Jeff and Lisa got Married 10/17/10: 2010

We were married on Sunday, but didn't leave for Hawaii until Monday evening. We had time to eat breakfast and spend a little time with Lisa's family one last time before they were on there way back to Canada. Our direct flight from LAX to Kona was one of the best flights either of us have been on. It wasn't crowded at all so there was an open seat next to us. Both movies were pretty good and we hadn't seen either of them - Blindside and Toy Story 3. Plus our excitement to get there made things even better. We got into Kona around 8pm, headed to the hotel, and after walking around the grounds to check things out we went to bed.

The first two nights we stayed at the Outrigger. Tuesday was our day to just spend in the downtown area. We didn't have our rental car yet, but there's a $1 shuttle that goes from the pier all the way to our hotel and beyond. We started the day with an amazing breakfast (actually every breakfast we had on our trip was amazing so I'll refrain from using that adjective again to describe breakfast).

The Outrigger

The view from our partial ocean view room

First thing we did was snorkel. From the travel books we read and the people we talked to, the general consensus was the beach right next to our hotel was the best place to snorkel on the island without taking one of the tours on a boat. So we paid $5 to rent some equipment from the place across the street snorkeled right there. The colors of the fish were incredible right from the start. But the best was seeing the turtles swimming right along with you. We finished our day by walking around the town of Kona.

Lisa at the waterfront in Kona

At the beach by the pier

Me starting on my 26.2 mile run

After 2 nights at the Outrigger we traveled up the coast to the Mauna Kea. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then continued on to the town of Hawi where we went ziplining. The zipline tour was one of the best experiences we had on our trip.

Hawaii Zipline from Jeff Stanners on Vimeo.

After the zipline tour we went back to the Mauna Kea. The Mauna Kea was the perfect hotel for us. It was very secluded, the closest hotel was a mile away and then next closest was 6 miles away. The beach is rated as one of the best in the world and the weather couldn't have been better.

We were welcomed with a nice room upgrade that included the sparkling wine.

Our first evening at the Mauna Kea

They provided us dessert, chocolate and passion fruit souffle.

Kayaking with our hotel in the background.

The view from the breakfast terrace.

We hiked the mile to the next hotel. Nice hiking trail with great coastal views.

Our last full day we decided to take a helicopter tour.

And on the drive back we made a few stops.

Our last day we hung around the hotel for a bit and then made the drive back to Kona. We did a little shopping and then headed to the airport for our 9:30pm flight back to LA.