Big Island, Hawaii

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

We are planning a week on the Big Island, and a week at Aulani next summer. I've been doing a lot of research and am so excited for this adventure! My question is...should I spend part of our week on the Big Island on the Kona side, and part of the week on the Hilo side? It seems that would cut down on the driving. We could spend a few days in the Kona area and explore the West side of the island, and then a few days in the Hilo area and explore the East side of the island, notably Volcanoes National Park. It will be my husband and I with our two daughters, who will be 14 and 12 at the time. Any tips in general are appreciated.

 

[jekjones1558]

We are planning a week on the Big Island, and a week at Aulani next summer. I've been doing a lot of research and am so excited for this adventure! My question is...should I spend part of our week on the Big Island on the Kona side, and part of the week on the Hilo side? It seems that would cut down on the driving. We could spend a few days in the Kona area and explore the West side of the island, and then a few days in the Hilo area and explore the East side of the island, notably Volcanoes National Park. It will be my husband and I with our two daughters, who will be 14 and 12 at the time. Any tips in general are appreciated.

Doing both Kona and Hilo will certainly allow for less driving, if you don't mind packing and unpacking an extra time. I would lean towards more time on the Kona side just because the weather in Hilo is so rainy. As you plan check out the flight options to decide which town to do first. I think that there are more options for flights to and from the mainland to/from Kona. There may be a few more interisland options for flights out of Kona also.

DSis and I are doing Kona and Aulani in a few months but we are not staying in Hilo. DSis has not been to Hawaii before so the extra driving will give her a chance to do more sightseeing. I also am one who hates split stays. We found a great 2 bedroom oceanfront condo to rent near Kona (thanks, Diane!) so it will be nice to just unpack and enjoy.

Have a great trip. Hawaii is such a paradise!

 

[crisi]

Most rental car companies won't let you take the saddle road - so to get from Kona to Hilo you have to drive AROUND the island.

There are some really cute inns up in Volcano Village for doing the park itself. As a day trip from Kona its a long day. From the U.S. you could fly in direct to Kona, spend two or three days, drive to Hilo, spend a few nights in Volcano National Park, the take an island hopper over to Oahu out of the Hilo airport.

 

[dmunsil]

We stayed 10 days in Kailua-Kona at the Royal Kona (originally the Kona Hilton back in its glory days) and then shifted to the Hilton Waikoloa for 4 days. We loved Kailua-Kona and it was a great jumping-off point for seeing the area. We thought the drive to Hawaii Volcanos National Park was fairly reasonable, but it would have been nice to do what you're suggesting and spend some time near Hilo. We weren't super thrilled with the Hilton Waikoloa. It's a lovely and huge hotel complex, but it's kind of in the middle of nowhere and not well suited for sightseeing. The Waikoloa resorts are really all about the resorts themselves, not so much seeing the big island.

Some stuff we did and really enjoyed:

- Coffee plantation tour at Greenwell farms
- Kona Historical Society Greenwell store
- Snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay (we used Fair Wind and they were great)
- The luau at the Kona Sheraton (we hear the one at the King Kamehameha is also good)
- The Puuhonua (place of refuge) National Historical Park at Honaunau
- Volcanos National Park, obviously, especially the lava tube and the hike down to the cooled lava lake, which is now a huge lava plain. And of course seeing the plume coming from Kilauea
- Driving through and having lunch in the cloud forest area above Kona

Some stuff we wish we had done, and will do when we go back:

- Helicopter tour - so much of the big island is inaccessible except by hiking or back-road driving or helicopter. Clearly you could see a lot of great stuff from the air. And the view of Kilauea would be much better from the air as well.
- Guided trip up to the Mauna Kea summit to see the telescopes. They provide cold-weather gear and take you up in 4WD vehicles to see the view, then go down to a lower altitude to watch the sun set.

There's plenty to see and do. Have fun!

 

[amym2]

We stayed in a b&b in Volcano (Volcano Village Lodge) and found that it was easy to get to both Kona and Hilo from there.

 

[MinnieInMI]

We will be visiting Kona for a week in January and then heading to Aulani for 2 weeks. I'll be watching postings for the island of Hawaii as this is our first visit; we have visited Oahu before, in 2007. We definitely want to visit Volcano National Park and understand it will be alot of drive time, unless we decide to do a 1 night stay near the Park. I guess that would be a possibility.

 

[sissy_ib]

This is what I am doing in May. 4 nights in Kona, 3 close to the volcano. I am already planing on how best to pack. I am thinking ziplock bags with individual outfits so things don't get to messed up. After the big island it is 8 nights at Aulani.

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

We were just there in May. Stayed at the Fairmont on the Kona side. We woke up early (not a problem since we were still on east coast time). We were on the road to Volcano National Park by 8 am. We spent the day and also went up to Mauna Kea. We were back in Kona by 6 pm. Saddle Road is not bad at all. I wouldn't want to drive it in the dark (no lights) but it is completed repaved and smooth (not like it was 10 years ago). We specifically asked at Alamo when we picked up our rental car if we could go on Saddle Road and were told that it's really more of an urban legend about Saddle Road. It used to be horrible, but no longer.

