A few pictures from The Big Island of Hawaii

March 1st thru the 6th I found myself on The Big Island of Hawaii. While it was nothing like Kauai, it still had its charm (considering both the good, and the bad; while the beaches and/or hiking trails were not as lush, there was not one free roaming chicken to be found on this island).
We got to swim with Green Sea Turtles, hike an active volcano, sit on a black sand beach, run along sea cliffs on the southern most point in the us (altho I do remember key west boasting the same such "point" so I don't know who really wins this battle), explore many a coral reefs looking for interesting sea shells, snorkel in some very beautiful waters and not to mention all the fresh fruit that was everywhere.
Oh, and did I mention that we were in Kona? What is Kona known for but its magnificent coffee??? And this coffee is everywhere! It was like its own type of heaven with that aspect right there. Why should I get a latte from Starbucks when I can go to a local stand that uses 100% Kona coffee in their lattes? And even better, for about the same price?? (I kinda chuckled when I saw a Seattle's Best coffee house there. Like Seattle coffee can even compare)
Here are a couple shots from the island:


This was the very first shot I took on the big island. I'm not exactly sure which beach it is, but the colors were magnificent. Being that there wasn't too much sand on this beach, and we weren't ready to snorkel, we didn't stay here long.


An ancient church just outside of Captain Cook in Kealakekua Bay. This was where we were blessed with the chance to swim with green sea turtles. Unfortunately I didn't have my case for my camera with me to be able to take photos underwater :(


The beginnings of sunset at Hapuna Beach, Hawaii. A beautiful, but windy white sands beach.


What do you think of when you think Hawaii? I know one of the first things that comes to mind for me, aside from the beaches, are palm trees! These were begging to have their picture taken.

They said some of the best snorkeling on the island could be found in Kealakekua Bay, and I would have to agree with "them". Beautiful coral reef, beautiful fish, beautiful water, beautiful turtles... beautiful all around. If you ever want to do some snorkeling just once, this would be the place to do it.

One of the exciting things about this island was the presence of one of the most active volcano's in the world. While I wouldn't recommend the village of Volcano, HI... taking a hike out on the actual volcano was definitely interesting. This is a shot of some of the cooled off lava that was very prominent in the area.

I took over 200 pictures while there, I will be posting the rest to my facebook and myspace pages if anyone is interested.