These lychee are the best. The flavor is sweet and robust and meat is full of juice. One of the…read morebest I've had.

We had such an amazing time on the lychee farm! It was so easy to schedule an appointment for our…read morepick your own lychee. You can go online and schedule an appointment from the website. It is separated into blocks. When you arrive, the owner greets you at the gate and tells you where to park. Then she gives you a brief tour of the place and shows everyone how to use the picker and what lychee is ripe for the picking. There's plenty of lychee inside the trees, but there is also lychee on the outskirts of the trees, but the lychee inside the trees were nicer (imo)! After picking the lychee, we are able to cut, sort, and discard the lychee that are broken or not as ripe. So you really pay for whatever you pick/ is good! She weighs your harvest after and boxes/ bags them up for folks to take away. The owner is SOO nice and she has a water station for guests to stay hydrated since it does get pretty hot and humid. But the trees offer so much shade underneath that I didn't even know it had drizzled! She just started offering pick your own lychee and it was very well thought out and we had so much fun!

Highly recommend! We went horseback riding on on first day and we were the only ones on the tour…read morefor the time slot we selected so it felt very private and nice! One most favorite part of our tour was having the chance to pet and hold the baby piglets, which were just born a few days before we arrived - such a rare precious experience that we will absolutely never forget! The drive up to the farm was also beautiful! The horse trails had magnificent views through the eucalyptus forest and of the ocean. We saw black bamboo, wild bamboo orchids and a lot of tree fruits growing. In the trail, there was fresh guava so we had a chance to sample them, which is great since they are not available in grocery stores. The tour also had fresh, wood-fire pizza for lunch - super yummy! The only thing I may have liked to see is a live demo of the chocolate tour rather than just a verbal explanation of how the process works - we are definitely more a visualist and would've liked a more hands on experience with how to make chocolate.

Unfortunately we did not have a great experience despite great reviews. Not only was the tour guide…read morerunning over an hour late, (we understand things happen) but our "chocolate tour" was a 15 minute discussion with no actual demonstration or sampling by a young gentleman who while very nice, had a strong odor. The barn was quite messy, dirty, (we understand it's a barn) but it was very different compared to other reviewers pictures. There were two men working in a 4 wheeler loudly while we all stood around and waited an hour for our guide. The actual horseback riding was pleasant and nice, it was quite rocky for the horses but beautiful. We had pizza after that was very good, however the tables we ate at were quite dirty, watching him prep with no gloves was also quite surprisingly and we weren't offered any drinks except for the bottle of water we had during the horse back ride. We were informed that they are selling the company and transferring owners so I imagine it has gone downhill BUT they should not be accepting new reservations in the mean time. Especially for the price, comparatively the price is more expensive due to the pizza and chocolate but it is not worth it. Until they fix their environment and seem more organized I would recommend going somewhere else. I reached out to the email twice and have yet to hear back...

Fantastic local art and so many different artist highlighted…read more Perfect to find something unique that's highlights so many parts of Hawaiian culture.

The One Gallery provides an array of wonderful local art. There is something for everyone's taste…read more It is the perfect place for tourists to get a more meaningful and aesthetic souvenir. For locals yo can support local artists and beautify your homes. The gallery also provides art classes, and studio sessions with live models so aspiring artists can hone your skills with a welcoming community of artists.

What a cute spiritual store you with a cute cafe spot in the back. This has definitely been one of…read morethe most unique metaphysical stores I've ever been to. I was so enamored by it that I forgot to take pictures! So many great products for the local witches or curious peeps wanting to see what a spiritual store offers. I got a great Oracle deck and I'm so happy about and a tincture made locally. My friends aren't too much into stores like this but loved it because of the cafe and being able to sit at the end of the store with a great atmosphere and great way they decorated the store, you can appreciate it!! I highly recommend to visitors and locals living in the area. They had a great selection of cards, art pieces and value. The owner of the store is very sweet and willing to help with any questions you have !

Witches, warlocks, wizards and wayward wanderers will witness, in wide-eyed wonder, the wares and…read moreworkmanship of the wrights of Hawaii. OK, alliterative nonsense aside (12 point alliteration combo, BTW!), Wild HeArtist feels part art gallery, part mystic emporium. You'll find handcrafted artworks, jewelry, accessories and home décor items, alongside t-shirts, teas, soaps, colognes and perfume, and metaphysical paraphernalia such as crystals, pyramids, geodes, stones and other occult oddities. Oh, and did I mention the Nector Cafe at the back, with all its countless collection of consumable concoctions and confections? Ugh, sorry, I said I would stop with the alliteration. But it's just so fun! Alright, for serious this time: Wild HeArtist boasts a seriously singular selection of souvenirs and spangly, sparkly stuff for your solicitous shopping satisfaction! Augh! I give up! It's just awesome here, okay? Go check it out!

