Puueo

Today we drove 2 hours through the middle of the Island to Hilo to do our helicopter trip....Unfortunately, by the time we arrived it was pouring down with rain with virtually no visibility. This meant our tour had to be cancelled or rescheduled. We opted for the latter option and upgraded to a full island 'circle tour' that will hopefully take place tomorrow from Kona, on our side of the island. Fingers crossed anyway.

Since we were over the other side of the Island, we decided to drive the southern route back to Kona - about a 3 hour drive (not including sightseeing spots). We stopped off at the Volcanoes National Park and drove Crater Rim Drive down to the coastline. Unfortunately, the weather was not great on this side and we had a mixture of Fog, vog & drizzle - these conditions did not make for great picture opportunities, but if it had been clear...Hokey Smokes! Sensational photos would have abounded 😣

Background: Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on the planet, rising gradually to 4,170 m (13,681 ft) above sea level. Its long submarine flanks descend an additional 5 km (3 mi) below sea level to the ocean floor. The ocean floor directly beneath Mauna Loa is, in turn, depressed by the volcano's great mass another 8 km (5 mi). This places Mauna Loa's summit about 17 km (56,000 ft) above its base. The enormous volcano covers half of the Island of Hawaiʻi.

Next stop on the list was the US's southern most town (& beach), Black Sand Beach. We stopped here & even saw a turtle up on the sand! We then moved on to a local haunt, not frequented by alot of tourists, Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park. This place was by far the best snorkelling spot we had been to out of both islands! The water clarity and abundance of fish & turtles was phenomenal!

We finally made it back and had just enough time to prepare ourselves for our tour, swimming with the Manta Rays - we have no words! This was by far the best experience we have ever encountered! Wow! Will have to post the video footage to YouTube or Dropbox!Read more