Recently, I took a trip with my family to the big island of Hawaii. We were able to spend only one week there. One week is not nearly enough to fully explore that land.

Though they call it the "Big Island", it is only "big" relative to the other islands. It is quite resonable to take a leisurly drive around the whole island in one day - that is, unless you like to really explore, like we do.

When you have so little time and there's so much to do, it's best to do some research and planning before you ever take your trip.

We like to plan every day to have a big activity and some leisure time. We intersperse travel and exploring days within the local activity days. That way, we can accomplish alot without feeling too overwhelmed. It can be a fun-filled, yet relaxing time. There is nothing worse than coming home from a vacation and feeling like you need to go back to work so you can get some rest.

We purchased the book to the right - "Big Island Revealed" - to help us plan our activities. The book was unbelievably valuable to our planning process and to the success of our trip.

When I travel, of course i like to see the well-know landmarks and scenery. But more than that, I like to see who the locals live. I like to experience the culture of the land that I'm visiting.

This book gives insight into the lesser know, but certainly not less spectacular sights and activities on the island. The author has obviously explored every inch of the island and knows its secrets.

There's information on where to sunbath, snorkel, and surf. There's information about restaurants, hotels, and shopping. You can find the best coffee plantation tour, the best cave to explore, and the most magnificent waterfalls to see. You'll find how to get to the white sand beach, the black sand beach, the green sand beach, and the...uh...sand colored? sand beaches.

Besides Hawaii, I've only been to Oahu, and that was many, many years ago. I will definitely do things differently when I go back, and when I go to the other islands. I will start by purchasing one of the following books and I will research the land and the activities.

Mine - We traveled by 4X4 to the green sand beach. When we arrived there, we noticed that there was only one other couple at this particular beach, and they left shortly after we arrived, leaving the beach alone to us. On the way back from that beach, we stopped at the Greenwell Farms Kona coffee platation. We enjoyed learning about the coffee business and sampling varieties of their coffee.

My Wife's - After she and our two daughters had spent part of the day taking surfing lessons, the surf instructors invited them to a greek restaurant/bar, where they worked in the evening. That evening, we took our family to that restaurant for dinner. After dinner, my two daughters (the youngest, underage) were invited into the bar to sing karaoke. They "wowed" the crowd, as they are both very fine vocalists.

Oldest Daughter's - She can't narrow it down to one best experience because she had so much fun the whole time we were there. For her, she liked all the "firsts". It was her first time in Hawaii, her first time snorkeling, her first time to see a black, green, and white sand beach, her first time para-sailing, first time singing karaoke in a bar, her first time surfing, first time driving around an entire island, her first time flying over the Pacific Ocean, and her first time eating macadamia nuts and loving them. In the end, the thing she likes the best is that she can tell people that she has done those things when they ask.

Second Daughter's - She enjoyed going surfing, even though she was able to stand up just a couple times and only for a minute at a time. She would definitely like to go surfing again. She also enjoyed snorkling and kayaking.

Son's - All he would tell me is that everything we did was lots of fun. I'd like to think that getting a golf lesson with dad at the Big Island Country Club was a highlight. He also enjoyed our many snorkling adventures.