HWV comments and things to do...

We recently stayed on an ALON award and were given a room in the Ocean Tower. They originally had us slated for the HH floor in the Palace Tower w/ lounge access but no “view.” We opted for an oceanfront room in the Ocean Tower w/ breakfast certs. I can honestly say that this was a wonderful decision.

The “continental breakfast” in the Palm Terrace (Ocean Tower Restaurant) is a huge spread. It is a buffet w/ cereals, fresh fruits, an assortment of breads, danish, rolls, croissants, etc. Milk, juice, coffee & tea are all included in the buffet, including “pog” a wonderful mixture of pineapple, orange and guava nectar. There’s also an upgrade option for breakfast, for $6 you can upgrade to a full American breakfast. All of the typical options: eggs, sausage, bacon & a 3-day rotation of French toast, waffles and pancakes. Also in this section are the Japanese items… every day there was rice, miso soup and grilled salmon. While the continental breakfast is nice, you can eat like a king for $6. Eat late and you can skip lunch. Also, if you get the full breakfast option and there’s something that you want and it isn’t on the buffet, just ask and it will be provided at no charge. I.e if it is “French toast day” and you want a waffle just ask and you’ll get your waffle. From what I saw, the continental breakfast in the Orchid Cafwas nowhere near the level of the Palm Terrace [b]Re: the trams & boats[/b]: honestly they didn’t bother me like some folks here. I often just walked from one place to another. Hey, you’re on vacation, what’s the rush? [b]Re: dining options[/b]: does the phrase “a king’s ransom” mean anything to you? That’s basically what it will cost you to eat dinner on site. The restaurants look very nice, but you’re seriously talking about $30 a head on the really low-end and upwards of $50 on the high end for most of the “dining” options. If that’s your thing, that’s cool. Anyway, if you are looking for just a casual, and I mean casual, inexpensive dinner, you can find burgers and club sandwiches at the Palm Terrace for about $12/ea. IMHO They were quite good. If you really want to spend some money on a nice dinner, I would suggest to drive up to Waimea and dine at Merriman’s. Just an absolutely fantastic dinner and experience. While I did not dine at many of the on-site restaurants at HWV I am reasonably sure that we paid about what it would cost on-site at Merriman’s. Again, my justification is that I can eat a fine Italian meal on the East Coast, but some of the original regional Hawaiian cuisine is something that is not common ‘round here. We had reservations at Roy’s in the King’s Shops, but ran late on a road trip and didn’t make it back… I would gladly pay the money there for something innovative, fresh and regional as opposed to risotto or tableside Japanese cooking. We did not enjoy “The Big Island Steakhouse” in the King’s Shops… it was not my choice to go there! Mediocre food and a rip-off at that. The lunch options served at “The Boat Landing” restaurant in the Ocean Tower were also quite forgettable. For reasonable lunch options they seemed to serve some light fare, i.e. grilled chicken sandwiches, etc at the bar/restaurant over near the dolphin lagoon. In Kona we ate lunch at the Kona Brewing Company. I enjoyed my food and beer selections, although others w/ me did not really share that opinion. It was a “we’re out of that” kind of day with many of the selections we wanted. [b]re: sunsets[/b]: go to the lawn oceanside of the Ocean Tower, out near Buddah Point. About 30mins before sunset a small crowd begins to gather. Get there really early if you want to snag a hammock. Oh yeah, don’t forget to bring some drinks [img]http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif[/img] As to the sunrise, basically you can’t see it. Obviously Hilo gets the sunrise and then the sun has to get up over the mountains before it gets to Waikoloa.

Golf: The Beach course seems to be more of a “resort” course, while the Kings course is more of a “player’s” course. Although, the Beach course is more scenic w/ the 12th & 13th holes running Oceanside just next to the Ocean Tower.

Drinks/snacks: if you go to Kona you can find a Safeway, Wal-Mart, Costco, etc. If not, there are typical resort shops in the Lagoon and Ocean towers. Although I would recommend a stop at the “Whaler’s General Store” in the King’s Shops. The selection was pretty wide and the prices were reasonable (for Hawaii).

