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Hello and greetings from Kona on the Big Island. This was the second stop of my Hawaii cruise aboard Celebrity Solstice, and I had two days to explore this fantastic destination. On my first day, I went on a private guided tour where I visited a coffee farm, a honey farm, and some important historic and cultural attractions. While on my second day, I did some solo exploring, hitting up a My Thai bar, brewery, and the shopping village. This is my travel guide to Kona, Hawaii. You'll find it especially useful if you're visiting on a cruise ship and want to maximize your time there. Let's get started.
Aloha and greetings from Kalúa Kona. I'm so excited because I didn't know what I was going to do today. I was wandering around and just like it was like serendipitous. I met Shelly. I just want to tell you I'm 77 years old. I rediscovered my life at the age of 73 because I started doing tours and it's given me um a reason to live. I love what I do. I love sharing what I know and um I hope to be an inspiration to other older people. That's amazing. Aloha. So, I'm so lucky. I'm going to be doing a private tour. She specializes in the short day trips and so we're going to see some fantastic places today.
Let's get going. All right, let's do it. So, we had the most beautiful scenic drive. Thank you so much for starting the tour off like that. We came up Malcolm. Malcolm means mountain. So we came up in elevation to about 1,200 ft and saw some lots of greenery and another little town called Canalo and I brought uh Samuel here to Kona Joe's functioning coffee farm 21 acre farm and I brought him here because the view is stunning. Kona Joe was an orthopedic surgeon and his wife was Tahesian and they came here on vacation fell in love with the property. he decided to give up his practice and uh start a coffee farm.
So, not only are the views stunning, but it's so cool to come out here and to be able to see the farm itself. Something I just learned is that there's a very short season in terms of picking the beans. There's only 2 weeks and uh I think that's fascinating. So, just an absolutely stunning property, beautiful views, and it just feels so nice and quiet and tranquil already. It feels like I'm miles away from the downtown area, and it's just a completely different environment up here. Also, something else that's really interesting is that they've just created a couple pods, these beautiful pods with the most distinct vantage point, and you can now come and rent them for the night. So, if you love this experience of being here,
you can also stay overnight and just soak it up even more. So, here we are in the roasting room. This is where all the magic happens. And anyone who visits here gets to roast their own coffee and then they get to take it back with them as well. So, what a very cool hands-on experience. And if I had a little more time, I would probably do that myself. I learned today was that there's different roasting temperatures. For a light roast finish, 405 F. For an espresso roast finish, which is the hottest, 423 Fahrenheit. And then you have everything else in between. And friends, if you want to take the full tour here, it's $104. and it takes approximately an hour. Obviously, I've got a bit of a
tighter schedule today, so I'm not going to get a chance to do that, but it's really good information to know. And just a little bit of the behind the scenes that I've been able to see has been fascinating. I love that there's a sign that says there's 16 good reasons to drink coffee. Some of them are health related, like it improves your memory, it prevents Alzheimer's, good for your liver, and then the other one, the very end one, the number 16, is it's super delicious. And that's the part I agree with. So guys, talk is cheap until you actually try the real McCoy. So, this is the 100% Kona pourover coffee. So, so excited. This is my first cup of Kona coffee that I've ever had. It's so
strong and rich and potent. It's the type of coffee you would never want to add any sugar or cream to. It just tastes wonderful on its own. Some dark chocolate. Yes, please. This is the pea berry chocolate. This is my first time to try the pea berry chocolate. Oh my gosh. It gets better the more you roll it around on your tongue. Aloha Peter. Wow. What a heritage building, huh? Yes.
Oh, I love the roads. And next up, we're going to be doing a really interesting experience. We've come to a bee farm. So, this is a place that's a little bit off the bean path. We driving down some beautiful serpentine roads. Just gorgeous scenery along the way. Very excited to be here. And let's check it out. So, first up, I'm trying the macadamia blossom. Never had this kind of honey before. So excited. Oh, that's absolutely delicious. Wow. It has such a distinct and unique taste. Yeah, it's got some nutty notes. And next up is kind of what I told you about the one, but you can see that has a completely different texture.
