The Drive from Hilo to Kailula-Kona
 

OK - A group of 20-21 year olds are landing in Hilo Thursday night at 10:15 p.m. and want to drive into Kona whre they are staying at a house belonging to one of the kids families. ag3046 on this website has told me the dangers of driving the long, winding road and I wanted to see if anyone else had any advice here. Is the road really treacherous enough to try once again to convince them to stay in Hilo until sunrise? Just call me the worried mom...

I would call the road decent between Hilo and Waimea. After that it gets more windy, but we did do it after dark one evening in a light rain. DH was a bit nerve-wracked but we managed it. It was only about 8pm.

The highway itself is fine (it's wide, paved and relatively flat). But because of the Mauna Kea observatories the BI has strict lighting ordinances -- most roads including Hwy 19 are extremely dark at night. As long as the kids are sober and not exhausted from travel it's not going to be a problem. However, that particular drive covers some spectacular scenery. It would be a shame for them to miss it.

I think the "Saddle Road", is under construction. I think there's another post about that.

Do NOT allow them to take the Saddle Road. There was a double fatality yesterday at 3pm when a Jeep overturned because of inappropriate speed on a hairpin turn. It looks like the fastest road by the map, but most rental cars prohibit it and it is UNSAFE at night. It is not so nice during the day, either in my opinion because of the bad potholes and inappropriate speeds. The

Everyone - THANK YOU SO MUCH for your replys to a worried mom! The kids will not be picking up their rental car until tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. and are planning on just hanging and dozing at the airport until then. Whew! I feel SO much better about this trip now.

Oh, couldn't they just take a taxi into Arnott's and stay the night at the hostel there?

ag3046 - YOU have been so great with your responses to my worries. I tried that route and they are going cheap and didn't want to pay the small fee of $20 per person and taxi fees. As far as I'm concerned, at least I know they will not be on the road until daybreak.

Well, everything will work out fine. I'm sure some of the time they wait it out at the airport will be spent figuring out they should have asked your advice and flown into KOA in the first place. Would have been cheaper and easier in the long run. Some things you just have to learn for yourself. They'll have a wonderful time, no doubt.