Realistic to drive from Hilo to Kailua kona as a tourist? (Waipio: rental car, rental)

[Foxyroxy22]

I will be travelling to The big island in the spring and flying into Hilo, but want to see the whole island,..is there a way by car or transit to travel to kona? I am planning on booking my flight back out of kona, not sure if this is realistic or not tho?? And is it safe if I am travelling alone?? Any info would be much appreciated .

[HonaunauLove]

You will need a rental car to make it more enjoyable. As far as the drive, it depends on how long of a day you want to have and what you want to stop and see along the way.
South you have the volcano, black sand beach, South Point, Hana Hou for lunch and other stops. After you round South Point it gets a bit desolate for a while until you approach Capt. Cook/Kona. The road gets windy and hilly. But the views are great.
Saddle Rd. going over Mauna Kea is faster now. This will be your most direct route to Kona. The top of the world is beautiful but there isn't much to do going over that way unless you're going to stargaze at the visitor center up there.
If you go north from Hilo you will get great coastal views, waterfalls to stop at, some interesting beach parks namely "Laupahoehoe". The shoreline there is incredibly beautiful and it has a sad history to learn about. North from there will take you up to Waipio Valley. From there you can head to the Kohala coast and start checking out the sandy beaches on your way to Kona. Thats just some of the stuff I've checked out along those routes.
Have fun with whatever you end up getting into. There really is no wrong way to go.
Totally safe. But don't leave anything of value visible in the car. Crimes of opportunity can happen at the beach parks when you walk away out of sight.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Foxyroxy22

I will be travelling to The big island in the spring and flying into Hilo, but want to see the whole island,..is there a way by car or transit to travel to kona? I am planning on booking my flight back out of kona, not sure if this is realistic or not tho?? And is it safe if I am travelling alone?? Any info would be much appreciated .

There is a lot to see on the Big Island. Renting a car is really the only practical way to travel around and see the Big Island, although there are tour bus companies that you might use if you have an aversion to driving.

You might want to reconsider that plan, flying into Hilo and out of Kona. Check with the car rental places first to determine if there is an extra charge to pickup the car in Hilo and drop it off in Kona. I've found when checking for flights that the flights into and out of Kona are cheaper than Hilo, I assume because Kona gets more airline travelers than Hilo. I've never been to the Hilo airport, only driven past it several times. The Kona airport is a rather small, but a beautiful airport covered with large canopies, with an open air feel.

Driving around the Big Island isn't a problem at all. The people driving on the roads are generally free of bad behavior, such as you find in many parts of the mainland, such as tailgating, failing to yield, and road rage. Be sure to pick up a couple free "This Week in Hawaii" travel guides which have a map of the island in the back of the guide. I found that our Garmin GPS worked very well on the Big Island. I've heard some people comment that their GPS units did not work well on the Big Island. The car rental places we rented from only allow the cars to be driven on paved road, which are probably all the main roads on the islands. You probably will not be allowed to be drive to the summit, unless you rent a car that is allowed to be driven there.

Be careful about renting cars that are priced too cheap compared to the competition. We rented from Advantage on Maui, which was a disaster. The cars they had big dents and scratches on the front, back, and both sides, plus a trashed interior with torn up seats. The other cars Advantage had were even worse, but Advantage was much cheaper than the other car rental companies. It might be OK if you don't mind driving a 'Cheech and Chong' type of car.

The cheapest place on the island to buy gasoline is the Costco in Kona, other gas stations may be about 50 cents per gallon higher. The prices tended to be even higher in the northern part of the island when we visited times. Expect to pay about $1 more per gallon than the mainland.

The fastest and easiest way to travel between Hilo and Kona is the Saddle Road with the new Daniel K. Inouye extension. The southern and northern routes are much more scenic with a lot of interesting things to stop and see along the way. I recommend driving all over the Big Island to check it out and explore the island. When you drive around the island, you will be driving through many different microclimates. Make sure to have an umbrella with you. Also, be dressed for going to the beach and pack long pants and a light jacket or sweater, plus a heavier wind breaker with a hood. The higher elevations can get cold with a nasty wind. We weren't prepared for the cold temperatures and nasty wind when we visited volcano national park.

As far as safety is concerned. I never felt unsafe anywhere when traveling around the Big Island, although sometimes you hear stories about problems. There are areas where you will feel very isolated though and maybe just a little bit unnerving because something could happen. However, i did not experience any safety problems. I found the people to be very friendly on the Big Island.

[Foxyroxy22]

Thanks so much for all the great info!!! I will def consider renting a car to get to kona...I do want to see Mauna Kea, and stargaze, but the black sand beach sound lovely as well..��I wish I had more time!!

