further should be around an hour each way). Drive down to Waimea on the Kohala Mountain Road for dinner . Very scenic.

Longer drives but highly recommended

    Waipio and beyond

• Waipio Valley - Hike down (1 hour each way and quite hard) and spend the day frolicking in the river. Cross the river to find 2 hiking trails - one up the ridge and one into the valley (TBD)
• Nanue Stream and Falls 
• Boulder hop the Nanue stream (on Old mamaloa Hwy near Waikamolu state park) to reach the beautiful Nanue falls. Slippery rocks - easier if you can wade in the river a bit with waterproof bags when needed. We were the only ones in the area.
• Kaumana Caves - Free but take headlights and flashlights. Can spend an hour/2 exploring the caves to the left and right.
• Emesine Caves - 5 mi hike through lava fields and forests to a lava tube that is likely to be all yours. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/hawaii/emesine-cave?u=i
• World Botanical Gardens

    South

• Honomalino bay (Google Maps to Milolii beach park, then hike away from the beach through a little forest and lava rocks for 20 minutes). Black sand beach, calm (At least when we were there), great swimming and snorkeling (we saw 3 white tip reef sharks). Pack lunch for beach day. Nice shade from coconut trees but hot sand where sunny.
• Punaalu beach (jet black sand - very unique - many turtles, wavy beach - good for an hour or 2)

Second priority south side attractions

• Green sand beach (need to take a taxi from the parking lot due to rough 4WD access or hike 2 miles each way in hot windy conditions). Very unique beach but very windy and touristy. Must do for grown ups, our kids were okay - not their top experience. They liked the taxi ride standing in the back of the pickup truck (20$ pp)
• Turn right when getting out of the parking lot and you will reach the southern most point of USA in just 5 minutes - Ka Lae South point - We could see pods of dolphins from the cliffs) 
• Hookena beach ( black sand beach, calm tidepools to the right for little kids , wavy beach with good snorkeling beyond but tough entry and exit due to waves and rocks). Drive further down to Kealia Bay for snorkeling(TBD) 
• Manini Beach (Had great snorkeling once but poor snorkeling and rough conditions 1 other time - no beach. grassy area with narrow entry exit into Kealakekua Bay)
• Pebble beach - Good snorkeling in calm conditions, Can hear the sound of pebbles underwater.

Puerto Vallarta

We loved Puerto Vallarta. It felt more authentic than some other destinations (eg. Cabo) You will see the many many pros listed below. However I would like to highlight some sad things first. One of the biggest issues is how beaches are being abused and handed over carte Blanche to developers. To think that most of the public would never access the beaches of Nuevo Vallarta or that resorts have encroached even the beautiful mismaloya is at best a travesty. As a tourist I wish we would stop demanding private beaches and 'extreme' beachfront with construction right up to the high tide line.

Second issue is the total lack of respect for natural resources. Particularly disconcerting is the practice of feeding the fish during snorkeling trips. This leads to coral deserts (even hanauma bay and other places in Hawaii have succumbed to this and lost their diversity). Los arcos is not a trip I would recommend on most days(especially outside nov-mar when there could be pelagic sightings) with poor visibility and not much life. When we went there was a puffer fish puffed up and floating in the water possibly dead. That sad sight ruined it for me. Second is of course littering in the beaches and river mouths. Please demand eco conscious trips with no feeding and no handling of coral or sea life. I have been to enough places to know the difference between a healthy reef and a money swindling snorkeling tourist trap. We have too few of the former.

The biggest plus of Puerto Vallarta is its diversity in everything - culturally rich, shopping still includes things not made in China, beaches to suit every taste if you can access them, and a foodies paradise.

Even though we had kids, we avoided attractions with captive wildlife and birds and still had a great time.

The food was excellent and we only skimmed the surface. This is the first Mexican destination I visited that still has interesting but affordable and local shopping.

