Spend a great Christmas holiday on the Big Island in Hawaii. Of all the islands it’s the one that offers the most variety. From the fantastic blue waters for diving, nice little beaches, great coffee (yeah, it’s important to me) to the ultimate experience, the volcanos. I only had a week, which was not enough to really take it all in, but more than enough to wet the appetite to go back. A day of diving to get to know some of the local fishes. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan well enough and didn’t get to do the Manta night dive. Well, next time for sure. But I did luck out on the volcano. It was quite active and after leaving the do-not-cross-line way behind (like a half mile or so), I got face-to-face with gleaming lava. Even being about 300 ft away from it, it was hot. And one of the most impressive sights I have ever seen.