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by Paul Spencer Sochaczewski © 2002 BIG ISLAND, Hawaii
"Tomorrow we can go snorkeling with the tropical fish," the girl said. "And then?" "And we can slide down the water slide again and talk to the parrots and dance the hula and try the paddleboat and buy Dad an aloha shirt and go to the putting green and eat Japanese food and look at the stars with the astronomer and…" "Slow down," the mother advised, laughing. "We need an agenda to write all this down." "And the dolphins," the girl continued. "Tomorrow I swim with the dolphins." The Hilton Waikoloa, located on the sunny Kohala coast of the Big Island of Hawai'i, is clear about it's positioning. This $360 million hotel is perhaps not the place for intimacy-seeking honeymooners. It is, however, an exceptional hotel for people who like their resorts big, active, dramatic and oh-so-kid friendly. Take the buzz and grandeur of Las Vegas, the child-pleasing energy of Disneyworld, and mellow it with a generous helping of Hawai'ian aloha and you'll get an idea of Waikoloa's philosophy. The hotel was built by Chris Hemmeter, a developer with refused to think small (see story in this issue on Kauai Marriott, another Hemmeter property). From the lobby, located roughly mid-way in a horseshoe-shaped construction surrounding a similarly-shaped bay, you have three choices to get to your room. You can take a tram (the complex is so large that it takes the Swiss-made trams, which cost $3 million each, seven minutes to go from one end to the other). You can ride a Disney-engineered launch on a man-made canal (you'll notice the launch's captain doesn't drive at all - the launch rolls on rubber wheels set into an underwater track). Or you can walk. This walk along the Museum Walkway from Lagoon Tower to Ocean Tower is one of the joys of the Waikoloa Hilton. Take along the booklet "Self-guided art tour" and spend time in this vast open-air gallery which features some $7 million in artwork - some of the 1,800 pieces are authentic and rare, some are reproductions. You'll see a meter-tall bright indigo and soil-red ritual mask from Vanuatu, decorated with dramatic Miro-like spirals; a rare collection of feather leis from Hawaii, which took some seven years to produce; and a dark brown wooden temple image in the Hawaiian Kona-style, taller than Shaq O'Neal, with no forehead or eyes, just a multi-toothed contorted mouth. Further on you'll see a collection of Han dynasty (206 B.C. to 220 A.D) olive-green pottery and sculpture; and a rare set of Burmese marionettes, used to act out provocative stories of a sexual nature which were considered too indecent to produce with live actors. Keep going to the reproduction of a painting by the impressionist George Seurat, a study for his famous "Sunday afternoon on the island of la Grand Jatté." There are so many things to do that the in-room guidebook has the heft of a telephone directory. Need confirmation that Hilton Waikoloa Village is a "gee whiz" resort? Consider: Directly in front of the reception area you'll find a 68-step staircase that crosses a lagoon. But the word staircase doesn't give any idea of the magnitude of this construction. Some 27 gigantic square columns, some almost 50 feet tall, support a vast roof. On the other side you'll see a life-size cast bronze replica of a Thai king's chariot and six horses. Then you'll pass a Thai seated Buddha (it would be useful to explain to kids that this isn't a playground attraction designed for climbing on). Continue on and the path cuts through a man-made rock construction where you will get a bit of spray from a waterfall that cascades down the outside of the overhang, and then you arrive at the dolphin lagoon (see sidebar), the tidepools, and the center for the ocean sports. You can snorkel in the protected lagoon stocked with tropical fish or paddle a kayak on the surface. Or just lie on the sand beach without doing much at all. The complex is so vast that the pink flagstone on the resort, quarried in Arizona, would cover 75 miles if laid end-to-end. Hilton Waikoloa Village uses 7% of the island's electricity - the largest user on the island. The more than 1,200 employees access all areas of the resort via a 1.4-mile underground tunnel. Grab the booklet "Botanical Tours and Waikoloa Wildlife" and connect with well-signposted nature. Wildlife abounds in numerous interesting corners. Many of the featured plants are exotics (like the dwarf date palm from Africa and India), but there are plenty of Hawaiian species of interest, like the endangered Ma'o Hau Hele, the State flower that is one of five endemic Hawaiian hibiscus species. More interested in animals? The endangered Hawaiian goose, the nene, and the endangered Hawaiian duck, the koloa, have a home at Hilton Waikoloa Village, along with distinctly non-Hawaiian animals like the Chilean flamingo and the East African crowned crane. This isn't exactly "nature raw in tooth and claw," but it's interesting to see the concern and pride in displaying nature's variety. The gigantic Kona pool features a 175 foot water slide. A lot quieter is the surprisingly intimate Kohala pool, which is a series of small pools, waterfalls, water slides and cabana lounge areas linked by a gentle swimming lagoon and protected by large marble statues representing the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac - "Monkey people are erratic geniuses". Surely this part of the resort has terrific feng shui - all that running water has got to be good for you. Want some place even quieter? Head out to Buddha point and watch
the glorious sunset - turquoise and gold sky with dark thunderheads
in the distance, the ocean dark with white highlights where the
breakers hit the shore. Ignore the rather incongruous statues of
elk, tigers and goats and relax on wide expanses of lawns, or grab
a semi-isolated hammocks big enough for two lovers seeking solitude
or a half-dozen kids seeking their own giggly form of pleasure.