So creamy, so sweet. It does taste like butterscotch. That's my personal favorite so far. I have a real big sweet tooth, so I love that one. It's a bit spicy. There's a chili pepper. Hawaiian chili pepper. Oh my gosh. So excited for this one. So, I'm ready to buy a brand. That is spicy. That is no joke. What a unique combination. I don't think I've ever had spicy honey before. So, trying new things for the first time today. So, I enjoyed that honey tasting so much that I decided to get one of their specialty local products. It's called Lehwa Honey Ripple. Made exclusively from the big island bees. Just had so
much fun touring around inside, too. You can tell the workers there are so passionate about what they do. And these are places honestly I wouldn't have been able to go on my own unless I rented a car. But I wouldn't have known to come here. And I hope you guys can join me someday and go on a tour and I'll show you all these amazing places that he has seen today. Yeah, exactly. So, what would be the best way for them to get in touch? Hopefully, I'm gonna have uh my YouTube up and it's going to be called Adventures with Grandma Go.
I'll be your first subscriber. Yes. And he's teaching me how to do this. So, I'm excited to uh do this to promote the beauty of the Big Island. And I do tours in Kona and Hilo. And I will take people to the volcano and I'll take them to Mona. Yeah. Um and I know a lot of things that uh some of your tour companies don't know off the beaten path. So, come join me for a wonderful tour and I can't wait to meet you. Aloha, guys. Aloha. And apparently these are lipstick palms and they're worth about $100 a piece. So fascinating to find out that too. That's called a traveler's palm.
Okay, because when they were in their ships, they would use that for navigation purposes. Next, we drove to Kala Kua Bay, which is located 12 mi south of Kalúa Kona. This is an important historic site because it's where Captain James Cook landed in 1779 and was killed a few weeks later. Nearby, you can also see the Hikao Hao, which is a sacred temple and was a place of human sacrifices in ancient times. It is dedicated to the Hawaiian god Lono. So, there's some fascinating features and facts about this place like I mean just even how things were carried here. You want to tell us a little bit about that?
Yeah, they did it like in a conveyor belt system. Yeah. And uh they hand carried it one person to another to bring it from up on the poly. And um they placed it like making a puzzle and every piece fits perfectly. And if you'll notice the structure is built without any concrete or anything holding it together. It's a feat of art and it's amazing and it's been here for over 300 years. They still use it for cultural practices and um it's beautiful. Come visit this place. It's absolutely incredible. So, we're going down Manini Road to go see Manini Beach. And this is a epic place to go snorkeling. It's a onelane road. Here we go. We're still in the car, but look at this. The water is pristine. The
conditions are incredible. What an incredible local spot right here. A bit of a hidden gem for sure. This is a lava flow that's recent within just the past 200 years. It's called uh Yeah. Wow. It comes down the poly very fast, like 200 mph. And when it stops, it stops fast and cools off fast and starts breaking up. Good morning. Good morning, friends. I have traded in the black sand beaches of Hilo for the white sand beaches of Kona. For my second port of call, I've moved from the east side of the big island to the west side. And things couldn't be any more different. Over here in Kona, you only have about 20 in of rain versus over 130 in Hilo. So this is the sunny side of the island and Kona is
known for its white sand beaches. It's known for snorkeling. It's known for its famous Kona coffee and also for the Iron Man triathlon. Well friends, surfs up here at Kona Boys just behind me. I noticed aside from just snorkeling, you can also go surfing or go out sea kayaking as well. But you know what? Today I'm not going to have time to do any of that. So what I think I'll do is just get my toes in the water. I haven't done that yet in Hawaii. And uh it's about time I got my feet wet. Woohoo. Here we go. Actually, actually not that cold. It's not the Caribbean, but it's not that cold either. All right, friends. I dipped my toes into the water, and now it's time to explore the town. So, I'm
starting off with a walk along the seaw wall. So, basically from where I got off on the tender to the end of the commercial district is only about a 20-minute walk. And friends, something to keep in mind is that some of the waves crashing in are breaking over the wall. I almost got my camera gear soaked. So, be extra careful if you've got your cameras out like I do. One of the things that I'm most disappointed with visiting Kona is that I am not going to be able to visit one of its major landmarks, which of course is the Hawaiian Summer Royal Palace. Now, it's open from Wednesday to Sunday, and unfortunately, I'm visiting on Monday and Tuesday. So, wamp. I won't be
able to go, but I have tried to capture as many shots as I possibly can from outside the gate and along its walls. So, something that I'm noticing on my self-guided walking tour here in Kona is that it is considerably more commercial than Hilo. And to be honest, that's not entirely a big surprise because I read about that they were saying that Hilo is a bit more of the authentic Hawaii and uh and Kona over here is more of the commercial, more of the touristy side. And yeah, I'm definitely picking up on that vibe already. There's just so many more shops and souvenir places, whereas Hilo seem to have businesses that, yes, did cater towards tourists, but also a little bit more towards locals as well.
