The best part of living in Kona is the ability to discover a whole other world on the other side of the island!
My husband and I decided to take a staycation last weekend while we continue to wait for the island to open up again thanks to COVID19.
So, we booked a kama’aina “Stay and Play” at the Hilo Hawaiian and got an early 2 pm check in AND an ocean view overlooking Coconut Island. We went swimming and had an excellent dinner with a view at Ponds Hilo restaurant, right off of Banyan Drive. If you want old Hawaii charm and Aloha, great service AND fantastic food with a gorgeous view, check it out.
If you read my blog and watch our videos, you know we just have to keep going to capture the beauty of the island, so we woke up at 6:30 am to catch the morning light on Hilo Bay and Mauna Kea in this beautiful historic town. There is no rest for the blogger/vloggers!
You can see it all in our video!
8 THINGS TO DO AT THE CRACK OF DAWN IN HILO
1. Run to Coconut Island and explore
2. Run to Liliʻuokalani Park and Gardens
3. Run over the Wailoa Bridge and see the boat harbor and famous Suisan Fish Market
4. Run over to the double Wailoa Park Bridges
5. Grab coffee at Cruzn Cafe
6. Jump on a RideShare bike
7. Ride down Hilo Bayfront
8. Check out Kaipalaoa Landing and see the lighthouse (Bonus-find out that Hilo got its name here and it means “to twist”. http://malama-kaipalaoa.weebly.com/historical-significance.html
MORE INFO
We had such a great time and the area is just beautiful for photography and video.
If you can’t do ALL of that, which covered about a 2 mile run and a three mile bike ride, do check out Liliʻuokalani Park and Gardens, a 24.14-acre park with Japanese gardens, located on Banyan Drive in Hilo.
In the video I say that Coconut Island has deep history-so I did some digging. VERY INTERESTING!
From Wikipedia: The Hawaiian name of the island is Mokuola which translates as “healing island” or “island of life” from the Hawaiian language. Moku meaning “island” and ola meaning “life.” It was the site of an ancient temple dedicated to healing.
Legend tells that anyone who was sick or feeling ill would be healed by swimming around Mokuola three times. In ancient times, Mokuola was a pu’uhonua (place of refuge), where natives or warriors could “redeem” themselves. Many native Hawaiians would also bury their children’s piko (umbilical cords) under the flat rocks here, so the rats would not find them (piko are often considered sacred to Hawaiians, as they are the connection to their mothers and to their blood lines).
Sponsor Message
If you are considering a move to the Big Island and wish to learn more about the real estate on any part of the island, we offer complimentary match making services to Realtors and mortgage pros. Contact us directly at Eric@Ziemelis.com and we can share 
resource guides, private Facebook groups and more!
