The youngest and largest of the Hawaiian Islands is one of the most spectacular and geographically diverse places in the world. With snow-capped mountains, great surfing waves, volcanoes flowing with lava, and cascading waterfalls, the Big Island is a paradise for those wishing to explore some of Mother Nature's finest work. There aren't many places where you can witness lava flowing directly from a volcano like you can at Kilauea or head up to the top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii's tallest mountain, where the largest telescopes in the world watch the stars.  The two sides of the island have very different climates, the east side (home to Kona) being very wet and the west side (where Hilo is) is very dry.  And in between is a mountain reaching nearly 2 miles into the sky!