HAWAII BLOG FEBRUARY 4th, 2026 - FLYING TO HAWAII BIG ISLAND

 

2/4/26– The first trip of the year has arrived and it’s the Big Island of Hawaii. I wake up around 6:30am to allow time to get packed and order Subway for our travel. I have to wait until 8am when they open to order through the app, which cuts close our 8:20am pick up time. Luckily our daughter is able to share her morning with us by dropping us off at the airport.

We use the kiosk to get our bag tags, drop them off with literally no line and swiftly fly by security before arriving at our gate with two hours to spare. It’s a boring wait, so I spend it by checking out others and playing the game of, “I wonder which annoying weirdo will be sitting next to us on the plane". Of course my eyes go first to the newborn baby. Sure enough, that is who sits behind us after we board.

The flight last six hours with the baby crying for about half of it. There‘s no meal service (hence the Subway sandwiches), and the only entertainment is on our own phones. At least my wireless service provider allows me free internet for the entire flight.

We land shortly after 3pm local time in Kona and have a brief wait for our gate to open before disembarking onto the runway outside. The walk toward the airport gate looks more like we just got off a boat than a plane, with the terminal being completely outside. Even baggage claim was open air.

After grabbing our bags, which literally were coming around the belt as we arrive, we board the free shuttle to Dollar Rent-A-Car. Three minutes later we are first in line to get our rental. This is super fast for us and very impressed with the efficiency. Our Kia Soul is large enough for our luggage and easy to maneuver the twenty-five minute drive to our AirBnb at Kona Shores.

This place looks terrific. We have a full kitchen, separate room, nice patio and all looks new. We spend about an hour getting settled, flipping switches, cranking the a/c and to briefly rest before grabbing our cameras to head outside.

Our place is located right off the beach which allows us to climb lava rocks and get a gorgeous view of the waves crashing as the sun sets in the distance. What an awesome view and a great first impression. Ain’t gonna lie, the waves came pretty close to soaking us sometimes as we maneuver over the loose rocks, but it’s totally worth it.

Not too much else on the agenda today as we need sleep, so we finish the night by grabbing some groceries for our stay and plan out our first adventure tomorrow. Aloha!

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