Hawaii versus Mexico

[Scott P]

These are nothing alike. Do you have additional criteria? Solo? Also, if you're finding Hawaii to be only slightly more expensive, then take advantage of the smokin' deal or figure out who in Mexico is ripping you off.

Agreed with Hawaii high peak hikes being relatively boring compared to other activities there.

Haha the similarity is "places I want to go." I do get that Hawaii is basically hiking, but essentially my criteria are a)mountains that have captivated my imagination and b) beach within reasonable reach. And knowing that in going to Mexico, mountains would be the primary focus whereas in Hawaii, mountains would be just one of many activities.
I'm trying to spend at least a couple months balancing type 1 and 2 fun; though I love me some type 2 fun, I've been gorging on it (at least for my skill level) lately. Mexico was my original plan, but beach time is tugging at my brain, so now I'm feeling indecisive.

I'd still at least look into Costa Rica if the above is your plan. The beaches in Costa Rica are as good as any in Hawaii, the scenery is fairly similar, there is a lot more wildlife and the Volcanoes are much more interesting.

If you want mountains that will captivate your imagination, them Mauna Loa will leave you extremely disappointed. There are some interesting lava formations in places, but that's about it. Even Mt Bross is more interesting than Mauna Loa.

[cougar]

I enjoyed Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. Pretty different mountains and I was fascinated by all the different types of lava (especially the metallic flows) and the size of the crater. Mauna Loa was much more interesting, but they are both very different mountains despite their proximity and being volcanic. But they are very barren and devoid of life for the entire hike (both above treeline the whole time, and I get the Bross comparison a bit, they really are the same scenery most of the way. Mauna Kea looks so much like Mars astronauts train there). Plus it's rather unique to actually be at sea level and go up to 13,800 ft the same day, and back to the ocean after. You can see Mauna Kea's summit and observatory from Hilo. There's plenty of ocean and other activities to do the rest of the time there with the variety of ecosystems due to all the elevation ranges. Hiking each peak only takes about half a day each.

As for cost, it seems cheaper in the shoulder seasons (like Sept when I went). Airfare seemed to be the biggest cost. I stayed at hostels for about $30/night or less, and the Pineapple Park one near Kona was really, really nice, with an ocean view, outdoor living room and showers, and very clean. Pretty close to snorkeling beaches too. I'd also hit another island while out there because the others are pretty different and inter-island flights are cheap.

But you could likely get a similar experience in Costa Rica (volcanoes and beaches), with less elevation and maybe cheaper. If you decide on Mexico and Orizaba, consider Belize for beaches. I think you'll have to do a bit more driving or flying to get from Orizaba to any coast.

I haven't been to either Orizaba or Mexico but I hear great things about Belize. In Dec/Jan you can snorkel with the whale sharks and they have the blue hole there.

[kimo]

There's some great beaches on the Big Island.
http://www.kona123.com/beachmap.html

Mauna Loa is one of the coolest mountains in the world. It's the most massive active volcano in the world. The summit trail from the ML Observatory is one of the most unique hikes in the world. To compare it with Bross is just crazy talk. You stand at the very edge of a giant steaming caldera on top of Mauna Loa. It's so freeking cool.

[Scott P]

There's some great beaches on the Big Island.

Yes, especially the ones you hike to. It's small, but I also liked the Green Sand Beach for uniqueness, even though it isn't the same type of beach.

Mauna Loa is one of the coolest mountains in the world.

I must respectfully disagree with this (I have climbed 2000+ mountains in 50+ countries), at least as far as scenery goes.

It's the most massive active volcano in the world.

This is true. By sheer size, it has by far more volume than any other mountain. In fact, it has more mass than the entire Sierra Nevada. It is so massive because its slopes are so gentle.

Here is a photograph of the mountain with snow on it (when it is a little more impressive):



Here is one of the more impressive lava flows with the mountain in the background:



In my opinion, the steeper volcanoes in places like Costa Rica are more scenic (though opinions may vary):



(Or in Hawaii the old and eroded volcanoes are more scenic in my opinion. Haleakala looks pretty cool too).

