Island Fun Facts

Island Living

Did You Know...

  • Almost half of the island homes do not have county water, they have catchment tanks.
  • There are no county trash pickups, you take your own trash to the designated transfer stations around the island.
  • Do not take any rocks or sand off the island. Legend refers to Pele’s curse, where visitors suffer bad luck until these items are returned back to the island.
  • Locals refers the island as “Hawai’i Island” or “Island of Hawai’i”, not “Big Island”.
  • Hele-On is the only public bus and travels around the entire island and it is free of charge.
  • Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is the only live volcano flowing in the U.S..
  • Ka Lae (South Point) is the southernmost point in the United States.
  • Kona is home to the Ironman World Championship which take place every year in the month of October.
  • Parker Ranch is one of the largest privately held ranches in the United States.
  • Kamuela (aka Waimea) on the north side of the island is only use for mailing letters and packages and the name of the post office. Waimea is still the official name of the town.
  • Mauna Kea is the world’s tallest mountain. Its height from the ocean floor measures 33,476 feet (10,203 m) and it is 13,796 feet (4,205 m) above sea level.
  • Mauna Kea has one of the world’s largest optical telescopes and also hosts more scientific observatories in one place than anywhere else in the world.
  • Mauna Loa is world’s largest volcano.
  • Hawai’i is the only US state that grow vanilla commercially and it is located on the Island of Hawai’i.
  • Population isapproximately 200,629, according to 2020 US Census Bureau.
  • Island flower is the “Red Lehua Ohia”.
  • Island is about a million years old.
  • There are said to be 13 climatic regions on earth and Hawai’i Island has all but two, the Arctic and the Sahara.

It's a Hawaii thing...

  • It is customary that you take off your shoes when you enter a home.
  • McDonalds serves rice, saimin (noodle), Portuguese sausage & SPAM.
  • Hawai’i consumes more Spam per capita than any other state (7 million cans per year!).
  • On the first weekday of each month at 11:45am, a siren will go off for statewide testing the emergency system.
  • May 1 is Lei Day in Hawai’i.A state celebration of Aloha by giving flower leis.
  • Is the only state to have 2 official languages –English and Hawaiian.
  • The only state that honors royalty.
  • One must be respectful of sacred sites around all the islands.
  • Do not take any rocks from beaches or parks, bad luck! REPEATED ABOVE.
  • Bring your own bags to stores.
  • Surfing was invented in Hawai’i.
  • People greet with hugs, not handshakes.
  • There are no snakes in Hawai’i. Lucky we live in Hawai’i!
  • Only state you can mail a coconut through the post office.
  • Each island has its own flower.
  • We wear white pants after Labor Day.
  • Hawai’i is the only state that grows coffee commercially.