The warm breeze as we walk across the tarmac is a godsend. Yesterday, we flew from the East Coast to

The warm breeze as we walk across the tarmac is a godsend. Yesterday, we flew from the East Coast to Oakland, Calif., spent the night, and boarded a morning flight to Kona. My wife, Jessica, is pregnant, as we discovered a few weeks ago. Our 2-year-old son William's days as an only child are numbered, and I threw the trip together in a hurry, knowing we won't have a chance to get away like this anytime soon.
The Big Island is Hawaii's most volcanically active, which is obvious from the moment we leave Kona Airport. Bizarre, craggy piles of black lava run from the hills to the water, interrupted only by the slice of road and the occasional palm tree.
Ten minutes south of the tourist hub of Kailua-Kona, past a mishmash of condos, thick greenery, rocky coast, and strip malls, we arrive at theOutrigger Keauhou Beach Resort, pacific beach hotel hawaii an off-white high-rise that kind of resembles an ice-cube tray on its side.
We briefly admire the ocean view from our sixth-floor room, then head right back down, past the pool area, toKahaluu Beach Parknext door. It's a black-sand beach--my first ever, which is thrilling, even if the "sand" is actually gray and feels a lot like gravel. I'd heard the snorkeling was good, and sure enough, dozens of people are floating face-down in the water, occasionally popping up to point out something pacific beach hotel hawaii to their neighbors.
I hold William's hand and approach pacific beach hotel hawaii the shoreline to dip my toes in next to a statue of a sea turtle--only it's not a statue. The turtle opens its eyes a crack and quickly pacific beach hotel hawaii shuts them, like any other sunbather. I manage to pull my son away before he has a chance to hop on the turtle and ride it like a horse. We stroll over to the edge of a concrete barrier wall where we can watch turtles fishing in the shallows. As they angle their jaws deeper, one flipper pops up like they're waving, and Jessica and I can't help comparing them to Crush fromFinding Nemo.
A park vendor rents snorkel gear for $8, and I wrestle the mask over my eyes and the fins over my feet while awkwardly skipping across the beach and into the water. Fluorescent, oddly shaped fish are everywhere. I experience 15 of the most peaceful yet exhilarating minutes I've had in a long time, then swap positions with Jessica, who has been kneeling in the water while William tosses pebbles and splashes around.
William and I sample the resort's kiddie pool, and then we all change clothes and drive back toward Kailua-Kona as the sun inches toward the horizon. From his car seat, Will stares at the water and says, "Beach?" Jessica tells him it's dinnertime, which prompts him to reply with "Pool?" followed by "Pool!" and "Beeeach!" His mood changes pacific beach hotel hawaii when I draw his attention to the enormous cruise ship floating pacific beach hotel hawaii offshore. However, he couldn't care less about the gorgeous sunset behind the ship, which we get a great view of from our picnic table atIsland Lava Java. We share salad, pork tacos, and fries, all of which hit the spot, as the sky turns orange, then black. The homemade pacific beach hotel hawaii blueberry cheesecake ice cream I order is so good that once Will gets a taste, he loses interest pacific beach hotel hawaii in his bowl of chocolate. We trade, and everybody's happy. Stuffed and exhausted, I strap William into his car seat. "Beach?" he mumbles, eyes already at least half closed.
pacific beach hotel hawaii Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort78-6740 Alii Dr., Kailua-Kona, 808/322-3441, outrigger.com , from $149 (EDITOR'S NOTE: Since publication, we've been notified that this location is closing on October 31, 2012.)
Even as Highway 11 drifts inland and up into the mountains, the amazing ocean views keep on coming--because the drop-offs to the water are so dramatic. I'd love to stop and appreciate the scenery from the patio of a roadside coffee shop, but Will is sound asleep in the backseat. Besides, before I have time to consider the repercussions of pulling over and waking him up, giant raindrops are pounding the windshield.
The sky remains gray and spooky as we turn off forHawaii Volcanoes National Park. About one quarter of the way around Crater Rim Drive, the 11-mile loop circling the 400-foot-deep Kilauea Caldera, pacific beach hotel hawaii we stop to check out the Thomas A. Jaggar Museum. There we learn that back when Mark Twain visited, the crater regularly spewed orange pacific beach hotel hawaii lava into the air. Today, the crater is a forbidding black hole, nearly three miles across--pretty impressive, pacific beach hotel hawaii even without the lava show.
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