Recommendations for Kona Hawaii in Mid Feb?

[bisous]

For volcanoes I would thing regular hiking shoes would be fine. But walking on lava area near the beaches or in streams, shoes like keens are really good. I know they aren’t very attractive, but mine are comfy and great on those types of surfaces. Big island has more lava rock than Maui.


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That makes sense. Not sure I'll use the keens though for anywhere else and they aren't terribly cheap. There are some knockoff brands on Amazon that are considerably less expensive. I'm not usually a fan of buying cheap shoes though. I have foot issues! Though I'd think sandals would be more forgiving than other types of shoes possibly? Trail runners are even more expensive but I think I'd use them around here a lot.

[bisous]

We just got back from an amazing week on the Big Island. We spent 5 nights in Kailua-Kona and 3 nights in Pahoa.

We did not do a lot of just relaxing on the beach, but I don't know what I would have taken out. The island is aptly named and it takes a long time to drive between towns. I'm happy to share a detailed itinerary if you want, but for now will just hit a few highlights:

Manta Ray Night snorkeling - unreal!
DS and DH would say golf - they played twice
Hike at Pololu Valley - this was a long drive - I'd say an hourish from Mauna Lani; short, but very steep hike - beautiful views (but this can be said for so many places on BI)
Volcanoes National Park - we did the Kīlauea Iki crater hike (took about 2.5 hours moving fairly slowly as I'm recovering from hip surgery)
Drive from Kona to VNP - we hit Southernmost point in U.S., Punalu'u Beach (black sand, sea turtles), Punalu'u Bakery (malasadas) **We did not have to drive back to Kona bc we spent the next few nights in Pahoa. We also didn't do the hike the same day we did the drive bc we didn't have to. The first day we just went to some of the overlooks in the park.
Beach morning at Waialea Beach (right next to Hapuna, which was packed while Waialea was not) - older DD enjoyed some sun, younger DD and I enjoyed the shade; easy in/out for snorkeling

Thank you! This is helpful! We're already booked for our manta ray snorkeling. It sounds fabulous and totally outside my realm of experience! Two of you have recommended Pololu so that's on my list of ideas. And good tip about Waialea!

[bisous]

We wore sneakers to hike. At the beach we had water shoes, but we still had to navigate the lava rock with bare feet when we snorkeled bc we carried the fins to the water. I think all of us ended up with some minor cuts on either hands or feet as we climbed in/out.

That sounds kind of awful. I'll make sure to always carry some kind of shoe! Sounds like trailrunners would work on the hikes then!

[bisous]

The Pololu Valley hike is spectacular and not too far from that area (it's at the far northern tip of the island). The area around Captain Cook (south of Kona, so about an hour the other direction) is beautiful, fantastic snorkeling and you can visit Kona coffee farms. Going to Volcanoes would be a very long day, but it is beautiful and surreal. If I were to ever go back to one Hawaiian Island, it would definitely be the big island!

My BILs that deem themselves "Hawaii experts" are fans of the Big Island for sure. I think we're planning on doing kayaks/snorkeling around Captain Cook though my BIL says no reservations necessary. Thanks for your recommendations!

[essnce629]

When we did activities/hiking involving water in Hawaii, Mexico, and Zion I wore these shoes. DH and the boys had the men's version. I'd want closed toe.

https://a.co/d/g7C5RAc


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[bisous]

When we did activities/hiking involving water in Hawaii, Mexico, and Zion I wore these shoes. DH and the boys had the men's version. I'd want closed toe.

https://a.co/d/g7C5RAc


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Hmm. This link isn't working for me. I'm curious to see what shoe worked for you! Could you try to re-link?

[essnce629]

Hmm. This link isn't working for me. I'm curious to see what shoe worked for you! Could you try to re-link?

Hmm, odd. Here's a screenshot. They're super cheap too! Currently Lightening Deals at $25, all colors.

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[bisous]

Hmm, odd. Here's a screenshot. They're super cheap too! Currently Lightening Deals at $25, all colors.

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Thank you! I actually have a pair of water shoes! I was a little hesitant to wear them again. I sprained my ankle the last time I wore them! But it WAS NOT the shoes fault, lol. I'm going to go dig those out of the closet and see if the soles are as supportive as yours appear to be.

(The best part of already having the right shoes means that I can look again at buying trail runners that I've been look at!)

[Percycat]

Thank you! I actually have a pair of water shoes! I was a little hesitant to wear them again. I sprained my ankle the last time I wore them! But it WAS NOT the shoes fault, lol. I'm going to go dig those out of the closet and see if the soles are as supportive as yours appear to be.

(The best part of already having the right shoes means that I can look again at buying trail runners that I've been look at!)

I have inserts I wear in my running shoes. I put those inserts in my water shoes when I wear them. I use my water shoes for walking around water parks, canoing, rocky beaches....etc -- mine are older speedo shoes that I don't think are made anymore.

[StantonHyde]

We spent a week on the big island and based out of Hilo. We spent one day at the Hilo market and some beaches there--it rained a LOT. We went to Volcano NP and had a blast!!! We went to Kona and stayed overnight one night so we could do a snorkeling boat trip at Captain Cook. We snorkeled at teh hotel beach and saw sea turtles. We took a wagon trip in an amazing valley that was very steep to get in and out of--the guy who ran the wagons took us in and out in his van. We hiked to waterfalls. We spent like one day "just" at the beach. Otherwise, we had a blast being on the move and seeing all sorts of stuff!!!