Photography: First, bring plenty of film or digital media. Due to the sun & weather you can pretty much shoot ISO100 the whole time you’re there. Bring a polarizing filter if you want some nice ocean shots, it will cut thru the glare and make the sky deeper… but, if you know what that is, you were probably planning on bringing it anyway. Use your flash often, even in bright sunlight. That way you won’t get the shadows in people’s faces, eliminating that “who is that?” silhouette picture of your vacation. Best time for photos of the resort itself was about 645a - 715a. There’s no one around and the sun is just coming up. The best lighting on the resort is at sunset, but you’d be out taking photos of that right? Great night shots w/ a tripod and long exposure: 1) Donatoni’s restaurant from one of the arch bridges near the Kohala Pool 2) The columns in front of the palace tower from the same bridges. 3) Main lobby from the shore of the swimming lagoon. 4) Ocean Tower path w/ the flame/gas lamps from the shore of the “Public Beach Access” near the wedding chapel.

Kona coffee: for those of you interested in a nice diversion, don’t forget that the only place in the world that Kona coffee is grown is about a 30 mile belt starting just south of Kona. This coffee is known to be the some of the finest and most expensive coffee in the world. Expect to pay around $20 – 22 per pound, and $28+ for a pound of peaberry, the rarest of the rare. Virtually none of the coffee plantation tours are open on the weekends, so this is something that you’d have to do Mon-Fri. However, a great place to buy coffee is at the Ali’I Marketplace in Kona, this is a open air market/flea market about 2 miles south of “downtown” on Ali’I drive. There you will find several coffee vendors. Unlike the mass produced, or blended, nonsense they sell at most gift shops here you can find “estate” coffees. That’s coffee that comes from one plantation, usually a family farm, using only their own crop… many of these coffees are 100% pesticide free, or 100% organic. It truly is a wonderful experience, they all have little tasting setups so you can find one to your liking. Not to mention, the coffees there are infinitely fresher than the stuff on the shelves at the stores… most of it was just roasted in the past week or so. For those of you who are not as adventurous, you can find a fairly wide selection of Kona Coffees at the “KTA Superstore” (a supermarket) in Kona. It is in the same shopping center as Wendy’s & Starbucks, off Pulani Drive. Kona Blue Sky Coffee also has their own coffee/gift shop in the Marriott @ Waikoloa. Absolutely stay away from anything that says “blend” on the bag, it will contain less than 10% of true Kona Coffee. PS at the Ali’I Marketplace you can also find vendors of Macadamia Nuts. Large, whole fresh ones vacuum sealed. Not a supermarket can of small nuts (Mauna Lua, etc).

Black Sand Beach: Punalu'u Black Sand Beach can be found on the south of the island past “south point” on the way to Volcano National Park. It was well worth the trip, truly magnificent, and something that I doubt I would ever seen any other way. It is easily accessible from the major road running on the South side of the island, Rt 11 I think. Although, make sure that you eat somewhere up near Kona or just south. There’s a McDonalds or two on the way. I would take advantage of them. There are virtually no eating establishments down in that area. We stopped for lunch at the Punalu'u Sweetbread Bakery which was recommended to us… let’s just say that I would not recommend it. For novelty’s sake it is the Southernmost bakery in the US.

Green Sand Beach: forget it, you can’t get there via car/truck. We drove about 2.5 miles on a dirt trail to get to the gate. One look at the road from that point forward and we turned back immediately. It was like driving over lava rock the whole way. You do the math: rental car (not allowed out there anyway), no cell phone service, nowhere to change a tire, etc. However, I do want to get there and perhaps next time I will plan accordingly to hike in from that point, about 2.5 miles each way from “the gate.” I just didn’t have the time on this trip. You can find info on the green sand beach in any Hawaii book, it is at South Point (the southernmost point in the US), and it is the only green sand beach in the world.

Helicopter tour: great! We took the Blue Hawaiian “Big Island Spectacular” from the Waikoloa Heliport. 2.5 hour trip that includes the Kohala Coast, Waip’o Valley and the Volcano among other things. There’s a quick stop in Hilo to refuel. Just my commentary here – the helicopter trip is quite expensive, and no one is made of money. I would sooner choose lesser restaurants and keep the money for something like this. Trust me, this will give you the memory of a lifetime, as opposed to a few $150 meals.

KOA airportentirely open air. The “gate” feels like you’re in someone’s backyard. And since they have none of the sophisticated bomb scanning machines, every single bag is hand searched by TSA. Check in took forever! I can only imagine what it is like for the UA widebody flights the mainland. That's all for now... maybe I'll remember some more later and edit this. [This message has been edited by EWR-COflyer (edited 03-25-2003).]