Break up the drive back to the hotel with a stop at the South Kona Fruit Stand for a date-and-peanut-butter smoothie (84-4770 Mamalahoa Hwy.; 808-328-8547; smoothies, $6). Once you're back at Hualalai, you'll have the rest of the afternoon to loll around the pools and plot a way to postpone your return to the mainland—you're scheduled to fly home tomorrow from Kona International Airport. If you succeed, consider spending a few more days on the Big Island (you've experienced only the tip of this vast iceberg) and devote one evening to studying the night sky, atop Mauna Kea, alongside professional stargazers.

Tonight, you'll be dining at the Four Seasons' casually elegant Pahu I'a, right on the beach (entrées, $34–$68). The resort's other swanky restaurant, above the golf course, is run by Honolulu's Alan Wong, but Pahu I'a haute Hawaiian fare comes with a spectacular sea view—one that you're sure to remember long after you've gone home.

Bonus Trip: Mauna Kea
Most rental car companies prohibit customers from driving their vehicles up Mauna Kea, which is just as well. Plenty of excellent tours shuttle visitors up daily. The drive itself is mostly paved and relatively easy, especially since a new segment of the Saddle Road was built last year. But it's a long drive up to the summit—at nearly 13,800 feet, Mauna Kea is the state's tallest volcano—and several hours from the nearest mechanic. What's more, six months a year (November through April) snow coats the higher elevations and ices the road. The best reason, however, to leave the driving to someone else is that you'll want to be at the peak at night, when the entire sky is glittering and the mountaintop telescopes are earning their keep. There are 13 astronomical telescopes on Mauna Kea, including some of the world's largest, all clustered together on what's considered the best place in the northern hemisphere to ogle the constellations. For Hawaiians, Mauna Kea is foremost a holy site, home to hundreds of burial grounds and archaeological remains, which explains why many locals resent the science community's encroachment on their sacred land. The guides from Hawaii Forest & Trail do an expert job of explaining both sides of the controversy during their Mauna Kea Summit & Stars Adventure. The tour starts at around 2 or 3 p.m., depending on where you schedule the pickup, and includes an early dinner at an old sheep farm on the slopes of Mauna Kea, sunset at the summit, then a fascinating astronomy and astrology lesson after nightfall. No matter what time of year you visit, wear the warmest coat you own. Nighttime temperatures at the summit rarely top 35 degrees (808-331-8505; hawaii-forest.com ; $170 for a seven- to eight-hour tour).

Bonus Trip: Volcano Village
Consider spending a night in tiny Volcano Village, a warren of narrow, heavily forested lanes and charming cottages right outside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. There isn't much to do in the town itself aside from browsing a handful of artists studios and galleries and playing a round of golf at the lava-carved course, but you won't feel the need to stray far with accommodations as romantic and inviting as those at Volcano Village Lodge, where beamed ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows brighten up the beautifully furnished wooden cabins (808-985-9500; volcanovillagelodge.com; doubles, $175-$275). For meals, Kiawe Kitchen serves terrific wood-fired pizzas and Big Island microbrews (19-4005 Haunani Rd.; 808-967-7711; entrées, $10-$25), and the venerable Kilauea Lodge Restaurant has an Alpine vibe, with its big stone fireplace, its Austrian chef, and such Old World dishes as venison medallions, lamb Provencal, and German meatballs (19-3948 Old Volcano Rd.; 808-967-7366; entrées, $25-$43). Keep in mind that at nearly 4,000 feet, Volcano Village is much cooler and rainier than the coastal areas, so pack warmly.