We left Volcanoes National Park in the morning and drove down to the southern tip of the island, stopping at the black sand beach at Punalu'u on the way. We saw a couple of sea turtles here playing in the surf along the shore.

Breakfast was a stop at the Punalu'u Bake Shop.

We also stopped at Pu'uhonua O Honaunau, also known as the Place of Refuge. This National Historical Park sits on a beautiful location right on the ocean and recreates the old palace and temple which had been located here. Below are some of the statues that dot the shoreline of this park. (We returned here via boat to snorkel on the following day.)

We checked in to the beautiful Hilton Waikaloa Resort in the afternoon. This huge complex has three large hotel buildings which are connected by a boat system and train. The grounds are spread over a mile wide and took about 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

Click here to see panaramic views of the Waikaloa Hilton.

This is the lush room that we stayed in at the Hyatt. The beds had fluffy pillows, duvets, and mattress covers. It felt like you were sleeping in a marshmallow.

This first evening we enjoyed a gourmet dinner at the Kamuela Provision Company. Our table on the patio was right next to the ocean, and gave a perfect view of the sunset. (Except for when people kept stopping in front of our table to take pictures of themselves and the sunset.)