Kona or Hilo
 

Planning a 5-day trip to Big Island and am wondering if it is best to stay in Kona or Hilo. Seems like some nice/inexpensive hotel options in Hilo but pricey or plain ones in Kona. If we stay in Hilo, how far of a drive is Kona? Thanks in advance for the info.

It really depends upon your budget and what you want to do. I would look for two nights lodging in Volcano National Park since that is the biggest attraction on the Hilo side. Then I would drive into Hilo, stop at the Tsunami Museum, drive along the coast to Akaka Falls and then travel through Waimea to the Kona side, finding a resort either on the Kohala coast or in Waikaloa. Kailua Kona is a cute little town to spend an evening or afternoon in, travel to the Place of Refuge for the day and then relax at the resort for the remaining time. With stops along the way, you can plan on five hours between coasts.

I vote for none of the above, instead try Kohala coast, suggest Outrigger Waikoloa Beach Marriott ~$200 night Partial Ocean View. The Hilo (east) side is closer to Volcanoes National Park-with active volcano, to drive to Kona (west) would take a couple hours. Many resorts are in Kona but hard to find one with nice sandy beach. Hilo seems more urban than Kona or Kohala and this is where the cruise ships dock. Kohala has nicest resorts though pricey, and is secluded in the striking northwest. We did not mind driving a few hours to Volcanoes National Park and back to see the red hot lava flows in the same day from the Kohala coast and circled the island. ;-)

With five days, I would spend two days in either Hilo or Volcano, and three days at a Kohala resort. We thought the Mauna Kea was nice and its beach is spectacular. Kona is very touristy; Hilo is a real town with a great farmer's market. To drive from Kona to Hilo is about 2.5 hours non-stop, but the stops are so worthwhile that it's a shame to do it all in one day.

I stayed on the Kohala COast a few years back at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows. Gret hotel, excellent service, but it is pricey and also isolated, if that's waht you want. Otherwise, Kona which is about a 20 minute drive south of the Kohala Coast has more resonably priced hotels and more in the way of nightlife.

The topography on the Kona and Hilo sides is so difffernt. Kona is like a moonscape as a result of the volcanic activity. Hilo resembles a tropical rain forest. Definitely take a tour of the Kiluea Volcano. I would suggest splitting your time between the west and east ends of the Island to be able to appreciate how different they are.

We always stay on Kona side. Either Kona or Waikoloa.

We just stayed 5 nights on the big island.
4 nights in Kona at a nice Condo - waterfront at a reasonable price. 1 night volcano.

That worked for us, gave us plenty of time to see the sites and do a lot of snorkeling on the Kona side and plenty of time to see the volcano. While we were on the Kona side, we did the drive up through Waimea to the NorthShore and then back down through Kohala.

Saw a lot of the island doing it this way. One day at the volcano was enough for us but others like to spend more time there. Also just one day to drive from the volcano through Hilo with a stop at the museum and hit the sites on the way back to Kona was plenty for us. But, we are not big hikers.

Duane

Maggs, you didn't mention what is important to you in deciding on Hilo or Kona. Sun is important to me and Hilo is MUCH wetter and cloudier than Kona. To me-enough said.

The vast majority of travelers are going to choose the Kona/Kohala side rather than Hilo. The climate is dryer and sunnier and that's where most of the nice hotels are. But you may have different preferences. A lot depends on how much time you want to spend at the volcano area. We chose to spend our 8 nights all in Kohaha and did the volcano as part of a long but fun day where we drove around the entire island. It did not give us time to really do justice to the volcano area, but in general worked fine. If you really want to see the lava flow and have time to relish the experience, you'll want to spend one night in the Hilo area. But that means the hassle of checking out and checking back into hotels or double paying for one night of your trip.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've been leaning towards the Kona side just coz I'd like to do a fair amount of snorkeling. I guess we have to just figure out if it is worth checking in/out of a hotel to stay 1 night in hilo or the volcano area. arrrrghhhh. Decisions, decisions :)

Here is your answer:

Hilo averages 126 inches of rain a year.

Kona averages 35 inches of rain a year.

Do you want to spend your time under an umbrella dodging raindrops or sunshine?