Help me understand

Even after visitng Big Island, I am not sure I understand the vibe.

I don%26#39;t get it on the TA forum, alot of bad juju going on.

I wish you all happiness and less VOG so you get to enjoy the beauty, it is surely there.

Mindy

Help me understand

As always, my timing sucks.

Listen to all of the warnings, please. I was there in January and speaking of that time, not now.

Please read all of the posts and heed all of the warnings that KK posts. They are for real if she posts them.

Help me understand

mrob (Mindy), I do thank you for giving me credibility, but I am hardly the only one.

The elevated sulfur dioxide began in late January I think, and since then has increased and increased. A new vent opened up in the summit crater which has had three explosion of rocks and glows intensely at night. It has molten lava just below the surface, so they believe. We may be seeing the precursor of a new eruption. Or not. But something big is going on with the volcano, something new.

The whole west coast of the island has been under a haze so thick that visibility is very poor.

People are complaining about coughing, headaches, eyes burning.

My friends in HOVE had their kids sent home from school and a purple alert one day. Volcano Village had an evacuation advisory.

Everyone I talk to is complaining about how bad it is.

It%26#39;s not the TA forum.

Now I did talk to a restaurant server about whether visitors are complaining, and she commented that it is more locals because a lot of visitors don%26#39;t know any different as to what it should look like.

So I%26#39;m hoping that people are enjoying their vacations and will continue to do so. However, people who live here are having a hard time after three months of steady high vog.

I just never get my timing right. With all that is going on on the BI, I should just shut up, but no...I have to try to explain why I didn%26#39;t fall in love with the Big Island...see, I feel guilty because I thought I was the type to ';get it';. I liked my time there, but I would go back to Maui. So, jeez, I must have something wrong with me...No, I just liked the vibe there, where I stayed, what we did, and never felt crowded (although it was October) I also never saw it before 06.

Anyway, I do love Hawaii but think I will look for tropical pleasures south and closer,

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g150810-i360-k1923…

hi mrob, forgive me for responding so fast, but I%26#39;m having a TA day (away from home, kind of drizzly)

Clearly I didn%26#39;t get what you were saying in your original post about the vibe. I thought you were saying that the TA forum was giving a slanted and overly negative view of the recent events, and I was just summarizing some of the unusual happenings just as Civil Defense advisories.

Anyhow, I would be interested to hear how you didn%26#39;t fall in love with the Big Island and why you liked Maui better. I don%26#39;t think anyone who haunts this forum has that kind of intense loyalty where they want to crucify someone for not sharing the love. ;-)

For many the Big Island is an acquired taste, too. It was for me. In fact, my husband is the one who said it was the only island he would move to. (He had lived here and Maui in the past). I was not convinced. Now I am, but not immediately.

So, please feel free to speak up ... what was it about the vibe? You have me trying to guess now.

KK, I sent you a PM

I think it was timing. We went on our first trip to Hawaii in October of 06. Big trip, just sold a business and big celebration. Also just finished paying for both of our kids to earn degrees from college (and their living expenses, etc, etc).

It was so nice and relaxing. We stayed in a great condo that you might not like, as it is in a high rise. I loved it for that. I wanted the top floor for the view. I chose the Mahana after due diligence on reviews, knew it was THE place for us. It was. I loved it. Oh, I also did the same on BI and chose HKK. Again, the right choice, but I let my husband talk me out of my correct plan of the last 2 nights at a hotel.

We started a new business and any of you out there who have done this know, the first year is a bit$h

and then some...so, we really shouldn%26#39;t have made the trip I had been planning but I made changes and chose to cut back and was so obsessed with Hawaii I couldn%26#39;t let go. My poor husband.

He did put his foot down when we were there and we didn%26#39;t do the extras that were $$$ I had planned. We went on a Sea Paradise on one of our first days. I wanted to do one of the Zodiacs later, I loved being on the water and would have spent everyday on a boat.

Because snorkeling is so wonderful and it is not easy to do on BI, I bought the snorkeling,diving book that I didn%26#39;t bring downstairs with me so I don%26#39;t have their names right now. Google snorkeling on BI, their names should come up. They own a condo on the Mauna Lani complex...I can see why.

If you are staying in a condo...do try two step. It was my favorite by far...very deep and easy in and out for me.

I was very afraid to try Two Step, as I am not a very experienced snorkeler. I am a good swimmer, but that is in midwest lakes and rivers, etc. You certainly do have to watch for undertow in thos, too.

At Two Step, you go in very easy. Getting out is harder for people. It was easy for me. I was quite frightened that I was too old, not as nimble as I used to be, etc, etc. I found out I am still as coordinated as I used to be and I still had the strength needed to pull myself up on the stone steps. My husband went to the far side to the south, he found the steps crowded. I hope that was an okay exit, I didn%26#39;t swim that way so I hope that is an easy exit without damaging coral.

Which brings me to the Mauna Lani. Wonderful snorkeling for me and great if you are staying there, I might never leave the resort. (As long as I had already stayed on east side for awhile, as we did.) That beach is great for everything. If you want to lay in a cabana, they are there. If you want to take a kayak, they are there. But if you want to snorkel, go ahead. Nice entry, without freaking out about killing coral. Get in the water, float on your back, put your fins on and go explore.

So yes, I loved my time on the Big Island. Did I do the things I wanted or planned...pretty much but scaled downed and I think the things I didn%26#39;t do due to $$$ have made a difference in my own mind and I need to think about why that had an effect on my trip experience. Shallow me... I wanted to do more that cost more and got lost in the process.

Thank you that I was able to experience it and if I ever get out of this funk I am in, life is good.

We have no ';Juju';.....in fact have never heard of anyone who has... Only Vog...is that a Maui thing???

Its OK not to like the Big island and like Maui or Kauai or Honolulu.....each person has likes and dislikes... Hey I like Canyonlands and Carlsbad Caverns over Las Vegas, New York , SanFrancisco.Orlando or New Orleans, and its why I moved here from California. to Hawaii.

Maui to me was total So Cal...Kauai, a little too alternative, Oahu..to much of everything; big city.

Hawaii is rural, rugged, unpolished, dosent have a lot of activites, few hotels and condos, no shopping, zero night life and action.. but the opportunity to really feel that you are in the tropics. BUT..thats me..

We dont have a vibe karma or mantra...and each person brings to Hawaii his own feelings... there is no special feeling here, waiting for you to discover.

There is nothing here to ';get';. .

Its just folks living on an island ,off the fast track , happy with geting up in the morning..and realizing the rest of the day is gravy.

It%26#39;s funny because I have been to Hawaii, people will ask me which Island they should go to (I am not an expert but a little knowledge is more than none). I think they expect a pat answer but I always respond with what do you like to do. I think each island has its own vibe and set of things that appeal to different people.

That said, I love Hilo. Sorry Dan, you just keep all your friends in Kona but I really do. I like the smaller town not so tourist atmosphere but still lots of indoor and outdoor things to do. I like museums, little places to eat, and some of the different things around. Of course, I love that you are close to so many different things all within several hours drive.

Duck..... Dont have to say your sorry....You like it...I dont....differing points of view and values.

Some like oysters and liver...I dont.

As far as ';vibe'; I have never felt that...Im not even sure what a Vibe even is....

My hope is that visitors here focus on their discoveries rather than trying to find the locals secrets of eternal happiness..... its an individule thing....

lips