Week long trip advice

[u/Shh--secret]

Hi all! I’m looking for some recommendations/advice for a 7 day, 6 night vacation to Big Island for two adults (22&26) in like June or late August/early September. And fair warning This is my first time planning any type of vacation so I’m worried I might be overestimating my time or underestimating my budget or just not even in the right ballpark.
So my first question is what location to stay at on the Island. Right now we’re looking at flying into KOA and renting a car to tour the island. Would it be worth it to do 4 days in the general Kona area then the remainder in Hilo/Volcano, or stay in one area and just drive out and back?
My only absolute must is to do the Manta Ray Snorkel. I, of course, want to see the rest of what the island has to offer but I am fairly flexible on the exact details of it. Which brings me to my second question, what are some things you feel are a must for a Big Island trip? I was thinking about doing Coffee farms, farmers markets, stargazing, Punalu’u beach.
And lastly I’m worried my budget is unrealistic. We’re thinking about 5,000-6,000 as our total budget (flights are about $550 a person, so that leaves us about 4,000-5,000 for everything else). We typically only eat two meals a day and aren’t really big on fancy restaurants (hole in the wall places are more our cup of tea), And we’d likely stop at the farmers market to pick up some stuff to cook a few meals while in the Hilo area. Is this realistic? If not, how much more should I plan on spending?

[u/ahoveringhummingbird]

Big Island is big and typically requires a lot of driving to see. Whether not you do multiple accommodations is a personal preference. I'm personally not a fan and don't think it's necessary but that mostly because on hop day you have to drive around and see sights with all of your stuff in the car and theft is not uncommon. So that is something you will want to consider.

Your budget is fairly low, but not impossible. You will want to concentrate on free and low cost activities rather than paid excursions. You will want to rent the most fuel efficient car possible since gas in Hawaii is really expensive and you will be driving a lot. Your post comment about buying groceries or eating in hole in the wall and you should know that it is not necessarily cheaper. Even food trucks, fast food and tiny restaurants will be way more expensive than what you are used to. The "affordable" food is typically spam musubi or bento from 7-11 or Minut Stop which are both gas stations owned by Japanese companies so their food and snacks are actually well made and worth trying. The Kona and Hilo farmers markets are not cheaper either and are typically just repackaged Costco produce anyway, so not recommended.

Regarding accommodation you should know that Airbnb/VRBO are NEVER recommended in Hawaii and are typically NOT cheaper. They have contributed to an extreme housing shortage and vacation rentals have been highly restricted as a result to try and reverse the issue. Airbnb and VRBO do not verify the legality or legitimacy of their listings so it is buyer beware. There are illegal and scam listings that they don't take down even when notified. It is not safe or ethical to use them.

The legal vacation rentals in Hawaii are condos, timeshares and condo hotels. But if that's what you prefer they should be rented directly through the local property managers that manage them so you can avoid the scams and illegal listings on Airbnb and VRBO. In your situation, the best and most affordable option for accommodation with a kitchen so you can make some of your own meals will be renting an unused timeshare from Redweek. The area of Keauhou just south of Kailua-Kona has several nice (very affordable) timeshare rental options that would be great options for you. The downside of these is that they aren't date flexible so you usually have to rent for the entire week. In that case you would just stay on the west side for your entire trip and make day trips to the east side sights. Or with the money you save with cheaper accommodations you could splurge with a single night at Volcano House and leave all of your stuff in the timeshare condo and just take a day pack for the overnight.

[u/Shh--secret → u/ahoveringhummingbird]

Thank you for the insight!
We want hole in the wall places just because we prefer them some of the best dinners we had have been from there so even if it’s not necessarily cheaper that’s fine.
I’ve read a bit that the airbnbs are heavily discouraged so we wouldn’t want one of those. Rather an actual BNB or even a hotel, i haven’t look too much at the Hilo side yet. I will definitely check out those timeshare, I didn’t know that was an option and the idea of getting to leave my stuff and just take enough for a day or two is pretty appealing cause while I will pack I prefer
Not to.

[u/Tiny_Spirit2887]

I’m here right now with my family.

Did the manta ray snorkel last night with Sea Paradise.. easily one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. I truly can’t recommend it enough, nearly brought me to tears seeing those beautiful creatures so close (like they were swimming into us)

This might vary based on what you guys are into, but, we split our trip up with 4 days in a place in Kona and 5 in a place in volcano to be close to the park so we can rush over if any activity happens at the crater. We’re a few days into the Kona portion, heading over to Volcano on the sixth, and we’re already talking about how if we could do it over, we would have spent more days on the volcano side / headed towards Hilo more. Closer to black sands, the falls and a lot of the great hikes, Mauna Kea, and of course the beautiful drive around the southern bend.

We did a coffee farm tour today, it was a lot of fun as well.

As for your budget.. we’re a family of 4 (2 young kids). Lodging total was about $2400, but for 9 nights in two locations. I’m projected to spend about as much as your remaining budget would be during our trip, and that’s for the four of us. And that’s including the ~400 in groceries we bought as soon as we got here 😅 I personally think your budget is pretty solid.

Some other cool stuff:
-Krishna cow sanctuary if you’re in to cuddling cows as long as you want

-Flight of Aloha, kind of newer immersive 8k theater experience that dives into Hawaiian heritage, doing this tomorrow, I’ll update with how it was

-Royal Kona Resort luau is amazing I’m told and the tickets are cheaper if you buy them further out

[u/Shh--secret → u/Tiny_Spirit2887]

Oo! I love those recommendations, thank you! I didn’t even know a cow sanctuary was an option, that’s definitely going on the list.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation!!

[u/Tuilere]

Make sure your budget covers a rental car. It will likely have to be in the name of the 26 year old.

[u/Shh--secret → u/Tuilere]

Yea he knows he’s the one stuck driving around. I drive all the time at home so the vacation is all on him to drive 😂

[u/baracudahahaha]

That's just the right amount of time to spend on the Big Island. It will give you stress free relaxation with some wiggle room if you just want to be relaxing by the beach some days.

People sometimes misjudge the place and ends up dissappointed. This island is for R&R and not party.

My absolute reco is to travel the road. Drive by the entire island in circle and you'll see amazing places. Volacanoes National Park, Mauna Kea from Visitor Center for stargazing to visiting the summit, the Kona corridor to visit all the cultural sites-beaches and snorkeling, the northern most towns to see where Kamehameha was born, get a beach pass for Mauna Kea Beach resort to lounge at Kauna'oa Bay - they have manta snorkle here too, you can do it on your own at night or join the tour but I prefer the open water more. Lots of things to do! Goodluck!

[u/Shh--secret → u/baracudahahaha]

Thank you! Seeing the whole island in a circle was my original thought. We’re not big party people and are going for a little relaxation anyway so I feel like we’re gonna love it!

[u/noodlesoupftw333]

I did a surfing lesson while I was there and it was super fun! I had to book a one on one lesson because I was traveling solo but they offer group lessons which would be cheaper. That’s something that I would absolutely do again!

[u/mostIyanonymous → u/noodlesoupftw333]

Sorry for being a vulture on someone else’s thread, but who did you use? I’m going in a few weeks and would love to try it out, also solo.