Gerrit van der Plas is the founder and editor of Love Big Island, a Hawaiʻi travel guide focused on research-driven trip planning, local recommendations, and responsible tourism. He lives in Volcano, on the edge of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, and runs Love Hawaiʻi Guides, Inc. together with Joey, who was born and raised on Hawaiʻi Island.
Gerrit’s parents visited from the Netherlands in October 2025. We took them to ʻAkaka Falls on day one. They had never seen a 442-foot waterfall. Their reaction confirmed the write-up.
A Research-Driven Approach
Before starting Love Big Island, Gerrit worked as a professional astronomer, where research required working with large observational datasets and communicating results across both technical and public audiences. That work depended on structured data reduction, careful comparison with existing scientific literature, and clear documentation of uncertainty and assumptions.
Those same standards shape how this site is produced: information is based on primary sources where available (official agencies, operators, and published data) and supplemented by recent, first-hand verification when conditions change faster than published material. The goal is to ensure travel guidance is traceable, consistent, and grounded in verifiable inputs rather than aggregated or unverified claims.
Credentials & Community
Gerrit has held the Hawaiʻi Destination Specialist & Expert certification from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority since 2023. He is Moderator of r/BigIsland as /u/lovebigisland, and also built the site’s trip cost calculator, which estimates a Hawaiʻi budget from real daily rates instead of national averages.
As editor, Gerrit maintains the Big Island guides himself and reviews the Maui, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi guides written by contributing writer Will McGough. Every guide shows the date it was last updated. Read more about how we work in our editorial policy, or meet the whole team on the about page.