Re: hawaii road trip

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: Yes - the Big Island is really big :-) : There is no good central location for everything on the island --- if you stay in Kona, it will take you about 2 hours to get to the Volcanoes National Park, and almost 2 hours to get to Waipio Valley area. : If you stay in Hilo, it will take you 40 minutes to get to the National Park, and 40 minutes to get to Waipio Valley, but 2 hours to get to Kona. : Maybe you should try - 2 days in Kona, two days in Volcano or Naalehu, and two days in Waimea or Honokaa. : Kona is where a couple of beaches are along alii drive - and you could go south to Kealakekua Bay or north to Hapuna Beach. : Volcano would be 2 minutes to the entrance to the National Park and 30 minutes to Punaluu beach and 40 minutes to south point. Naalehu would be 10 minutes to Punaluu beach and 30 or so minutes to the National Park. : Honokaa would be 10 minutes to Waipio Valley and 40 minutes to the waterfalls near Hilo -- or, if you stayed in Hilo instead of Honokaa, you would only be 10 minutes from the waterfalls, 40 minutes to Waipio Valley, and 40 minutes from lower Puna. : Maybe a more detailed itinerary would help == like if you said, these are the 4 places we absolutely must visit, and these are the 5 things we will do if we have time, I could be much more specific. : For example, if the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is a must-do, and you plan on staying there for more than one day, -- two nights in Volcano or Naalehu is a must. From there, you also could see if you have time: Punaluu Beach Park, and South Point. : If the waterfalls are a must-do - Rainbow Falls and Akaka Falls are both very easy to get to: You could even make them a day trip from Volcano -- possibly squeezing them in on the second day. At Rainbow Falls, you park in a parking lot and walk 50 feet to the lookout - the max you'll be there is 30 minutes. At Akaka Falls, you park in a parking lot and walk a mile in a circle - one hour maximum. Therefore, even if they are a must-do, you don't have to plan your lodging around them. : You say you want to hang out at the beach -- but what about the beach is important to you - fine white sand? You should go to Hapuna. (closest to Waimea) Snorkeling? You should go to Keauhou Bay. (closest to downtown Kailua-Kona) Turtles? - Punaluu (Kau) or Keauhou again. : Now that I think about it -- if you stayed three days in Volcano, one day in Waimea, and three days in Kona, you could probably see the most good stuff possible --- that's how I think I would do it, but again, a more detailed itinerary would help a lot. : Sorry for the rambling :-)

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