Day 3 - Part 1 - South Point
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Our third day on the island did not go as planned. After our jam-packed road trip to Hilo the day before, we had intended to have a pool and beach day to relax. A wildfire had started the day previously and had filled the area in which our hotel was with smoke. We needed to escape the smoke, so we changed plans and decided to do what we had intended for the fourth day. This was easy, because when I plan our trips, I create and itinerary that allows for the days to be easily switched around to adjust as necessary. You can read more about how I plan my trips HERE.
Instead of lounging by the pool, we were off another road trip across the island to ultimately see Volcanoes National Park. This is another long car ride, so to make the most out of the long drive and to break it up a bit, I had planned several stops along the way, each one better than the previous one. Because each stop was so amazing, I will highlight each one in it's own post, so you can pick and choose which stops you might make if you were to plan a day like this and try to pack it all in like we did. The first stop was breakfast. We were trying to get out of the Waikoloa area where the smoke was the worst, so we headed into Kona and ate at a restaurant called, KALIKALA CUISINE. They don't have a formal website, but after doing a little looking, they had the best reviews and the views couldn't be beat. |
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I had read that this restaurant can get busy fast, so I made sure we were up and out of the door early enough to get there when they opened. We arrived a few minutes before they officially opened and were sat immediately. I'm so glad were got there early because in less than ten minutes, the whole place was full and there was already people waiting to be seated.
The service we quick and I can see why this place is so popular. The presentation of the food was spectacular and the taste was even better. I ordered their popular lilikoi French toast. It has a cream cheese center. Need I say more? I had to keep batting away my husband's fork because it was to die for. He ordered the salmon eggs Benedict. He loved this, too! My kids told us they didn't want anything because they didn't see plain pancakes on the menu. I went ahead and ordered them the Hawaiian waffles and convinced them to try it. Of course, it was also very tasty and they gobbled up as much as their bellies could handle.
The serving sizes were quite large and the prices were not astronomical. I only ordered one order of the waffles for the kids, not wanting to waste them if they didn't like them. But they loved it and both got plenty from one order, with even some leftover. I also had some leftover and that was with my husband sneaking bites.
It's definitely a restaurant I would recommend trying to fit somewhere into your trip, because the combination of views and tasty food really can't be beat.
The serving sizes were quite large and the prices were not astronomical. I only ordered one order of the waffles for the kids, not wanting to waste them if they didn't like them. But they loved it and both got plenty from one order, with even some leftover. I also had some leftover and that was with my husband sneaking bites.
It's definitely a restaurant I would recommend trying to fit somewhere into your trip, because the combination of views and tasty food really can't be beat.
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After breakfast, we were off to our first major stop of the day and that was SOUTH POINT. South Point is the southern most tip of the Big Island, but also the United States. It is about 2 hours from Kona and 2 hours and 20 minutes from OUR HOTEL on the Kohala Coast.
South Point is also thought to be the landing site of the earliest Hawaiian inhabitants. I figured that if we were coming that close to the southern most tip of the U.S., we needed to stop to check out this landmark of historical significance. It's even registered as a National Historic Landmark.
South Point is also thought to be the landing site of the earliest Hawaiian inhabitants. I figured that if we were coming that close to the southern most tip of the U.S., we needed to stop to check out this landmark of historical significance. It's even registered as a National Historic Landmark.
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I wasn't really sure what to expect other than knowing that this was the location where you could park and hike to PAPAKOLEA BEACH. This beach is a popular location to visit because it's a green sand beach. It's actually only one of four green sand beaches in the entire world!
You have to hike to get there and the hike is 5.6 miles out and back and takes about 2 hours to complete. We had other sites to see on this day and didn't have time to do the hike. It's also considered a moderately challenging, and figured the kids wouldn't handle that well. Once you drive down to the southern part of the island, directions will tell you to turn on South Point Drive. Word of warning...this road is long! It's ten miles of straight road past open ranch land and wind turbines. You feel like you just keep driving and driving, questioning whether you are going the right way or not. You will eventually come to a fork in the road. You veer left to go to the parking lot of Papakolea Beach and stay straight and follow the signs to the southernmost point. There you will park and get out to take in the views. |
The day we were there it was insanely windy. There are wind turbines along the long road, so I do know it is a naturally windy area, but I don't really know if it's always that windy. It felt like we could have blown right off the side of the cliffs.
We worked our way to the edge and looked over the cliffs into the deepest, purest blue water I had ever seen. It was the most stunning deep blue that went on and on for what seemed like forever.
Some people were way more risky than we were, working their way to the edge. Others were fishing, as this place is known to be plentiful with tuna, snapper, mahimahi, and other native fish. We stayed back, because like I said, the wind felt as though it could blow us right over.
We worked our way to the edge and looked over the cliffs into the deepest, purest blue water I had ever seen. It was the most stunning deep blue that went on and on for what seemed like forever.
Some people were way more risky than we were, working their way to the edge. Others were fishing, as this place is known to be plentiful with tuna, snapper, mahimahi, and other native fish. We stayed back, because like I said, the wind felt as though it could blow us right over.
This area is also known for cliff jumping. There is this contraption on the side of the cliff that is used to climb up once yo dive down. Even though people do this, it is not recommended. We some people contemplating it, and it didn't look they went through with it, which I was glad. It looked more like a death jump than a fun cliff jump. In fact, people have died attempting this jump.
After taking it all in, it was too windy to stay long, but we were able to check that place off our list and can now say that we have stood at the southernmost point in the United States. We also needed to get to our next stop on our little adventure and that was PANALU'U BEACH.