Aulani and Island Hopping Advice

[skylynx]

We just bought plane tickets to Hawaii arriving in Honolulu Dec 2 and heading home to Denver Dec 12, with the general plan to stay at Aulani the first four nights of our trip, then visit the Big Island for three nights, then return to Aulani for three nights. We will have a rental car (actually, 3 rental cars!) We plan to fly to Kona on the Big Island as we want to see some things in Kona, visit the Kona Brewery, and most of all, visit Volcano National Park. These are bucket list items for us. So the current idea, based on the Hawaiian Airlines flight schedules, is to get into Kona before noon, visit the historical Hawaiian site with the tiki-style carvings whose name I couldn’t begin to say or spell (we are huge tikiphiles) and the Kona Brewery then stay as far south of Kona as we can. The following day we plan to leave early, and make the long drive to Volcano National Park, and we have one night booked already in the little village of Volcano so we can see (weather permitting) the lava glow show at night and just be a few miles drive away. The last day we will probably go back into the park for a little while, then make the drive (2.5-3 hours) back to Kona and stay one more night and possibly take in a luau.

We are not packing tons of stuff and it is just the two of us, so the back and forth and car pickup/dropoff doesn’t bother us as we really like the idea of experiencing Aulani for a couple days then coming back to it for the last few to just enjoy the resort, which will be more relaxing and less adventuring. We thought about flying into Hilo instead of Kona, for the Big Island portion of the trip, which is way closer to Volcano Natl Park, but there are a number of things we really want to see around Kona, so we’ve factored in the long drive which we know you should make in daylight and in December, daylight will run out fast.

So, questions for other Aulani island hoppers…how bad is the traffic on a weekday morning leaving Aulani to get to the airport? The flights from Honolulu to Kona are almost hourly, but we want to know if leaving REALLY early (like 6) would be an advantage traffic wise on the day we island hop.

Has anyone stayed at a place you really liked in Kona? Anything on the ocean is predictably expensive but other than the Four Seasons at $600 and up per night, even the expensive ones get dogged in Trip Advisor reports with complaints of upcharged views not being views at all, moldy rooms, ancient furniture and beds, etc. So if anyone has had a good experience, I’d be grateful to learn about it! We did look at B&Bs but even though the one-night rates were temptingly low, there seemed to always be an $85 “cleaning fee” and a $17 “booking fee” making the one night rate higher than the Royal Kona and similar places. Would be ok for a multi-day stay, but the fees made no sense at all for a single night.

Also, any hoppers that left Aulani and came back…anyone know if it is possible for bell services to hold our one big suitcase for three nights so we can just take the two small carry-ons on the hopper trip?

Just some initial planning questions…thanks for anyone who feels like chiming in!

 

[wanderlust7]

We've stayed at the Wyndham Kona Hawaiian Resort. No ocean view, but the unit was nice (not Aulani nice or anything, but nice). It's walkable to downtown Kailua-Kona (no sidewalk though). Island Lava Java is great for breakfast.

If you like snorkeling, Kealakekua Bay (Captain Cook's monument) is amazing and night time snorkeling with manta rays is unique and memorable (even better if you scuba).

 

[skylynx]

OMG wanderlust7, I didn't know about the manta rays at night...will definitely look into that!

 

[nkereina]

I can't speak to the Big Island at all, but as far as your bell services question, I would suspect they'd hold the luggage for you until you came back. They will hold packages that arrive ahead of your stay, so I don't see why holding luggage would be any different.

 

[Cdn Gal]

We loved the Big Island more than Oahu! There is so much more to see and do which really surprised us. We stayed at Wyndham Sea Cliff and it was beautiful. We saw dolphins swimming from our lanai every morning. There is much more to do in Kauila Kona than in Hilo. I second the Lava Java for breakfast, it was amazing!!! There are tons of amazing beaches and snorkelling places to stay on your trip from Kailua Kona to the Volcano. Try and eat at the restaurant that is at the Volcano and you can get a really cool experience of watching the volcano in the distance while you eat. Do the crater hike, it's worth it- Mantra Ray swim, and snorkelling at the Capatain Cook monument which is voted as one of the best places to snorkel at in the world is also a must do! We rented a convertible for both islands and it made all of the difference too. To be honest, Aulani is so closed off to everything else, that you don't really see a whole lot unless you tour around. The traffic first thing in the morning shouldn't be that bad- 6 am.

 

[Cdn Gal]

Become a member of Hawaiian airlines- it's free and you get upgrades, pay less for your luggage etc etc. When we go back to Hawaii, we are going to stay on the Big Island, as there was just so much for us to do in comparison to the other islands- but we are more natural wanderers to begin with. You are going to have an amazing time! Enjoy!

 

[Aviator621]

A few thoughts for what it is worth--Yes, the traffic is horrendous at 6AM; lived there for 4 years and had to commute through it. You can go to Google Map Traffic and plug in projected time of driving and it will show you typical traffic for that time of day; unless Sat or Sun, plan on 90 min drive at least until rush hour is over around 9-10.

For staying on the Big Island in Kona, I think your schedule is very aggressive, and you might want to consider a longer stay. You can spends days in Volcanoes and not see everything, and the lava hike is unpredictable and often challenging. If you have the option, I would land in Honolulu and transfer straight to the Big Island first day, and spend 4-5 days there. THEN come back and relax at Aulani, saving an extra travel day in the process.

 

[longboard55]

my thoughts on island hopping, the problem is a mid day flight tends to waste your whole day. Also consider around noon the airports are a disaster. What we like to do is either travel early or very late, like a 8am flight or after 6. Much lighter crowds and it does not blow the whole day. Yes you have to get up early but we can be at the pool in Maui by 10am that way, or we can play until about 3 and catch the flight after a full day of fun.

 

[skylynx]

We've booked our inter-island Hawaiian Airlines flights to the Big Island. We have an 8:40 flight to Kona that gets in (if on time) at 9:42. No baggage to claim. We hope to be in the rental car and moving by about 11, which gives us enough time to do what we hope to do the first day, all within 20 miles of the airport area. Three days later our return flight to Honolulu leaves at 1:00 (we are staying at the Royal Kona the first and last nights, so no huge morning rush to get to the airport). If the flight back to Honolulu arrives even remotely on time just before 2, with no baggage to claim again, we may be fortunate enough to get our Alamobile and be heading back to Aulani slightly ahead of the rush hour traffic and around the time of the 4 pm check in. I know it's a bit of moving around, but having been corporate travel warriors earlier in our working lives, that does not phase us, especially if it means we get a chance to experience a couple things on the Big Island that are really important to us, and we still have time on the last night to hang out at Don the Beachcomber's at the Royal Kona with free Mai Tai's in hand!

We both have TSA-Pre, so if Honolulu (and maybe even Kona) has that feature, it might help speed things along through security.

We've made all three of our Alamo car reservations, and were pleasantly surprised we are averaging under $40 a day including all taxes for the 4 days + 3 days + 3 days rentals. I know, a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong, but we will keep our expectations moderate and hopefully most things will go off at or near to what we'd planned. If not, well, we're still in Hawaii instead of at work, and we'll get where we want to be eventually!

 

[JoeA]

I am in Kona now, actually. We are staying a few days on this side and then driving to Volcano for a nigh and then off to Kaual, followed by one night at Aulani.

Instead if driving back to Kona, we're flying out of Hilo. Much closer and lots of flight options to/through Honolulu.

 

[skylynx]

We considered returning through Hilo but have some things we want to do in Kona we won't get to the first night. We have reservations at a little place in Volcano called My Island Inn. Hope you are having an amazing time!