Help quick1 day trip to Big ISland
Apr 27th, 2006, 07:36 AM
#1
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Help quick1 day trip to Big ISland
Hi,
We are arriving in Kona on Saturday abound 3:00. We will be leaving from Kona on Sunday at 10:00 pm. Can someone help us the best itinery to see the volcanoes and some other sites?
Where should we stay?
Any suggestions would be great.
We are arriving in Kona on Saturday abound 3:00. We will be leaving from Kona on Sunday at 10:00 pm. Can someone help us the best itinery to see the volcanoes and some other sites?
Where should we stay?
Any suggestions would be great.
Apr 27th, 2006, 08:50 AM
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That's not a lot of time, so you'll be pretty rushed, but you can still see the highlights of the Big Island.
Get in your rental car at Kona, and immediately drive to Volcano Village. It will take you about 2-3 hours to make the drive. Plan to stay at a B&B in the area that night, and have dinner at one of the local restaurants nearby. If you want to hike out to see the active lava flow at night, this will be the night to do it.
The next morning, get up early and head straight to Volcano National Park. (Pick up stuff for a picnic lunch at store in Volcano Village.) Spend the morning hiking around the park and seeing the volcano.
After lunch, start heading back towards Kona. Stop at the Puna'a'lu'u black sand beach, South Point, and at the Place of Refuge for sightseeing. Have dinner in Kona, and then you should be right on time for the 10:00 flight out.
Get in your rental car at Kona, and immediately drive to Volcano Village. It will take you about 2-3 hours to make the drive. Plan to stay at a B&B in the area that night, and have dinner at one of the local restaurants nearby. If you want to hike out to see the active lava flow at night, this will be the night to do it.
The next morning, get up early and head straight to Volcano National Park. (Pick up stuff for a picnic lunch at store in Volcano Village.) Spend the morning hiking around the park and seeing the volcano.
After lunch, start heading back towards Kona. Stop at the Puna'a'lu'u black sand beach, South Point, and at the Place of Refuge for sightseeing. Have dinner in Kona, and then you should be right on time for the 10:00 flight out.
Apr 27th, 2006, 09:34 AM
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I stayed at this place when I went to Volcano National Park. Really liked the lodge and the restaurant was very nice and the food was delicious.
http://www.KilaueaLodge.com/
http://www.KilaueaLodge.com/
Apr 27th, 2006, 10:48 AM
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Oh, one more thing: most of the lodging around Volcano Village will not let you stay only one night. One of the few that will is the Country Goose B&B: www.countrygoose.com
May 2nd, 2006, 11:15 AM
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Just wanted to Thank everyone for their recommendations.
We arrived in Kona at 3:00 pm on Saturday, and drove to Volcano, stopping along the way at some of the waterfalls.
We stayed the night at the Volcano Inn. I have been told that there are two places named Volcano Inn. We stayed at the Volcano Inn (http://volcanoinnhawaii.com) located on Second Street. The owners Ron & Jeab were fantastic to work with. It was very clean and a fun place to stay.
We found the Volcano National Park to be wonderful. We arrived at 5:30 am on Sunday morning and had the park all to ourselves until around 10:00. We spent until about 2:30 touring the park. We did go through the portion of the Lava Tube that requires a flash light. What an awesome experience. You do need to bring a flashlight per person if you are going to do this.
After leaving the National Park we set off on a hunt to find a nice beach. We drove from VNP to Kona trying to leave the highway to investigate as many beaches as we could in hopes of finding a great place to spend the afternoon. We did not find one. We did go see the black beach. We found it to be a big disappointment. It was very crowded and looked dirty.
We also went to Place of Refuge. What a dismal excuse for a National Park. The only good thing I have to say about it was that at 4:00 pm, there was no ranger, so we didn't have to pay to see a run down semblance of a park. It was so bad, the visitor’s center was closed, there was a table outside of the center with a wicker basket on it that contained a couple of crumpled up brochures. The basket had a sign next to it asking that you recycle the brochures to save the park money. There was also a sign asking for donations. As lovers of National Parks and Hawaii, this was sad to see.
