Hawaii - The Big Island (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

My wife and I returned last week from a nine night stay on The Big Island -- an early celebration of our 35th wedding anniversary. We stayed two nights at Volcano House in the national park, and the rest of the time in the Kona / Waikoloa area. Unfortunately, there were no active eruptions at the Kilaueu volcano, so no lava. This was our 4th visit to this island, with the last time being 14 years ago.

Sunset over the Kilauea crater

Chain of Craters Drive

Thurston Lava Tube

Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle at the Black Sand Beach

Sunset at Wailkola

Whale watching at Waikola

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A few more...

Kilauea crater activity (just steam, no lava)

Rainbow Falls, Hilo

Cattle egret

Waikoloa luau (10K ISO)

Pololu Valley Lookout

 

[Todd Erwin]

That is a beautiful island. My wife and I honeymooned on the Hilo side 25 years ago this coming May, and visited a second time on the Kona side in 2012 for her cousin's wedding.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

That is a beautiful island. My wife and I honeymooned on the Hilo side 25 years ago this coming May, and visited a second time on the Kona side in 2012 for her cousin's wedding.

Yes -- it's our favorite island. We've been to the Hawaiian Islands four times over the past 30 years, and visited the Big Island each time. This was our first visit where we did not island hop at all -- we just moved around a couple of times on Hawaii itself. Our first visit 30 years ago was an inter-island cruise, starting in Oahu, with stops on Maui (two days), Kauai (one day), and Hawaii (one day each at Hilo and Kona). Our 2nd visit was split between Maui and Hawaii, and the 3rd was split between Kauai and Hawaii.

I am not sure if we will make it back a fifth time. Costs have sky rocketed since our last visit, and we still have many other places on our bucket list that we haven't visited yet.

Speaking of costs, the most ridiculous was at the Honolulu airport. We had a brief layover there connecting to our Detroit flight. We had picked up some sandwiches the previous day for the flight, but decided a hamburger sounded good. We stopped at Burger King, and they wanted $25 for a Whopper! That wasn't with a drink or fries, either! We laughed and walked out. I know airport food is more expensive, but at the Seattle airport on the way to Kona, we got a decent pub burger for about $15 -- and it was much better than a fast food burger.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Speaking of costs, the most ridiculous was at the Honolulu airport. We had a brief layover there connecting to our Detroit flight. We had picked up some sandwiches the previous day for the flight, but decided a hamburger sounded good. We stopped at Burger King, and they wanted $25 for a Whopper! That wasn't with a drink or fries, either! We laughed and walked out. I know airport food is more expensive, but at the Seattle airport on the way to Kona, we got a decent pub burger for about $15 -- and it was much better than a fast food burger.

A lot of that has to do with the high rents that airports charge for retail space, plus additional security measures that have to be put in place for employees and I'm sure there are other security measures for restaurants when it comes to things like knives. At John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA (where I used to live), the McDonalds was at least 3 times more expensive than the one just outside one of the remote parking lots.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A lot of that has to do with the high rents that airports charge for retail space, plus additional security measures that have to be put in place for employees and I'm sure there are other security measures for restaurants when it comes to things like knives. At John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA (where I used to live), the McDonalds was at least 3 times more expensive than the one just outside one of the remote parking lots.

True, but $25 for a Whopper is just absurd anywhere -- after we got back home, my wife got a Whopper Jr. meal with a drink and fries for about $7. Other prices had sky rocketed, too. The resort we stayed at charged $48 per day for self parking (we had an all-inclusive package that included parking). When we were there 14 years ago it was $15. It's not as if this is a major city, either -- it's Waikoloa Beach, with ample real estate space. Parking was free at Volcano House and the bed & breakfast we stayed at our first night in Kona. Without the all-inclusive package, the breakfast buffet would have been $52 per person, plus another $20 "service charge".

 

[John Dirk]

Congratulations @Scott Merryfield on your 35th anniversary. All I can say is "WOW!"

We're about to celebrate our 20th but, partially because of the skyrocketing costs you spoke of, are "settling for" Las Vegas this time around. We visited Hawaii probably 16 years ago and, as you also said, there are too many remaining places to visit to justify a return trip there just yet.

As always, beautiful photos!

 

[Malcolm R]

Businesses on Hawaii also have to absorb all the transportation costs related to shipping all the food and supplies to Hawaii, which on top of the extra overhead noted by Todd for an airport location would make the prices very high. This is why most fine print in advertisements about "deals" at chain restaurants always says "prices higher in Alaska and Hawaii". We run into similar high prices when visiting Aruba.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Businesses on Hawaii also have to absorb all the transportation costs related to shipping all the food and supplies to Hawaii, which on top of the extra overhead noted by Todd for an airport location would make the prices very high. This is why most fine print in advertisements about "deals" at chain restaurants always says "prices higher in Alaska and Hawaii". We run into similar high prices when visiting Aruba.

I get that there are additional costs related to getting goods to Hawaii, which accounts for some of the high prices. But some of the increases we saw go way beyond that. And it's not just Hawaii -- other destination spots we've been to have sharply increased their prices since the end of the pandemic, taking advantage of a surge in the desire to travel. Last winter, we priced going back to Key West, and the place we stayed in January, 2020 just before the pandemic had literally doubled its price. It would have cost us as much to go there as it would to Hawaii. On Mackinac Island here in Michigan, several articles listing the place as America's premiere island destination have caused prices to skyrocket.

In the case of Mackinac Island, we have been visiting twice a year for many years now. After our visit last September, the higher prices caused us to re-think our 2024 plans and we decided to visit just once this year. However, when the hotel we always stay at listed their Cyber Monday specials, the prices had gone up considerably again and we decided to pass completely. My wife then sent an email to the hotel, explaining that we would not be coming to their hotel for the first time in 20 years. We received a call from the general manager, who told us he had spoken with the owners. The owners (who we've met numerous times) did not want to lose our business, so he offered us a free night's stay, plus an older rate for any additional nights we wished. We decided to take them up on the generous offer, and will be staying for three nights on our actual 35th anniversary for about half what it would have cost us with their Cyber Monday deal.

 

[Jason Goodmanson]

Gorgeous pictures - and congrats on the anniversary.

In a previous life, I used to go to Hawaii every year. The Big Island was my favorite island. I think it's been 15 years since I've been anywhere in Hawaii (and that was a disaster of a trip.) Would love to go back especially since my now-wife hasn't ever been.