• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Volcano on Big Island Questions

S

suzanne

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
1,694
Reaction score
44
Location
Las Vegas, NV
We are looking at driving to Volcano National Park. We will be at the HGVC Waikoloa Beach Resort the days that we go to Volcano. Which direction would be best for the drive in November? Go from resort up thru Hilo side stopping along the way at Akaka and Rainbow Falls and the Botanical Gardens short stop in Hilo for late lunch then on to Volcano. Check into B&B See the sunset from the Jager Museum, staying after dark to see glow of lava. Late dinner, then up early tour the park then drive down the Chain of Craters Road, stopping along way back to Kona to see different sights and at the black Sand Beach to see turtles. Arriving back at resort for late dinner.

Or should we do the trip in the reverse order? We would love to spend 2 nights at the park, but our friends traveling with us are on an extremely tight budget and can't afford the extra price for the accommodations. DH and I are picking up the first night there, but we are also on budget. Plus they would be very embarrassed to let us pay for both nights. Hard enough to talk them into one night.

Suzanne
 
Suzanne, is anyone in your group active or retired military? There are very affordable accommodations right in the park for military folks. That may be a less expensive way to do things.

It's going to be a long drive no matter how you do it. I'd work my way down the east side of the island, stopping at scenic points along the way, see the Hilo area, and ending up in Volcano later in the afternoon.

See Hilo town, visit Akaka and Rainbow Falls, don't miss the Tsunami Museum, have lunch at Cafe Pesto in town (great sandwiches), then drive up to Volcano, stopping at the Mauna Loa Macadamia Factory and Akatsuka Orchid Gardens along the way. Enter the Volcano park later in the day when the heat is down some, and do your evening activity. Spend the next day exploring the park, spend the second night, then head back up the west side of the island. (Are you sure Chain of Craters Road is open? I'd heard it was closed.)

Stopping at the Black Sand Beach at Punalu'u in the morning is a good time to see turtles on the beach without a lot of tourists there. Work your way up the coast, with stops and side trips as you'd like. (See South Point if you can - it's kind of eerie to stand on a 100' high rocky cliff looking south, knowing the next land mass is Antarctica. :)) You can hit the scenic spots going up the coast, stop for a late lunch in Kona, and end up back at your timeshare by evening.

Have fun!

Dave
 
Thanks Dave, I will talk to our friends and see what they want to do.

Suzanne
 
On the way back stop at the Punalu'u Bake Shop and get some of their wonderful Hawaiian sweet bread. They have some there that you can't find in the grocery stores.

http://www.bakeshophawaii.com/
 
Try the military lodging in the park, our family got a large suite there that slept 8at a good price and this was over Christmas/New Years holiday.
 
Elli said:
Luanne, I so agree, don't they have great pastries.
Click to expand...

To be honest I've never had their pastries. I think my daughters have though. We usually just stock up on bread. We used to make French toast from the bread (got the idea from the Kileuea Lodge).
 
The military camp is best if you know anyone that has an ID card they can sponsor you. The hotels in Hilo are a lot cheaper than the Bed and Breakfast places up near the park. Hilo is less than one hour and not bad if you want to save money. If you really want to stay two nights, stay in Hilo.
 
It's a long drive from Waikoloa!

Hi, there -- I am surprised that no one has mentioned how long this drive is, whether you go clockwise or counter-clockwise around the island. It is a very long drive on winding, mostly two-lane roads, and if you stop to eat meals, gaze at turtles on a beach, take a side road to view something (waterfalls, for example, or spinner dolphins), or visit quaint shops . . . well, you get the idea! All of this takes time. I wonder if perhaps instead of two nights in Volcano, you might consider splitting the journey and have one night in Volcano and one night somewhere else. Otherwise, you will feel rushed, and that is definitely not part of the Aloha experience!
 
daBish said:
Hi, there -- I am surprised that no one has mentioned how long this drive is, whether you go clockwise or counter-clockwise around the island. It is a very long drive on winding, mostly two-lane roads, and if you stop to eat meals, gaze at turtles on a beach, take a side road to view something (waterfalls, for example, or spinner dolphins), or visit quaint shops . . . well, you get the idea! All of this takes time. I wonder if perhaps instead of two nights in Volcano, you might consider splitting the journey and have one night in Volcano and one night somewhere else. Otherwise, you will feel rushed, and that is definitely not part of the Aloha experience!
Click to expand...