We drove on to Kona and had dinner at Lulu's. The food was okay, staff was horrible, but the view of the ocean was great.
Drove on to the airport at 10:00 pm and flew home.
Over all, even though we enjoyed the volcano, we won't return.
We found that the North Shore of Oahu has a lot better beaches. The other thing we were surprised by was the difference in people on the Big Island versus Oahu. The park rangers at VNP were cocky and unhelpful. The staff at Lulu's were cold and gave poor service. The airport people were short and unfriendly. This actually surprised us. After going to Oahu 4 times in the last 3 years and loving it, and especially loving the people, we were surprised to get such a different feeling from the Big Island. We will probably try Maui next, but the Big Island is off of our list of places to go.
We arrived in Kona at 3:00 pm on Saturday, and drove to Volcano, stopping along the way at some of the waterfalls.
We stayed the night at the Volcano Inn. I have been told that there are two places named Volcano Inn. We stayed at the Volcano Inn (http://volcanoinnhawaii.com) located on Second Street. The owners Ron & Jeab were fantastic to work with. It was very clean and a fun place to stay.
We found the Volcano National Park to be wonderful. We arrived at 5:30 am on Sunday morning and had the park all to ourselves until around 10:00. We spent until about 2:30 touring the park. We did go through the portion of the Lava Tube that requires a flash light. What an awesome experience. You do need to bring a flashlight per person if you are going to do this.
After leaving the National Park we set off on a hunt to find a nice beach. We drove from VNP to Kona trying to leave the highway to investigate as many beaches as we could in hopes of finding a great place to spend the afternoon. We did not find one. We did go see the black beach. We found it to be a big disappointment. It was very crowded and looked dirty.
We also went to Place of Refuge. What a dismal excuse for a National Park. The only good thing I have to say about it was that at 4:00 pm, there was no ranger, so we didn't have to pay to see a run down semblance of a park. It was so bad, the visitor’s center was closed, there was a table outside of the center with a wicker basket on it that contained a couple of crumpled up brochures. The basket had a sign next to it asking that you recycle the brochures to save the park money. There was also a sign asking for donations. As lovers of National Parks and Hawaii, this was sad to see.
We drove on to Kona and had dinner at Lulu's. The food was okay, staff was horrible, but the view of the ocean was great.
Drove on to the airport at 10:00 pm and flew home.
Over all, even though we enjoyed the volcano, we won't return.
We found that the North Shore of Oahu has a lot better beaches. The other thing we were surprised by was the difference in people on the Big Island versus Oahu. The park rangers at VNP were cocky and unhelpful. The staff at Lulu's were cold and gave poor service. The airport people were short and unfriendly. This actually surprised us. After going to Oahu 4 times in the last 3 years and loving it, and especially loving the people, we were surprised to get such a different feeling from the Big Island. We will probably try Maui next, but the Big Island is off of our list of places to go.
May 2nd, 2006, 11:46 AM
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Wow! That's so sad. Of course, you were in absolutely the wrong part of the island for beautiful beaches. - They are along the Kohala Coast. I'm most disappointed to hear about the unfriendliness you encountered. I believe that was just serendipity and not an indication of the usual attitudes there. There's so much to see on the Big Island that I hope you do decide to return. I LOVE Maui too, of course.
May 2nd, 2006, 12:33 PM
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I am also very sorry for you that your BI experience was not good.
As Crazy says, almost all of the good beaches on the BI are along the Kohala coast. The closer you get to the volcano, the more rocky and rugged the coastline becomes because it is brand-new rock! The only exception to this is the Puna area, which is towards Hilo and is well-known among the local surfers. Yes, the black sand beach is usually crowded as it is the only swimmable one for many miles.
As Crazy says, almost all of the good beaches on the BI are along the Kohala coast. The closer you get to the volcano, the more rocky and rugged the coastline becomes because it is brand-new rock! The only exception to this is the Puna area, which is towards Hilo and is well-known among the local surfers. Yes, the black sand beach is usually crowded as it is the only swimmable one for many miles.
