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Back from Hawaii - B&B's and Military Camps

Just back from 2 weeks in Hawaii, we loved it, weather was great. Just to be a bit different, we stayed at a B&B on the Kona coast on the B.I., and another one near Kalaheo on Kauai - also (might be of interest to military people) at Bellows AFS beach cabin on Oahu and at the Kileaua (Volcano) Military Camp on the B.I. Would be pleased to give further details if anyone is interested.

Dear Sue, I'm planning a 10 day trip to Hawaii for next January. I would like to get more details on those B&Bs you stayed at and also -if+when you get a chance- any other kind of advice on Hawaii. I 'd prefer to stay at B&Bs rather than at large hotels. Ideally, I would like to visit a couple of Islands -which ones would you suggest? Thanks/Grazie PM Mazzadi, Florence, Italy

Sue I have stayed on Bellows airforce base, do those families have it made stationed there or what? I think that is my favorite beach on Oahu. Do any night swimming? Also stayed at the Cabins near Kilauea. I think I was ready to join the military after visiting these places, so cheap and if you have been away for a while it is a nice piece of home.

Peter, I loved the Big Island and Kauai but it all depends on what you want. We like a variety of things - beaches, golf, snorkelling, walking - but we like a lot of peace and quiet. If you want a more lively time I'm guessing you should look at Maui which we didn't get time to visit. On the Big Island the B&B was the Areca Palms up in the hills above the Captain Cook monument area. Their website is www.konabedandbreakfast.com. I can really recommend it. The rooms (4) are spotlessly clean with bathrooms, the people are lovely, the breakfasts amazing. Only possible drawback (though it didn't worry us at all)is that they serve a sit-down breakfast at 8 a.m. - some people might find that inflexible. We enjoyed the chance to chat to the hosts and the other guests. On Kauai we stayed at the Bamboo Jungle between Kalaheo and Koloa. Their website is kauai-bedandbreakfast.com. This wasn't really a B&B, more like a mini-apartment. There were kitchen facilities - coffee and fresh fruit provided for the mornings. The great thing about this one was the garden with pool and hot tub. The one disadvantage was that the 3 guest rooms are close to a fairly busy road. The hosts issued us with earplugs to prevent the roosters waking us up (there are crowing roosters everywhere on Kauai) but they were useful to keep out the traffic noise too. Anyway you will find pictures of both places on the websites. We found them in Frommer's Guide which also lists quite a few other B&B's, so if you can get hold of that it might help you. Sarah, yes we did enjoy the military places. The Bellows beach camp was full of locally stationed military and their families and friends (it was the Veterans Day weekend) and I agree they are really lucky to be stationed there. We've had to come all the way back to the East Coast! And the Kileaua camp is ideally situated right inside the Volcano National Park.

Hi Sue, We are planning a trip to Oahu in March and I planned on reserving one of the "new" cabins at Bellows. Do you have any tips or suggestions for our trip? Thanks so much, in advance!

ExMil, sorry for the delay in replying, I have tried once or twice but my message has disappeared! The first thing to say is that you need to book your Bellows beach cabin NOW. They fill up real quick. We booked in Feb for Nov and the front row cabins were full - we were in the back row (still great however). We had 3 full days on Oahu. I would rate Pearl Harbor and also the drive up the east coast to the north coast as must-do's. Also climbed Diamond Head, visited Bishop Museum, snorkeled at Hanauma Bay, all worth doing. As well as spending time on our own Bellows Beach of course!

Sue is right about making reservations as soon as possible. I was stationed on Oahu with the Army for three years and we could make reservations for Bellows, Kilauea, etc. one full year in advance. It was not uncommon for Bellows to be booked up 11 months out!

Thanks Sue and Postal, We can't wait to go... I hope to stay at Bellows but if worse comes to worse, we'll just stay at the Hale Koa again. I'm not so crazy about it, though. There's lot's of military lodging on Oahu. We even liked the lodge at Schofield Barracks. Has anyone here ever taken flown stand-by on military aircraft? It seems like it would be an adventure but I am sorta scared to try. In addition to military benefits, I work for an airline and get airline benefits. I don't need to use my stand-by benefits but it would be pretty cool to take my daughter. Any comments? Please let me know if you have tried it!

Topping for Elvis...

Exmil: If you're interested in space-A travel (retired military,) check out http://www.pepperd.com/scgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi Lotta good info there on the subject.