Big Island (again) or another island for vacation?

[TGPILOT]

Thanks guys. Is it a decent place to stay? How far from a town, shopping, or base activity?

[terracore]

It's several miles from Volcano village. There are a couple of small stores there and several restaurants, however that is still about 45 minutes from Hilo. Not sure what you mean by base activity, if you mean military base, the nearest one is PTA, about 2 hours away. There is a national guard base at the Hilo airport with an exchange.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

I've never stayed there. You can read the Trip Advisor reviews, which seem to be mixed.

There is a restaurant right at the camp, which is kind of like a bar and grill. There's a nice restaurant at Volcano Lodge. Then the shops and restaurants that terracore mentioned in Volcano Village. I really like the Thai Restaurant and the Kilauea Lodge ($$$). The best part about staying at the KMC is that you are in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Exciting to go to the Jagger Museum and see the lava (not always guaranteed) at night.

However, it is isolated so if you are looking for more to do or nightlife you would have to drive to Hilo.

[TGPILOT]

Thanks guys, that gives me some ideas of what going on. I know in the 60's when I was stationed at Schofield, our whole unit went tome place on the BI for field maneuvers before heading to Vietnam. Don't remember much about it.

[hotzcatz]

KMC is a wonderful place to stay, we've stayed there a half dozen times. It's inside Hawaii Volcano National Park so you're right there in the park. The night time sky is amazing and sometimes added to the stars and milky way is the glow from the hot lava in the Halemaumau caldera.

There's little cabins which can be rented or small houses. There's also a bunk room if you prefer. That's the least expensive option, but we've usually rented a cabin or one of the houses. The cabins are stone with stained glass windows and a fireplace. There's wood available at the commissary or you can take your own up. Most of KMC was built back in the thirties or forties, I think. It's all old stonework and deep windows and such.

There's the main dining hall and there's also the snackbar over by the bowling alley. I think there's a place to get coffee and muffins, too. There's also the restaurant over at the nearby Volcano House. And Volcano Village is about ten minutes away for more dining options.

There's a game room, there's a commissary. The grounds are lovely and you can walk about. Or take a croquet game with you. It's at about 4,000 foot elevation, I think, so it's ohia forests and ferns. There's the entirety of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, too. That has the visitor's center, the scientific center with crater overlook, trails and Thurston lava tube to walk through. There's a theater and church up there, too. And a golf course a bit further up the hill and across the highway as well as a winery for wine tastings, too.