Big Island of Hawaii

I am traveling to the Big Island first week in July. Staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Should I rent a car? Places we should go? Where to eat? I like to shop also. Any suggestions are welcome. I have never been to Hawaii.

Big Island of Hawaii

Aloha......

rent the car....it is a huge place.......bigger than all the other islands put to gether.......

There is no good shopping my wife says....but Kings Shops are right there...... There will be the rubber duckey race in the lake and fireworks to while you are there.

Schroll through these posts and form to see many if your questions.....restauraunts, tours, driving etc

Get a book and do some reading and a map.... outline what it is that you yourself like.......

Then you can pick what you want to do and if you need more help then post a specific idea or question.....

Right now it is too broad... You will also get great opinions fron the directory on the left..........

Let me know if I can help more.....once you pare it down some what

do: a beach

a shorkel trip

a helo tour

the Volcano

Mauna Kea

East ,Hilo side rain forests and waterfalls

I%26#39;d allow 10 days to do all that so it is not a vacation death march.....see more of less than less of more.

that for starters

Hawaiidan

Big Island of Hawaii

aloha M - hawaiiandan covered the bases well with his reply. you might take some time, and review previous threads on the hawaii forum - all this stuff has been covered quite thoroughly. please let us know if you have any further questions that haven%26#39;t been covered yet - and have a great trip.

Husband and I will be at the Hilton the same week in July. We rented a car. There is lots to see. I also understand that the Hilton is a pretty large place with lots to do right there. Depends on what kind of things you like to do but I would imagine that exploring a tropical paradise is on the list so I would rent a car. Have a nice trip...maybe I%26#39;ll see there!

If you%26#39;re interested, I posted our itinerary/report from our April trip in the recent post ';What shouldn%26#39;t we miss doing on the BI . . .,'; started by txteachers. May give you some ideas. Aloha!

Aloha Michaelhpost,

A car would be difficult to do without, so getting one would be a very good thing. The Big Island doesn%26#39;t have much bus service and everything is so far apart that taking a taxi (if you could find one that would go that far) would much more expensive than renting a car. A comfortable car with good gas mileage would be a good choice, - you probably wouldn%26#39;t need a 4WD to access most shopping areas- but a convertible might be fun.

From Waikaloa, you may want to investigate places to eat in Waimea if you would prefer less expensive food. It is about a half hour to forty minutes away. There are a variety of restaurants, grocery stores and places to eat that aren%26#39;t that expensive.

What sort of things do you like to shop for? Waimea has quite a few antique shops. Hawi and Honokaa have interesting boutiques, art galleries and such. Hilo has some boutiques and art galleries as well as the usual run of Wally%26#39;sWorld/ Borders/ Office Max/ Safeway, etc, etc. Kona has the only Costco so far as well as the only K-mart, I think. There%26#39;s sure to be boutiques and such stores there, too. The Big Island doesn%26#39;t have anywhere near the expensive high-end designer stores that Oahu has. But then, we don%26#39;t have much use for that sort of stuff, either. There aren%26#39;t a lot of places to go to show off name brand expensive stuff and even if there were most of the folks wouldn%26#39;t recognize it. At least on the Hilo side of things.

The drive from Waikaloa to Hawai and then to Waimea is gorgeous. From Waimea to Hilo is gorgeous, too. Actually, it%26#39;s all good!

A hui hou,

Hotzcatz

A deep purple duvet cover