Some areas of the Hawaiian Islands are infamous for their miles of tourist attractions. Waikiki, LaHaina, and Kaanapali are some areas tourists flock regularly. However, if you visit the Big Island of Hawaii, you will soon discover it is far less touristy. There are some resort areas on the western shore of the Island, in Kona, and north of Kona in the Kohala District where visitors can travel to in just a 20-30 minute drive north from the airport in Kona. And in these areas, you will find attractions ideally suited to tourism-like hotels, shopping centers, parkways, and beautifully landscaped areas.

However, when you reach the higher elevations on Hawaii, you will find more neighborhoods and residential areas. In contrast to the tropical heat found down on the beach level, the higher elevations offer a nice cool breeze in the evenings and residents find this climate very attractive. They enjoying spending time on their lanai relaxing and taking in the beautiful views of the coastline. In fact, most of the residents of the Big Island live either in these areas or on the beach areas.

The towns of Hilo and Kailua-Kona are fairly sizable. They have many of the amenities one would expect to find in a town of their size, namely theatres, malls, shopping centers, sports complexes, and more. Of course, since the coast and beach aren't far away, surfing and other beachside pastimes are popular in this area, including with the kids.

On this island, it's also nice to be able to drive out into the hill country. Here you can see all of the orchards, coffee plantations, and other farming and rural areas. Most of the coffee farms are pretty small-usually anywhere from 5 to 50 acres in size. There are some local companies that process and produce their own specialty coffee brands here.

The town of Hilo is an bit older than many on the island, with much of the town and its buildings being 60 or more years old. This town is on the wet side of Hawaii where it rains almost daily and there are areas of tropical forest nearby. Frequent downpours are followed just minutes later by sunny skies. If you drive to Hilo from the Kona area, you can also discover a few well-hidden beaches along the way.

Hilo is more of a business town than a tourist town. Kohala and Kona, on the other hand, do have more tourism in their areas. While the west part of the island has been impacted the most from the economic downturn and reductions in tourism, Kona and Hilo both have harbors that do continue to get some tourism business from day tours as passengers disembark from cruise ships that travel through the area.

Overall, though, the Big Island of Hawaii has been strongly impacted by the recession. Starting in 2006 and following that timeframe, the real estate industry in particular has also been affected. For people who are interested in purchasing property-for vacations, retirement, or a year-round residence-now is an excellent time to purchase property on Hawaii because the recession has caused property values to decline considerably. Once the recession passes, of course, property values will go up again. So there is only a small window of opportunity to get in on these good real estate deals.