Day 1 - Hapuna Beach

When traveling long distances, I'm a firm believer in making your first full day somewhere a relaxing one. That's why I tend to make our first full day in Hawaii a day in which we spend most of it on a beach or by the pool. For our first full day on the Big Island, we went to Hapuna Beach. This beach is located on the Kohala Coast right in front of the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, and was about a 15 minute drive from our hotel. We chose this beach because it's considered one of the most beautiful beaches on the Big Island, and it did not disappoint. I dream about this beach!

We were still on Portland time, which was three hours ahead of Hawaii time. So, using this to our advantage, we got up very early, grabbed coffee and a quick breakfast at our hotel, and drove to Hapuna Beach to make it there right when it opened at 7:00 a.m. I can't recommend getting there when it opens enough. Let me explain why. First, the parking lot is empty and you can easily find a spot. This is not always the case. When we left later that afternoon, cars were circling the parking lot, trying to find a spot. Secondly, the beach is empty. To feel like you have this beach to yourself is the most spectacular feeling. 

The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort sitting just behind Hapuna Beach

This beach is considered a state park which means there is a fee. When we went, it was $5 per person and an additional $10 per car. So, we ended up paying $30 for our family of four. You pay at a small kiosk in the parking lot and make sure you bring your credit card to pay for this fee, as that is the only form of payment this park takes. These fees seem to be a newer thing since Covid and are now all over the Hawaiian Islands. To be honest, I don't mind paying the fees to help support these beautiful beaches. 

The parking lot sits above the beach, so after paying, you walk down and there is one part of the beach that got really busy, really fast. If you keep walking to your right, you will get to the larger expanse of beach in front of the Westin.

​We were able to grab a great shaded area that sat between the two parts of the beach and set up camp for the morning. This would not have been possible if we had arrived any later. People were stalking us for this spot when we were packing up a few hours later.

Shaded spot on Hapuna Beach

One of the main reasons I chose Hapuna Beach is because I had read it had good snorkeling. Snorkeling is always at the top of my husband's priority list. My kids also enjoy doing it, but aren't as confident in the water. After researching all the snorkeling spots on the island, this beach seemed to fit the bill. It was actually perfect for us. The water is quite shallow for a good part of the beach. I'm not a big fan of snorkeling because I tend to get a bit nervous in the water. There are some rocks near the far end of the beach in front of the hotel that I was actually able to stand and stick my head in the water and see a multitude of amazing fish. My kids were also able to wade out and snorkel a bit. My husband then went out a bit further on his own and really enjoyed himself. You can check out the video below to see some of what we saw that day.

We stayed at the beach for several hours and soon my kids were hungry. We packed up and wanted to find someplace for lunch. I always plan a few choices of places to eat around the locations we are going, so we are prepared if we need something to eat. One place that came up was Hale Kai at the Fairmont Orchid. The reason this restaurant appealed to me was the kid-friendly options (always the number one priority for me when choosing a restaurant on vacation) and its location, which was about a ten minute drive from Hapuna Beach. This restaurant is an all-outdoor seating restaurant and sits overlooking the beach in front of the Fairmont Orchid.

When going to this restaurant, it's a bit of walk to get there. You have to park in the visitor parking at the hotel and then walk through the whole resort to get to the restaurant. The hotel itself is absolutely beautiful and made the walk go by quickly. You are basically walking through a garden paradise. Once there, we were able to get a table looking right out at the ocean. It was perfect!

View from the lobby of the Fairmont Orchid

Walk through the resort

The food and drinks were both really good here. The kids even were able to get their own virgin Pina coladas. It was so fun to sit and listen to the waves, watch all the people in the pool and on the beaches, and simply sit back and relax enjoying it all. This was probably one of our favorite restaurants we ate at the entire trip, because of the ambiance it provided. 

Beach in front of the Hale Kai Restaurant at the Fairmont Orchid

After lunch, I had planned for us to head to another beach to do some more snorkeling. The beach right in front of the Fairmont Orchid was one of the beaches I had planned on as a possibility. It's called Pau’oa Beach. We could actually see a lot of people using this beach from our table at lunch and it looked beautiful. But my kids were dying to get back to our hotel and swim in the pool. It's one of the cons of staying at a resort with an amazing pool...your kids won't want to leave it and do other things.  So, we came back to our hotel and spent the afternoon exploring the grounds of our hotel and playing at the pool. 

Steps down to the Kona Pool at the Hilton Waikoloa Village

Gecko Girlz Shave Ice in Kona

After spending some time at our hotel, we needed to head out to find some shave ice. My kids are big fans of shave ice and it's always a priority when in Hawaii to find great shave ice. We decided to head back into Kona as that is where the better shave ice locations are. One that I saw was highly recommended was Gecko Girlz Shave Ice. Some of the other locations I had found that were also highly recommended were not open at the time we headed into Kona. So, we headed to Gecko Girlz. The location of this place is very busy and it was difficult to find parking. But the kids loved it and was a great treat on a hot day. 

​After filling up on shave ice and having a late lunch, we ended up skipping dinner that night and going for a night swim. This was our favorite time to swim at our hotel as the pool was essentially empty and the kids could swim all over. And the sunsets from the pool were awesome and a perfect end to our evenings. 

Our first day on the Big Island was one that basically sealed the deal. We fell in love with this island immediately from this day and it was only going to get better. We went to bed early that night because we had a big day ahead of us the next day. We were going to road trip over to Hilo and this was the day I was most excited about.

Sunsets from the pool

Night swimming with the pool all to ourselves