seeking big island experts. wedding next july. choosing bi for the lava flow. not interested in 2 islands as have only a week to 10 days and we're traveling from maine. we will rent a car. so kona vs. hilo side for our base? we do not have a huge budget and prefer med or smaller resort. would prefer island atmosphere to big hotel type. would like to be on a beach where we could swim, snorkel and use resort water toys. probably ai but not imperative. would consider a small villa on beach. any info on deep sea fishing or an atv ride? other must sees? cool places to eat? secluded beaches?
and finally do i understand correctly that sept/oct is generally the cheaper time to travel as opposed to say july?
thanks in advance for any/all info!

I would suggest the Hapuna Prince Resort on the Kona side of the island. Nice big rooms and a wonderful beach for swimming and snorkeling. If you look carefully, you can get very good deals on the rooms. A small villa will cost alot more. It's nice to take a leisurely two or three day trip around the island. Nice to stay at the Volcano Park. Look under Hotels and you'll find more options. Hilo is not a desination place, in my mind, but it's OK for a night. There are some B&B's on the east side that make for a nice break.

Stay on the Kona side for most of your stay there is more snorkel, boating, kayaking places over on that side. But do spend a night or 2 on the Hilo side. We were there for our Honeymoon in Sept 2004 and it's a great time to go. Keep in mind the Lava is not aways visible. Last August it was putting on a great show, lava flowing heavy out to sea, but by the time we got there in mid-Sept it had stopped (Where you could view it anyway).

Our stay on the Kona side was very pricey, but on the Hilo side we stayed at the most intimate place for honeymooners - right outside the gates of the park and in the town of Volcano so you could get things to eat etc. Here is the weblink:

http://www.volcanoretreat.com/

We stayed in the Bamboo cottege and the owners are very nice. The breakfast (fruit, granola, fresh muffins and breads & quiche) they left in our kitchen each afternoon for the next day was great too. It was just perfect.

Must Sees:
1. Volcanoes Nat'l Park (red hot lava at end of chain of craters road, Thurston Lava Tube)
2. Snorkeling Boat Trip to Captain Cook Memorial, on Fairwind II from Keauhou or SeaQuest Raft Adventure
3. Snorkeling at Honaunau, visit ancient "Place of Refuge" Park next door
4. Waipio Valley
5. Akaka Falls
6. Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens

The Hapuna Prince is running a special thru the end of 2005 for $216 a night including breakfast for two. Get a copy of The Big Island Revealed by Wizard Publishing, you can check out the aerial photos of the hotels at www.wizardpub.com.
There aren't any AIs in Hawaii. Another good source for opinions of hotels is tripadvisor.

If I were planning your itinerary, I'd spend the first week (or few days) of my visit on the Kona side (flying into Kona airport) at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort (very Hawaiian feel, and least expensive of the resorts on the Kohala coast.) Then I'd move over to the Kilauea Lodge (or other great B&B ... see alternativehawaii.com) in Volcano Village for a couple of nights, departing out of Hilo.

JohnD has mentioned all my "musts" so I won't repeat! Be sure to eat at Roy's at Waikoloa..... I think it's one of his BEST!!!

The Big Island is huge so I'd rec splitting your time on the west and east side of the island. The wonderful Hilo and Volcano Village B&B's would be an ideal choice so you could visit all the wonderful sights on that side: VNP, lava flow viewing at night, Puna district and Hamakua Coast. Then would rec you spend most of your time in Kohala area (like the Hapuna Prince as others have suggested) or near Keauhou Bay or further south to be close to the best snorkel spots like Kealakekua Bay, Kahalu'u and Honaunau Bay. Kona and its accomodations along Ali'i Drive, in my opinion, are far less desirable for honeymooners seeking a classy, tranquil, romantic spot.

Look in Big Island Revealed for the activities you're interested in or look up the links on this site: http://www.wizardpub.com/bigisland/biglinks.html

Bear in mind that the hike to the lava flows can be very LONG. For instance, I hiked to the steam plumes on May 15, which was a 2.5 mile hike from the ranger station each way over new lava fields, which took 4 hours round trip. Bear in mind, I hike relatively fast with both headlamp and flashlights in the dark, so it could be longer for others. Didn't get an opportunity to walk close to active lava flow, but could see it in the lava bench below creating the steam plumes and way up in the hillside. In my opinion, if the distance to hike to active lava flow is long, it be much more worthwhile to spend for a volcano helicopter tour (ave $100-$125 before discounts).

Sep/Oct may be slightly cheaper than July, which is a prime summer month, but there should be less kids around.

Have a great time!

all this info is so helpful. i am finding some good sites and trying to investigate everything. all help greatly appreciated. the bamboo cottage,etal look fun. wizard pub is so cool, i love looking at the 360 pics.
about the lava. i did think it was just there flowing to beat the band all the time (to much travel channel i guess). bluefan or ? - i take it the walk to active flow varies in distance from one week/month to the next. is it better to hike at night? should we have a guide? are you available? are you saying that if we do the copter ride we will def be able to see active flow?
any other thoughts will be welcome on anything. thanks