You stand at the very edge of a giant steaming caldera on top of Mauna Loa.

This is true. The crater/caldera is the best part of the hike. Still, there are a lot of volcanoes with far more impressive craters.

Mauna Loa was OK (we actually used the Red Hill Route), and there are some cool lava formations, but overall I found the hike a bit monotonous as compared with other volcanoes I have climbed.

[kimo]

Well then I guess I got it all right except for the subjective part. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I thought Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea were both very cool.

[summitrunner]

I have never hiked mountains in Mexico. My connection to hiking on the islands of Hawaii and Oahu is very spiritual. Mauna Kea is extremely sacred to my family. It is not about the summit or the difficulty for me anymore. You are on a trail that was only worthy of the king of Hawaii that lies on the birthplace of the Hawaiian people. It is magical, humbling, and spiritual. I only realized this after my last trip to Hawaii this summer when I stopped being a Haole (Haole is like being a Gringo in Mexico) and started being family. If I was given this choice, Hawaii is my vote.

[Matt]

I have never hiked mountains in Mexico. My connection to hiking on the islands of Hawaii and Oahu is very spiritual. Mauna Kea is extremely sacred to my family. It is not about the summit or the difficulty for me anymore. You are on a trail that was only worthy of the king of Hawaii that lies on the birthplace of the Hawaiian people. It is magical, humbling, and spiritual. I only realized this after my last trip to Hawaii this summer when I stopped being a Haole (Haole is like being a Gringo in Mexico) and started being family. If I was given this choice, Hawaii is my vote.

I appreciate what you say about the spiritual part of hiking. It doesn't have to be about how tall, difficult, or aesthetically pleasing a peak may be.
Some of my greatest experiences in the mountains have had a strong spiritual component.
Clearly, you have real ties to the islands, but I have to say that your post made me think of Butters in South Park.
Did you get a Mahalo Rewards Card this summer? Again, I'm just kidding.

To the OP:
You mentioned keeping the trip under $1k. Can you introduce me to your travel agent, please?
As someone who's lived in Mexico (but not hiked any of the volcanoes) and visited Hawaii, I say go for the latter.
Beach time is much easier to get in, and despite Scott P's poo-pooing the Big Island 13ers, I found hiking them to be a remarkable experience, one I'm happy to have under my belt.
While it costs less to get to Mexico, Hawaii should prove safer and make easier having all the beach, peak, and random other good stuff you can handle. To save cash, you can always try to sleep on the beach. I hung out with several folks on Kauai (including a family of four) who were living on the beach in tents and having a great time.

[Scott P]

You mentioned keeping the trip under $1k. Can you introduce me to your travel agent, please?

To me at least, it sounds somewhat reasonable for either trip if you really want to travel on a budget, but a little more money to spare will be much more convenient.

One nice thing about Hawaii is that all the public campgrounds are either free or only a few dollars. Unfortunately, a few of them have a high incidence of crime, so it's worth checking into.

Oahu and the Big Island have good public transportation systems (though the 13er volcanoes are harder to get to using public transportation). For the Big Island though, renting a car is more convenient. (We were actually able to catch a ride to the Mauna Loa trailhead from the national park, after riding the bus there. This was several years ago though).

It would be reasonable to do a trip for around $1000 using public transport and camping.

If you rent a car, as most do, it would be a little more expensive (but more convenient). It should cost less than $300 a week, including insurance. Some rental car companies won't let you camp either, so be aware of this.

If you are camping with a car, airfare and rental car will be the biggest expense, but since all the campgrounds are free or almost free, there shouldn't be that many expenses. Of course, if you want to spend more in Hawaii, the sky is the limit. You could easily spend $1000 per day.

Mexico should be easy to do for around $1000. For next December 17-January 1, we paid $424.24 round trip for airfare out of Steamboat/Hayden to Mexico City. I expect that the trip will cost around $500 to $600 per person (plus airfare) to climb four volcanoes and to visit the Aztec Pyramids and a few other sites.

It doesn't have to be about how tall, difficult, or aesthetically pleasing a peak may be.

