14-Day Island Hopping in Hawai'i & American Samoa

On the first day in Hilo, we went exploring around town before heading up to Volcano National Park to see the eruption at sunset. Our first stop of the morning was a quick drive to the outskirts of town to see Rainbow Falls, a beautiful rainforest waterfall featuring distinct rainbows on sunny days. We got lucky and found parking easily, and there was a short paved walking trail leading to the viewing area.

Afterwards, we cruised through some of the local neighborhoods before making our way to Tacos Jalisco’s food truck to grab a bite to eat. I ordered the fresh-catch fish taco and we sat and chatted with a friendly local while we enjoyed our lunch. Afterwards, we stopped at Big Island Candies, a local confection shop for chocolate-dipped cookies to get a little treat.

We continued our shopping spree in Downtown Hilo, where we walked Kamehameha Ave, popping in and out of the local shops and finding a few treasures to bring home. At around 2 pm, we stopped back at our hotel, The Hilo Hawaiian, to regroup before making the one-hour drive to the National Park. Sunset is an especially popular time to visit the park, so it is recommended to get there as early as possible to ensure you find parking. We arrived a little after 3 pm, took our picture with the National Park sign, and grabbed a sticker from the gift shop as is our tradition when visiting the parks.

We spoke to a ranger who recommended we take Devastation Trail for the best viewing, so we did just that. Parking was already quite full since the volcano had been active for the last few weeks, but after a few circles around the lot, we finally squeezed into a spot. Note to self: get here early! We walked the one-mile paved trail and were in awe of what awaited us at the end—Kilauea was erupting! We found a spot to sit and enjoyed the view for the next few hours. As the sun began to set, the temperature dropped drastically—fortunately, we had prepared for this and quickly started adding our layers to keep warm. The volcano was so beautiful at night—the sky was glowing red and watching the lava flowing was simply magnificent, and we felt so lucky to be able to see it in person. Eventually we packed up and used our flashlights to navigate to the car, and then drove back to the hotel. Cars were still lined up in the parking lot and even at the entrance gate waiting to get into the park. Did I mention it was a good idea to get there early?

On day two, we left Hilo and stopped at Punalu’u Black Sand Beach on the way to Kona, where we did a night swim with the giant mantarays. We had a slow morning at the hotel and we used the dining credits offered to enjoy a delicious Hawaiian-style breakfast at the Wai‘oli Lounge before checking out.

The route we took to the beach passed by the National Park again and we were able to see the volcano eruption from the road—this time even bigger than the night before! We stopped on the side of the road for a few minutes and watched in awe before moving on. After an hour and fifteen minutes on the Hawai’i Belt Road, we reached Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. The crowd was light on this Wednesday afternoon, and we found a beautiful shaded spot under the palm trees where we laid our towels out. Although the water was a little chilly, we couldn’t wait to get in and snorkel after seeing turtles swimming near the rocks! This is a great snorkel spot to see wildlife—we saw about 10 turtles and many different species of tropical fish. There is also a small food truck here, so we each got a burger and fries and enjoyed lunch under the swaying palms.

We then drove another hour and a half to our destination for the night, the Holua Resort, just south of Kona. We picked up some dinner from the grocery store nearby and rested in our villa until our excursion that evening. It was just a short walk from the resort down to the dock where we would meet our guide for a night of snorkeling with the giant manta rays. It was a small group, only about 15 people, and although I was a little afraid of swimming in the ocean at night, once I jumped in the water, all my fears went away. It didn’t take long for the manta rays to swim up to the lights to enjoy their plankton buffet. These gentle giants were so graceful, swimming inches from your face but never touching it. This was definitely a highlight of our trip and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Kona as this is one of the best destinations in the world to swim with the manta rays.

On day three, we had a relaxing day at the Holua Resort and explored a little around Kona. After all the fun yesterday, we needed a day of rest! There is a lot offered at this resort, including pickleball and tennis courts, BBQ and picnic areas, swimming pools and hot tubs, a fitness center, on-site activities like hula dancing and lei-making classes, and a 36-hole golf course nearby. We did venture out to the downtown area of Kona for lunch, where we had poke and a couple of brews at Aloha Vibes while enjoying the view of the Pacific Ocean. Afterwards, we popped in and out of the shops along the strip and stopped at Gecko Girlz for some Hawaiian shave ice. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the pool at the resort and enjoying the beautiful weather.

