I’m planning a trip to Maui and the Big Island for next spring. Is the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian a good place to stay out of the options on the Big Island? I see the resort is about to go through a renovation, so hopefully a nice update is in store.
We’ll need AC I assume since it will be June. From my understanding, this resort doesn’t charge.
Open to recommendations as well or any good info that will be useful.
Thanks!
I don't have AC. I don't have glass in any of my windows, either. Just screen. Even in June, I find I need slightly more than "just a sheet" at night. A very light comforter. One of the unusual downsides to not having any glass in my windows is that occasionally a cloud will roll my house -- full "London Fog" in my living room.
If someone offered me a free central AC system, just for my endorsement, "Scoop says you should buy a Lucky Goldstar Air Conditioning System," I would turn them down. I simply don't want one. Waste of time, energy, and a lot of maintenance for something I would almost never use.
There are so few times I say, "Man, I wish I had AC," that I just go swimming, then crank the ceiling fan and make an extra frosty drink that day.
My recommendation is the same I give to everyone: Don't go straight to Costco/Walmart/Safeway the minute you rent your car. Just don't. Resist the urge to follow the herd. The Big Island has some of the best produce on the entire planet, and none of that is at Costco/Walmart/Safeway. If you want the good stuff, it's at farmer's markets. (The South Kona market on Sunday is particularly good. You can buy coffee from my neighbor.)
KTA, Sack N Save and Choicemart (pick the closest, they're all about the same) also sell local produce, fish and meat. They also sell poke that is basically identical to what you can buy in a poke restaurant -- just considerably less. My "from scratch" and theirs is "close enough" and theirs is less than half what it costs me to make mine from scratch. I buy Choicemart poke CONSTANTLY because it costs less than I can make it myself.
There's a shellfish farm just south of the airport which sells better Maine lobster than you can buy in Maine. They sell better Dungeness crab than you can buy in Washington. And they sell Japanese abalone that Japanese tourists come here just to sample. (You won't find them in any of the tourist literature. Google it.) The best tomatoes on the planet are growing by the side of the highway, from a stone wall. (We grabbed some and transplanted them. Now we have the best tomatoes on the planet as well.)
I have 13 varieties of avocado growing on the farm. And one of them is the size of a football and is more buttery than the best Haas you've ever had. You can get the best stuff here. But only if you go looking for it. Most of the food being slung at tourists comes frozen from the mainland and isn't even as good as it is on the mainland.
As for "what to see" -- snorkel, manta night dives, coffee farms, the volcano, and the stuff near me -- painted church, city of refuge, two step, Capt. Cook trail, Kealakekua Bay and similar.
