AandED

My husband and I are visiting the BI for the first time in Nov. It's my husband's first visit to the islands and I've only been to Oaho, so we're excited and want to do it 'right', but somewhat economically. Very interested in scuba diving a LOT, so we plan to spend 6 nights on the Kona side, 2 nights on the Hilo side to get the 'full Hawaii experience' as recommended by others on this board. Only problem is that I've spent too much time researching & am now overwhelmed by all the info out there! For Kona, we've narrowed lodgings down to either the Hapuna Beach hotel because of the good deals this summer (40% off for the 40th anniversary) plus it has a nice beach and snorkeling opps, but this would admittedly be a splurge (by $1000+ for the week! plus added food costs) as we initially intended to rent an ocean front condo at Kona Reef, Sea Village or similar, and do a fair amount of cooking vs. eating out. We're trying to figure out if the hotel is worth it, (the Hapuna website looks very compelling), however I've seen a huge disparity in opinion about this hotel (esp. on Tripadvisor.com - & all reviews are recent!) Also, unsure if the hotel is too far out of the way to see other parts of the island and also get to dive sites/shops (likely DiveTek or Jack's Dive Locker) for early morning dives (~7am). It looks like a lot of the diving we'd like to do is south of the airport - unsure how long it takes to drive around these areas?
Re: Hilo side, we're pretty open (e.g., wouldn't mind a B&B) and would like to get a good 'old Hawaii' experience either on a coffee plantation or near the volcano (unsure of distances between these to styles?), and would appreciate recommendations that for rooms in the $120 range or under. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

fdecarlo

I can tell you straight away that latest Hapuna Beach Prince review (and likely several negative reviews following it) are shills -- fake reviews posted to discredit a property by reps of other properties, or by a disgruntled employee etc. The dead giveaway is the Hilton recommendation common to several of these reviews. Absolute nonsense.

As for your trip, Kohala resorts are removed from one another (it's a 15-20 minute drive between most of them). This part of the island offers very good scuba and the island's best white sand beaches. However, even better scuba opportunities exist south of Kailua-Kona (at Kealakekua Bay) and just north of Kailua off the coast of the old airport.

What's "best" really depends on what your priorities are. If a quiet/relaxed atmosphere and proximity to white sand beaches is most important, your best bet is one of the Kohala resorts. If proximity to shopping and the island's best scuba sites take precendence, consider a condo in Keauhou or Kailua, such as Kanaloa at Kona.

If you haven't already, you might want to read through Dick Dresie's site to get an overview of scuba sites on the Kona side of the island:

http://www.ilhawaii.net/~dpdresie/index.html

gigib

For your Hilo time, you might be better off staying in a B&B at Volcano. A good source for looking at all of them is www.volcanoartcenter.org. Look under Wilderness Runs, there's a good Accomodations section that shows all the websites. Last August, we loved the Country Goose B&B and went nuts over the Hapuna! If you get the breakfast deal, you won't need lunch. There is excellent diving at the Puako reef just south of the Hapuna. It is a long drive to the south Kona area though, and traffic thru Kona is SLOW. Kealakekua Bay is crystal clear and swarming with fish!

beachgirl86

I have to agree with fdecarlo's opinion about the Trip Advisor reviews. There were nothing but great reviews for quite awhile, then all of a sudden, a bunch of nasty ones. I have stayed at Hapuna twice, once this past summer when a lot of these negative reviews were posted. I can tell you that Hapuna is a GREAT value compared to other resorts in Hawaii.

It is on a gorgeous beach with a lovely pool, free lounge chairs and umbrellas, awesome snorkeling right there, and great lanais and bathrooms. I got 5 nights on Hotwire for $1060, and was upgraded to Ocean View. Hapuna often comes up on Hotwire and Priceline.

It is out of the way a bit, but most of the Kohala resorts are. It's about 30 min. to the airport, and 40 to downtown Kona. If you click on my screen name, you will find my trip report from last month.

ChristieP

We stayed at the Country Goose B&B in Volcano, and it was wonderful. We stayed in themain house, and they also have several cottages to rent, too. www.countrygoose.com

In Hilo, we stayed at the Wild Ginger Inn, which is an old sugar plantation. www.wildgingerinn.com It's kind of rustic, but each room has a very comfy bed with ceiling fan and a fridge. At under $100 a night, it was very well priced!

AandED

Thank you everyone for the great advice! The Hapuna does look beautiful (and thank you for the reality check on those likley bogus negative reviews) but given our dive focus, and the fact that we're not morning people (the 30+ min. drive to the dive shop each morning would probably kill us!), I think we'll stick to staying in the south with some day trips to the beach up north in the afternoons after we dive. We found great rates for a oceanfront room at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach for much cheaper than the condos we were looking at, so unless we hear negatives about this choice, I think we'll camp out there. And we really appreciate the help on the Hilo side accomodations, this should be no problem now!

fdecarlo

The Outrigger Keauhou Beach is a nice place. Rooms are on the small side compared to Outrigger's other property in the area (Kanaloa at Kona), but the grounds are very well maintained.

Get an oceanfront room if possible. The views are amazing.