Hi. I am taking my active family of 4 (2 teens age 13 and 15) to the BI for 9 nights. We arrive late afternoon of day 1 and plan to spend 2-3 nights in Hilo. In Hilo, we will do a helicopter tour, drive to VNP, and zipline Umauma. We then plan to drive the northern route to Kona for the remainder of the trip.

We have a timeshare unit in Kona and were hoping to base out of there for all our west coast activities. I post on another forum where they do not think too much of Kona- the vog, the tacky tourist town, etc. They are telling me there are no good beaches in Kona (I have read about a couple that you hike to) and that we need to stay on the Kohala coast for 3-4 nights. That means $300 + per night where I was basically paying nothing (sort of- already paid off the TS). The money does not bother me a lot if this is truly the best route; however, are we going to regret having an extra move in there, where we pack up everything again? Acitivites we plan to do are: deep sea fishing, snorkel tou, manta ray night snorkel tour. our beach time will consist of snorkeling, surf lessons, and body boarding- we are not big loungers (I am but the gusy are not).

IS kona so bad? is the drive from kona to the kohala coast so bad? are the hotels on the kohala coast soooo nice that we should not miss staying a couple of nights? would lvoe your input.

Kona may have a # of tourists in parts - but it also some cute areas and lots of different things to offer.

It also has a long Ali drive (6 miles or so from the pier south)) that has a lot of different places, including a couple good snorkel areas/decent beaches - Kahaluu being one of them. http://www.hawaiisnorkelingguide.com...norkeling.html

And there are other beaches not that far away, including City of Refuge to the South, and it's a fun drive anyway.

Sure - up the Coast are some 4 to 5 star destination resorts -(w/ nice beaches at the Mona Kea and nearby Prince Resort - Hapuna Beach - the furtherest away - a 25? minute drive) - but hey - when I am in Paradise - I don't like to just hang out at the pool with other tourists.

Click on here and see for yourself: http://www.hawaiisnorkelingguide.com...norkeling.html,

And you go deep sea fishing out of the port - just north of Kona Town. We went for a night dive (snorkel could work too?) - also leaving close to Kona Town - and while the Manna Rays were not around - we did see a octapus jet away - great stuff that.

I assume that you are asking about the town of Kailua-Kona--and IMO it will make a good base for the activities that you to do on the west side of the island. Yes, Kailua has more people, souvenier shops, bars then the rest of the island--but, so what, you are going to be fishing and snorkeling etc--not hanging out on Ali'i Drive.

As to the 'no good beaches' - Kailua does not have the wide, long beaches (like Hapuna) but Tomsd is correct about Kahalu'u Beach--good for snorkeling (does get crowded on weekends).

The drive up to the Kohala beaches--is not bad--it takes about 45 minutes from Kailua-town to Hapuna Beach and/or Kauna'oa Beach (the beach at the Mauna Kea Resort)and all the other Kohala beaches are closer to Kailua. (Parking is limited at Kauna'oa Beach but if you want to go there--get there as early as possible, pull up to the little gate house at the entrance to the Mauna Kea resort and say you want to go to the beach--if they haven't given out all the parking passes, they'll give you one. It's a beautiful quarter mile long white sand beach. And if you can't get a parking pass, go south to Hapuna Beach--5 minutes away. You can also walk to Kauna'oa Beach up a shoreline trail from the north end of Hapuna Beach (about a mile).

Here is a good site about the vog on the BI--http://weather.hawaii.edu/vmap/index.cgi We have visited south Kona nine times since the vent opened in Kilauea's Halemaumau crater in March 2008 and vog has never interfered with anything we wanted to do. It varies greatly from day to day and when it is around looks like haze in the air.

do not think too much of Kona- the vog, the tacky tourist town, etc. They are telling me there are no good beaches in Kona

I ask again: Where is your timeshare located?

I was in Kona about 4 years ago - and it still looked fine to me.

Hi -
If it's of any help, we'll be staying in a condo just south of Kahalu'u Beach in a couple weeks, and I'll report back. Ticky-tacky tourist traps I can handle, but I don't know about vog. Which I've read is worse in the summer when the tradewinds are almost always blowing. Crossing my fingers.

Thanks so much. We are staying at the Worldmark resort which is on Alii drive. Thanks Marty, that is what we will do on our beach day(s).
I agree with you Tom- i am not interested in hanging by the pool so much. we can do that at home. This vacation is more about seeing the island- the volcano, the reef(s), the waterfalls, the landscape- than relaxing by the pool or on the beach. Wo do vacations like that as well, but this one is going to be active and adventurous, so it seems like our plan is a good.
Again thanks for your thoughtful input!

did not experience any VOG when we were there in February. Not sure if the time of year has anything to do with it or the fact that we were in the Kohala area. I have to say that Hapuna beach and the beach at the Mauna Kea are absolutely the most beautiful beaches and so big (especially Hapuna) that it isn't crowded. What i loved about the beach at the mauna Kea is that there were no rocks, no sea weed, no drop offs. You can walk out and gradually it gets deeper. It is a drive up to the Kohala area but if you leave early you might get one of the few places that have some shade, I think you will love it.. Love the BI more and more....

I was in Kona for the first time this past April and really enjoyed it. Was a great little town, really liked the ability to walk up/down the main street. There were plenty of things to do, of course we had to drive to most of them, but that was just fine. Kayaking & snorkling at Capt Cook's monument was fun. We also found some amazing beaches north of the airport. IMO...i didn't really care for Hilo, it reminded me of a run down mining town. However the attraction near are not to be missed. Another surprisingly amazing outing was the drive to the top of Muana Kea...such an amazing view. Have a great time on your trip.

We stayed at the Bill Fisher time share and had a great time in the area. It felt like a small town to us.

Besure to do the night snorkel/dive with the manta rays with jack diver locker. It is absolutely mind blowing.
http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com/cha...mantanight.htm