Hawaii Big Island - Places to Stay, Things to Do
Looking for recommendations for lodging for 5 nights on the Big Island in early May, also things to do. Would like to rent a place with a small kitchen so we don't have to eat out every meal. Airbnb is fine. We've never been, we're psyched! Thanks :)
Mar 7, 2017
Parent Replies
Eat at Merriman Big Island.
Volcano National Park - Drive the Chain of Craters road and hike the Kīlauea Iki Trail.
We just got back! We also spent 5 days, and it was sooo fun. We did 2 nights in Captain Cook, one night in Volcano, 2 nights in Hilo - all Airbnbs. We drove the perimeter of the island, stopping along the way for poke, malasadas, waterfalls, hiking, and beaches. Captain Cook has great beaches and snorkeling. Volcano National Park was so amazing, and the main crater has active lava right now so it's extra cool. I recommend getting dinner in the hotel there at the park - you can have a cocktail and watch the sunset over the crater while you wait for your table. The Kailiua Iki crater hike is also very cool. Then we spent a day exploring Puna, which was warm and pretty and super groovy. Over evening beers, some hippies at Uncle Awa's bar told us that you can rent bikes up the street and bike to the active lava flow. Recommend!! It was amazing. We ditched our beers, rented 2 bikes with baskets and bottles of water ($15/each) and did the 4 mile ride over the lava bed to see the tube flowing (exploding!) into the sea. There is also active lava flow oozing down the mountain side, so we hiked up about a mile and saw that. You can hike, but the bike made the rather boring 4 miles in much quicker. Sunset was a great time to do this. I think we left after 5pm, and biked back in the dark but it was fine. Then off to Hilo, which was nice. We stayed right in the middle of town. The farmer's market was lovely, and there are some great antique stores, too, if you're into that. Ohhh I want to go back....