The Big Island is the youngest sibling in the archipelago (a mere 800,000 years young), the least explored, and quite obviously the biggest, even though only 10 percent of the state’s population lives here. (You could put two of each of the other islands within these 4,000 square miles and still have room left over.) It’s also still growing: In about 100,000 years, Lo‘ihi, an underwater island near Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, will peek above the ocean’s surface as more and more lava spews from Kilauea and piles up. It has over 250 miles of coastline but the fewest swimming beaches.

It’s a place where a great king was born (North Kohala) and died (Kailua-Kona); a place where royalty played and worshiped and plotted the unification of the islands; a place thick with royal fishponds, royal heiaus (temples), royal footpaths, and ancient petroglyphs.

She is stark with black lava and white coral, black sand beaches, and snow-capped mountaintops. Moonscapes and desert landscapes blanket her dry side, while rain forests and jungles cut a swath across her wet side.

The main tourist centers on the Kohala Coast and the Kona Coast (and Kailua-Kona in particular) are a separate reality, a vacation playland that diverts most visitors from the natural and cultural richness of other regions. To experience the Big Island’s bounty, you have to explore farther afield, and you must probe with patience. When you do, you’ll learn precious secrets about the enduring spirit of old Hawai‘i and the Big Island’s coquettish soul.

The volcanoes that formed all the islands are still active here. Before Mount St. Helens and Mount Redoubt erupted, the Mauna Loa and Kilauea peaks on the southern side of the Big Island were the only known live volcanoes in the United States. Unlike explosive cone volcanoes, their eruptions are not violent. They boil over slowly, sending lava snaking toward the sea at a dilatory pace. You can watch the eruptions in safety if you are in the right place at the right time. The lucky will witness one of the most stunning sights of their lives. Typically, however, the Big Island doesn’t make it easy. Mauna Loa erupts just once every few years. Kilauea is much more active, frequently spewing lava from its crater in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. If the lava is flowing, don’t miss it.

The northern half of the island has its own natural wonders, not nearly as well known and even less accessible. On the rainy eastern side of the North Kohala Peninsula, erosion has cut through massive volcanic cliffs to create spectacular valleys such as Waipi‘o and Waimanu.

Waipi‘o (just over the vertical cliff on a 7-mile trail on the Hamakua Coast) and the rest of the Kohala Coast, along with the Kona Coast, are rich in Hawaiian history. Polynesians settled the Big Island first, and for the next 1,400 years, until the 19th century, it was politically and culturally the most important of the islands. It was also the home of King Kamehameha the Great, who first united all of Hawai‘i under his rule. Historic sights from his era and earlier dot the western shore. A few have become tourist attractions, but some are rarely visited. The Mo‘okini Heiau, the temple where Kamehameha was taken for birth rites, is one of the most significant Polynesian ruins in Hawai‘i, yet it is virtually unknown to visitors.

Many Big Island small towns retain strong roots in the past. Bastions of the old ways, they have more authentic character and local personality than any of the dozen or so resort communities. Only Kailua-Kona has been commercially modernized beyond recognition of its former self. Incredibly, that is where the vast majority of tourists spend their time. They are likely to make a day trip to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, and they may zip through a few other spots on an island tour, but mostly they huddle together in one of the most prosaic places on Hawai‘i’s most sublime island. The goddess Pele, from her home in the Kilauea Crater, must roar with laughter at contemporary tourism.

What to do? Where to stay? How to divide your time?

My ideal Hawaiian vacation, when I have time for only one island, is splitting the days between a Kohala Coast resort and a couple of smaller, less expensive places around the island that reflect her native spirit. (Day-tripping around the island from a Kohala Coast resort is possible, but, frankly, too much time is eaten up en route to wherever you’re headed.)

The Kohala Coast, where the Big Island’s only long, wide, sandy beaches are located, is lined with superlative and expensive resorts. Resort development on this shore, Hawai‘i’s premier upscale destination, has been the most sensitive and impressive in the state. If you can afford one of these resorts, by all means, do it. Do beware, though, of being lulled into missing the rest of the Big Island.

Take day trips from here into North Kohala and Kailua-Kona. Then spend 
 a night in Waimea (a well-to-do town of cowboys, cows, and prime dining) or somewhere along the Hamakua Coast (where agriculture reigns). Or spend a night in a smaller South Kona town like Holualoa and explore that region without having to backtrack too much. Then spend a couple of nights in Hilo (a delightfully welcoming town) or Volcano Village (rife with vacation rentals on the edge of the National Park).

The Big Island’s soul is coquettish and her secrets are elusive, but they are definitely worth seeking out.