Tongtong

I saw the similar topics before, bear with me. I'm travelling with two kids, 2 and 7 years old.
We will be landed on KONA side the first day. Plan to drive to Hilo side the second day,
Wondering how much time we should plan to stay on the Hilo side

1) Whether we should plan two nights stay at the Kilauea lodge or just one night?

2) Is Volcano Village centrally located, if we want to check out PUNA, boiling pot and other interesting places on the East side, other than the Volcano National Park?

3) With the time constraints- 7 full days on the island and kids in the part, how should we split the days between resorts areas and Hilo side of island?

4) What's your recommendation for choosing the resorts or vacation rental for family; I am mainly checking Hilton, Fairmont or Fairway Villas

5) Any suggestions on the Island Itinerates are highly appreciated

Thanks in advance

First time to BI

wbpiii

I would split the trip two days on the east side and five on the west. I would do a day at the Volcano and a day around hilo. The rest I would spend at the Hilton. The hilton is my least favor but it is great for children. The Hilton is a fine resort, it just not very Hawaiian. The Fairmont is nicer but not a kid friendly. Gotta go with Hilton on this one

Try to minimize stays. So plan on two night in either hilo or Volcano and five at the hilton.

china_cat

I was going to say pretty much exactly what wbpiii said. you really don't want to change hotels more than once if it can be avoided, so I would either do the east side immediately on arrival, or do it at the end.

Volcano Village is not a bad location. It's only about 45 minutes from there to Lava Trees and Puna. Maybe another 30 minutes to Hilo and the Boiling Pots and Rainbow falls.

Definitely try to include Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens. Its gorgeous. 20 minutes or so north of Hilo, you may do it on your "exploring Hilo" day, or maybe on your way back to Waikoloa if you drive the northern route. And definitely take the northern route at least once, on your trip to or from the East side. The Hamakua coast drive is gorgeous, as is a stop at the Waipio valley overlook.

iowamom

We just got back from this exact trip on Sunday - my husband, my 7 year old DD and me. We flew in to Honolulu on a Thursday, then to Hilo on Saturday morning. Stayed two nights in Hilo and then drove to Kona on Monday and stayed there for five nights. Then flew out of Kona - worked well for us because we didn't have to drive back to where we started. We paid a little extra for a one-way car rental. The inter-island flights on Hawaiian Air are one-way anyways so it didn't matter going in and out of different airports.

We spent the first day wandering around Hilo and then the next day we spent at Volcano National Park and the southeast area of the island. The following day (Mon) we drove to Kona via Waimea and made lots of stops along the way. We had four full days in Kona (Tues - Fri) which worked well. Some relaxing time at the pool, beach and snorkeling and some time driving around different places. We rented a 2 bedroom condo at Sea Village in Kona via VRBO.

I am putting together a trip report and will post it when it's done... but am happy to answer any questions.

Tongtong

. Any recommendations the driving routes from Kona to Volcano Village, and also coming back?
Staying which area is more convenient for that two days- Volcano area vs. Hilo?

Many thanks for sharing your experiences

martym

There are two choices--the northern route and the southern route. Each are approximately the same distance and take approximately the same amount of time-2 1/2 hours.

The northern route from Kona to Volcano goes through Waimea (Parker Ranch country) to Honoka'a (take a short detour to see Waipio Valley from the overlook) then along the Hamakua coast to Hilo then south to Volcano.

The southern route takes you by Punalu'u Beach (black sand and turtles)around the southern end of the island and up through south Kona--coffee country--then past Kailua Kona and on to the Kohala Coast--where you are staying.

tlangenbach

We spent 10 days on the Big Island and though my kids were older, they did love the pools at the Hilton. We just relaxed, and rented a car for a few days and drove the entire island (which we always like to do). One of their favorites was on our drive to the volcano Natl park we stopped at the black sand beach... it wasn't the sand, but the giant turtles that were so amazing. We sat and watched them for a long time, and I think your kids would love that. The drive north was beautiful, and hard to believe that you were still on the same island. a bit long, but my kids didn't mind. We stopped for ice cream, etc, and it was neat to see the ranches up north. There is a park, and I don't know the name, near hilo that is historic with native villages. I will look it up - we snorkeled there (just outside the gates) and the kids liked the park. I recommend it for the coral, wooden carvings and native huts, etc.
We liked the big island - think you will too. Have fun.

china_cat

I was just reading about the current nighttime lava activity, and it seems right now there is not much to see at Kalapana. The most interesting nighttime viewing appears to be the glow at the Halema'uma'u crater inside Volcanoes National Park. So if that is something that interests you, then Volcano Village is probably more convenient.

Otherwise, I'm not sure it really matters much.

charnees

Buy "The Big Island revealed" (known as the blue book) for all the details about the island. Some people don't like it, but we found its info to be excellent.

I agree that Waikoloa Hilton is your best choice with the kids, but it's also good that you will get a real taste of Hawaii on the Hilo side first, so you don't think the Hilton is Hawaii.

Try to get all the way up north on the west side to Hawi for another nice day in rural Hawaii. Eat at Bamboo and get some Tropical Dreams ice cream across the street.

Sapphire

We have been to the Big Island twice with our kids - when they were a bit older than yours. I agree with the advice to spend much more of your time on the west side of the island than the Hilo part. We stayed at the Waikoloa Bay Village the entire time and did day trips from there, but our children were older (and were contented to read or listen to music when we were driving back home). We tried out several different beaches and never used the resort's pools....

We also drove up into the Waipio Valley where some went horseback riding and the rest of us went for a wagon ride tour of the area. The Waimea (Parker Ranch area) was beautiful and so different from the black lava areas of the west coast. There is a wonderful restaurant up there (or at least there was) and we all enjoyed eating there.

We went to Hilo and all the way down to the Volcano National Park once. If I were doing it again, I might skip that part but if this is your one time to visit the Big Island, I could see wanting to "see it all." Just leave plenty of time for relaxing on the beautiful beaches and watching the sun set.

BTW, if you haven't ever been to Kaui, you might want to go there sometime. After spending time on Maui, the Big Island, Oahu, and Kaui, it is Kaui that my kids want to visit again for its great beauty, etc. My husband appreciates a good golf course and the resort life, so he likes them all.

Hope you have a great trip!

Pegontheroad

I second China_cat's recommendation of the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens. I thought it was totally cool.

andrews98682

The Hilton is a massive, Disney-esque resort, which comes with positives and negatives. The positives: there are tons of activities, huge pools, a real wow factor. The problem is it could easily take you a half hour to get from your room to the pool. Also, there's no beach.

I stayed at the Marriott Waikoloa last year and loved it. It was more managable and it had a great beach, although I wasn't traveling with kids. Then again, the kids that were there seemed to be having a good time.