My son really enjoyed the Train Museum. He is a train maniac so even the smallest sight of trains…read moreexcites him. That's a good thing because the train museum is small. It's essentially one building with lots of newspaper clippings and older items related to the train history on the big island. If you're interested in the history there's a lot of things to read and old photos to enjoy. If your children don't have a good attention span and just want to see little trains it might be a quick visit. They have one older layout that doesn't run and they have a wooden table outside on the patio for kids to play with. The gift shop is tiny but my son still found a small train and shirt that he loved. You can go inside their caboose to check it out. It's been refurbished although not in the most authentic way. Still, my kiddos enjoyed it tremendously. Nice 30 minute stop, especially for train lovers.

Driving up and down route 19 to several other activities, we passed the train museum multiple times…read moreduring our week on the island. Sadly, we did not get to go inside to look at any of their collection as the hours here are very short at Mon-Sat 10am-2pm. The closest we got was on a Monday at 1:50pm but there were no cars in the lot, and everything was closed. I got out to take a look at the caboose and the switcher which both seemed decent enough. I don't see this as a destination stop unless you're a hard core foamer but it would be nice to learn something about the railroads historical impact on the sugar cane harvest on the island. Maybe next time. thetrainmuseum.com/coming-soon/

It was just meh...pretty small compared to most county fairs but most everyone was friendly. Just…read moresomething to do while on vacation.

Extremely over-priced (cost my 2 kids and I $75 to ride on three rides). The Ferris wheel was…read moremicroscopic. Chaotic lines for the rides. The employees were rude. HORRIBLE!

This is THE premiere hula event in the world. For Hula aficionados, sitting on old hard benches for…read more5-6 hours, navigating the crowds, migrating their way to sleepy Hilo town is a labor of love. My mother is one of those who sits through every second of the four day event. The population of Hilo swells with all of the halau's and visitors alike. They come from all over the world, especially many from Japan, to be immersed in the chants and dancing for a few days. In addition to the actual competition they have parades and a ton of craft shows that showcase many of Hawaii's premiere artisans. This is our favorite part. We've bought everything from necklaces to clothing, food, and toys. The only real drawback of watching it in person is that you have to really know your stuff. On television they explain things and there isn't a bad seat in the house. They also use a biker "club" for security and they're not really known for their customer service as well. One great suggestion, bring your own pillow to sit on. Located in Edith Kanaka'ole Tennis Stadium (http://www.yelp.com/biz/edith-kanakaole-tennis-stadium-hilo ) it's really a great festival. If you're interested in attending, I'd check the website for information. There are strict guidelines for ordering tickets and they sell out almost instantaneously.

Absolutely one of the best Hawaiian events all year and undoubtedly the best hula event in the…read moreworld!! The passion and talent expressed by hula dancers and their kumu dancing and chanting their hearts out, the sweetness of pikake and plumeria from leis and headpieces wafting through the air cut only by the smells of laulau and chicken long rice, Hawaiian melodies drifting through the stadium by some of the best and well-known musicians in Hawaii, and the best display of Hawaiian culture as the Merrie Monarch himself, King David Kalakaua, would have wanted it. First off: tickets - HARD TO GET as there are only 4,200 seats for the event. You don't buy these "day-of" (unless you're willing to press your luck as one of those many people holding a sign at the stadium entrance asking for tickets), you buy these about 3 months prior. The only way is to send money (i.e. money order - no checks) with a completed ticket request form w/ SASE on/after 12/26 and NO SOONER, then pray and wait! Like a lottery - only some win and tickets show up one day in your mailbox! While you may not get the seats you request, you may get a lesser category of seats (if you indicate you're willing to accept this option) but at least you get inside! Unfortunately, the vast majority (and those who postmarked their requests BEFORE 12/26) will get their requests & money sent back. Tickets for 2013 were sold out by February since it was the 50th year. Seats - well, closer to the elevated stage are rows and rows of folding chairs on the main floor. There are rows of benches up three sides of the stadium (the stage-rear benches are for the halau). The event organizers do their best by providing padded folding chairs, but the 1st night sitting on them really tested our tailbones and blood circulation! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND bringing a discrete pad to help comfort your tush for nearly 6 hours of hard sitting! (Many people did!) In addition to the 3 nights of competition - which runs from 5:45 p.m. till about midnight - there is the ho'ike: a non-competitive celebration of hula and the festival itself. Keep in mind the entire Merrie Monarch Festival is not just the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights of hula competition but a week-long event starting with the ho'olaule'a on Sunday. Arts & crafts fairs, hula events, art exhibits, even a Kalakaua beard look-alike contest occur throughout the week turning the sleepy town of Hilo into an active visitor scene. But it's the 3 nights of competition that receives all the attention and live television coverage. We were lucky enough to receive tickets to the 50th Merrie Monarch Festival and what a wonderful experience it was... 24 Miss Aloha Hula performances and 58 halau performances over 3 nights by the best hula dancers and kumu in the world! The beauty of the performances often left us with misty eyes and fond memories we will not soon forget... Hana hou!!