Should we stay at one hotel or move around?

My husband and I are leaving for Oahu on February 22 for 4 days and then heading over to the Big Island for 4 days.

Our plans are basically made for Oahu, lots of sight-seeing, we know where we are going there. My question is for when we head over the the big Island....we don%26#39;t even have a hotel reserved yet (it is a very sur of the moment vacation). While on the Big Island, we really only have planned that we want to take a heli over the volcano, and we then just want to rent a car and do whatever we feel like doing at the moment, we do want to see the whole Island though!

Is it feasable to stay at one hotel during our stay or should we plan to get a different hotel along our journey? I want to be able to stay and enjoy whatever we are doing at the moment, not worrying about driving back to a hotel at night. Any suggestions??????

Should we stay at one hotel or move around?

Holy Moly! You%26#39;re arriving on the Big Island in twelve days during the peak vacation season, and you don%26#39;t have a hotel reservation yet? Get going, NOW ASAP! Use one lodging as your base of operations. Don%26#39;t try to do everything in four days.

Check out www.hawaii-guide.com for starters. Buy a good guidebook; I like Moon Handbook%26#39;s ';Big Island of Hawai%26#39;i';.

Find yourself a good road map of the island of Hawai%26#39;i, and familiarize yourself with the distances involved. It is indeed a big island, and largely rural, with the lowest population density of all the islands.

Just how old are you crazy kids, anyways? You make me feel really ancient :-) Good luck to you!

Should we stay at one hotel or move around?

Thanks for your response. Yes, I know we are crazy but if my husband had it his way, the whole trip would be unplanned. We met half way and I got to plan our first half, the last is up to him. -- Hence all of my questions. (I have to be prepared mentally).

I really just want to know how big this Island is....Oahu has so much info that I was able to plan everything quite easily from this site. But from my readings I believe that you can%26#39;t make a complete drive (circle) around the Big Island??? (If I am wrong, how long?)

and, if not, How long of a drive is it from Kona to Hilo?

The Big Island is larger than all the other islans combined. It is a big island. You can make from Kona to Hilo in 2-3 hours, depending on the traffic, but that also would mean you don%26#39;t stop at anywhere to look at sights. You basically can ';circle'; the island but if you go to the extreme North and Lower Puna, you will have to backtrack to the ';main highway'; to complete the circle island tour.

I am sure there will be rooms available. Even in high season the occupancy rate runs around 80 or so percent. Of course what is typically left for last minute bookings is the very high end and very low end with not much in the middle.

I am going to guess by your address you might be military. If so an option for you might be the Military recreation place in the volcano park itself.

http://www.kmc-volcano.com/

If you are not military then the rooms left will most likely be very expensive or one step above homeless shelter. You might be able to get a last minute rental at a b%26amp;b also.

No matter what, even if you sleep on the beach, you are in paradise so enjoy.

to drive the island it will take a good 8 to9 hours without stops. in 4 days you can see about 1/3 of the island....its 7 times the size of Oahu...all 2 lane roads, speed limits on the main hiway are between 30 and 55...there are no freeways

Without advanced reservations you will pay Rack rate..that is the highest price the hotel charges.

in addition if you wander around with all your stuff in the car...you become a target for theives...very bad idea

and all the good places are and have been booked for months also be aware that Helo flights from Hilo can get cancelled with a few hours notice due to to weather... Suggest a more expensive but better option...Fly out of Kona, either Helo or fix wing tour,,, better use of time

In response to:

';I really just want to know how big this Island is';

Just to drive from Kona to Hilo on the southern route and back to Kona via the northern route will take 6 hours without stopping to sightsee.

I%26#39;d re-think this. You have eight days in Hawaii. Do you want to spend one of them getting from Oahu to Big Island? The flight time is short, but the transit time with airport security, luggage, dropping car, getting new car, etc. is more than half a day lost.

I%26#39;d plan on staying Oahu and taking a daytrip to see Kauai; do the helicopter tour and drive to Poipu and Princeville. Or split your trip between one of the three small major islands: Oahu, Kauai, Maui.

Or, spend all eight days Big Island -- if you can find lodgings at this late date. You can glimpse the %26#39;whole island%26#39; in eight days, but not in four.

Thanks everyone, you helped out! We did end up reserving one hotel in Kona for the 4 days there. Thanks for the replies.

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