Things We Did In Kona Land Tour

[catkoe1]

Hi All,

I had booked all of the things below on my cruise in Sept. 2005, but ended up on a land tour Aug. 21-28th so we did the following. This is for information for those that want to know about excursions in Kona & Hilo area...

Hi All,

 

Just returned from one week in kona.... Stayed at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort in Kailua-kona.

 

We snorkeled the fair winds and loved it.... We had a family of three dolphins, (one was the baby) swim with the catamaran on the way to Capt. Cook's monument. Great day.... I wanted to dive in, so I could swim with the dolphins but they wouldn't slow down the boat. We are re-booked on this cruise for the fair winds on the 2nd day of kona... looking forward to that...

 

Another day, we went south and we also snorkeled City of Refuge and loved it. Had tons of fish. Saw turtles and manta rays. Speaking of manta rays... if you are daring there is a dive/snorkel right off of the Sheraton... the viewing for it is actually from the bar area and you see the manta rays at night. Ron and I are going on the first night of Kona..... We are snorkeling at night.... The divers dive down with the big lights... This attracks the plankton and creel and then the rays come. The come at you with their big mouths open and then when they realize you are nothing to eat... they breeze by you. I guess the first time it can be intimidating, but after that it is thrilling. There are divers with you so you are somewhat protected... You are not allowed to reach out and touch them or freak out and scare them... My two girlfriends did it and they loved it....after they got over being scared to death the first time.

 

Then we Took the very long drive and walk out to the volcano lava flow in volano national park... got some great night shots of the lava flow, hitting the ocean and up on the hill. Although we were NOT up close enough to actual be in range to touch it... I don't think we would have disrespected the rangers wishes to not go that far. Major damage could occur and you actually would die if there was a collapse... This is far more of an occurrence than people actually know about.. We started our walk at 3pm with flashlights and water and returned to our car after dark, which was 8pm. Great experience. However, if you are planning on doing this...go from hilo, much closer than Kona port and take water.... you do get thirsty because you are on lava that isn't hot to the touch but it definitely gets hot from the sun..

 

The town of Kona is fun, much to see and do and shop and eat and drink. If you are renting a car.... this is what I heard from three different families that were with the group I was with..... they snorkeled at a bay just north of the Sheraton.... It was kahalu'u bay and it was like being in an aquariaum... TONS OF FISH AND TONS OF VARIETY OF FISHES. It was free. You parked on the street, walked past a little wall and you were atthe beach... That particular cove, had lava beach but one more a little north had a white sand beach... Only a 10 minute drive from the town.

Then the next morning we went and did "flumin' the ditch". It was a blast because we had a party of 22 and only a few men. We had a great time.

Hope this helps any of you wanting to do excursions off of the ship on the 1st and 2nd of October...

 

Happy Cruisin' To All'

 

ps...I cannot make my pics small enough or I would include them...

[willbebroke]

Souonds like a great trip. We were interested in doing th lava flow walk at night, too. If we don't arrive in Hilo until 5:30, is it going to be too late for us to do this since it took you 5 hours??

[catkoe1]

You are closest to the VNP from Hilo. If you go right to VNP... you should arrive about 1 1/2 hours after you get to hilo. It takes 30minutes to drive from Hilo and then another 30-40 minutes to arrive to the parking area, before you start your walk....

 

Have fun