May 2nd, 2006, 12:37 PM
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We too are doing a one day trip to Big Island - flying over and back from Oahu during our 7 day stay there come September. We are planning on doing Volcano National Park, but I am unsure if this is an all day thing or just a couple hours. I would love to hear of any other must sees while there. We are flying in about 8:00 am and out around 8:00 pm...maybe a restaurant or another attraction..thanks everyone...
May 2nd, 2006, 01:04 PM
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If you'll only be on the BI for 12 hours, you MUST fly in and out of Hilo! Kona is a 2-3 hour drive to VNP, and you simply will not have enough time! It's easy to spend half a day at VNP. There aree many things to see, several good hikes, and it is a LARGE place with somewhat lengthy drives between sights.
May 2nd, 2006, 02:13 PM
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Hi all - We also will be on the BI in June (family of 4 inc. 11 & 8 yr old). We will spend most of our time at the Mauna Kea but have also budgeted a little time for VNP. We arrive in Hilo around 11 am on Friday and need to be to the Mauna Kea around dinner time on Saturday. We are staying at the Volcano Village in the park Friday night. I was told that will be our only option for dinner but from reading other posts sounds like there are some other options. Any suggestions? Also, we were planning to stop on the drive from Hilo to VNP to pick up lunch - suggestions? What is the best use of our time at the park? Finally, what is the best route from VNP to Mauna Kea resort - through Waimea? Thanks SO much!
May 2nd, 2006, 03:40 PM
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You can't take a rental car on the "Saddle road" that cuts across the middle of the island, so you'll have to go around. 
The North route usually has less traffic.
Follow the map and make the big circle around the park. It's a self-guided tour and there are option hikes (Thurston lava tube, Devastation trail, etc.) along the way.
The North route usually has less traffic.Follow the map and make the big circle around the park. It's a self-guided tour and there are option hikes (Thurston lava tube, Devastation trail, etc.) along the way.
May 2nd, 2006, 04:05 PM
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Hi it20:
You are right, the best route back Mauna Kea would be through Waimea. On that drive, the four mile scenic drive just outside of Hilo is beautiful and the smoothie place "What's Shakin" at the end is good. Tex's Drive-In just before the turn to Waimea makes wonderful malasadas and is a good stopping place. You could also take the short Akaka Falls walk, which I really love.
If it were me, I would stop in Hilo for lunch (Cafe Pesto on the waterfront is great) then drive to VNP. There are a couple of places to eat there that I like, the Thai Thai restuarant right next to the hardware store in Volcano Village is great.
At the park, you could drive the crater rim drive (see the crater overlook from Volcano House, stop at the steam vents, etc), walk through the Thurston Lava tube and then at dusk (sunset will be about 6:30) you could drive down Chain of Craters and stay until dark to see the red glow of the lava. Check with the rangers or the VNP website for current conditions. Right now it is a hike over rough lava to the viewing, but it is well worth it if there is an lava/ocean entry going on. You would need water, sturdy shoes and flashlights for every person for that hike.
Saturday is also the day for the Hilo Market, which is fun and right by Cafe Pesto.
Have a great time, the Big Island is great.
You are right, the best route back Mauna Kea would be through Waimea. On that drive, the four mile scenic drive just outside of Hilo is beautiful and the smoothie place "What's Shakin" at the end is good. Tex's Drive-In just before the turn to Waimea makes wonderful malasadas and is a good stopping place. You could also take the short Akaka Falls walk, which I really love.
If it were me, I would stop in Hilo for lunch (Cafe Pesto on the waterfront is great) then drive to VNP. There are a couple of places to eat there that I like, the Thai Thai restuarant right next to the hardware store in Volcano Village is great.
At the park, you could drive the crater rim drive (see the crater overlook from Volcano House, stop at the steam vents, etc), walk through the Thurston Lava tube and then at dusk (sunset will be about 6:30) you could drive down Chain of Craters and stay until dark to see the red glow of the lava. Check with the rangers or the VNP website for current conditions. Right now it is a hike over rough lava to the viewing, but it is well worth it if there is an lava/ocean entry going on. You would need water, sturdy shoes and flashlights for every person for that hike.
Saturday is also the day for the Hilo Market, which is fun and right by Cafe Pesto.
Have a great time, the Big Island is great.
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