Post #321603 by tikicleen on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 9:08 PM

the site you are considering seems pretty good location wise. it is fairly close to the city of refuge (if i am remembering correctly) and some really great kona coffee farms, as well as a good japanese steak house -teshima's- on hwy 12 in honalu (or something like that). :)

the real key to the big island is touring it in sections and packing lunches. if you truly go for doing it local style, you will find yourselves in places where no-one else is (during the week that is, since locals will vacation there on the weekends) and most of these places have no facilities. but it is entirely worth it to do a day trip and stake your claim at these places. the key is to pack a lunch (buy sandwiches at a gas station) and take many bottles of water. as long as you have a swim suit and snorkel gear, you are set. (band-aids are always a good idea too if you are me; long legged and clumsy in climbing up lava to get out of water).

places i highly recommend that you can find some info in tourist books are:
kiholo bay
the abandoned mill pier in kohala
4 mile drive north of hilo
kona village resort (not to miss!)
chain of craters road (obviously)
place of refuge (and im talking about the main deal, the big hike to the south of it, and then scuba diving to the north)