Day1

Next to the airport was a commercial seahorse farm. They had a very overpriced tour, but you got to hold a seahorse at the end :) No, the price is not really worth the tour, but I didn't have enough time to research it to that level of detail, oh well. It was still fun:

algea they are growing

sea horses they are growing

we were able to put our hands in a tank and have a seahorse attach to us

Nextdoor was a Salt Farm, also worth a visit:

nice selection of salts

The rest of the day was spent doing an afternoon and manta ray night dive, and a chill dinner:

sorting pictures :)

Day2

Day3

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Going at altitude just 2h afer my last dive was potentialy tricky, but thankfully one of my 3 dive computers was able to give me the maximum altitude that was safe to ascend to, and it was high enough to where I was going:

by then I could already go to 10,000ft

Across the road to the observatory, there was a short altitude hike with view:

Unfortunately, the lava flow towards Saddle road had already stopped fee days prior, and the road to Mauna Kea was closed due to snow, so we didn't get to go to the peak, either:

visitor center at 9000ft was open, though

After that, the road was drenched in rain, so there was no point in stopping until just before Hilo. Kaumana Caves was a nice stop on the way, a real lava tube that you can explore for a really long distance:

one direction had a hole and exit, but kept going on for a long way

The other direction in the lava tube was inteesting too, including a tube that splits in two:

Day4

After that, quick stop by Hilo farmer's market:

From Hilo, it was an easy drive to Volcano NP:

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From the research and prior experience, I knew it was best to start with Kilauea Iki Trail, a beautiful hike in a crater that isn't 100 years old yet:

I love how this spot has layers you can simply take apart with one hand

When getting out Thurston Lava Tube is right there, but it's very underwhelming compared to the previous day's hike in Kaumana Caves:

my flashlights still came in handy

When it came time for the Steam Vents and the nice Sulphur Banks hike, pouring rain came down, that got all the way inside my socks and shoes since I only had my emergency umbrella and not a bigger one:

By the end, the Volcano Art Center Gallery was a good stop from the rain, which didn't stop:

I wish I could have seen that

I did a couple of other quick hikes, but it was not fun with the rain, but the good news was that the weather got better at the end of chains of craters road, but the ocean:

just in time for sunset

Day5

My plan was then to drive up around the coast back to Hilo, and stopped at Hawai'i Tropical Bioreserve & Garden which I independently re-discovered was the best botanical garden on the island (realized later it was the same one I went to in 2009, but no biggie, it was definitely worth going back to):

From there, finishing the island tour was technically possible, but not very safe time-wise, and there would not have been time to stop for anything, so it was safer to retreat and go back to Hilo through saddle road and make the flight with a good 15mn to spare :)

Quick stop to check out Kaulana Manu trail for birding another time:

Back to Kona, with airport in the background:

4.5 days might have been barely enough for the big island without diving, but with diving, the time was a bit short. Still, I feel like the itinerary worked out pretty well, considering.

On the first day, I did a couple of dives with Big Island Divers in the afternoon/evening to see the Manta Rays. The Manta Ray Night Dive is spectacular as always:

Short Video:

Long Video:

Water hovered between 27C and 25C even at night, which was borderline cold for my 3mm wetsuit, but thankfully I didn't get cold (I added a hood when not moving much).

The next days, I did 2 more dives with Big Island Divers in the morning:

Kona Shore Divers was super nice to take me last minute for 2 more dives in the afternoon just before the Luau I had that night:

The 3rd morning, for my last hours in Kona before driving to Hilo, 2 more dives with Big Island Divers:

Thank you to

I had to look up my last flight, it was in 2009: Flight Around Hawaii's Big Island

Here is the flight this time:

Anyway, I'm glad there was a single flight club left on the island with a single plane left able to take 3 people (C182):

I had to wait a bit before takeoff:

Kona is the main airport on the big island

finally taking off

Kona has boats, snorkling and diving

The full tour of the island takes time, even in a C182, it was 2.8H total. It was nice to see the stark contrast between the different sides of the island:

my trusty copilot/CFI, who thankfully did all the radio and airspace work

even the kona side had older lava flows

beautiful waters too

more lava flow

stark altitude contrast

south tip of the island

After a while, we finally arrived to volcano national park:

crater road used to go around, but the volcano grew and took the road away

Jagger Museum is now closed because it's now on the edge of the crater and was damaged by earthquake

After a few loops, down chasins of crater road:

cool road to nowhere (after lava flow)

After that, got to Hilo and did the rest of the island loop:

lots of bridges

many waterfalls

Waipo valley

And finally back to Kona airport after 2.8h, also clearly built on top of a lava flow:

Not cheap, but it was fun to do this flight again after 13 years ;)