Stayed 7 nights at The Kona Tiki on Alii Drive-a great bargain for the price. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. We were worried about traffic noise but it was never a problem-couldn't hear much of anything over the sound of the crashing waves! 
Sunset views from the pool area were great-one night we were BBQ'ing a skip jack tuna that my husband had caught(went with Seawife II)out by the pool, the sun was setting on one side and there was a rainbow on the other (mountain) side of the road-doesn't get much better-oh yea, also drinking volcano wine... I would highly recommend this location if you can give up some amenities(phone, TV, air conditioning-which we didn't miss given the delightful breezes). Coolers, beach mats, chairs and ice available at no charge.
Did a lot of cooking ourselves but did have good meals at Huggos, Sibu Cafe and Ocean Seafood. Great sandwich(huge)and baked goods at Na'alehu Fruit stand on the way to the volcano. The pineapples, mangos and papayas were so delicious. Our favorite drink-blenderize cut up mixed fruit, rum, mai tai mix and ice-yum!!
Drove over to the volcano-twice!! It was quite a drive but was very much worth it. Went three days apart and both "shows", while very different were spectacular!!
Took the Fairwind II tour(4 1/2 hour AM) to the Capt Cook Monument-had a great time and would recommend. Snorkeling was great-also great at Place of Refuge.
Also good snorkeling at Kahalu'u Park. Had an interesting experience there-we were snorkeling about 75-100 yds off shore when a very loud siren started wailing. We (and the other tourists) looked at each other and started swimming for all we were worth to shore-thought there must be sharks in the water...after about 3 minutes (it seemed like an eternity) it was announed that it was some kind of a drill...we laugh now about how silly we must have looked but it was truly frightening at the time!!!
Had a great afternoon at Hapuna Beach-never could get into Mauna Kea. Then on to Kauai
Big Island/Kauai Trip
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Charleston, Savannah and more cheesy grits please
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Hill-Crest "Museum"
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Please critique our plan...
- 22 time for a new countdown to Hawaii
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Great report - thanks!
Brings back memories...
Kauai continued....
Stayed 6 nights at the Kiahuna Plantation on the south shore. We had signed up for the $99.00 "construction rate" in buildings 40-42. When we got there, those were full so we got slightly upgraded to building 10-a very nice one bedroom end unit condo. You could hear the large equipment quite clearly all along that side of the resort whenever they were using it. The noise was only between 8 and 5 (M-Sat) and we didn't find it to be a problem-not noticeable from the beach. I probably wouldn't have been happy if I had been paying a high rate. The resort and staff were great-the beach was wonderful-had fun boogie boarding for the first time! Didn't miss the air conditioning-ceiling fans and lovely breezes were quite sufficient. 3 of the mornings we were woken up between 3:30 and 4:30 AM by the roosters-that was much more annoying than the construction!!
Enjoyed the drive up Waimea canyon-great views. The best was from Pu'u O Kila lookout(the very end of the road).
Enjoyed snorkeling at Ke'e beach and the beach by The Beach House-also saw a monk seal there that was basking in the sun.
Took the HoloHolo 7 hr trip to Ni'ihau-views up the Napali coast were specatcular. Snorkeling was great-saw another monk seal(this time in the water with us!) and some reef sharks in addition to lots of "regular" fish...
I would recommend the trip if you really like being out on the ocean and are not at all prone to seasickness. Neither of us got sick but at least a quarter of the peole on our trip were sick to some degree. The ride back was quite rough-much rougher than any catamaran we had been on and even rougher that ocean rafting. The staff said this was a typical day... We did have a lot of fun and would do it again.
Used the BBQ's for lots of meals-grilled fresh fish was superb. Had great pizza at Brick Oven, excellent teryaki burger and marionberry shake at Ono-Car burger on the way back from the North Shore.
We had a great 2 weeks in Hawaii-no matter how long you stay, it never seems like enough...
Kauai continued....
Stayed 6 nights at the Kiahuna Plantation on the south shore. We had signed up for the $99.00 "construction rate" in buildings 40-42. When we got there, those were full so we got slightly upgraded to building 10-a very nice one bedroom end unit condo. You could hear the large equipment quite clearly all along that side of the resort whenever they were using it. The noise was only between 8 and 5 (M-Sat) and we didn't find it to be a problem-not noticeable from the beach. I probably wouldn't have been happy if I had been paying a high rate. The resort and staff were great-the beach was wonderful-had fun boogie boarding for the first time! Didn't miss the air conditioning-ceiling fans and lovely breezes were quite sufficient. 3 of the mornings we were woken up between 3:30 and 4:30 AM by the roosters-that was much more annoying than the construction!!
Enjoyed the drive up Waimea canyon-great views. The best was from Pu'u O Kila lookout(the very end of the road).
Enjoyed snorkeling at Ke'e beach and the beach by The Beach House-also saw a monk seal there that was basking in the sun.
Took the HoloHolo 7 hr trip to Ni'ihau-views up the Napali coast were specatcular. Snorkeling was great-saw another monk seal(this time in the water with us!) and some reef sharks in addition to lots of "regular" fish...
I would recommend the trip if you really like being out on the ocean and are not at all prone to seasickness. Neither of us got sick but at least a quarter of the peole on our trip were sick to some degree. The ride back was quite rough-much rougher than any catamaran we had been on and even rougher that ocean rafting. The staff said this was a typical day... We did have a lot of fun and would do it again.
Used the BBQ's for lots of meals-grilled fresh fish was superb. Had great pizza at Brick Oven, excellent teryaki burger and marionberry shake at Ono-Char burger on the way back from the North Shore.
We had a great 2 weeks in Hawaii-no matter how long you stay, it never seems like enough...
Sorry for the double posting and the typos's-I'll blame it on jet-lag!! Forgot to mention that we were pleasantly surprised with Alamo- signed up before hand for the Quicksilver program. Had very quick and smooth check in/out on both islands. Got good rates of about 170.00/wk for a Chevy Cavalier both times.
Thanks for the nice report, laurie. I've wondered how the Kona Tiki was - the rates are incredible so it's nice to know it's a good place to stay. We'll be doing the same trip in January (one week on the Big Island, one week Kauai).
Julie,
The Kona Tiki is easy to recommend!! If you do stay there, try to get a 3rd story room-best view and you can leave the sliding glass doors open. Our room also had a kitchenette which was handy. If you are thinking of staying there, probably want to book ASAP-I hear they fill up quickly as they have lots of repeat customers. Let me know if you have any specific questions. Have a great trip!Laurie