I agree with you and anyone else who enjoyed climbing those volcanoes. I was speaking of aesthetics only and comparing it to other hikes I did in Hawaii and around the world. Actually, I enjoyed those volcanoes too, they just weren't as aesthetically pleasing as I expected (this was before the internet, so I didn't see any photos of them before hand). If you have the time to do them, they can still be worthwhile.

My favorite hike on the Big Island was the Waimanu to Waipio Valley:



If you are headed to the Big Island to do the big peaks, I'd also suggest doing some other hikes, such as this one. The trails around and in the Kilauea Crater were really nice as well.

[EagleHammer]

I've had the good fortune of summiting Mauna Kea by truck for work with an observatory up there, on foot as a hike, and in a van with my family to watch sunset and for star-gazing. The coolest combination would be to hike up there, arrange with a person or company to meet you up there for sunset and star-gazing, then drive back down. A return hike in the dark wouldn't be great but the sunset and stargazing is not to be missed.

When I hiked up Mauna Loa, the clouds were very low and it was a long slog up rock without much to see. The different volcanic rock was cool but after miles and miles of rock, I was ready for a pine needle-strewn forest trail.

I would definitely echo Scott's reco of the Waimanu valley. I solo hiked it and saw very few people on the whole trip. The up and down is relatively easy for 14er hikers; the water crossings were a little harder than I anticipated. It is a very unique area to explore.

The coolest hike I did is to see the lava flowing into the ocean at night. That is obviously dependent on what the volcano is doing. It was a challenging 8 mile RT hike over sharp, newly formed land when we did it 10 years ago. The return hike wasn't awesome, with lots of dropoffs and backtracking (and a pretty severe gash to my wife's leg about 50 yards into the return hike), but worth the adventure. A quick check of the NPS website shows that there is now a gravel access road you can hike on that might make it a bit easier, at least until you approach the lava. Certainly the most unique hike I've ever done.

There are plenty of amazing beaches too, from what you think of based on TV/movies (like Hapuna Beach) to black sand beaches that take a bit of a drive and hike to, and you will have mostly to yourself.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed the Big Island. My only experience with Mexico was an ill-fated trip to Tijuana right after college so I can't comment on Mexican hiking and beaches. I can recommend against repeating that trip. Good luck!

[AnnaG22]

Thanks all for the replies! Very informative. I'll have to get to Hawaii at some point...maybe when I have the time to visit multiple islands. It's looking like Mexico will be logistically easier this time.

[djkest]

I am a little late to the party but Hawaii is definitely a remarkable place with lots to offer. I just posted my trip report of Mauna Kea with some extra photos as the end.
http://exploringandwine.blogspot.com/20 ... awaii.html

Hawaii seems to have a little bit of everything. Extreme wealth and extreme poverty. Densely packed city and wide-open rural areas. High and dry mountains and lush and low rainforests. They also have the only cacao production in the united states, and world-famous coffee in Kona. Of course the famous Macadamia nuts, they also produce amazing pineapples, guavas, Passion fruit, (apple) bananas, coconuts, sugar cane, etc.

We flew directly from Seattle to Kona airport, and that was pretty nice not going through Oahu.

My biggest "lesson learned" in Hawaii was, it's a pretty big island (sorry for the pun) and if you only stay in 1 place (Kona for us) you'll end up driving a LOT. Also I would recommend at least 1 week to see most of the highlights, if not more. We only had 4 days; one of which was Mauna Kea; it felt pretty rushed at times.

If it's possible, go walk on "new" rocks and see new land being formed at the lava flows. It's an experience that can't be had many places in the world.

And if you go, you must snorkel in the Captain Cook bay area - we missed this.

[mnsebourn]

Just throwing this out there:

Haleakala on Maui is a beautiful mountain featuring some of the most unique (other worldly) scenery I think you'll ever find on a high mountain. I did a ten or twelve mile round trip down part of the Sliding Sands trail back in 2012.

A sea to summit hike of this volcano would be an adventure worth trying. I certainly hope to attempt it one day.