Akaka FallsOne - Day Trip to Big Island As the name implies , Big Island is the biggest island in Hawaii . Even though it is over 6 times as big as Jeju Island , it has only half of the population of that of Jeju Island . I had been wondering why so few people live in that ‘ Big ’ Island . Even when I arrived at the Hawaiian Airport around 8 a . m . after 40 minutes ’ flying , I don ’ t know why . The sky was clear , trees are green and seasides and beaches look peaceful . We got on the tour bus and hit the road to the marvelous nature of Akaka Falls State Park . The flow of the 128 meter - long waterfalls was not that magnificent because of lack of rainfall . However , the nature itself made me feel as if I were in heaven . Next site was Hawaii Volcanoes National Park . This enthralling park is the site of Kilauea , one for the most active volcanoes on earth . Traditionally , the summit caldera of Kilauea has been considered the home of the Hawaiian fire goddess Pele . According to the tour guide Mr . Park , she , Pele , fell in love with a lad who had been engaged to a beautiful lass . However hard Pele tried , he wasn ’ t persuaded by her and would keep his love for his fiancée . Finally , Pele got furious and turned him into a tree . Knowing her fiancée ’ s doom , the girl appealed to Pele return him back , but Pele made her choose either dying or being flowers on the tree . After that , there appear trees on the craters of volcanoes and beautiful red flowers on them . In the case whoever plucks off the flowers from the trees , they say , it rains because she doesn ’ t want to be parted from her love . As Mr . Park said , I could find trees and red flowers on the dry rough smoking crater . We even went down to the basin of the caldera of Kilauea , which was still active . Right after I stepped on the rugged surface of the crater , I was feeling I was on another planet far from the earth . How can I express the unfamiliar , overwhelming feeling that I got when I saw the spectacles ? The real shocking thing was the endless lava field flowing to the sea . The enormous amount of lava from the volcano eruption covered all the life in that area and ended up disastrous deserted land . At that moment , I thought , “ if there were hell , it looked like the landscape in front of me . ” only one hope I could get from looking closely the lava field was there came some ferns out of that tough monstrous looking lava stones . Now I can understand why Big Island is a sparsely populated district and has small tourists compared to Oahu . My impression of Big Island is a little dark because of the dreary scene of the lave field . I strongly wish I could see green forest covered with grass and trees again .