On day four, we traveled from Kona to Maui and went to a traditional Hawaiian Luau in the evening. We flew on Hawaiian Airlines and took the quick 30-minute flight over to Maui where we checked in to the Maui Beach Hotel. That evening we drove about 40 minutes to Lahaina for the Myths of Maui Luau at the Royal Lahaina Resort. The sunset made for a beautiful backdrop as we watched a captivating production depicting a journey through the Polynesian cultures while enjoying complimentary beverages and the all-you-can-eat buffet of island cuisine. Exploding with energy, colors, music, and dance, we thoroughly enjoyed the show and the awe-inspiring fire finale.

On day five, we did a snorkel excursion to Turtle Town and Molokini Crater, a crescent shaped volcanic crater off the southwestern coast of Maui where we saw humpback whales, a plethora of tropical fish and coral, and green sea turtles! Molokini Crater is a popular snorkeling spot as it is famous for its clear, calm waters, which makes it ideal for viewing wildlife. It certainly did not disappoint! We toured with Malolo Charters and they did an excellent job giving us plenty of time in the water and ensuring we had a great trip. After returning to the docks, we hung around the harbor and grabbed some pizza from Point Break Pizza & Panini before returning to our hotel for the evening.

On day six, we took a scenic drive on the infamous Road to Hana before heading to Haleakala National Park for sunset. One of the world’s most scenic drives and certainly the most famous drive in Maui, the Road to Hana is not to be missed. The drive is rich with waterfalls, black sand beaches, bamboo forests, lava rock formations, and amazing ocean views as you wind your way through 620 curves and 59 bridges. If you get car sick easily, this is probably not the drive for you!

One thing to do instead of the drive is to check out Ho’okipa Beach Park, which is great for surfing and viewing the nesting turtles. We drove about 34 miles of the windy, narrow road to the halfway point where we stopped to get local authentic pig tacos at Uncle Harry’s Marketplace. These were literally the most delicious tacos, and I am still thinking about them to this day! 10/10 would recommend.

Then we were off to the National Park. We drove back the way we came along the coast before cutting inland and up the mountain. Haleakala National Park is most famous for its stark volcanic landscapes high above the clouds and makes for a great place to view sunrise or sunset. Just remember, you need reservations to enter the park for sunrise and reservations can fill up months in advance. However, you don’t need a reservation for sunset, which makes it easier to be a little more spontaneous. Of course, we stopped to take our picture with the sign and hit the gift shop for our sticker souvenir before making the windy climb all the way up to 10,000ft. As with most National Parks, it’s always a good idea to get there early as parking tends to fill up quickly. We were one of the first people there for sunset, so we easily found a spot and spent some time walking around and soaking in the views. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous, of course, and watching from above the clouds made for a unique experience. If you have time, stay a little longer to stargaze as the summit offers pristine dark skies you don’t get to often see. Oh, and don’t forget your warm layers!

Day seven was a travel day from Hawai’i to American Samoa. We flew from Maui to Honolulu and spent most of the day at the airport waiting for the flight to American Samoa, which was later in the afternoon. There are limited flights going in and out of American Samoa with Hawaiian Airlines, but after 5.5 hours in the air, we finally made it to the remote island in the South Pacific. It was a little chaotic in the small airport as we waited over an hour for our bags to arrive on the carousel. Many of the native Samoan passengers seemed to stock up with supplies from Hawai’i and many people had 10 totes of cargo each! Just as we were beginning to worry our bags got lost, they finally appeared. We then picked up our rental car and it was already 1 am before we made it to Sadie’s By the Sea to rest our heads for the night.

On day eight, we explored the National Park of American Samoa. After a Samoan-style breakfast at Goat Island Cafe near Sadie’s, we drove to the National Park Visitor Center in the main district of Pago Pago. At the Visitor Center, we spoke with a local ranger wearing a National Park sarong and she gave us a map and a detailed explanation of all the best spots to visit on the island. This is definitely a must-stop for visitors and we were very thankful for all her help. She explained to us different customs and courtesies of their culture, things we should avoid, and warned us to look out for the wild dogs that roam the island. We purchased a sticker and set off on the first stop she recommended—the bat tree! Large fruit bats are common here and can be seen flying around in the daytime and hanging in tree branches throughout the island. We saw at least 30 bats hanging in this particular tree, most of them sound asleep.

