Waimea/Kona commute to Hilo (Kailua, Honokaa: home, to buy, construction)

[jklmnop]

Google maps says about 1 hr from Waimea and over 2 hrs from Kona. Is that accurate? I am wondering how traffic is in either direction, road conditions etc. Does 1 hr turn into 2? I would potentially need to make the drive about 8-10/month.

[V-Mutt]

Those estimates are relatively accurate. However, there are always variables which can affect that. Kona does seem to have more of the typical commuter traffic patterns which do add a bit of time to your trips but I don't think this doubles the time.

The things which can really stretch out your travel times include road construction, weather, landslides, tourists taking pictures, etc. These events all occur frequently enough to be a nuisance and impact your schedule.

If you're going to be doing that commute 8-10x a month, best get yourself a fuel efficient car. That's a lot of miles and gas is pretty pricy on the island.

[hotzcatz]

It's an hour's drive to Hilo from Honokaa and that's only 42 miles. Figure an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half from Waimea, depending on which side of town you're starting from. There is a little bit of rush hour traffic through Waimea in the afternoons, but not a lot anymore. Folks can't afford to drive from one side of the island to the other for daily work these days plus there's a lot less jobs so there's less traffic.

There are occasional landslides in the gulches which can shut them down for several hours at a time and the detour around the gulches is to go back through Waimea and take Saddle Road. Otherwise, there's the aforementioned road work, tourists, etc. From Waimea to Hilo there is only one road and the fastest posted speed is 55. Actually, I think that's the fastest speed anywhere on the island,although frequently there will be someone driving about ten miles an hour slower.

[BigIslandBum]

It takes me about 1 hr 45 mins to drive between Hilo and Kona (Costco) via Saddle Road. Going to Waimea takes about 1 hr 20 mins (usually longer due to emergency malasada and coffee stop) regardless if I go Mamalahoa Hwy or Saddle Road.

[hotzcatz]

Mmmm, yeah! Malasadas! Other than the traditional stop at Tex Drive Inn in Honokaa, another new tasty stop is Village Burger in Waimea at Parker Shopping center. They ain't the cheapest, but I'll bet they're the best! Wasbi french fries! Booyah!

[BigIslandBum]

Ohhh yes, Village Burger! Nom nom nom! I haven't tried the wasabi fries (next time) but the truffle fries were very good.

[cynmkolohe]

Hotz,

I first read that as "stop at Village Burger for malasadas!" I was about to shut down the computer and go check that out until I re-read your post! :-)

[hotzcatz]

Welll, next time you're in at Village Burger, suggest malasadas to him. They've got the hot oil fryers so they could probably make malasadas if they wanted. They'd need a medium sized Hobart mixer and a flat spot for rolling them out on, but they've got the hot oil fryer which is about half the process so maybe they could become a burger and malasada stop with a little bit of encouragement?

Actually, this is something a lot of folks don't notice about the Big Island. We have a small enough population that one can actually make suggestions or requests and they occasionally get carried out. Ask the grocery store to bring in an item you like to buy and more than likely, they'll try to do it. If you've got a political grumble about something, it's easy enough to go find one of the council people or other elected officials and bend their ear about it, especially if you can help them figure out how to implement it and as long as it's for the community as a whole.

[Slinkygirl]

Originally Posted by BigIslandBum

It takes me about 1 hr 45 mins to drive between Hilo and Kona (Costco) via Saddle Road. Going to Waimea takes about 1 hr 20 mins (usually longer due to emergency malasada and coffee stop) regardless if I go Mamalahoa Hwy or Saddle Road.

Where's the malasada stop? Inquiring minds want to know...

[hotzcatz]

Mile Marker 42 is Honokaa and is the home of Tex Drive Inn which has the malasadas. It's right along the highway, although you have to drive around the building to get to the front. Since it's about halfway between Hilo and Kailua, lots of folks traditionally stop there for a rest break.