Big Island help

[2cruz]

I'm planning to do car rental on the Big Island to see Volcano Nat. Park. Understand drive from pier is about 45 min. Will this take up most of my day or can I plan on doing anything else. Are all the stops here children/elderly friendly?

Is there anything worth stopping at between pier and the Park? How far away is Black Sand Beach and is that worth stopping at? Anything worth stopping for in Hilo? Any advice/tips would be appreciated.

Can I count on finding any tours at the pier if I don't do the car rental?

[Suebee]

Yes, VNP will take up most of your day...I just spent 4 days up there last week. I had my 3 and 5 year old with me and we did an extensive trip around the island.

 

Here is the thread where I explain everything we did.....if you have other questions, let me know.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=207740

 

p.s. Do a rental car! Especially with kids...they will want potty and snack stops.

[2cruz]

Thanks. Very informative. Do you think VNP worth doing with 2 very young children (1 and 4) or is it too much walking/hiking? I've heard that you can't see much just getting out of the car, everything is a hike away. What else would you recommend here with 2 children.

[spleen93]

Maybe Rainbow and Akaka falls? Maybe going into the town of Hilo itself and walking around? The Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory? Just some thoughts.

 

Spleen

[Suebee]

I think VNP is most definitely worth doing with kids. The 11 mile crater rim drive alone will be worth it for you. There are plenty of stops....the visitor center, art gallery, steam vents, crater overlooks, the jagger museum, the lava tube, and several very easy trails. All of those are right off the road....all of them about 20 minutes. We were able to stop at them all and the kids didnt have any problem. You may have to carry the 1 year old. Of course, there are lots of trails that are longer...the only one we did was a kilauea iki trail.

 

The chain of craters road is another story....we didnt really get out along that road at all. But we did take the drive at sunset which then we saw some startling sights. Thankfully one was playing game boy and one was napping. After the drive up to VNP and the crater rim drive, the kids might be too antsy for that one. But you WILL get to see some pretty amazing things just at the crater rim.

 

I dont think Hilo town itself has much to offer kids. There are some shops down there but only 1 was interesting for our children...many are thrift shops. There is a park and the waterfront...and the Tsunami Museum. We didnt stop at the museum because it looked like mostly pictures and artifacts from the events and the kids werent interested.

 

The falls outside of town are a nice stop. If you have a long day, I would make it a last stop since they are only 10 minutes out of town and not far away from the ship.

Also close by is Big Island Candies...I only mention this as a quick stretching stop. They give you a sample as you walk in of a cookie and chocolate of the day and you can have a free cup of coffee. You can see through glass the workers dipping chocolates or making bark so the kids enjoy that. Be warned its hard to get out of there without wanting one of everything.

 

If you do decide to go VNP, there is a small zoo on the way on rte 11. For the kids it is totally worth a 1 hour stop. And for us, a good trading chip for good behavior ("we'll go to the zoo if we can have a quiet drive for 20 minutes")

The zoo is across the highway from the macadamia nut farm. A warning about the nuts...they are nearly grape size so PLEASE do not give whole ones to your kids. They are really delicious chopped up in a cookie though! (as in the shortbread cookies at Big Island Candies....yes, we bought 3 boxes.)

 

I do not know how much time you have but the Kapoho tide pools would be fun for kids but there are no facilities so it would be your whole day in wet clothes. There are some black sand beaches along the east side in lower puna. I think anything in the Puna district would be a one stop shot since they are all beaches and pools. I dont know about you but once I have been to the beach, I cant function somewhere else without a shower.

 

North of the falls, there is nothing for kids.

 

My bet is, if you have the time, do VNP and stop at the zoo and nut farm on the way back. If you get back fast enough, stop at rainbow falls and then go to Big Island Candies before heading back to the rental car company.

[Gypsy509]

Does anyone have any input about the drive up Mauna Kea? I thought it sounded interesting and would that be appropriate for young children?

