If You Want to Ride ATVs on Big Island

When Loli asked if I wanted to go along on a FAM tour (familiarization) to ride ATVs on Big Island, I did not hesitate. Always up for an adventure. Well, as long as it’s not life threatening. I have so many ways to die now I don’t need to invite the opportunity. The only catch was I had to pull myself out of bed at 5 AM and hightail it down to the King Kam in Kona by 6:30.

Loli is a tour guide, a dietician, facial expert, Pele expert, natural healer, and I wouldn’t be surprised to catch her dancing naked under a full moon. Just the kind of friend every woman deserves, given the fact I only met her last week. Wanna ride ATVs, she asked? I can bring a friend for free.

You betcha! This is a Kapohohine Adventure called Maunakea Trails ATV. This outfit offers many tours, but to ride ATVs on Big Island is a special trip. They pick you up at the King Kam at 6:30 in Kona and drive you two hours away to Hilo. Only we had van problems on the way and pulled off just past Costco to get a new van. Back on the road to Hilo.

In the middle of all of this, two pending sales canceled. Isn’t that the way it always happens in Sacramento real estate? Buyers who fly out of control just before closing. As a Sacramento listing agent, I have no control over buyers or their agents. But I dealt with it. Almost a plus we had to pull off the road so I could talk with my clients and arrange a strategy. Always working, no matter what. That’s the life of a top Sacramento Realtor.

When we arrived in Hilo, it was raining. Of course. It’s always raining in Hilo, it seems. That is the wet side of Big Island. The dry side, where we have a house, is almost always sunny. So you either like the sun or you like rain. Take your pick. And I should mention the coqui are in Hilo in greater numbers than Kona.

The ATV adventure was totally fabulous, even in the rain. You get pretty muddy, especially if you hold back like I did, primarily because the two women in front of me were too slow. I waited until they passed an obstacle, and then I jammed, let it roar and slammed through the mud, jumping over hills. It was exhilarating. So much fun. I was covered in mud from head to toe, and yet I wore a helmet, sunglasses, a raincoat (provided) and leggings.

Nobody else seemed to be as muddy as I was. But I also go all out. No holds barred.

Those ATVs slip and slide around corners and are capable, surprisingly, of climbing over large clumps two-feet high of mud at high speeds. Nothing like the ATVs my husband and I rode in Alaska. He did not really enjoy that adventure, which was pretty mild compared to this, so it is probably a good thing he is in California and I am here.

Love you sweetie!

If you want to ride ATVs on Big Island, this is a good outfit to do it with. You can also combine it with Ziplining on Big Island, if you like. After the 2+hour tour, they prepare and serve a BBQ lunch at the waterfall. You can also swim at the waterfall, which we would have done if it wasn’t raining. And cold. Bring a backpack with a change of clothes and a towel.

On the way back we stopped again at the Hilton in Hilo for a break before heading to Kona. Our guide, Marcus, an extremely informative and tremendous asset to his company, showed us a butterfly bush where the Monarch caterpillars hang out to eat the leaves. They are all over this place. Caterpillars on almost every leaf. It is not milkweed. I went all the way to the mountains in Mexico to view the Monarch’s winter holiday without ever seeing a caterpillar. You can see the butterflies in Mexico or you can view them in Hilo!