Sit at the foot of the ten-foot tall T'ang dynasty-styled marble
Buddha. The Beach Course's famous 12th green is off to the right.
Look through the palm trees framing the view to see Venus coming
up, bright as an omen in the west The two Waikoloa courses are enjoyable companions to the other fine courses on the Kohala coast -- Hualalai, Mauna Kea, Mauna Lani, Hapuna. The King's Course, designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish features nine acres of water with six major lakes. Golf Digest ranks it among the top 25 resort courses in the nation. The signature 279-yard, 5th hole is a drivable par-4 that has two landmark lava rock boulders surrounded by a huge sand trap which runs the entire length of the left side of the fairway. The par-70 Beach course is resort layout. Architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. describes the course as "a unique contrast of eden-like green grass amidst black lava." Waikoloa Beach course has hosted several tournaments including the LPGA Match Play Championship and the Kings' Cup Invitational. One of my favorite Hawai'i golf holes is the 12th hole of the Waikoloa
Beach Course, an often-photographed 510-yard par-5. You're driving
towards the ocean, with the Hilton Waikoloa Village off to your
left. The green belt of the 12th fairway makes a 90-degree turn
left through an opening cut in a field of glistening black lava
and finishes on a lava promontory above the blue Pacific. The fairway
is so tight that the sea comes into play on your second and third
shots. From the green you can look over at the Hilton's Buddha Point
and contemplate the mysteries and rewards of golf, and life. Waikoloa Beach Resort King's Course Beach Course
Endless Fairway Golf Package Kohala Coast Stay and Play Golf Package SIDEBAR I DOLPHIN QUEST The children were about to meet their first dolphins. Moving a bit stiffly in their life jackets they had that curious, apprehensive "what have Mom and Dad got me into now?" look. Some 110 guests swim with the dolphins each day at Hilton Waikoloa Village, which recommends reserving a place at least two months in advance. All the encounters are carefully choreographed with one trainer accompanying each group of about ten people. Started in 1988, Dolphin Quest, a private for-profit company, created an educational experience with six wild-caught Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Since 1994 nine baby dolphins have been born in the Hilton's large enclosure. Some people question whether any intelligent animals like dolphins should be in captivity in the first place. Patrick McLain, Dolphin Quest's operations manager won't get into that debate, but notes the extensive educational orientation of each half-hour dolphin encounter followed by an additional hour of educational games in the "Yellow Submarine Room". The company has donated more than $1.6 million to marine mammal research and actively supports a range of school education programs in Hawaii. Several groups of children and dolphin trainers spread out in corners of the tidal pool. In one group an eight year-old dolphin named Kilohé and four year-old Hanalei respond to subtle commands from their trainers and twist in the air, swim underneath the laughing kids, clap their flippers and splash water on the children, who splash back. The children get to touch the dolphin and learn a bit about the plight of marine mammals - pollution, getting caught in tuna nets. Perhaps most important they make a human-animal contact that will probably stay with them for many years. To an untrained eye the dolphins are healthy, happy and thoroughly enjoy these dolphin-people encounters. And the children come away with a special gleam in their eyes. For sure, Dad will buy the video. Dolphin Quest, Inc.
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