[Suebee]

Two things about that.

 

1. Most rental car contracts will not let you take a rental car on Saddle Road which is the nasty road in between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. You would have to rent the appropriate vehicle and still check on your agreement.

 

2. Children under 16, seniors, pregnant woman and people with any kind of respertory illness or ailment are not allowed to the summit. There is a visitor center part way up the mountains, but you wouldnt be able to go up to the top.

 

My husband REALLY wanted to do Mauna Kea...but we couldnt based on those two requirements.

[beachguy]

(Beachchick here)

 

Only Harpers rents 4-wheel drive vehicles that are allowed to go to Mauna Kea summit (and prices start at $100 per day). You are not supposed to (and I would not recommend you even try to) drive a regular car from the Visitors' Center (9000 ft) to the summit (14,000, give or take). It's a hard drive (DH just did it with a Harpers car, and he did a great job, but it was a bit of a challenge). Plus, even if a 2-wheel drive was able to go up, it chews up the road for the astronomers, who have to drive it every day, even when it snows. And Suebee is right, Saddle Road is a tough road too that most rental car companies list as off-limits with good reason.

 

You are absolutely not allowed to take children to the summit and you would be extremely foolish to try. Healthy adults get altitude sickness; I can't imagine what that would do to small developing lungs. DH and I both had several minutes of "whoa!" with a bit of dizziness at first, and we had been staying at Volcano House (4000 ft) and had spent 3 hours at the Visitors Center first. Even after aclimating, you have to walk slowly and take it easy--one flight of stairs feels like five.

 

Going to the summit is amazing and spectacular, but only if you have a real interest in astronomy and geology. Most of the telescopes do not allow visitors. The Keck has a viewing room open during weekdays; the Subaru has tours, but you have to call and make arrangements/reservations in advance; the University of Hawaii does weekend afternoon tours of their telescope plus one other that is announced that day (depends on scheduling, maintenance, etc.). For all of these you must drive up yourself in a 4-wheel drive.

 

There are tour companies that take people up in vans for sunset, but it's very expensive and they have no access to the telescopes. Plus, it's a long day (most tours seemed to be about 6 to 8 hours and cost well over $100 per person) and you are stuck if you get tired or have problems at altitude.

 

The UofH does star gazing with their portable, but still "wow," telescopes at the Visitors Center every night that it's clear (which is about 320 nights a year). I'm not sure how well very young children would handle even 9000 ft though, unless they are used to it (e.g., live in Denver or similar).

 

beachchick

[Gypsy509]

Thank you both for your input and information, I have always been interested in astronomy, but since this is a family trip, I understand about the altitude for the young ones. So, does that also pertain to the Haleakala Crater in Maui for the children as far as the altitude? We are touring the islands in October on the Pride of America and coming from Florida we would love to go to the mountains of these islands.

Thanks again

[Suebee]

http://www.nps.gov has information on all National Parks. I just looked at Haleakala and it looks like the strongly advise pregnant women, children etc to consult a doctor before going up there. Unlike Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa which are 3K feet taller, they dont say that they arent allowed. But if you know you plan to do things like this, you really should get checked out by a doctor before leaving.

[Strawberry]

Unless your ship was in port over night you wouldn't have time to do an evening tour of the observatories. We took one of the evening tours on a visit to the Big Island (not on a cruise though) to see them but got caught in a blizzard - yes a blizzard. The wind was blowing so hard that the icicles were all at about 45 degree angles. We were supposed to be able to get in to look through the telescopes but the locks were iced shut and they couldn't get any of the doors open. The astromers schedule their time on the telescopes way in advance and were very disappointed that they couldn't get in to use them. I should note that we are both very athletic and in excellent health but you are so high up that it is hard to breathe and move around to any extent and even difficult to focus your eyes. Since we didn't get to look through the telescopes the tour operator told us he would give us another tour free on a different date but we never took him up on it.