Actually, I did say it was going to be a long drive. But she already knows that, I'm sure. If one stays in Waikoloa and wants to see the volcano, there isn't any other choice, even if they drive it non-stop. There isn't any rush to get back to the north end of things, so enjoying the trip and making it a day-long journey each way is a great way to see the BI. :D

Dave
 
I support the notion of spending two nights on the south side of the island is at all possible. That will make everything simpler.

Given your itinerary - if I had only one night in the park, I would get as early as start as possible on my way down to the park and I would go through Kona, planning to make a full day of the drive and seeing the west Coast sites along the way (including the Punalu'u Bake Shop and the Black Sand Beach. I would plan the trip to arrive at my accommodations no later than 5 pm. Then catch the night lava viewing that night. The next day I would plan activities in the park until late afternoon - no later than 5 pm, and head straight back to Waikoloa on the main road (not the Saddle Road).

I would do it that way because when you are at Waikoloa it's easy to make a day trip loop to Hilo and back to Waikoloa, using the Saddle Road one way and the main highway the other direction. But your only chance to catch sights like South Point and Punalu'u will be on the way to or from the Park.
 
Thanks Steve, that seems to be the best way for us to go. Friends are still balking at staying over night. Hopefully when they get there they will see how much time just the drive thru Kona and stops takes before we ever get to the VNP, and change their minds about staying over night. I am going to insist we all take small overnight bags just in case. Then hope we can get last minute room to stay in. :wall:

Suzanne
 
Suzanne, the first time we visited the Big Island we did the drive to Volcano National Park, and back, in one day. After that trip we vowed never again. You just don't have time to see anything. The least amount of time we've spent has been one night, the most was three I think.
 
Thanks Luanne, I offered to pay for the hotel rooms for one night but friends declined. I know that they are strapped for cash and don't want to push the issue further and embaress them.

Suzanne
 
Saddle Road is the answer

T_R_Oglodyte said:
I would do it that way because when you are at Waikoloa it's easy to make a day trip loop to Hilo and back to Waikoloa, using the Saddle Road one way and the main highway the other direction.
Click to expand...
I was going to suggest something like that to see the volcano. We'd hop over Saddle Road and go the VNP that way. And then make South Point a separate trip a couple days latter via Kona.

Some folks complain about driving saddle road at night, but I would much rather return via Hilo over Saddle Road to Waikoloa than drive the LONG WINDING NARROW road from VNP through Kona. This would probably save at least an hour driving time and there weren't many cliffs on Saddle Road

We left the lava flow around 10:30pm. Stopped at the crater at VNP to se the lava there and have a snack (BTW take lots of snacks because they can be difficult get along the way) . We planned to get a sunday at McD's in Capt. Cook and take a break, but they were closed by the time we got there. Finallly got back to Kona nearing 2am. When people said it is a long drive they meant that it is a VERY LOOOOONG drive. Got cought in a couple of down pours. Glad that we had a JEEP.


Luanne said:
Suzanne, the first time we visited the Big Island we did the drive to Volcano National Park, and back, in one day. After that trip we vowed never again.
Click to expand...
We've done it twice. The second time went much better. We limited the mission to just see the volcano the second time and didn't plan or do anything else. Also we planned a lazy morning and took a little nap before we headed to the volcano. We also had a much better feel for how BIG the BIG Island is. You really don't just jo[ over to any place on the Big Islands like the others.

