🌺 Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Gardens, Part One 🌸

Our last adventure on the Big Island of Hawaii was checking out the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Gardens.

Along the way to the gardens, we stopped at Carlsmith Beach Park - a great place for snorkeling where we’ve heard oftentimes sea turtles will swim right up to you! We didn’t have time to snorkel, but we spent a little time here walking along the lava rock coastline and looking for little creatures hidden within the rocks.

Carlsmith Beach Park

We also drove along the Banyan Tree Drive, also known as the “Hilo Walk of Fame”. The first banyan tree was planted in 1933 by actor Cecil B. DeMille while he was in Hawaii filming a Hollywood movie. After that, many celebrities, musicians, athletes, politicians, etc. got the idea of planting their own banyan trees, eventually lining the entire drive with them. Underneath most of the trees are plaques commemorating who planted that tree, including notable people such as Amelia Earhart, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Queen Elizabeth, and Richard Nixon. There are about 50 of these majestic trees lining this drive, creating a beautiful canopy that you can drive or walk under.

Banyan Tree Drive

Just a 15-minute drive outside of Hilo, the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Gardens is a 40-acre natural garden of over 2,000 plant species. We learned that these gardens were created by a married couple who bought the property in 1977. In a labor of love that spanned eight years, the husband and his assistant hand-cleared the land from invasive trees, vines, and thickets, taking great care not to disturb native trees. They removed old cars and appliances, and removed rocks only with a wheelbarrow. They then planted tropical plants from all over the world so visitors could see them all in one place. The gardens were opened to the public in 1984, and today it has many boardwalks, trails, beautiful streams, a waterfall, and an orchid garden.

Walking through the gardens, the key word here is BIG! There are massive plants, enormous towering palm trees, and some gigantic tropical flowers. We got caught in more than one rain storm during our visit, but as a trade off, thankfully the mosquitos left us alone. After winding our way through the gardens we ended up at with expansive views of the ocean at the tranquil Onomea Bay, which was once the site of a fishing village and a landing area for sailing ships involved in importing sugar cane.

Onomea Bay

In our next post, we’ll show you more pictures of the flora of the gardens.

If you ever find yourself on the west side of The Big Island, be sure to put the impressive Bioreserve and Gardens on your list of things to see!