My biggest concern about visiting Puerto Vallarta was finding good beaches for little kids. We traveled with a 5 year old and 9 month old. But all the beaches mentioned below are beautiful and and not many waves. Playa mismaloya and playa las animas are particularly perfect.

Costa sur also seemed to have a nice beach but they demanded we spend a good amount of money in their restaurant to access their beach. So we skipped as we had already had lunch.

Restaurants from a vegetarian perspective

Tucan *****- awesome breakfast

Pancho takos ***** - ate twice. Loved the sauces and poblano y queso tacos.

LA palapa restaurant - loved avocado brushchetta

Playa destiladera - fajitas

Playa las animas - fajitas the only veg option

Playa mismaloya - fajitas :)

Planets vegetariana *****- top notch soups, juices and everything else. We happened to go at a time where they were transitioning from breakfast to lunch. Lunch is definitely better but breakfast is interesting as well.

Cafe de olla

Yucateco - nothing vegetarian. Had their papaya dessert which was different but not something I would but again.

No way Jose *** - their vegetarian relleno nogada was to die for. Enchilada was just okay. Fanciest place we went to.

Many creperias.

Cajeta - jackfruit/pineapple jam

Will add as I remember more restaurants.

Beaches

Sayulita- fruit stands on the way with 'dulce' non fibrous jackfruits. The beach is shallow for a long distance with some waves that you can wade past. Shimmery green golden sands but a party beach.

Mismaloya - i enjoyed mango with chamoi sauce. Be on the lookout for these vendors or braid artists as they come and go and you could easily miss them. This is where I felt terrible at the way barcelo is built in a beach which is clearly the locals favorite and has been for a long time. The river mouth is also an excellent place to play and see different water creatures. Please don't let your kids 'collect' tadpoles or fish only to have them perish minutes later. Sand is also beautiful and no waves or rocks. More tourist oriented boats depart here to los arcos (not recommended for snorkeling but good for bird watching), cabo Corrientes, (short hike to waterfall), yelapa, mahahuitas, playa las animas. Since we had small kids we only went to Los arcos. Definitely haggle boat prices. We got ripped off since we didn't.

Destiladera - busy beach with waves getting stronger through the day. Good boogie boarding. The prices for rental were exorbitant there. Find a good rental and have your board for the week.

Playa las animas -we took a local boat from Boca de tomatlan . Arrange for return trip by mentioning time and place as well. Boats doing their own return seems the norm. My daughter got her hair braided by a very good artist. It held for a long time after.

Los Muertos - this is where we stayed in vista Del Sol. The beach is very rocky with some waves. But happening beach with everything right there. Beautiful sunsets.

The Malecon is the pulsing heart of the action. My kids enjoyed the live performances there.

Renting a car made our trip so much better. Gecko car rental is the best. We did walk a lot in town and used car for excursions. Parking is hard but we always found a good spot.

When we return and the kids are older, we would like to do more boogie boarding in beaches with waves and visit isla marietas, cabo Corrientes, stay in sayulita or even beyond like rincon de guayabitos. And of course sample many many more restaurants. Thanks for your help in the forums and Ask Me Anything about traveling with a young family or being vegetarian or just about PV!

Cabo Corrienties is a town and a municipality (a 75 kilometer stretch) that starts after Boca de Tomatlan and includes Yelapa, Las Animas, Quimixto and Chimo. The boat captain could have been speaking of the little villages on the coast as being in the Municipality of Cabo Corrientes (cape currents)

Waterfalls can be visited from Yelapa and Quimixto. There are also some smaller waterfalls along the roadside on the way to El Tuito in the rainy season. (not great for swimming but pretty and the spray is refreshing :) You can take a water taxi to Yelapa or Quimixto.

There are actually several public access points to the beach in Nuevo (e.g. between Velas & Marival, the ETC. Beach Club just north of Villa Magna), but they aren't all that obvious and none are particularly close to Paradise Plaza, so you'd need to ask someone if you weren't aware of their location.

