travelplan

We are planning a summer trip to Maui and the Big Island. SInce, this is our first trip to Hawaii, I would really appreciate any tips, recommendations and help from this forum.

We will be in Maui for 5 days and our intention is to primarily be a beach bum but we would like to visit a few of the popular tourist places. Can anyone recommend some must see places and a moderately priced resort on a nice family friendly beach where we could stay. I think we would prefer to stay in a resort on this island as opposed to a B&B or a lodge.

On the Big Island we have 3 days and plan to spend more time sight seeing (especially the volcano national park). We land at the Hilo airport. Can folks recommend a family friendly place to stay on a nice beach but does not need to be a resort ? What else is a must see (mauna kea observatory? the rainforest?).

Any thoughts, suggestions are most welcome.

BarbAnn

The Hilo side of the Big Island is not known for "nice beaches". They are basically black volcanic rocky beaches. Hilo to Volcano National Park is only about 1 hour. How about staying a night near Volcano National Park? There are some nice B&B's. To have a nice beach, you have to go to the other side of the island and stay at an upscale resort. Depends on what you like. I've stayed on the Big Island several times. The last time I rented a house in Kapoho (30 minutes from Hilo) and had a blast. Remember, the Hilo side has a lot more rain, thus, it is a lot more lush.

travelplan

BarbAnn: How far is the volcano national park from the kona side of the island?

AllisonD

For our first trip to Maui our travel agent recommended the west side of the island. I agree w/ her as there are long stretches of nice beaches; not as many on the east side. Ka'anapali and Lahaina are both be great areas (3 miles apart). Easy driving on the island too. The Ka'anapali area is a little more relaxing. The Lahaina area is a bit busier but has lots of restaurants, shops, drugstores, grocery store, etc. The kids would like Banyan Tree Park in Lahaina.

charnees

travelplan, it's 3 hours' drive from Kona to the Volcano. I would suggest you stay overnight in Hilo after you get there. the tsunami museum in downtown Hilo is very interesting. And you can go south to the end of the road in Puna and see where the recent lava flows have covered up the land. Go to the volcano the next day. Be sure to take your warm layers of clothing as it can be raining and cool on the mountain sometimes.
Then after seeing the volcano, drive on to the west side (this is the 3 hour drive). You can stay at the Keauhou Beach hotel in Kona, which is right next to the best snorkeling beach, or the King Kamehameha at the other end of town. These are moderate-priced hotels.

another nice thing to do the next day is backtrack on the highway from Kona south about 45 mins. to Honaunau or the Place of Refuge to see the big heiau and royal enclosure there. It's beautiful, and there is a beach next to the park. Then either stay in Kona or drive back to Hilo by taking the road the rest of the way around the island (it's about 2 1/2 hours to get from Kona to Hilo this way. Or you could do this circuit in reverse.

The lush, green parts are on the east or windward side, where there is more rain. It's very dry and not lush on the west side, although that's where the better beaches are. The Big Island is not known as the best beach island.

charnees

BY the way, that Kona hotel by the snorkeling beach is the Outrigger. A moderate-priced, clean hotel with large rooms and nice views all around. There is also a Sheraton Keauhou Resort about 3 minutes south of there but the beach isn't as good, I think.

charnees

And you should also know that you don't have to stay at a resort to get to a good beach on the BI. There is Hapuna state park beach north of Kona that is very smooth and usually calm for kids. Also, all resorts have to provide public access to their beaches! If there is a gate, just drive up and say the magic words: Public Access, and they will let you in. However, you may have to park farther away from the beach. And Mauna Kea hotel strictly limits the number of public access parking slots, so it fills up by about 10 am. But at Waikoloa you can go to a big public access lot right near the water. The beach there has a name in Hawaiian that is very long, so everyone just calls it the A Beach.