Kona
When we were invited to spend a week on the Big Island with one of our clients, we jumped at the opportunity.
This particular client is such a gem — so lovely — and we couldn’t wait to spend some time with him.
We were getting the opportunity to do our first “sleep away” wellness retreat, where we get to cook this wonderful person and his guests 3 meals per day + snacks, and host daily training sessions + yoga sessions. A dream come true.
Neither of us had been to the Big Island — Oahu, Maui, Kauai, yes — but never the Big Island. It was time to explore!
Since this was, first-and-foremost a wellness retreat, we didn’t scoot around town looking for the best bakeries, cafes, and restaurants — we did ALL of the cooking at the house. We did, however, do one beautiful welcome dinner at the Four Seasons Hualalai ‘Ulu Ocean Grill… at sunset… overlooking the ocean… again, dreamy.
We would wake up at sunrise everyday, and run down to one of the beaches nearby to get a workout in and take a dip in the ocean - either Spencer Beach Park, Kaluhikaa Beach, or Mauumae Beach. After an hour or so at the beach, we would head back to the house and whip up breakfast — usually some iteration of eggs, a side salad, a different type of tropical fruit every day, and a protein smoothie. One thing we absolutely loved about this trip is that we had nearly every meal together, no phones at the table, no work talk - just simply “family style” meals.
Everyone would spend the morning getting work done, we would make to pack lunch, and by the time the afternoon rolled around, we were out of the house on the way to a hike or to check out a beach or national park on the island.
Here’s a snapshot of our Kohala Retreat Schedule:
5a - Wake Up
5:10a - Beach Workout + Swim + Sunrise
6:30a - Breakfast
7-11a - Work
11:30a - Lunch
12:30 - 6p - Explore, strength train, yoga, resistance, hike, surf, swim
6:30p - Dinner
8p - zZz
It’s tough to travel with fitness equipment, but here’s what we brought (and usually bring with us when we travel, unless there’s a gym at the resort):
Sandbags: Fill these up with sand, and you’ve got weight to throw around for your beach workout
The island has 4 distinct climates, which made site seeing a blast — something new every day. One day we were hiking around a volcano and looking into a pit of dried lava, the next we were walking on a black sand beach snorkeling in the bluest water looking for sea turtles, and then next we were hiking down the side of a jungly, rainy cliff. Everything about it was breathtaking.
Our Top 2 favorite spots from this trip were:
Kohala Forest Reserve/ Waipi’o Valley Beach Park: home to the Pololu Valley which was STUNNING. A bit of a hike up and down, but worth it. This was, hands down, our favorite day.
Volcanoes National Park: duh. Who doesn’t want to see a volcano?
We couldn’t pick a favorite beach — they were all stunning. You had to hike to some, you could drive right up to some, some of them had Sea Turtles and incredible snorkeling, some had amazing surf. We can’t wait to go back!
We didn’t get to do this on this trip, but we’ll do it next time! Next to Spencer Beach Park is a super cool, 15 mile trail called Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. You start at Pu’ukohala Heiau National Historic Park and end at ‘Anaeho’omalu Bay.
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