Changing plans somewhat …
Plan trip for June 2025.
Will be my husband and myself (76) our daughter (52) her two daughters (20 & 18). Husband was stationed there in 1976 and want to show daughter where she lived.

Thinking now of flying from Nashville TN to Hilo to see volcano. Stay 3 days there then fly into Oahu and stay 4 days there. Would rent car to tour island ourselves. Would like hotel with ocean view. Would not have to be in Waikiki.

It’s good you stated your origin airport. Honolulu has a surprisingly large number of nonstops from around the country, then Maui (OGG) has the most. I see at least one reasonable one-stop to Kona on the west coast of Big Island, but Hilo looks to be a 7 am departure and 3 flights in the 15 hour journey range. As long as you know this going into this itinerary.


Just throwing this out there but it would be possible to base your whole trip in Kihei (Maui) and fly to Oahu on a long day trip to see the sights you want to. Tours do this every day for Pearl Harbor. You could fly to Maui from Nashville with 2 flights fairly easily.

There is no way to know if the volcano on the Big Island will still be erupting in June. It has paused for now.

Hilo does not really have so-called ocean view lodging (thanks to the tsunami of 1946). It is also not a good airport for direct flights to the mainland, as far as I know there are none. KOA (Kona does have a few). For interisland flights, HNL to ITO is really the only option, either on Hawaiian/Alaska or Southwest. One thing to be aware of is that Southwest is not reliably on time for their interisland flights.

If your husband wants to tour Oahu, of course you should spend several nights there. Realistically, most lodging on Oahu is in Waikiki or in greater Honolulu (such as in Kapolei).

Thank you for your suggestions.

Would like hotel with ocean view. Would not have to be in Waikiki.

The majority of ocean view hotels are in Waikiki. On the beach there you find: Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hale Koa (military), two Outriggers, Sheraton, Halekulani, Royal Hawaiian and Moana Surfrider. There are only 8 hotels on the beach on Waikiki.

Outside Waikiki you can look at Kahala resort, the resorts at Ko Olina, or up on the North Shore like Turtle Bay.

You don't have to be located "on the beach" to have an ocean view.

Search on Expedia (etc) for 5 adults for your dates, you should find a few options with double queens and a sofa bed, with ocean view, for example Embassy Suites. It's worth asking for advice on TripAdvisor after you've narrowed it down. There are a few people there with experience traveling with families.

I am a big fan of staying in Volcano Village at a rental. It is a great location to explore the park late at night and early in the morning before day trippers. Oceanview is a difficult order.

In case you have not seen this thread

Stay in Hilo or HVNP?

Thanks