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Foxyroxy22

Thanks so much for all the great info!!! I will def consider renting a car to get to kona...I do want to see Mauna Kea, and stargaze, but the black sand beach sound lovely as well..��I wish I had more time!!

If you want to go to the summit, you might want to consider a tour, which I believe would depart from Kona or Hilo. You would then be saved the trouble from renting a special 4 wheel drive jeep for that day and the hassle or maybe bad experience trying to drive up to the summit. I have a friend who drove up there, and he did not think the drive was bad. I heard that the tours provide people heavy winter jackets for the cold conditions on the summit. If you are interested in the tour, make sure to reserve early, maybe before you get to the Big Island. From my understanding, it is the number one thing visitors like to see. We've been to the Big Island twice. The first time we just missed the last opening of a tour to the summit. The second time, we didn't want to go up there and put up with the cold. We're from Minnesota, and the object was to get away from the cold weather while we were visiting the Big Island.

When you are driving around the island, also bring some kind of good hiking shoes, not just flip flops. Although, the flip flops are good for the nearby beeches. There are trails that are pretty rugged that wind down hundreds of feet to beeches in some areas. Some people find a walking stick helps them. Also, bring water along. So, when walking up from the beech hundreds of feet uphill, you can stop and drink some water. We saw some people that wish they wouldn't have forgotten the water bottles. I also brought extra T-shirts so when my T-shirt was drenched with sweat after hiking up hill, I could change to a nice dry T-shirt.

Make sure to see the Hapuna Beech State Park Recreation Area, which we though was the nicest beach on the Big Island. I heard that it was voted the best beach in the US several times, yet it is not crowded at all. When we visited several times, there were at most several dozen people spread out over a vast area. It's a great place to watch the sunset. The park has canopies, picnic tables, charcoal barbecue grills, rest rooms, and showers. Non-residents have to pay $5 to park. It's about 20 to 25 minutes north of Kona on Queen Ka'ahumanau Highway, otherwise known as highway 19.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

[quote=davephan;382692

When you are driving around the island, also bring some kind of good hiking shoes, not just flip flops. Although, the flip flops are good for the nearby beeches. There are trails that are pretty rugged that wind down hundreds of feet to beeches in some areas. Some people find a walking stick helps them. Also, bring water along. So, when walking up from the beech hundreds of feet uphill, you can stop and drink some water. We saw some people that wish they wouldn't have forgotten the water bottles. I also brought extra T-shirts so when my T-shirt was drenched with sweat after hiking up hill, I could change to a nice dry T-shirt.

Make sure to see the Hapuna Beech State Park Recreation Area, which we though was the nicest beach on the Big Island. I heard that it was voted the best beach in the US several times, yet it is not crowded at all. When we visited several times, there were at most several dozen people spread out over a vast area. It's a great place to watch the sunset. The park has canopies, picnic tables, charcoal barbecue grills, rest rooms, and showers. Non-residents have to pay $5 to park. It's about 20 to 25 minutes north of Kona on Queen Ka'ahumanau Highway, otherwise known as highway 19.[/QUOTE]

Dave, I'm curious as to which beaches you had to hike down a rugged trail to get to.

Foxyroxy, if you don't have a lot of time, I recommend going to the black sand beach at Punalu'u. You can park right at the beach and walk on the black sand in your flip flops and see some large turtles basking in the sun. Stop and talk story with Auntie Jeanette in her small gift shop near the parking lot (small parking lot on the Hilo side, not the bigger one on Kona side). She has local crafts to sell.

How much time do you have here?

[hotzcatz]

Is this a one day sort of trip? If it's just one day, that's not very long. If you fly in really early, most of Hilo won't even be open yet. Although I suppose you could see the topography instead of the shops.

You could fly into Hilo, head up to Volcano, visit the Volcano National Park for a couple of hours, head off to Punaluu and the green sand beach and see if there are any turtles there, then head on up to Kailua Kona and visit some coffee farms along the way, dinner in Kailua-Kona then off to the airport. That's only a quickie tour of less than half the island, though.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

The beach at Punalu'u is black. Going to the Green Sand Beach at South Point would take way too much time.

[MaryleeII]

Last I was there the Saddle Road was off limits for most rental cars. which means, if you wreck one of their rental cars, YOU are responsible for the damages, regardless of what insurance you have. The rental compay insurance will not pay, and your own insurance will not pay. I don't know if any of that has changed, best look into it.

[HonaunauLove]

Originally Posted by MaryleeII

Last I was there the Saddle Road was off limits for most rental cars. which means, if you wreck one of their rental cars, YOU are responsible for the damages, regardless of what insurance you have. The rental compay insurance will not pay, and your own insurance will not pay. I don't know if any of that has changed, best look into it.

Saddle Rd is a newly paved Hwy. It's a cross island connector at this point.