sfbayarea

I will be in the Big Island for 4 nights in the beginning of June staying at the Sheraton and flying into Kona. I am considering staying 1 night at the Kilauea Lodge in Volcano park and was wondering if I should do that the first night I'm there or the last night. Right now it's for the last night but I think the drive from the lodge to the Kona airport is about 2-3 hours and I'm not sure if I should make the drive the morning of my flight. =P What would you do?

GloriaE

IMHO I would stay in Volcano on the first night, unless you plane lands late and you cannot drive there before dark. There is sometimes a lot of traffic around Kona, which could make getting to the Kona airport pretty stressful for a morning flight if you are driving all the way from Volcano. Have a great time! I love the Big Island.

sfbayarea

Thanks for your advise! My flight out of Kona is around 12:45pm. Do you think I'll make it ok if I leave around 7 or 8am that morning? If I didn't have to worry about my flight, would you say that it's better to see the volcano at the end of the trip or in the beginning? =D

GloriaE

I would leave no later than 7:00 am for the airport from Volcano - you need to turn in the rental car, check baggage, go through security, etc and there can really, really be a lot of traffic on the drive back, along with slow vehicles. We drove from Hilo to catch a flight in Kona once, got stuck behind slow cars and almost missed the flight. Leave plenty early, if you get to Kona early, spend a little time there. One of my favorite things about the Volcano is walking out to the the lava after dark - - now I know you have a three hour time difference coming from California, so maybe you would be too tired a hike after dark on the first day - jet lag, etc. We are usually pretty pooped the first evening, so just maybe if you plan to do the lava in the dark hike, later would be better. Buy the way, it gets dark about 6:30 or 7:00 pm in Hawaii in June. Have a great time. We will be there for 11 days starting next Friday. I love the Big Island!

sfbayarea

Thanks again! We'll definitely have to check out the lava in the dark!

GloriaE

You will be walking over rough lava, wear good shoes, take a flashlight for each person and preferably long pants. Check out this web site for current lava conditions and info on the park:
http://www.nps.gov/havo/home.htm
have a great time!

cawhite

I don't suppose you can change your plans and fly out of Hilo at the end? That's what I would do.... or fly into Hilo at the beginning and out of Kona at the end.

The last 2 times on the Big Island that's what we've done. Can't imagine it any other way (of course you'll need a 1-way car rental as well... but that's easy enough).

Have fun!

crazy4Hawaii

Cawhite has proposed a sensible plan but I'm going to fly in and out of Kona when I go because I want to make the whole BI circle. I'll probably stay a few nights on the Kona coast, make the drive clockwise to stay a night or two in Volcano, and then spend one last night close to the airport before departure. If not, I'll do like you proposed and get up really early and get a later flight out of Kona. We would be flying to Kahului and there's a 3 o'clock.

sfbayarea

Thanks everyone! I think I've been convinced that I need to say in Volcano the first night and Kona the remaining 3 nights. Thanks for all your inputs!