Another Big Island itinerary to critique
 

Our first trip to the Big Island. We are late 50 year old couple. What do you think? Thanks!

Wednesday June 6
arrive Hilo at 8:00
Stay at Bay house Bed & Breakfast

Thursday June 7
Rainbow Falls early
Drive Banyan Drive and head to Kapaho pools
Be at Volcano Village Lodge at 3:00
Head to Chain of Craters Road
Hike to see the lava
Supper at Thai Thai through takeout when we get back

Thursday June 8
Hike Kilauea Iki trail
Drive Crater Rim Road
Supper at Kilauea Lodge

Friday June 9
Up early, be at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens at 9:00
Leave Gardens at 11:00
Stop for a quick bite at “what’s shakin”
If time go to Akaka Falls
Be at Na’alapa Stable by 12:30 for horseback riding in Waipio Valley
Leave at 3:30 enjoying the countryside
Drive to Kanaloa at Kona Resort
Stop at Walmart & Safeway on the way
Have supper at Keauhou Shopping Center

Saturday June 10
Snorkeling @ Kahaluu Beach Park
Chill out for rest of day after 3 busy days

Sunday June 11
Snorkeling at Kealakekua Bay by Fairwind II @ 9:00. Be back 1:30
Down time at the condo

Monday June 12
Drive down to Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park
See Painted Church
Visit Bayview Coffee Farm
Lunch at the Coffee Shack
Down time at the condo

Tuesday June 13
Leave condo and head up to Hapuna Prince in Kohala
Have lunch at some nice Kona restaurant on the way
Slowly make our way to Hapuna Beach Resort; check in at 3:00
Be at Paniolo Greens for Mauna Kea Stargazing tours pickup at 4:15

Wednesday June 12
Beach day enjoy Hapuna Beach and Mauna Kea Beach
Supper at Cafe Pesto

Leave for Oahu; 11:30 flight

I think you travel differently than I do.

I don't care for all these "appointments" you seem to have set up. On June 7, I think you should drive the Crater rim road. Then do the lava hike on the next day. Otherwise, you are duplicating the drive.

MarleneSusan, I think four (if I count correctly) different lodgings in seven nights is way too many for the size of this island. I would stay in a maximum of two places. You will spend an awful lot of time packing and moving ...

Hi, thanks for the responses. I know it seems like we're pretty programed with all our excursions, but we do want to see all we can because most likely this is it for us for the BI. But once we get to the west side much of the day, I have us not doing much in the afternoon. I'm sure we'll do the Kilauea Iki hike as we drive around the Crater Rim Rd. I agree we have too many lodgings. Our problem is though we arrive so late on Wednesday night and we didn't want to arrive at our B&B in Volcano at 9:30, so we thought we would spend one night in Hilo, see that a little bit and try to see Puna. Do you think we could drive down to Puna and the tidepools and be back at Volcano by about 3:00? We would have loved to stay at the Hapuna for a week, but the budget wouldn't let us, so we decided to stay down in south Kona so we could do the things there without being so caught up in traffic and then splurge 2 nights at HBR.

Are you planning on snorkeling in the Kapoho tide pools? If you're just going to look at them, not too impressive. They look like big puddles out on the lava shoreline. But they have lovely coral and lot of fish, if you snorkle. Also snorkeling is much, much better at high tide.
You certainly can get to Volcano by 3 pm - it would take maybe 45 min-1 hour to drive to Vacationland(where the tidepools are located) and maybe 1-1 1/2 hrs to drive from there to Volcano.

Hey, Thanks, for the info, Martym. I think we will skip Kapoho. Maybe we have enough going on that day with the night walk at the Volcano. My husband wants to skip Waipio Valley, but I think it should be experienced. We're driving from Volcano to south Kona in that same day and going to the Hawaii Botanical Gardens along the way and maybe the Waipio excursion would be too much. What do you think?

I'd suggest you go to Akaka Falls on the way to the Botanical Gardens. At the falls the trail to the left gets you to the best viewpoint and if you turn around and come back the same way this would take less than half an hour in total (maybe a little more if you are slow or it's slippery). The gardens are lovely and well worth spending at least 2hours at.
Waipio is worth stopping at to view the overlook but personally I'd skip the horseback ride. There's a great beach at the bottom but you wouldn't get to enjoy this by horseback riding. Maybe just head to Kona a little earlier an enjoy some beach time before supper at sunset.
The Place of Refuge (June 12th) is best seen early (before crowds) or at dusk IMO ... more likely to see turtles there and the atmosphere is wonderful at dusk. Maybe have a late start that day and head for the coffee tour, followed by lunch and then get to POR.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the BI!

Maybe we should skip Waipio Valley because it seems it would take 45 minutes just to spur off the main road. Maybe we could take the day at Hapuna Beach and spend the morning going to Pololu lookout and hike down. Thoughts? Thanks, Highflyer!

Polulu lookout has great views and it's an easier hike than Waipio. You can spend some time at the beach at the bottom but watch the tide as we almost lost our shoes! We waded into the water but the day we were there it was too rough to swim (November).

We've been to BI twice; first for 12 nights and the second time for 7... you do have a packed itinerary and if anything I'd skip snorkeling at Kahaluu or get there early before the crowds. We prefered snorkeling at Two Steps but Kealakekua Bay was best of all!

Just see how the day goes on June 9th and fit in Waipio if you feel you have the time (skip it if it's cloudy, raining or if you're running late)

Hawi is a nice place for lunch after hiking at Polulu.

I think you should go to the Waipio Valley overlook --it is maybe 15 minutes off highway 19. You could also do Hawi and Pololu in the afternoon. (Then you could compare the two valleys). To go to Pololu, take highway 250 just west of Waimea up over the Kohala Mts. to Hawi (a gorgeous drive). Then it's a short drive to the Pololu overlook. The Bamboo Restaurant in Hawi is a traditional lunch spot http://www.bamboorestaurant.info/. On your return take Highway 270 along the coast of the Kohala peninsula to Hapuna.

Thanks for the replies. These are great suggestions. I am backing off my plan, so more time to relax. So if it is bad weather or it's getting late, then skip Waipio. But if the weather is good and we have enough time, go to Waipio and enjoy the view from the top. Then drive to Pololu and hike down in and then head south to Kona. We are staying at Kanaloa at Kona which I think is very close to Kahaluu Beach. Also we (me) are pretty novice snorkelers, so I might feel more comfortable getting started at Kahaluu. Do people get seasick on the Fairwinds trip? Any more suggestions? Thanks!