Is Big Island affordable?

It is. But one needs to wander off the beaten track.

Lodging on Big Island can be two things – dull and expensive (any hotel) or exciting and cheap (Hookena Beach Park).

What comes to mind when I say “Hawaii”?

White sand beaches? Great surf? Expensive hotels? A good friend of mine grew up in Hawaii. He told me he has fond memories of camping on the beach; the sound of waves crashing gently on shore; the fresh wind after a very hot day; stunning sunsets.

Well Ania and I had the chance to do what no other tourist staying at the most expensive resort can do: get up from bed and put our feet right in the sand!

That’s right, Hookena Beach Park allows camping directly on the beach. The sound of waves, the palm trees, the birds singing Hawaiian songs in the morning. All of that, dear Lord, cost us 5 $ each every night. Unbelievable. Expensive resorts can never match that offer!

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Free snorkeling - We discover the beautiful reef around Pu’ohonua by chance – we had stopped a few hundreds meters away at an historical site called (Pu’uhonua O Honaunau - these names are impossible to remember). As we were touring the historical site, we noticed lots of snorkelers. We decided to jump in the water.

The snorkeling was stunning. The reef was huge, fishes of all colors, the coral beautiful and plentiful. And the best part was that the reef was literally a meter away from the rocky beach. This is a very rare occurrence. Reefs tend to be far from the beaches and require transportation. However, lava outflows on the island created rocky formations in the ocean that is ideal for the creation of coral.

I saw 5-6 boats unloading snorkelers about 150 meters from the beach. I snorkeled my way to their boat and asked the operator if the boats were part of an organized tour. The response was yes.

See, these poor chaps paid 60 $ to come to a reef that is definitely inferior to the reef that is just next to the beach. I know for sure because I snorkeled close to the boats to see what was out there. A lesson here: snorkeling is always great. Free snorkeling is even better.