Planning our first trip to Hawaii in October and am considering the following itinerary. Would LOVE feedback on how 'do-able' this is and if you think it's a good plan....

Day 1 -
Fly from DC area to Kona

Days 1 - 3
Three nights in Kona

Days 4 - 6
Drive to Hilo area - spend two nights there mainly exploring Volcano National Park and the rain forests, etc.

Day 6
Fly from Hilo to Maui

Days 6-10
Maui

Day 11
Fly from Maui back to DC... but scheduling flight to have all day layover in Oaho giving us enough time to rent a car and visit Pearl Harbour (only thing we want to do in Oahu...)

Is this do-able??? I'm particularly interested in hearing if anyone else has broken up their time on the Big Island to include the Kona and Hilo areas? I figured this breaks up our trip nicely - 3 nights on the beach, 2 nights of Volcano/rainforest, then back to 5 nights on the beach in Maui.

Would love some feedback! Thanks so much!

We have spent two nights on the Hilo side (VNP) and then 5 days in Kona. If you use your time well, you should be okay with three. I don't know which airline you are using so a lot depends upon that. Delta for example doesn't fly to the big island and the flight from Maui leaves around 9 pm. If you are flying Delta, Oahu and getting to the Big Island may be on your own dime.

Sounds good, except personally I would do Pearl Harbor at the beginning of the trip instead of at the end. Dealing with Honolulu and its traffic is no way to end ten days on the BI and Maui.

Hmmm.... you probably have a really good point there! THANKS for that tip!!!

I just returned from a DC to Big Island trip (have just posted a 4-part trip report), and can highly recommend the Hilo/Kona split.

I have traveled Hawaii to DC 4 times in the last 4 months and I have chronic jet lag, LOL.

Yes, split the time on the Big Island, the volcano area is very interesting and you will not want to be in a sghtseeing rush with the drive back to Kona looming.

I think it's OK to do Pearl Harbor on the last day. The last day is always terrible, especially if you have a late flight and you have checked out of the hotel. PH is about 10 minutes from the airport, easy to cab or take a rental car. You may even have time to go into Waikiki for sunset dinner.

Thanks for those tips, Vivi.... I considered the earlier posters advice on doing Oahu on the way in - but as far as I can tell, the most flights back to the mainland are in the evening... so doing it on the way home probably is a more 'efficient' use of our time. Plus - if I'm not mistaken - United flies directly to Kona - but not from Maui.