Big Island Day Trip Plans
 

After much researching and reading the book "Hawaii - The Big Island Revealed", I came up with the following day trip plans. There's 4 in our group - 2 adults & 2 kids (ages 11 & 12)

We will be flying into Hilo from Oahu arriving at 8:00am Sunday morning. Flight back to Oahu from Hilo same day at 7:40pm. I know not enough time, but it's all we got.

Renting a car and then taking off on our own. Here's my plans, can you experts help me out?

Head NW out of Hilo to "Wet Area" and visit:
Rainbow Falls
Boiling Pots
Pe'epe'e Falls
Wai'ale Falls

Head south to Volcano Nat'l Park (VNP)
Stop at Visitor Center & Museum (BOTH?)

Hike the Kilauea Iki Trail (start hike @ Kilauea Iki Outlook - going counter clockwise - as suggested by author)

Hike Thurston Lava Tube

Time permitting, car tour Crater Rim Road going counter clockwise (as suggested by author's book)

Head back to Hilo to catch the 7:40pm flight back to Oahu

Will be bringing a picnic lunch to eat while hiking and of course plenty of water.

Will investigate as to the current lava flow to see if we can see it. From what I've read, not always possible.

I think you are asking too much from a day trip. However, we just got back last week from the BI, and I'll give you quick reviews:

We did not drive up to the falls. We saw from from a helicopter instead. If you head for the falls, that will likely be the only thing you can squeeze into your day, as you'll spend half of the time driving.

Go to Volcanoes Nat'l Park. We did the Kilauea Iki hike, like to blue book says. Yes, we thought that was the best direction to take. Everyone else goes clockwise. But I believe I know why. At best, you'll be starting out at 11am with your travel plans. You'll want to finish in the rain forest, instead of hiking for an hour or more, and THEN having to go across the crater. (This becomes a non-issue if you are lucky and have overcast skies.) We started early in the AM, and it started raining on us in the crater, so heat wasn't a problem. This will take you until about 2pm. You have to be in decent shape, also. You could do Crater Rim Road after this.

You won't have time to do the lava flow. We stayed in the village of Volcano, and the drive time was out of hand as it was, especially after hiking a couple of miles round trip to get the most awesome pictures and videos of hot lava. If you want to see lava, once again, it would likely be the only thing you get to do that day.

My suggestion, for what it's worth, would be to head straight for the park visitor center, see the volcano movie they show there, buy a video, get a map of the park, and explain to the park personnel that you want to see the best sights possible in six hours. Depending on weather and "vog" conditions at that time, they could give you the best advice on how to spend your day.

Sounds like A LOT but try your hardest! you never know.
Please remember to bring some sort of First Aid with you. I fell a couple of times hiking in Hawaii Volcano National Park and the lava is just like glass...you keep bleeding and bleeding. Also, wear good hiking shoes. My heavy duty hiking boots were trash after a 9-mile hike at HVNPark. The lava just shredded up the bottom of my boots.
Maybe cut out the last 2 falls...once you start seeing falls, they all start to look alike after awhile. And they are all over the Hilo side of the Big Island.

I think you're right. I'm going to skip the "wet side" and just go straight from Hilo to VNP. We'll be able to see waterfalls on Oahu where we're spending 6 days.

Are regular tennis shoes okay for the Kilauea Iki hike? Someone's post earlier said the lava ruined their shoes!

Personally, I would wear hiking boots, which provide full coverage of foot but tennis shoes might be fine. Just remember that if they are white when you get there, they may be black when you leave. Have a great time!

head straight to VNP if u are organised you should be able to do the hike, and circle crater tour (including the lava tube) and get back to catch your flight.
If you can at all change your travel plans to stay one night in the park, you can hike to see the lava @ night which is awesome...if you can't change your plans, you will still have a good time no matter what!