I am having the hardest time trying to figure out where to stay when we visit the Big Island. We're going to be there in October for 5 nights. Is there an area of the big island that is central to most of the island (going to most of the touristy sites, volcano, etc.)?

Would we be better off splitting up our trip and doing maybe 3 nights at one place and 2 nights at another?

Any help/suggestion is appreciated.

It's probably best to split the trip between the west side-Kona or Kohala(if you have the bucks)- and Volcano/Hilo. But what touristy sites are you interested in besides the volcano? That could affect the decision.

You really have to decide what you would like most in a vacation in order to decide. We like the big resorts and enjoyed the Hilton. The Hilton is located on the Kohala coast north of the airport.
Our goal was to snorkel. This is what our family liked most. We snorkeled near the Hilton and also down in Kona area. We did the volcano, but it was fine for a day trip. We did not love the volcano, but we can say we saw it. Snorkeling with turtles and beautiful colored fish was our highlight. The sunnier side is also the Kona/Kohala side. Enjoy!

We stayed on the Big Island on the south tip for 8 days. We were half way between anywhere we wanted to go. It was great and not crowded since we weren't in the touristy places. On the big island it is almost too simple to drive and see everything you want. We would even go someplace, come back to the resort and then head out again after we freshened up.

We've been to the Big Island twice- first time we flew into Hilo, stayed one night, one night in Volcano National Park, and then stayed 5 nights at the HIlton on Kohala Coast. It was a great plan- we hiked out to the Volcano, which was flowing. The second time we went, we stayed just south of Kona in condos, and that was a lot of fun too. Kona has lots of restaurants and shops- Kohala doesn't have quite the activity. Both are equally good. just depends on what you're in the mood for. We had our two 20 something daughters both times, and they enjoyed both areas.