The truth is that although the beach is nice at Nuevo, there isn't all that much for day-trippers to do there so it would make for a more enjoyable day to just push on through to Bucerias (very similar beach), Desiladeras, El Anclote, or Sayulita.

Puerto Vallarta

 Puerto Vallarta trip report and AMA for traveling with small

6 years ago

Save

We loved Puerto Vallarta. It felt more authentic than some other destinations (eg. Cabo) You will see the many many pros listed below. However I would like to highlight some sad things first. One of the biggest issues is how beaches are being abused and handed over carte Blanche to developers. To think that most of the public would never access the beaches of Nuevo Vallarta or that resorts have encroached even the beautiful mismaloya is at best a travesty. As a tourist I wish we would stop demanding private beaches and 'extreme' beachfront with construction right up to the high tide line.

Second issue is the total lack of respect for natural resources. Particularly disconcerting is the practice of feeding the fish during snorkeling trips. This leads to coral deserts (even hanauma bay and other places in Hawaii have succumbed to this and lost their diversity). Los arcos is not a trip I would recommend on most days(especially outside nov-mar when there could be pelagic sightings) with poor visibility and not much life. When we went there was a puffer fish puffed up and floating in the water possibly dead. That sad sight ruined it for me. Second is of course littering in the beaches and river mouths. Please demand eco conscious trips with no feeding and no handling of coral or sea life. I have been to enough places to know the difference between a healthy reef and a money swindling snorkeling tourist trap. We have too few of the former.

The biggest plus of Puerto Vallarta is its diversity in everything - culturally rich, shopping still includes things not made in China, beaches to suit every taste if you can access them, and a foodies paradise.

Even though we had kids, we avoided attractions with captive wildlife and birds and still had a great time.

The food was excellent and we only skimmed the surface. This is the first Mexican destination I visited that still has interesting but affordable and local shopping.

My biggest concern about visiting Puerto Vallarta was finding good beaches for little kids. We traveled with a 5 year old and 9 month old. But all the beaches mentioned below are beautiful and and not many waves. Playa mismaloya and playa las animas are particularly perfect.

Costa sur also seemed to have a nice beach but they demanded we spend a good amount of money in their restaurant to access their beach. So we skipped as we had already had lunch.

Restaurants from a vegetarian perspective

Tucan *****- awesome breakfast

Pancho takos ***** - ate twice. Loved the sauces and poblano y queso tacos.

LA palapa restaurant - loved avocado brushchetta

Playa destiladera - fajitas

Playa las animas - fajitas the only veg option

Playa mismaloya - fajitas :)

Planets vegetariana *****- top notch soups, juices and everything else. We happened to go at a time where they were transitioning from breakfast to lunch. Lunch is definitely better but breakfast is interesting as well.

Cafe de olla

Yucateco - nothing vegetarian. Had their papaya dessert which was different but not something I would but again.

No way Jose *** - their vegetarian relleno nogada was to die for. Enchilada was just okay. Fanciest place we went to.

Many creperias.

Cajeta - jackfruit/pineapple jam

Will add as I remember more restaurants.

Beaches

Sayulita- fruit stands on the way with 'dulce' non fibrous jackfruits. The beach is shallow for a long distance with some waves that you can wade past. Shimmery green golden sands but a party beach.

Mismaloya - i enjoyed mango with chamoi sauce. Be on the lookout for these vendors or braid artists as they come and go and you could easily miss them. This is where I felt terrible at the way barcelo is built in a beach which is clearly the locals favorite and has been for a long time. The river mouth is also an excellent place to play and see different water creatures. Please don't let your kids 'collect' tadpoles or fish only to have them perish minutes later. Sand is also beautiful and no waves or rocks. More tourist oriented boats depart here to los arcos (not recommended for snorkeling but good for bird watching), cabo Corrientes, (short hike to waterfall), yelapa, mahahuitas, playa las animas. Since we had small kids we only went to Los arcos. Definitely haggle boat prices. We got ripped off since we didn't.

