Kona, Hawaii
 

What's the best thing to do or see in Kona without a car? We will have the day, 8am-6pm and want to enjoy what we can of Kona in that brief time.

With 10 hours available in Kona rent a car. Then rent a car in Hilo and see Volcano Park

Hapuna beach is always rated one of the top beaches in the world. There are changing rooms available. It is a great beach to spend the day at on the BI

RENT A CAR! I think you'd be hard pressed to spend that much time just in Kona. There are so many beautiful beaches and snorkeling opportunities within easy driving distance of Kona, along with the beautiful Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Park, with its adjacent snorkeling wonderland.

In terms of your posts for the other islands, RENT A CAR. Or, take a circle island tour, I guess. Either way, you need transportation. The cruise ship ports of call are not within walking distance of much of anything you could occupy yourself with all day long on any island. Buy a guidebook.

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roxy

Mike: In my opinion the best thing would be to take a helicopter tour of the island. Blue Hawaiian and a few other tour operators have pickup points in and around Kailua. This is the only way to get an overview of the island in just one day, and with any luck you'll get to see some flowing lava.

I see in other posts that you are taking the interisland cruise. DO A TOUR with the cruise ship!! If they have one that goes up to Mauna Kea, or to the goreous Kohala Coast and Waimea (Parker Ranch), that would be a great area to see. There are also good beaches on this side of the island. We snorkeled at A-Bay Park and got to swim alongside a sea turtle!

Downtown Kona has some good shopping along Alihi Drive, but nothing worth spending 10 hours on.

If you don't want to do the tours with the cruise company, then RENT A CAR and go off on your own. DOing a helicopter tour will also require a car since the heliports are all on the outside edge of town.

Oh, one other alternative to the helicopter tour is Mokulele FLight Services' air tour. They fly 6-seater planes and leave out of Kona and Hilo airports, and it is about half the cost of a helicopter tour. We did the circle island air tour and it was great. (My Mom had gotten motion sick on a Kauai helicopter tour, and this trip was a lot more fun for her.) We didn't get to get as close to the volcano as the helicopters did, but we got to see the whole island and it was just gorgeous!

If your port of call on the Big Island is Kailua, a car is NOT necessary to take a helicopter tour. Blue Hawaiian for example picks up/drops off from both the Royal Kona Resort and the King Kam Hotel, both very short walks from the harbor.