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Hawaii's Big Island
Paradise Without a Passport
By Belinda Clarke
And just as every resort has golf, most also have their own in-house spas and salons. The Hawaiian Rainforest Spa (also at the Outrigger) offers one of the largest selections of services, with manicures, pedicures and facials.
Or for a uniquely Hawaiian spa experience, moms can treat themselves at the Orchid Hotel's Spa Without Walls to an outside, oceanfront Lomi (Hawaiian for "mash") body massage, followed by a full-body Kona coffee and orange peel exfoliation treatment. This ground coffee bean (decaf!) scrub is custom-made by a local woman who uses only natural ingredients found on the Big Island. For ultimate decadence, the exfoliation is concluded with a vanilla bean body lotion application. Note: Everyone in your family will find themselves craving dessert when you show up after this treatment!
While you are enjoying the spa or a round of golf, your kids can be entertained at the hotel's Cowabunga Kids Club. Or for smaller family members, the concierge will make arrangements for a bonded nanny to come to the hotel to babysit. We chose this option when we went on our waterfall hike. However, it was the only activity that excluded our baby, which gives you an idea of how easy it was to vacation here and to get around.
Hawaii's Big Island is the kind of place you could visit every year for a decade and do something different each time. It's the only place I can imagine where you can view a snow-topped volcano and a breaching whale simultaneously from a spot on the beach at your hotel. For families, it's a tropical vacation with a naturalist edge. Better still, you don't need a passport!
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