While it made for a VERY LONG day after 20 years of chasing the volcano ... this was worth it...

hi08-714lava 039 by dntanderson, on Flickr

We were so fortunate that there was an earthquake in the wee hours of the morning that we planed our volcano visit shifted everything. This was our third visit to see Pele and it turned out that three was the charm. By the time it made the news from the Oahu stations and their film crews showed up, the show was all but over. It was awesome being allowed to see a hill being born. After you start diving your access to the volcano get limited. On this trip we really lucked out and everything fell into place.
 
Last edited:
Wow what an awesome photo. Thank you for sharing. If we drive up thru Kona to VNP stopping to see the Black Sand Beaches and turtles then spend rest of day at VNP then go to the museum for sunset and after dark hopefully lava glow then head towards Hilo take Saddle Road back down to Waikoloa about how many hours are we talking about for the return drive fro museum to HGVC Waikoloa Beach resort? If doing the drive this way is there anywhere that we could have dinner in Volcano prior to going to the museum?

Suzanne
 
suzanne said:
Wow what an awesome photo. Thank you for sharing. If we drive up thru Kona to VNP stopping to see the Black Sand Beaches and turtles then spend rest of day at VNP then go to the museum for sunset and after dark hopefully lava glow then head towards Hilo take Saddle Road back down to Waikoloa about how many hours are we talking about for the return drive fro museum to HGVC Waikoloa Beach resort? If doing the drive this way is there anywhere that we could have dinner in Volcano prior to going to the museum?

Suzanne
Click to expand...

Just a minor point but from Waikola, you are driving down thru Kona. I have had experiences in getting the wrong directions when I used down or up incorrectly.

Last January, we stayed at Paniolo Greens and made the trip to Hilo several times using the saddle road day and night. Much easier drive than using the coast road. Also a quicker drive. DW did not do any of the driving, but she never felt insecure while on the saddle road. If you use Saddle road at night, be sure to stop if the sky is clear near the top because you will see more stars than one can imagine.
 
5-6 Hours Drive Time.

Suzanne,

We have made the circle loop on the island a couple of times and it does make for a long day. According to mapqwest: the trip from HGVC to VNP is about 2.5 Hours roughly 100 miles. The time and distance is about the same for either Hi 200 (Saddle) or Hi 19 (Northern Loop). The route from VNP to HGVC through Kona is about 3 hours. So plan on spending 5-6 hours just driving without any stops.

If you drive Hi 19 stop at the Tex Drive In for the malasadas. They are best discribed as a Portuguese filled donut. They also have a small orchard overlooking the ocean that you can tour to see the different local fruits that are grown.

If the lure of the black sand beach is to see turtles, make a stop at the Place of Refuge (Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park) south of Kona. I have always seen turtles sunning on the beach and the bay to the North is the best snorkling on the island.
 
is that saddle rd just for 4x4's or can cars go on it as well. google says it has some restricted use issues.
 
Thank you, your photos are beautiful. I am really excited about our trip.

Suzanne
 
BonBiniGirl said:
We just drove Saddle Road in May. It is well paved the whole way for any vehicle to drive. [/url]
Click to expand...
Is the road like that all the way down the west side now? The said they were going to fix it. That would sure be nice:)
 
dsyrcle said:
Suzanne,

. So plan on spending 5-6 hours just driving without any stops.

.
Click to expand...

Right, and who wants to do that, and then have only a limited time at the volcano, as well.

It would be a waste to drive it and not stay overnight to enjoy all the sights along the way, unless you drive straight to the volcano and back, to spend the day there, and then go another day to see the other sights.

Maybe leave your friends back at the condo.....(yea, right!) Maybe set up a loan program with them, for the approx $100 room cost, have them pay you back $10 a month. I just feel you can't let your friends make for a less enjoyable trip. Rushing around? no. There are too many things to see....how much more fun to say, "Oh, let's stop here to see this," instead of flying by it with longing....

MHO

BTW, the NP lodge was closed in November for remodeling...anyone know if it is open yet? I had anted to eat there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top