A week of waterfalls, lava and sea turtles on Hawaii Island
We spent Christmas week 2024 on the Big Island of Hawaii, and it was a trip of waterfalls and hiking: rainforest falls on the Hilo side, lava tubes and a live volcano in the national park, black sand and sea turtles on the south coast, and sunny beaches around Kona.
🥾 Waipio Valley Lookout
Our first full day started at the Waipio Valley Lookout at the end of the Hamakua coast, looking down into the valley and along the sea cliffs. The lookout is open; the road down into the valley has been closed to visitors since 2022.
🥾 Akaka Falls
Akaka Falls State Park has a 0.4-mile paved loop through bamboo, giant banyans and tropical plants to a viewpoint of Akaka Falls, which the state says “plunges 442 feet” into a gorge.
🥾 Rainbow Falls, the Boiling Pots and Kaumana Caves
In Hilo, Wailuku River State Park has two sections: the 80-foot Rainbow Falls, pouring over a lava cave, and upstream the Boiling Pots, a chain of big pools in the basalt below Pe’epe’e Falls. One fee covers both.
On the way out of town we climbed down into Kaumana Caves, a county park where you walk into a lava tube left by the 1881 Mauna Loa flow. Bring a good flashlight.
🥾 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
We had perfect timing. A new summit eruption of Kilauea began in Halemaumau crater at 2:20 a.m. on December 23, 2024, according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and we were at the crater rim the next morning, looking out over the caldera with steam and gas rising from it. We walked through Nahuku (Thurston Lava Tube), drove down Chain of Craters Road across miles of old lava, walked part of the Keauhou Trail, and ended at the coast at the Holei Sea Arch.
We are glad we saw the arch when we did: the National Park Service reports that the roughly 550-year-old, 90-foot arch collapsed into the sea in late September 2026.
🥾 Punalu’u Black Sand Beach
On Christmas Day we drove the south coast to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach, where green sea turtles haul out on the black sand. Give them room: the usual guidance is to stay at least 10 feet away, and they are protected by state and federal law.
Then we crossed the island on the Saddle Road between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, through high, open country of old lava and grass.
🥾 The Kona side
A day on the dry side took us to Kekaha Kai State Park, with its white sand, palms and restored anchialine pools (brackish ponds near the shore that are home to native red shrimp), and to Pahoehoe Beach Park on Ali’i Drive.
🥾 The Onomea Trail
On our last morning we walked the short, steep Onomea Trail, an old donkey trail down to Onomea Bay on the scenic route north of Hilo.
🥾 Trip facts
- Akaka Falls: 442 feet, 0.4-mile loop; non-residents pay $5 per person plus $10 parking
- Rainbow Falls: 80 feet; Wailuku River State Park is open 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; non-residents pay $5 plus $10 parking
- Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: $30 per vehicle for 7 days; Nahuku is lit 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Chain of Craters Road is 18.8 miles with no food, water or fuel
- Keauhou Trail: 7.6 miles to the coast with up to 3,000 feet of elevation change; overnight stays need a permit
- Kilauea: the eruption that began December 23, 2024 continued in episodes into 2026; check USGS HVO for current activity
- Managed by: Hawaii DLNR Division of State Parks, the National Park Service, and the County of Hawaii
Trail facts checked October 2026. Sources: DLNR: Akaka Falls, DLNR: Wailuku River, NPS: Hawaii Volcanoes fees, NPS: Keauhou Trail, NPS: Holei Sea Arch collapses, USGS HVO: December 23, 2024 eruption. Kaumana Caves, Punalu’u and Onomea details are from secondary sources. Trails and roads change, so check with the managing agency before you go.