Destiladera - busy beach with waves getting stronger through the day. Good boogie boarding. The prices for rental were exorbitant there. Find a good rental and have your board for the week.

Playa las animas -we took a local boat from Boca de tomatlan . Arrange for return trip by mentioning time and place as well. Boats doing their own return seems the norm. My daughter got her hair braided by a very good artist. It held for a long time after.

Los Muertos - this is where we stayed in vista Del Sol. The beach is very rocky with some waves. But happening beach with everything right there. Beautiful sunsets.

The Malecon is the pulsing heart of the action. My kids enjoyed the live performances there.

Renting a car made our trip so much better. Gecko car rental is the best. We did walk a lot in town and used car for excursions. Parking is hard but we always found a good spot.

When we return and the kids are older, we would like to do more boogie boarding in beaches with waves and visit isla marietas, cabo Corrientes, stay in sayulita or even beyond like rincon de guayabitos. And of course sample many many more restaurants. Thanks for your help in the forums and Ask Me Anything about traveling with a young family or being vegetarian or just about PV!P

A's first trip - Vegas baby! Nov 25-29 2010

I still remember D-Day - Nov 25 2010. A was up at 5.00 AM with us as if that was usual. No crying, no fussing. we changed her, fed her and she went right back to sleep in the car seat all the way to the airport. The minute the car stopped at the airport, she woke up. She was in a 'watching' daze for the next 4 hours. No sleep, no food - just soaking in the new place and people. Lugging around the big strolel with the carseat was a big mistake. She crashed for a bit once we boarded the flight and enjoyed the rest of her journey to Vegas. As uneventful and pleasurable the flight was, Vegas airport to hotel was not as much fun. G left us at the airport to get our Fox rental car - which was a mistake since he had to transfer two shuttle buses before he reached Fox for a long wait to get his car. On top of it, there were issues fixing the car seat as the luggage tags got entangled with the belts and was a whole maze. Here poor A was tired sleepy but very patient. She whined but we managed without a full outburst. I could not even change hr diaper as I could not leave our luggage unattended! As soon as we set her in the car seat, she escaped to slumber land so that we could have lunch at an Indian buffet without any interruptions.

Our room at Platinum hotel was just as we expected - spacious, classy and loaded with amenities. G wasted no time getting into the Jacuzzi and we followed suit. A enjoyed all the bubbles and the splish splash. A and I settled into a cozy long nap. We left our hotel room just to get dinner which turned out be an excursion in itself. Being Thanksgiving, the places we were interested in were either closed or serving special reserved dinners. After a wasted trip to the Forum shops, we settled on Buca Di Beppo takeout as we crossed over to A's bedtime.

Adieu to R and D! July 5 2009 Bye Bye Kauai July 6 2009

Today we checked out of our condo, rented and set up our tent and hiked down the very steep path near Ali'i Kai condos to the rocky shore below. We were treated to the scene of many turtles feeding off the crustaceans on the rocks. Working against the rocks and with the waves, they really put in every bit they had for for every bit they ate. Seeing these turtles work for their food gave us some insight into why they needed those long snoozes - the typical posture in which we have observed all other turtles so far.

We went down to Larsen's beach and G and R walked down the beach for some people watching and ended up delighting in the sight of 3 snoozing monk seals - a male, a female and her cub. We then got some last minute shopping done and G got me a dress (as a Thank You for the trip planning he says :)) We had some Italian food and bid farewell to R and D as they hurried to catch their flight home. We came back late to settle in our tent with the sound of the locals partying in the next tent and some mosquitoes outside. Nevertheless we spent some quiet moments with the waves in the moonlight before retiring to bed.

