Franko's Guide Map of Hawaii, The Big Island, With Things to See and Do is exactly as the name implies - a guide and a map of the island all in one! The beautiful 3D island, with green shaded relief of Hawaii's massive volcanoes sloping down into Hawaii's turquoise waters, which is characteristic of Franko's Maps. The descending hues of ocean blues around the island provide space for description of everything you need to know to get the most out of a trip (or a lifetime) on the Big Island of Hawaii. There is no paid advertising on this map, but it still tells you where to go, what to do, and who can help you by providing a service or adventure.

The map has been in the works for a very long time, and it is the fourth in a series of Franko guide maps for the Hawaiian Islands. Franko's Guide Map of Hawaii adds to the ever-growing list of Franko products for the Hawaiian islands. The Big Island of Hawaii now has Franko's Dive Map of Hawaii in both the folded form (printed on durable, waterproof synthetic paper), and the flat laminated form (perfect for a countertop or wall); Franko's Hawaii Fish Card, which features a mini-map of the Big Island, plus over 80 of Hawaii's beautiful and exciting reef creatures; and now Franko's Guide Map of Hawaii, which features the island on side one and then close-ups of Volcanoes National Park, Hilo Town, Kailua-Kona Town, and the Kohala to Kona Coast detail. The Dive Map, which features the same basic map, is in its fifth edition by the time the Guide Map has at last been finished and produced in July, 2006. Therefore, the details and techniques of this Hawaii map are quite advanced, even on the premier edition. Having traveled extensively and experienced so much that Hawaii has to offer, Franko and friends have compiled over 9000 words for this one map! In fact, it suffices as a guide book! I like to tell people that if they study this map (especially a laminated map on the dining room table), it will somehow magically cause them to go there. Many people have tried this, and it works! So, you should study every word that is on this map. Learn all about the Big Island and you will invariably find yourself making some kind of plans to get there. It is just too attractive!

I've compiled the wording of all of the captions for things to see and do on Hawaii, The Big Island below. Of course, there is nothing like seeing the picture so you can better understand the wording, so it is recommended that you skip over these paragraphs and just get one of the maps in your hands and then read it. However, if the magnificent Big Island is calling out to you right now to read and learn all that you can, then be my guest and read on. I've come to know Hawaii quite well, and so these details are rather good, if I do say so myself. I hope you enjoy them too, and most of all, enjoy Hawaii, The Big Island. There is no substitute for just going there. So go! GO!

SIDE ONE of Franko's Guide Map of Hawaii
Side one of Franko's Guide Map of Hawaii shows entire island in beautiful shades of Hawaiian green, as it sits in the middle of the vast North Pacific Ocean. The island looks like an emerald piercing through the ocean blues, which descend with depth, out to 18,000+ feet deep around the island. The Big Island's giant volcanoes, some still bursting with lava is so high that snow often caps the tallest peaks, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The island is so big and so diverse, and this guide map of Hawaii helps you to understand that magnitude. Franko's descriptions appear in captions all around the island, capturing the essence of what Hawaii is all about. The many things to see and do on the Big Island are described in detail, and are highlighted with pictures and icons to give you a feel of what the real Hawaii is all about. One of my favorite details is on the green map itself. You can look at the map and see the volcanic lava flows that have occurred over the last 200 years. When you drive around the island with this map in your hands, you can look to see just when that huge lava flow you are driving past came in molten form down the slopes of the Hawaii's volcanoes. This map has the main roads and highways all around the Island of Hawaii, so you won't get lost or confused. For closer details when you are in Kailua-Kona, Hilo, the Kona Coast or Volcanoes National Park, you will need to refer to side 2 of Franko's Guide Map of Hawaii. But meanwhile, the following paragraphs are taken from the map.

This map on side two of Franko's Map of Hawaii, the Big Island shows a close-up of Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The artwork on this detail is rather stunning! Not only is there green shaded relief showing the downslope of the volcano as it extends to the ocean, but the undersea itself has blue shaded relief, indicating the lava shelf and undersea cliffs as they actually are. The most recent few years of lava flows are shown in ever hotter colors (reds, yellows and oranges) accurately showing the flow of lava down the flank of Kilauea from the Pu'u O'o vent, which has spewed out lava continuously since 1983. This extraordinary detail of Kilauea as depicted by yours truly (Franko) is a work of scientific art. Having personally explored Kilauea Volcano at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and having gathered every kind of information about Kilauea, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and so forth, I can attest that this is easily the coolest representation I've ever seen of this park, and maybe any National Park. I love it! Thank goodness for super cool computer technology to help me “paint” my maps! Last February I and my wife ventured to the very end of Chain of Craters Road. After a considerable hike at sunset, from a distance we were able to watch the lava flow down the huge slope, glowing brilliantly in the dark. Wow! Before dark the huge steam plume could be seen billowing into the humid atmosphere. Across the sky at cloud level a long plume of volcanic smog, or “VOG” extended from Pu'u O'o across the lava fields toward the sea. In had heard that this plume represented some 2000 tons of sulfur dioxide and other noxious gasses every single day. Now I understood what the distant colorful sky that I have sometimes seen while on the island of Oahu must have been. I thought
I was in L.A. smog, but instead it was Kilauea VOG! This map detail is a summary of what is in and around Volcanoes National Park, particularly around the Kilauea Caldera.