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Hawaii's Big Island
Paradise Without a Passport
By Belinda Clarke
Hawaii's Big Island boasts 10 distinct climate zones, which tells you something about how exciting this tropical, all-American destination can be. Here, you can visit an active volcano, a lush rainforest with plunging waterfalls and pristine beaches with crystal clear water and incredible marine life. Even better, virtually everything is accessible for kids – even babies – which makes for the ultimate exotic family vacation.
Most of the hotels and resorts on Hawaii's Big Island are on the Kona/Kailua side, which is the west side – and the driest and sunniest part of the island. We stayed at the Outrigger Waikoloa Beach, which is an oceanfront resort that has gone to great lengths to provide a memorable Hawaiian experience to groups and families alike. The pace is slow, and everything is fairly new, as the hotel has undergone a multi-million-dollar facelift. As part of this renovation, the decor creates a traditional "old-Hawaii" atmosphere with milled bamboo, Koa wood, which is considered to be the king of the Hawaiian forest trees, and a full-size authentic outrigger canoe in the lobby.
"We're trying to create a feel that is almost nostalgic, like Hawaii was in the '40s and '50s when it was just getting discovered by vacationers," says Peter Thoene, Outrigger Waikoloa's director of sales and marketing. "We want our hotel to incorporate local tradition, which we do in part with our authentic nighttime Luau, which is performed outside under the stars."
Retro Hawaii travel posters dot the walls, and though the island feel is there, it's not overblown in the least. We liked the open-air ambience and the fact that every room has a mini-refrigerator for snacks and drinks. Kids will love the great beach, pool, Kids Club and snack bar. Whale watching and glass-bottom boats leave from the resort's beach, and the snorkeling is spectacular just a few hundred feet from the hotel, with sea turtles and tropical fish galore in warm, shallow water that stays shallow a long way out.