We spent 5 nights on the Big Island and didn't want to have to do a split stay.

 

[wiigirl]

We stayed in a b&b in Volcano (Volcano Village Lodge) and found that it was easy to get to both Kona and Hilo from there.

Us too....it was wonderful.

 

[crisi]

Us too....it was wonderful.

We didn't - I had heard rumors that it could smell sulfurous - and that didn't sound pleasant, but if I had to take the trip again, I'd book just up there and save my beach time for Maui (which is where we did our beach time).

 

[Iamthequeen]

I was on the Big Island in March visiting my db and sil who live at Southpoint, which is about 1/2 way between Kona and Hilo.

We were able to visit Kona - we went to the luau at King Kamehameha - it was fabulous. My sil said they went to the one at the Sheraton and the one at King Kamehameha was better.

Take the time to visit several of the beaches on the Big Island - Hokena and Black Sand Beach especially. If you don't mind hiking you can also vist Green Sand Beach at Southpoint.

We didn't spend too much time in Hilo - we went to the Farmer's Market and to Ken's for lunch.

Then we spent the day at Volcanos National Park. Take the 18 mile road down to the End of the Road - its well worth it.

You can check out my PTR - I have some details and pictures from the Hawaii trip there.

Oh, and a week is not nearly long enough! LOL

Aloha.

 

[Janet Hill]

Some of the most amazing petroglyphs I've ever seen are near the Fairmont on the Big Island.

 

[wcpamotm]

For our trip to Hawaii we, unlike most tourists, planned to spend all four nights there in Hilo. Sure, it's rainier but that rain produces waterfalls and a lushness that is not found on the Kona side.

That trip was cancelled but in recognizing that we would have regretted not having much time to explore the Kona side, we are now intending that our next trip be split evenly.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Most rental car companies won't let you take the saddle road - so to get from Kona to Hilo you have to drive AROUND the island.

That is not true anymore. The saddle road is now quite nice, and even multiple lanes in some spots. Definitely similar to most roads on the mainland with the exception that there is a lot of "up and down". Rental companies no longer make that stipulation.

We stayed in a condo in Kona and drove to Hilo for the volcano tour. The road in from the south west side of the island was closed, so the saddle road was the only way to get there. We took it at least 3 times when we were driving around the island, and were amazed at how much better it was than our previous trip. Even THAT trip was much better than our first trip where we were advised NOT to take it. That first time it was basically a one lane road that was used for two directions. Now it's a two lane road with traffic in each lane going one way, but there are still a couple of one lane bridges to watch for.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Just wanted to add, that the Big Island is our favorite, and Kona is our favorite destination on the Big Island. Our trip this year we stayed in a condo on the South side of Kona where the lanai litteraly hung out over the waves! In fact, we loved it so much I think we convinced Jean to stay there next year! I found it on VRBO.

http://www.vrbo.com/84879 is the link to where we stayed.

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[jekjones1558]

Just wanted to add, that the Big Island is our favorite, and Kona is our favorite destination on the Big Island. Our trip this year we stayed in a condo on the South side of Kona where the lanai litteraly hung out over the waves! In fact, we loved it so much I think we convinced Jean to stay there next year! I found it on VRBO.

http://www.vrbo.com/84879 is the link to where we stayed.

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Yup. Assuming no health issues come up for DH, my DSis and I will be in this condo starting Jan. 31. Fingers crossed. DSis has never been to Hawaii and I so hope that this trip does actually happen. Glad to hear that the saddle road is so much better. Haven't been on it for a long time.

 

[Anal Annie]

We are planning a week on the Big Island, and a week at Aulani next summer. I've been doing a lot of research and am so excited for this adventure! My question is...should I spend part of our week on the Big Island on the Kona side, and part of the week on the Hilo side? It seems that would cut down on the driving. We could spend a few days in the Kona area and explore the West side of the island, and then a few days in the Hilo area and explore the East side of the island, notably Volcanoes National Park. It will be my husband and I with our two daughters, who will be 14 and 12 at the time. Any tips in general are appreciated.

Personally I don't think I would change resorts. I don't think it's worth it as your time is so valuable - why waste it packing? I would just stay on the Kona side where there are more options to stay. True the island is big so there is a lot of driving - but it's all great sightseeing to us.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Personally I don't think I would change resorts. I don't think it's worth it as your time is so valuable - why waste it packing? I would just stay on the Kona side where there are more options to stay. True the island is big so there is a lot of driving - but it's all great sightseeing to us.

I totally agree. In February, we ended up going over the saddle road a total of 4 times!! One of those was only to go half way though, when we went up to the observatory.

 

[TinkandGoofy'sMom]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I think we'll just stay put on the Kona side. Can hardly wait!