I love the Big Island. But, before you visit any of the islands, check out the Hawaii Revealed series by Wizard Publications. It's an amazing travel guide for each of the major islands written by an author who lives on the islands.

It has been my experience that non reving to Hawaii from the West Coast of the United States is easier when you try the direct flights to islands OTHER THAN OAHU. HNL can be very difficult and I've seen standby lists 50+ long at times.