Would appreciate any feedback to help make our decision. We are traveling to the Big Island for the first time. There will be 4 adults and 2 small children - ages 3 & 6. We will have 3 full days to explore the island (not enough time!!) and 2 travel days. We know we want to spend 1 day visiting the volcanos. 2 adults would want to golf at least one morning. At this point, we have a reservation at Paniolo Greens but I'm concerned that we will be too isolated from the beaches, shopping, sites to keep the kids busy. Would we be better off finding a place south of Kona on the coast maybe? We'd like to lounge on beaches and snorkel. I can't help but think that I'd rather have a view of the ocean than a green. The brochures for Paniolo Greens aren't nearly as exciting as some of the ocean-front views I've found at places with fairly comparable rates. Any help appreciated!

Stay at Waikoloa Village. Much closer to beach areas and children's activities. I think Paniolo Greens was up country, a few miles inland from the ocean. Not sure of anything south of Kona. Waikoloa village has many activities for children, swim with dolphins or small natural pools. Golfing is also close by. Have not yet made the drive to Volcanoes park but I think it would take a full day of your schedule. Did drive north to Hawi, Waimea and Hilo. Very pretty drive and lots of green. Area around Kona and Waikoloa is very moonlike landscape. Nice public beach at Hapuna Beach park.

Kona coast doesn't have good beaches or play areas for kids.

Have stayed at Paniolo Greens. Don't golf so it was not really what I was looking for. The resort is upcountry from the Kohala Coast, and it will take you about 15-20 minutes to get to a beach. There are some great beaches on Kohala Coast, Hapuna the best. Also the pool at Paniolo Greens is quite small and not very much room around the pool for sitting and sunbathing. I was very disappointed with the pool area and avoided it. The units were nice enough, standard condos with tropical decor, all the amenities for cooking, laundry etc...If you golf, it is ideal, but that's about it in my opinion. Just my opinion, but hope this helps.

Thanks for all your feedback. I'm definitely leaning heavily toward staying in the Waikoloa/northern area with planned excursions to the Kona/southern area - around the southern tip to the volcano area. I'm just not keen at hanging out in a golf condo. I don't golf - maybe I'm being a bit selfish? I know we won't spend tons of time at the condo but, with small kids rest time is a must....and when kids rest, mom must rest. I'm wondering if there is a condo in the Waikoloa area (2/2 condo) that is not on a golf course that is around $200/nt. This may be asking too much? Thanks for listening to this slightly whiny post!

Stay at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. It is right on the ocean, although no beach there, Hapuna beach is a short drive. They have a lagoon inside the resort which is great for the kids. Lots of other activities for kids including swimming with the dolphins. We stayed there several years ago and enjoyed it. It is a healthy drive to get to the Volcano park, but if you want to stay on this side of the island, that is the price you pay.

Agree with above poster. Your children will LOVE the Hilton, and there is lots for adults to do in the area as well--good restaurants, golf, beaches, etc.

Our kids ( 9 and 5 at the time) did Dolphin Quest at the Hilton Waikoloa so we spent some time there but we stayed at the Outrigger Marriott Waikoloa. In our opinion the Outrigger was much better for little kids--a REAL sandy beach a few steps away (Hilton has great scenery but lava rocks beach) Outrigger's pool has a really cute shallow sandy area at one end and the toddlers/preschoolers were havin a blast there! Here's a linkhttp://www.outrigger.com/hotels_detail.aspx?hotel=23
I guess the word I felt for the Hilton was "impressive" rather than family friendly and it seemed a lot of walking or a lot of waiting for their trams/boats. A family that was waiting for a boat near us was staying there and they were NOT happy trying to get around. We would actually consider the Hilton more with teenagers---everyone could go off and do their own thing on the huge property and meet for lunch or such. Dolphin Quest was great but the child must be at least 5 to participate.
By the way konaweb.com is a very helpful Big Island site, go to "visiting the Big Island" forum.

Try the Hapuna Prince or Mauna Lani