We went to the black sand beach first because if you get there early enough, it was noted that you would see plenty of sea turtles coming in for breakfast. And we definitely saw plenty of sea turtles- at least 7 or 8.
I dont think I remembered Sea Turtles having this type of tail but I got a little giggle out of watching it wiggle around when they moved.
The good news about getting up REALLY early on vacation is that we seemed to be one step ahead of other tourist. Right as we were leaving here, the tour buses started swarming in and we were gladly getting out of their way!
Our next stop was the green sand beach. It's located at the Southern most tip of the United States (not to be mistaken with the Key West spot which is the southern most tip in the continental US). As you pull up to Southpoint, the first thing you see is the spot where people cliff dive and also jump into the blow hole. I hadn't even worn my bathing suit because I was literally breaking out in a sweat just thinking about Thomas doing it (I had researched it before hand so I knew that it would be there and that it was an option). But after getting there and seeing Thomas and others make the jump- and also confirming that the ladder was still in working order, I decided to make the jump myself. It was definitely one of the scariest things I've ever done, but Im so glad I did it! The only unpleasant part was that even though I covered my nose, I was literally blowing out sea water for a good 30 minutes after. At some point, I probably stopped covering my nose on the way down- but in my defense, as your jumping, it feels like FOREVER before you finally hit the water. From what research I've done, it was about a 40ft jump.
I only jumped off the cliff- but Thomas also made the jump into the blow hole which was even more terrifying. I was glad that he only did it one time and was able to capture a few cool photo's.
This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip. I just think it's a cool shot of where the blow hole leads out of the cave and into the sea. And can I tell you how rickity that ladder was? I took one look at the bolts holding it together and I think I practically sprinted to the top.
After our cliff diving experience, we drove over to a secluded cliff, had a little picnic, and then drove over to the edge of the hike/drive to Green Sand Beach. We weren't really sure what to expect here. We had read online that the 3 mile drive was impossible unless you had a 4 wheel drive vehicle. We were originally planning the do the 3 mile walk- but decided it would be worth trying to drive it. It was definitely an adventure! it was basically a series of 10 trails inter-twinning the entire way- so it was really a game of picking the best route the entire time and weaving back and forth (ie: which way will we not get stuck). It was a slow journey- but it would probably have been a much more miserable/dusty walk.
I really have no pictures that do it justice. You'l just have to take my word for it :)
Once you finally make it to the Green Sand Beach, it's literally like your coming upon an Oasis. It was so beautiful.
We did a little swimming and snorkeling and then we made the 3 mile journey back to the main road. I would definitely recommend this "off the beaten path" attraction to people- but not if you decide to walk it! There is no shade for the entire 6 mile journey and we felt really awful for people attempting to do it. The funny part was that a lot of people made the walk there and then decided to pay the locals to give them a ride back. There were a few locals there- and it was evident they do that on a daily basis to make a little $$.
The next day (Tuesday) was our last day on the Big Island. We woke up and decided to try and catch the sunrise over the caldera, but unfortunately it was too cloudy. However, the one cool thing was that we were the only ones there and had the viewing area to ourselves. It was so quiet that you could hear the crackle of the lava below.
On our journey back to Kailua-Kona airport, we took a different route and decided to head North over the top perimeter of the Island. We went through a town called Hilo where we stopped at a local laundry mat and refreshed our wardrobe. Remember how I said Volcano was rainy? Because of that, we couldn't get any of our wet items to dry due to the wet muggy climate.
It was definitely an experience since we were not really familiar with laundry mat protocal and also because we rolled right in there with our suitcases (tourist siting, anyone?).
Of course we captured it on camera :)
After our little side trip to the laundry mat, we traveled through Hilo and on towards Akaka Falls. It was a very cool waterfall to see- and we even found a small cafe to have lunch in nearby.
Thomas really worked up a thirst after our long walk to the falls.
After we saw the waterfall, we really needed to make a bee line straight to the airport. We weren't exactly sure how quickly we needed to get there for our trip to Maui- and we also needed to find a gas station to fill up our rental car. We were in a desperate search for a car wash as well, which we were never able to find. We did not want there to be any evidence that we had taken the car on the route to the green sand beach! We had talked with another couple at the green sand beach and their rental company has specifically ask them not to. Oh well- we were never able to find one so we wiped the jeep down the best we could and hoped that the little noise coming from the shocks wouldn't sound itself in front of the rental car return employee :)
Stay tuned for Part 3- the final leg of our journey in Maui.
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