We woke up well rested and ready for our Big Island adventure! Our flight out of San Diego wasn’t until 10am, so we decided to get a hearty breakfast before another 6 hour flight. We searched for nearby restaurants that were open for breakfast and found Lucky’s Diner. We split a giant breakfast burrito that we highly recommend!
After breakfast, we packed up and were off to the San Diego Airport. We arrived in Kona on the Big Island of Hawai’i around 3pm, and our campervan jeep was already waiting for us in the airport parking lot! We met with our Campervan Hawai’i contact, Matt, who showed us the ins and outs of our new home for the next week. After we verbalized our confidence in managing our new home-on-wheels, he handed us the keys and we were off!
Note: The Big Island of Hawaii has two major airports that mainlanders can fly into…Kona and Hilo. If you plan on driving around the entire island (like we plan to do), then you can base the decision on airline fare (like we did). If you don’t plan on seeing the whole island, then plan accordingly based on what you want to do on your vacation because the great Mauna Loa has caused two very different climates on one small island. Hilo is on the east coast, or the locals say, the “windward side” and has lush forests, vast gorges, and flowing volcanoes. Kona is on the west coast (leeward side), which has calmer winds for better snorkeling and watersports, but out of the water it’s usually pretty dry.
When we get settled into a campervan for an extended period of time, we always like to stop at a local grocery store to stock up on supplies before hitting the open road (especially if the campervan has a refrigerator). At the same time, when visiting new places, it’s really important for us to try local cuisines.
We stopped at a Safeway grocery store in famed Kailua-Kona first…and when in Hawai’i, we always make sure to get plenty of Hawaiian Sun Juice, Mauna Loa macadamia nuts, and Kona beers. Right around the corner from the grocery store was a Hawaiian BBQ place called Ohana Q…don’t sleep on this spot. We could have gotten delicious prepared foods at Safeway (which are great by the way), but Ohana Q has brisket to die for. We decided to try it in a fried rice bowl, which did not disappoint.
We arrived pretty late in the afternoon, so other than our grocery stop and early dinner, we planned for a pretty laidback evening at the campsite. From Kailua-Kona, we drove about an hour to our first campsite at Whittington Beach State Park. The state park is located in the southern part of the island, so it’ll allow us to explore the famous reefs of South Kona, the southernmost point of the U.S. (Papakōlea Beach, aka Green Sand Beach), and even some of the southeast volcanic fields.
We pulled into the campground…home for the next two nights. Just look at these views from our new home-on-wheels! Tomorrow will be an action packed day of snorkeling and off-roading on a remote beach…so stay posted!