Stephy

My husband and I are headed out to Maui and the BI this May. We have an idea of what we are doing on Maui where we are spending 6 days. However we decided to head to the BI for 4 days and aren't really sure what to do. We are staying on the Kohola coast and know that we should see the lava fields. I would appreciate any recommendations on other sites and restaurants we should try.

Stephy

I would also like to know if we need to plan "excursions" a head of time (things like snorkeling trips). Or do you think b/c of the time of year we won't have to worry about things booking up fast?

Kailani

I don't think you'll have to plan too much ahead of time with excursions, although it wouldn't hurt to e-mail or call to see. I know people really like Fairwinds for a snorkeling trip, which is in Kealakakua Bay.

You'll probably want to see the volcano, which will be a full day.

You don't have that much time, so depending on where you are staying, I think it is interesting to take a drive to the charming old towns of Hawi and Kapa'au (about a 20-40 minute scenic drive). There are historical sites (Lapakahi and Pu'ukohola) along the way, and fun places to eat in town, as well as a black sand beach at the end of the road at Pololu.

When you land at Kona, you'll be in the middle of lava fields. People write names and pictures in the lava with white coral, and it is fun to see on the way to your hotel.

The resorts all have a nice restaurant or two with great views. The Four Seasons at Hualalai is probably the best food.

Waimea is Paniolo (cowboy) country, and there are some good restaurants (Merrimans & Daniel Thiebaut's).

I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time!

NatalieM

See my post on "Big Island w/ Teenagers," re. seeing the volcano. Very cool. We also love hiking down to the black sand beach in Waipio. Big Island has a couple companies doing manta ray night dive/snorkel trips. We thought it might not be worth it since there can be quite a crowd, but it's very neat (when they show up). Our friends did the snorkel trip, not being divers, & enjoyed it just as much.

Stephy

Since we are staying at the Kohala Kona coast ,does anyone know how long the drive is to the Volcano and black sand beach?

volcanogirl

We broke our BI trip up into two spots; we stayed on the Kohala Coast at the Hapuna Beach Prince and then stayed a night at the Kilauea Lodge to be close to the volcano. Our favorite things were gorgeous Hapuna Beach, seeing Akaka Falls, and seeing the volcano. When we were there, you could hike out at night to see the lava flow into the sea, and it was amazing.

dusty56438

Too late to get a hard copy magazine, but you can download the online version. lots of good info.

http://www.bigisland.org/
Click on: View E-Book

Stephy

Thanks for the link! Looks like we will be in the car for a while! Oh well. I'm sure it will be a beautiful drive anyway.

Stephy

Back from our trip to the Big Island and it was really nice! Thanks everyone for your advice! We really only had 3 full days due to travel. We did do the Volcano which was a whole day and so neat to see. Could not drive around the whole thing due to some sulfur gases but we did do crater road. Didn't get to see any flowing lava b/c it would have been another hour or two drive, then hike at night over lava. Something that would have been neat, but we were exhausted from being in the park so long. I'm really glad I got to see the park.
We also did go to Hapuna beach! It was the nicest beach I've been to. The water was so clear! We really enjoyed this.
Also tried paddle boarding at our hotel which was so fun. We stayed at the Marriot in Kohala. It was very nice. We had a great view. The fish ponds were neat.
Also ate at Merimans up in Waimea which was excellent.
Tried to see some petroglyphs - we were too hot to do the trail at the volcano, and the path to the Puako petroglyphs looked sketchy so we skipped it. We did see a few though. Did see Puʻukoholā Heiau which was interesting.
We realized that you spend a lot of time in the car in Hawaii.
We also ate at Roy's - which we didn't initially want to do b/c we tried to avoid chains. We were told that this was not really a chain and that it is still separate from Roy's on the main land....I must say it was really very good.
This was a wind down trip for me and we didn't really plan anything so we might not have seen it all but it sure was fun anyway. I'd really love to go back!

Kailani

Thanks for the report! I think that the Big Island is really different, and it stays with you in interesting ways. That is true about time in the car, luckily the views are so pretty. I think it is great just to relax at the beach, too. I'm glad you had fun, and I hope you are able to return!