Our next stop was the National Park on the northern part of the island near the village of Vatia. We drove the narrow roads up and over the mountain and through the dense jungle before reaching the National Park sign and continued driving until the road ended at the parking for Pola Beach Island. Unlike any other park we’ve ever been to, we were the only ones here! After a short walk through the jungle, we reached a rocky beach and could see Pola Island shooting straight up out of the water and large waves slamming up against its rugged base. We spent a couple hours here exploring around the beach before the heat and humidity prompted us to retreat back to our car. Completely drenched in sweat, we returned back to our hotel to clean up before going out for dinner.

We ate at Fiafia Restaurant near Sadie’s and had delicious Asian-style cuisine; the portions were so huge we even brought home leftovers! After dinner, we could see the rowers across the street in the harbor training for their upcoming competition so we sat and watched them until it became dark. We learned that boat rowers in American Samoa participate in traditional Fautasi races using longboats, a cultural event celebrating Samoan heritage and facilitating friendly competition amongst the different villages. The races are deeply tied to village pride and even their practice sessions drew large crowds to watch the crews row. We felt lucky to be able to witness it too.

On day nine, we continued exploring the eastern side of the island. We woke up to rain in the morning and had a late brunch at Goat Island Cafe. We continued our tour of the island and drove all the way to the very eastern tip of the island—as far as the road would allow us to go. We passed in and out of villages along the way and noticed the many colorful churches and pavilions throughout the neighborhoods. We stopped at an overlook point and ate the snacks we purchased earlier from the convenience store, and for an afternoon treat, we stopped at Tisa’s Barefoot Bar for their famous Pina Koladas. By the end of the day, we headed back to our hotel to do some snorkeling at the beach and enjoyed our leftovers from the night before for dinner.

On day 10, we continued our tour of the island, this time venturing over to the western side. We had lots of time to kill before our flight in the evening, so we took advantage of the opportunity to sleep in. After checkout, we had our last meal at Goat Island Cafe and began to head west. We stopped in the bigger village of Tafuna and popped in and out of some of the shops then continued all the way to the western side of the island. We definitely got our money’s worth out of the rental car because we must have driven up and down every road possible on the whole entire island! We stopped at several of the landmarks recommended by the park ranger from the first day, including a turtle and shark observation point (no sharks spotted, but we did see one turtle!) and we sat at an overlook to watch the sunset before heading back to the airport to return to Honolulu.

It was a long red-eye flight back to Hawai’i, but we finally arrived around 6 am and got an Uber to our hotel, the Moana Surfrider. Check-in wasn’t until later that afternoon, so we checked our bags at the front desk, grabbed a bite of breakfast from their poolside cafe, and took a nap on the lounge chairs on the beach. Around midday, we took an Uber to visit Pearl Harbor National Memorial. We had made reservations to see the USS Arizona Memorial, a site that commemorates the events of the attack on December 7th, 1941, and while it was a solemn experience, we were grateful to be able to honor those service members who were affected on this tragic day and the museum and its staff were outstanding in every way. Since we were so exhausted from the long journey, we ordered room service back at the hotel and enjoyed the views from our balcony as we ate our dinner.

Here is when the vacation part of the vacation begins! After almost two full weeks of island hopping around the Pacific, we were looking forward to simply relaxing at our resort for the next two days.

Known as the “First Lady of Waikiki,” this historic Oahu hotel on the beach first opened its doors in 1901, offering a seamless blend of Victorian elegance and contemporary comfort. We were staying in the Tower Wing with views of Diamond Head and the stunning turquoise waters from our balcony, where you could watch surfers from dawn to dusk. Since the Moana Surfrider is a preferred partner of Fora, they really pampered us for our anniversary—we were welcomed with champagne and a bouquet of white roses, plus we were showered with gifts and treats each day, and we enjoyed complimentary breakfast daily at the Veranda.

We made reservations at the spa, where they graciously upgraded our service to a couples massage and we had a lovely seafood dinner at Beachhouse. On the final day in Hawai’i, we walked along Kalakaua Ave right out front of our hotel, went shopping for gifts to bring home, and went swimming in the ocean for the last time. The following morning, we utilized their late check-out option before taxiing to the airport and said “Aloha” to island life as we took off to go back home.