Day trip to Kona?
 

Hello everyone,

My father, brother and I have booked 6 nights in Oahu and 7 nights in kauai. Would it be practical to do a day trip to Kona from either of those islands? We'd like to visit Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park if possible. If the only way to do it is by an overnighter, any suggestions on how to accomplish that, including lodging and transportation to the park?

Thanks.

Branton

Hilo would be closer if you just want to do VNP.

Branton - They most economical way is to book a commercial inter-island flight to Hilo, find a hotel in town and rent a car for a couple of days. The drive to VNP from Hilo is much shorter than from Kona. If money is not a concern, there are numerous companies that offer private air charters to neighboring islands with included activities.

Hello Starrsville and Sceneisle,

You gave very good answers to my badly phrased question, which unfortunately showed my lack of geographical knowledge of the Hawaiian islands. Let me try to ask some better phrased questions:

Does it make a difference whether I travel to Hilo from Oahu or Kauai? Would it be impossible to travel to and from Hilo in one day to see VNP? Since we're already booked at Oahu and Kauai I'd hate to pay for a duplicate night's lodging on Hawaii unless there's not a practical way to see VNP in one day. And, yes, we are on a budget. Finally, if we do pay for a night's lodging, any suggestions?

Thanks again,

Branton

I realy have no experience or advice here other than the fact that I too have considered more than once taking a day or a 1 night trip to see the volcano.

What I concluded was that yes, leaving the bags behind at the beachhouse and going on a journey would be fun.....it will be very expensive, and there is no quarentee you will see lava flow as it is often hard to reach.

I have chosen not to take the time and financial gamble, but oh how fabulous it would be to win that gamble and see something truly glorious.

You just need to decide whether to roll the dice and take a chance at exceptional and promise you wont be dissappointed at a simply beautiful day trip.

blachman, only you can make that decision. I probably would do it, based on prior experiences.

We left our hotel room and just packed an overnight bag to do an overnight in Volcano. I wanted to drive completely around the Big Island, so it was worth it to me. Left everything in the hotel room on the Kona coast and spent the night in Volcano. Really enjoyed it - even though I was paying extra for a second room that night.

I've also flown over to another island for just an overnight. The fares were good, I wanted to see another island, so I did it.

Didn't regret either.

I guess my willingness to "splurge" that way came from a business trip to Ecuador when I didn't take the extra time to go to the Galapagos Islands. I have few regrets in my life, and that was a big one.

So, if you want to see VNP, don't think you will be back to Hawaii soon, then I'd do it. I'd at least check out the airfares. Check flights into Hilo from the two other islands and see how much it will cost you. You can get a relatively inexpensive place to stay in Volcano.

Do the math and see if it works for you. I'd definitely get a rental car.

Good luck.

Thank-you, Sistahlou and Starrsville,

Your advice is really helpful. I will try hard to see if I can make this work.

Branton

blachman, go to www.kayak.com to play around with air options. It seems the best would be to fly out of Oahu and based on the dates I entered, the fare would be around $90 - $110 each.

Another idea, if this is something YOU really want to do, you could do the excursion on your own. Just a thought...

And, here's a review you may enjoy reading -
http://www.epinions.com/content_83260051076

Hi starrsville,

Thanks again for taking the extra time to research some flights and provide the links to both kayak.com and also the VNP rewiew site. I will play around with those. Also, I hadn't thought of your suggestion to just go myself for the day. That's something to consider.

By the way, I checked http://www.iflygo.com, which has $39 one-way inter-island flights, but didn't find one-day return flight times for the couple of dates that I had time to check so far. Maybe, we'll see if we can do this from Kauai to Hawaii instead of from Oahu.

Thanks again.

Branton

Branton: I didn't check Aloha Air and Hawaiian Air's schedules but I'd be surprised if either had direct flights to Hilo from Kauai. If not, it will be a lot cheaper/quicker leaving from Oahu. Good Luck!

Agree with an overnight stay at Hilo -- try the Castle Hilo Hawaiian -- an nice moderate price hotel. Staying will give you time to take short hikes, drive through the park (the chain of craters drive takes 40 minutes without stops). Consider taking an helicopter ride over the volcano -- will give you the best views of the land mass at the sea. Bring a sweater/jacket as the park is cool since it is 4000' above sea level.

Just wanted to suggest you might also consider a night in Volcano Village rather than Hilo. We stayed there this summer and it was 45mins from Hilo airport to our B&B in Volcano Village, but the nice thing was it was only 5 mins from the village to VNP. We were able to drive Chain of Craters road, see Thurston's Lava Tube, etc. in the morning, then relaxed at the B&B and went back to view the lava flow (from afar) that same night.

Hello sceneisle, Miss_maple and ggrtist.

Thanks for the additional tips. I just finished my jury duty commitment. That and trying to catch up my high school AP Chem students on the learning they missed has kept me too busy to run down your leads yet, but I will be checking all of them out in the next few days.

Thanks again,

Branton

Nothing wrong with a day trip from Oahu to Big Island (Hilo side) to see Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

I've done it & had a great time.

We rented a car had time for:

Hilo: Rainbow Falls, Boiling Pots, Liliuokalani Gardens, Banyon Drive.

North of Hilo: Seven Mile Scenic Drive, Akaka Falls State Park. Do the short loop trail that includes Kahuna Falls.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - We spent about 5 hours in the park. Had time for Visitors Center, Jaggar Museum, several short hikes, steam & sulfer vents, Thurston Lava Tube & Chain of Craters Road to the end where the lava closed the road.

We did not see live lava. The only way to see live lava is a helicopter ride. Even if you stay overnight in the area & hike to the lava at night you will only get to about 1/2 mile away & just see a glow.

With a day trip you do not have to spend time checking out & in a hotel.

You can also wait until airfares go down again & book a cheap airfare.

Thanks, Dust56438,

I appreciate the 1-day itinerary and the info about not being able to see the lava. I think what we'll do, given everyone's wonderful information, is get to Oahu and then see what's available about getting to VNP.

Thanks again.

Branton

Just FYI....the rates interisland look good for go airlines (a new carrier here) but we booked a flight out of Kona to HNL for $29.95 and first the flight attendant didn't show up and then we get bumped from the next flight and miss a connecting.

Hawaiian and Aloha have some competitive rates and we have decided to pay the extra as we know they will get us to where ever we want to be.

I think the only way to get from Kauai to Big Island ( we haven't done that in awhile) is the connecting is Oahu.

"I think the only way to get from Kauai to Big Island ( we haven't done that in awhile) is the connecting is Oahu."

Island Air has non-stop flights from Lihue (Kauai) to Kona (Big Island). They juat started this route a couple months ago.