Big Island in Focus

Big Island in Focus

The Big Island of Hawaii, the youngest island in the archipelago, is a miniature continent, with a climate ranging from tropical rain forest on the east coast to arid desert on the west coast. The highest peaks have snowcaps during the winter months. The west side of the island, known as the Kona Coast, covers an 85-mile stretch protected from the trade winds by two mountains, Mauna Kea (13,796 feet) and Mauna Loa (13,680 feet).

Volcanoes National Park, where an active volcano can be observed spewing smoke and lava, is the island's most famous geological feature. The Kona and Kohala coasts have been extensively developed for tourism. Kailua-Kona is a quaint village of shops and restaurants constructed beside a picturesque harbor where sport-fishing boats and scuba-diving charters depart. Some of the world's most prestigious tropical resorts are found along the sun-drenched coast extending northward from Kona. Hapuna Beach, a 200-foot-wide expanse of crystal-white sand, is one of the world's most spectacular and famous resort beaches.

Waipio Valley lookout on the north coast provides a spectacular vista of forested cliffs descending into a verdant valley opening onto the sea. Visitors can journey into the ancient habitat of the first Hawaiian settlers, by four-wheel drive vehicle, on horseback, or by foot.

The Ellison Onizuka Visitors Center, named after the Hawaii-born astronaut who perished in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle tragedy, is devoted to information about the astronomical observatory atop the 14,000 foot summit of Mauna Kea. The Panaewa Rain Forest Zoo features rainforest species such as the African pygmy hippopotamus, rain-forest monkeys, parrots, tigers and endangered Hawaiian birdlife.

Most of the island's permanent residents live on the opposite side of the island in Hilo, the island's major city. In the interior mountains, snow skiing is popular in winter. Hawaii is the only place in the United States where travelers can snow ski, water ski, scuba dive, sail, backpack, and golf all at the same time of year.

Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano and, measured from its origin at the depths of the ocean floor, is the largest mountain in the world. Although it rises to an elevation of only 13,500 feet, Mauna Loa has more than twice the total mass of Mount Everest. A permanent scientific observation station has been in operation on the volcano since 1928.