So, something I mentioned earlier in the video is that Kona is home to the very famous Iron Man triathlon. And I'm already starting to get a sense of how important fitness here is in Kona. The amount of people that I'm seeing going for a jog, riding their bicycle, going out swimming, going out snorkeling, going out on the stand up paddle board, it feels like this is one of the ultimate places in all of the US to live an active lifestyle where you have nice warm temperatures throughout the year and also not a lot of rain. So, plenty of opportunities to go outside and live that active lifestyle on a day-to-day basis. So friends, I've done my 20 to 30 minutes of walking. I've made it to the
end of the commercial district and I'm going to be having a drink at Dawn's M Thai Bar. You can see behind me as our cruise ship. So I have fantastic views over here. Waves crashing in. Literally the bar is up against the seaw wall. So this is a tremendous location and excited to get some liquid inside of me because I've been sweating bricks once again. So friends, I elected to go with a lava flow pan cola with mango. got a lot of walking left to do. So, we're going virgin. We're going non-alcoholic. But my goodness, is that ever delicious. It's just incredibly sweet, thick, and all of the tropical fruit taste that I love. We've got mangoes, we've got coconut, we've got pineapple. So, give me a little bit of
liquid calorie so I can continue with my sightseeing. So, friends, that came to $7. Even Steven here at the Royal Corner Resort. This is as far as I'm going to walk. So, now it's time to head back into the center of town and hit up all the stops along the way. Wamp diddy wamp. Woe is me or wo is you if you come here on a Monday or Tuesday. I'm actually just joking. I'm having a fine time here in Kona. But another one of the major attractions that you can find here in the city is the farmers market, which is open from Wednesday to Sunday. So, I will not be able to visit on either of
the days that I'm here. Anyways, time to regroup and let's get going because I still have a lot more to show you here in Kona. And the Kona in shopping village is also closed for the most part. Just a couple little places open. Oh no, I do see Sassis Big Island Band open. I take it back, friends. I take it back. The Kona in shops are alive and well. That's pretty funny. Four for 20. Now that's a deal. That's a The steps I go. And I have a sign pointing me the right way. Kona Brewer Company to the left. I've still got more stairs to go up. So guys, I finally made it to Kona Brewing, Hawaii. That involved the most leg work of the entire day. Had to walk up some stairs. Had to go up a bit of a
hill. Oh, thank you so much. I love this. They call this liquid aloha. And I'm going for the longboard logger. One of the classic beers here on tap. Yes. Oh yeah, that's good. Oh. Delicious beer. So refreshing. I've been walking around all day sweating bullets. So, I have never deserved a beer more in my life than I do right now. That's a really good pizza. I'm tasting the goat cheese. I'm tasting that ting smoky barbecue sauce. Also, the delicious pork. Oh man, that's actually really, really delicious. I sure earned it. I've been walking around all day and so hungry and so ready to chow down on all this. Guys, it's raining right now. What is going on?
This is only supposed to happen in Hilo, not here in Kona. This is supposed to be the sunny side of the Big Island. But you know what's funny? This actually feels wonderfully refreshing. So, I will take this. I'm cooling off and it's not raining that hard. It's more like a sprinkle. Hey man, I'm from Vancouver Island, so this is nothing. I booked this 11 night Vancouver to Hawaii cruise aboard Celebrity Solstice via Cruis's It. One big reason to book with them is that they have access to exclusive agency discounts directly from cruise lines that you wouldn't normally get. Plus, their Cruise Fair watch system tracks prices right up until your final payment. So, that means you are getting the best rate guaranteed. So, if
you're thinking of cruising soon, be it to Hawaii or elsewhere, you can scan the QR code on the screen or check out the link in the description box.
