littleburrito

Hello Fodorites! I am looking for a bit of advice...

We are going to the BI and Kauai for our honeymoon (yay!). We are spending the first 8 nights (June 20-28)on the BI and the last 9 nights on Kauai (June 28 - July 7).

So far we are staying our first 3 nights at Keauhou Outrigger and the next 2 nights at Country Goose B&B. That leaves us with 3 more nights. And we are flying from Hilo to Lihue after that.

So, those last 3 nights - where to stay? Hamakua or Puna? Hotel recommendations would be great too. I suppose we will want to relax after all the volcano excitement, swim, drive around, enjoy scenery, etc. Nothing too crazy A B&B would be great though!

Cant wait to hear all your wonderful ideas!

Barbara5353

We visited Puna on our first Big Island trip several years ago,and the Hamakua Coast in January 06. I much prefer the Hamakua Coast.
If I were spending the night (or 2-3), I would stay at Luana Ola cottages just outside Honokaa. There are some interesting shops in town, and a few nice little restaurants. You could visit lush and lovely Waipio Valley while in the area. The weather up around Honokaa is generally nice; it gets rainier the closer to Hilo you get. Hopefully, this is a link to Luana Ola:
www.island-hawaii.com
We had actually made reservations to stay there for 2 nights, but had to change our dates and travel plans.

christy1

I stayed in Puna for a week once, and while there were some good things about it (it's not touristy at all), it's really remote, rainy and there's less to see there then on other parts of the island. So, I'd pick Hamakua, between the two. But, am I reading your itinerary right that you only have 2 full days/3 nights on the Kona side of the island? I think you're really shortchanging that area, if so-that's where the great beaches and sun are. I would actually use your extra nights for the Kohala coast.

Lauricelli

I have to say I was shocked to see Puna listed as an option to stay. As far as I know it's a place where they grow lots of marijuana and the ex-pats are not so friendly. We asked a local about Puna because a friend had some property there for sale and told us to check it out. The local said don't go over there after dark. This was about 7 years ago and maybe it's just a certain part...
Anyways Hamakua is magical. we stayed at a B&B that had two rooms, either the waterfall room or the treehouse. I think the name was the Hamakua Hideaway? We stayed in the treehouse room and it had a wrap around window with an amazing view of the ocean. It was a great getaway. Have a wonderful trip.

koa

To add to what lauricelli wrote, Puna has a bad reputation. Its the marijuana growing capital of hawaii, and the crystal meth problem is bad. Not really a vacation area compared to other parts of the BI. Stay in Hamakua. Just remember that if your looking for guaranteed sun and beaches, you wont find it in windward BI. East BI is very beautiful and uncommercialized, but can be very wet, especially towards Hilo.

crazy4Hawaii

We're splitting our stay this way - 3 nights Kohala coast, 2 nights B&B Volcano Village, one night Keauhou area south of Kona. Puts us in three separate and unique parts of the island. (Wish we had as many nights as you do!) So I second the recommendation to look at Kohala coast. But between the two you've mentioned, Hamakua would put you in a lovely area and close to many of the same sights (north Kohala, Waimea, etc.)

Kingfisherqueen

I don't have a vested interest in any part of Hawaii, and I'm not making any recommendations because the Hamakua area is beautiful. But, we heard all the stories about Puna and decided to go anyway last November. We had a great time. We weren't uncomfortable. We didn't get robbed or harassed. More by chance than design, we left the Puna beaches to the locals on the weekend since there were plenty of other things to do (like lie around our lagoon). We stayed in Kapoho Beach Lots, which we would return to in a heartbeat.

christy1

I would agree that Puna is perfectly safe-in my week there, as a single woman traveling alone, I never felt uncomfortable in the least. It doesn't seem fair to post negative things about a place you haven't been to, but have only heard about second hand.

But I still think you should stay elsewhere for the reasons I mentioned in my first post.

Lauricelli

We did go to Puna. Didn't stay there. Like I said, could be good parts and bad. Where we went didn't feel very comfortable. I'm not trying to instill fear. I'm answering a question with my experience and opinion.

Between Puna and Hamakua, I'd take Hamakua any day.

littleburrito

Thank you everybody. Puna actually sounds like a lot of fun. The Luana Ola Cottages look really nice as well. I am still deciding...

Any other ideas? I didnt want to have a long drive to Hilo the morning that we are going to Kauai and I figured that it would be good to see that side of the island.

Thanks again!