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Having just returned from my 13th (I think) visit to this hotel, here's my compilation of possibly interesting somewhat obscure facts about the hotel. Feel free to post yours.


The boat canal contains two barracudas. The larger one, over 4 feet long, is named Elvis. He's been there forever.

The turtles in the lagoon have names too. One with a more hemispheric shell is called Cupcake. One of the turtles is really, really big: I estimate 30 inches wide.

If you throw some yellow or green leaves in the water, the turtles will happily munch them. Just be sure they don't munch your fingers; those leaves get sliced up very cleanly!

Snorkeling in the lagoon is best in the morning. Once the sunscreen-laden swimmers appear, the water develops an invisible oil slick that makes viewing hazy when the water is agitated.

If you decide to walk to the beach at "A" bay, save your feet from all that coral debris by going through the gate across from the KPC restaurant and walk on the flat area being prepared for a new housing development.

The Ocean Tower lounge food offerings have been cut back to where they are only slightly better than the oft-maligned Palace Tower lounge. The differences at breakfast are: bagels, yogurt, melon and pineapple. The evening offerings are minimal: cucumbers, carrots, and two varieties of unappetizing appetizers. Late evening desserts were eliminated many years ago. I personally don't have a problem with this sort of cost-cutting. The grounds are still as beautiful as ever, and your kids will still think they are in heaven. Also, I found the Palace Tower staff to be friendlier than at Ocean Tower.

If you go up the stairs across from Donatoni's, you can walk out to the Palace Tower lawn. If you hear a lot of shouting, the hotel has organized games for a group. These are hilarious to watch.

If you feel like peeking at the Friday luau to satisfy your curiosity, you can follow the path along the marshy area next to the KPC restaurant. Continue toward the tennis courts and parking lot until you reach the sand and gravel piles. From there you can see some of the show, but you will of course not be able to taste the poi. That's just as well, IMHO. Be discreet, and don't stay very long: If you were working for the hotel, you wouldn't want to have to chase a guest away.

If the sky is clear, watch the sunset (around 6:30 PM). If the edge of the sun remains a circular arc as it vanishes, you will likely see the "Green Flash". This refers to the fact that the color of the last light changes to green for the last half-second or so. This is due to atmospheric refraction. Although it is called a flash, the green light is not any brighter than the red. Flash presumably refers to the brevity of the effect.

The mini-golf course is open Monday nights for night golfing. They give you a glowing or flashing ball. It's wackier and more fun than the daytime version. Especially when you hit the ball into the water.

Saturday night in spring and summer the hotel shows a "Dive-In movie" and the Kohala pool closest to the mini-golf course. Bring towels because the water gets cold halfway through the movie. Free popcorn and $2 for drinks and candy.

Waterslide contests are held twice a week. Fastest time gets a free mini-golf pass. My son and I win regularly. Our secrets: a) Do not let your swim suit touch the slide. Put your hands behind your head and arch your back so that only your feet and shoulder blades touch the slide. b) Get a fast start from a standing position (or a running start, if they allow it). Throw yourself onto the sloped part of the slide, which will change your vertical motion into horizontal. Pain? What pain? c) Remain as rigid as possible to conserve kinetic energy. d) Hold your nose at the exit, because otherwise you will get a snootful of water, since you will be going very, very fast.

The adult pool inside the Ocean Tower is 6 feet deep, sufficient for diving from the edge. It supposedly closes at 4PM, but nobody chased me out the one evening I went for a swim under a full moon.

You can often spot whales from the beach path. Look for the vertical spray. Or just watch the boats: if they are stationary they are generally waiting for a whale to re-appear nearby.

I recommend renting a plastic open kayak for 1-mile trip across the bay to Capt. Cook monument, where you can snorkel. I saw a mongoose near the monument, and dolphins leaping and spinning on the way across. Kayak rentals are on Highway 11. They tie the kayaks to your roof and you drive down to the ocean to launch them. Snorkel Bob charges $25 per person, which seems cheap. Tip the guys $5 per boat for helping you extract your boat when you return to the cement dock.

My son recommends the Introductory Dive (two tanks, $160 or so) from Red Sail. Red Sail is likely to give you 10% discount if you ask. Buy the video of your dive, which is a bargain at $35. It takes 24 hours to deliver to Red Sail.

Get first-hand reports from visitors before you decide whether to blow a whole day driving to the lava flow and back. I figure if you're paying to stay at HWV, you might as well actually use the facilities there rather than driving elsewhere. Just my opinion.

As others have posted, you should stop at Wal-Mart or K-mart and buy a $5 styrofoam cooler on your way to the hotel. This is really handy for keeping food for snacking and such. Wal-Mart has a huge selection of snorkel gear covering 3 aisles. The grocery store is 7 miles up the hill from HWV on Waikoloa Road. If you arrive by about 5:30PM you can buy food from the deli, who will even steam a live crab or lobster for you.

Late check-outs are hard to come by (the hotel tends to be very full), but you can request a "changing room" at the desk of any of the 3 towers late in the day. They will give you a key to one of the guest rooms where you can shower and change from swim suits into travel clothes.