My Paleo Organic Hawaiian Vacation

I recently went on vacation to the Big Island of Hawaii with my boyfriend.  We found it very easy to stick to an organic, healthy, paleo diet while we were there, and to follow our typical healthy lifestyle.  A lot of my clients have a really hard time sticking to a healthy lifestyle while on vacation and I am hoping that this post will inspire people.

We stayed at the Kona Guesthouse. This place had all kinds of organic fruit trees, 7 kinds of papayas, passion fruit, bananas and figs, and a great view of the ocean.  We had our own refrigerator and there was shared cooking facilities so that made it way easier to eat healthy.

We rarely stay anywhere that doesn’t have a kitchen or at least a refrigerator.  On local trips, we have been known to bring a cooler and a toaster oven with us, if there are not any cooking facilities.  All day long, our inn keeper had fresh cold drinks for us made with noni fruit and hawaiian lemons, and iced tea made with allspice leaves growing on the property.  There was also a friendly black cat named Spirit, who made us very happy because we really missed our cats at home.

As soon as we got there, we found out which health food stores were the best.  We went to Island Naturals in Kona and stocked up on wild salmon, wild shrimp, organic eggs, organic chicken apple sausage, organic chicken, grassfed beef, organic vegetables, kimchi, olive oil, goat cheese, and coconut vinegar.

The first night we went to an incredible restaurant in Kona called Sam Choy’s. It was an open air restaurant with a great view of the ocean.  It was really balmy with a nice breeze and we watched the sunset as we ate our dinner.  We had salads with Mahi Mahi and they offered a gluten free option which we took.

We did not eat out a lot, but when we did, most places did have gluten free and paleo options and people were very accomodating.  I normally cannot drink coffee as the acid bothers my stomach, but coffee grown in Kona is very alkaline so I was actually able to drink it a few times.  Island Naturals had coconut milk and xylitol to put in your coffee which was perfect for me as I am allergic to dairy and like a healthy sugar alternative.  We found most people we met were very health conscious and into sustainable, green living.

The owner of the guest house where we stayed was also a massage therapist, and we got several great massages when we were there.

About a year and a half ago, we stopped drinking filtered and bottled water.  We now only drink fresh, spring water.  When we travel, we use the website www.findaspring.com to find local springs where we can fill up water bottles.  On Sunday, we headed north to the spring and a beach known to have good waves for bogey boarding.  This is the first time I had ever done this and it was the most fun I have ever had in the ocean.   We spent the day laying on the beach, walking and boogey boarding.   It turns out the spring is only available at low tide so that didn’t work out, but we found another one about 30 minutes south of where we were staying near another beach that we wanted to go to.

That night we walked around downtown Kona and got shaved ices which were great.  I wasn’t thrilled about the high sugar content and I decided I would buy this when I got back so I could make my own without sugar.

Every morning, we woke up to a sound healing paradise.  We woke up to the sound of a roaster, tropical birds, the ocean, and wind chimes.  It was so great not to be shocked out of sleep by an alarm clock.

For breakfast, we would cook eggs for my boyfriend (I am allergic) and chicken apple sausage for me.  We would have Kimchi and avocados with it.  Then we would walk outside and pick fresh papayas and passion fruit off the tree and have those as well.  For lunch, we would pack a cooler with Tropical Shrimp or Chicken Salad, tropical fruit, macademia nuts, goat cheese and gluten free crackers, and head to the beach.

Our days were spent bogey boarding, snorkeling, swimming, meditating, sight seeing and hiking. We found an amazing cove, called Two Step, for snorkeling, and one day we were able to swim with a pod of  30 spinner dolphins.  They spent a lot of time hovering below us, but often got within a couple feet of us. They were friendly and really seemed to like people.  Another day when we snorkled, we were able to swim with several sea turtles.

When we got home at night, we would go out in the yard and pick more papayas, parsley and aloe vera and make tropical smoothies and watch the sunset.  Some nights we would barbeque and have salads, and other nights, when we had a really late lunch, we would just have tropical smoothies.

We are planning to go back to Kona next year and stay in the same place.