The restroom facilities at the Ha'ena beach campsite were pretty comfortable the next morning before we packed camp to snorkel in Puu Pua Beach. We took the stairs at the site of renovation and snorkeled at very low tide (not recommended) Beautiful fish and coral but no turtles. We headed back to Larsen beach and thankfully for me the mom and the baby monk seal were there snoozing. So we started and ended our trip with monk seals. We headed down to Lydgate beach for a quick shower before heading to the airport. Very eventful and filled up trip indeed!

Tunnels, Kuilau RIdge Hike and Ke'e - July 4th 2009

We started the day early to go snorkeling in Tunnels Beach. The reef was beautiful and a highlight was was one huge trumpetfish that changed color right in front of my eyes from blue-gray to blue-green. I think it just woke up and started cruising along the sandy floor. In general the reef was busy. Al these fish was heading to the same part of the reef to nibble of the coral. A very good way to spend the morning. Coming back to the beach was tricky with the very shallow reef and the low tide. This site is best at high tide.

On return, R again motivated us to go an hike - the Kuilau Ridge trial. This trail is absolutely delightful for the effort you put in. It was drizzling for most of the time on the trail and it was oh so green and varied all the way. On our return we found an interesting gecko type bug on a rock.

Today was sunset and snorkel day again. We went back to snorkel in Kee. I saw the turtle, the tiniest of eels, and HumuHumunukunukuapa'a. On our return to the car, R found a key and went back to the beach to find the owner. He was so overwhelmed that he sponsored a lot of our very expensive dinner that night at the sushi place in Hanalei. A fulfilling day indeed!

The adventure of the Wailua Falls, Kumao and Kee! July 3 2009

We couldn't believe we had gone for so many days without seeing the famed Wailua Falls. So we made it a point to make it our first stop today. The stop soon turned into a hike, when fellow visitors told us that they had done the hike safely with kids. The mention of kids completing the hike spurred us into action and we took the longer trail away from the viewpoint based on hearsay. First we went down the steep mountainface and were soon at the river. This is where the concept of the trail gets murky and G crossed the river with great difficulty and moved on to find the likes of a path. We skirted the "banks" of the river (narrow foot hold spaces between the river and the mountain). We realized there is no way but to cross the river. R and I boulder hopped and hopped ... hoping not to wet our feet all the while scolding G for abandoning us. Midway (this was a long time later) in the stream, I gave up and just waded with my shoes on. It sure was liberating. R took a different approach, left his shoes midway and waded across.

After some not so trivial bushwhacking, G called out to me. He had been diligently exploring all possible options and could guide us well towards the falls. At this point, I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into since we were the only people around. We had to cross the river again and bushwhack and boulder hop some more before we came to idyllic setting of the falls and the river running from it. There was another family who had taken the much much shorter trail that goes straight down from the viewpoint. The pool and the falls were a befitting reward for all those mental and physical challenges we faced :-) It was an obvious choice that we would take the much shorter trail back but R's shoes back midway on some boulder in the river posed an obstacle. G hiked back to get them while I got some extra pool time. It is shallow for a long time and swimming in the deeper portions in not recommended as the THE (falls) force could suck you in.

We hiked back through the much shorter, fairly steeper trail to the viewpoint and walked back on the road to the starting point only to find a note from D which said she's parked at the viewpoint. We retraced our path and had some very sweet low acid pineapple sold by a girl from a truck. Morning had slipped by us. We drove to the end of Kumao road stopping Opeaka'a falls, the Wailua river lookout and Kauai Hindu temple. We saw the Powerline Trail beginning and in general the Keahua arboretum was a nice place to stop. Wailua river lookout was also eye-popping.

We drove back to Kee beach to catch sunset. G on a whim decided to go snorkeling while R set up his gear (no pun intended - an inside joke :-)) for some very good sunset shots. Lucky G must have snorkeled for not more than half an hour and ended up seeing an octopus change color from brown to blue to gray and a turtle as well.