You fly into Kona airport and home from Hilo airport, so you change hotels once: three nights in Kailua-Kona, then three in Hilo. The move on Day 4 is the longest drive of the week, about 95 miles on Highway 11 around the south end of the island to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, then on to Hilo. On the way you pass South Point and Punaluʻu, where sea turtles haul out on the black sand.
We built this route for first-timers who want the Kona beaches and the national park in one week. Before you fly, book the car as a one-way rental from Kona airport to Hilo airport and check the drop fee. Reserve the manta ray night snorkel and, if you want it, a Maunakea summit tour: both sell out. Flights home from Hilo usually cost more and often connect through Honolulu. In return, you get more time on the island and skip the drive back to Kona on your last morning.
Table of contents
- Day 1: Kona and the west coast beaches
- Day 2: South Kona by day, Maunakea after dark
- Day 3: Pololū Valley, Waimea and Hāpuna
- Day 4: Kona to Hilo by South Point and the volcano
- Day 5: Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park from Hilo
- Day 6: The Hāmākua Coast to Waipiʻo and back
- Day 7: Hilo town and the flight home
You can trade a beach afternoon for a hike, or spend Day 5 in lower Puna instead of the national park, without changing where you sleep. If you are running this route with kids, our guide to the Big Island with kids covers which of the long drives and full days to shorten.
Money-saving and trip-enhancing trip planning tips
With life getting so expensive it makes sense to save as much money on your trip as you can. These resources help you to save money (#1), to book the best tours and activities (#2), and greatly simplify trip planning (#3 + #4):
- The Discount Hawaii Car Rentals website is our first stop for a quote when we need a rental car. We like them (a) because they offer the BEST rates, (b) require no prepayment and charge no cancellation fees, and (c) because they offer additional benefits such as free extra drivers and reduced young driver rates.
- We put a LOT of effort in figuring out which tours actually are the best. Have a look at our curated tour section to see tours that get consitently good reviews *and* offer great value.
- Did you know we are giving away free itineraries for all Hawaiian islands? These are a great place to start planing your own trip.
- Our Trip Planning 101 Guide is a another GREAT place to start planning for 1st time visitors.
Day 1: Kona and the west coast beaches
There are no rental car counters inside the Kona airport terminal. Every company works out of its own lot away from the terminal, so you exit baggage claim A or B, cross to the center median and take the shuttle. Once you have the keys, Kona is seven miles south down Highway 19, and it is where you sleep for the first three nights.
Drop your bags at your accommodation, or pick one off our list of accommodations in Kona. If you arrive between December and April, book a whale-watching cruise today. The manta ray night snorkel books out further ahead than anything else on this itinerary, so reserve it before you fly.
Sunset Manta Ray Night Snorkel at Keauhou Bay
Reef manta rays feed under a lighted float at Manta Village, off Keauhou Bay; Sea Paradise sees them on 85 to 95 percent of nights year-round. You hold still on the float while they pass; this is a fixed-position snorkel, not a free swim.
from:
$130
What is a suggested tour?Our suggested tours are hand-picked tours that receive consistent good reviews, give back to the community, and work hard to minimize their impact on the environment. Read more about these tours on our website.Then head north on Highway 19, the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway. The west coast beaches start about 13 miles out at Kua Bay, where non-residents pay $5 a person plus $10 for the car, card only, and the gates shut at 7pm. We rank the rest of this coast for swimming and snorkeling in our pick of the best Kona beaches.
Kua Bay sits five miles north of the airport, less than a mile off Highway 19, so you can swim there on landing day before you drive south to Kona
If you’d rather not drive at all on landing day, you can walk to the beach by the pier at the King Kamehameha Hotel, in the middle of Kona, for a swim, with snorkeling on the far side of the pier.
King Kam beach in downtown Kona is a good place for a quick dip between activities
The manta trip and a sunset dinner won’t both fit in one night. The manta boats leave from Keauhou Bay, south of town, and the trip runs about two hours in the dark, so you’re back on the road well after sunset. If you skip it, watch the sunset from the Kona Inn or any of the beachfront restaurants on Aliʻi Drive. Tomorrow starts early either way.
Day 2: South Kona by day, Maunakea after dark
Get up early. You’ll still be on mainland time, so an early start is easy this morning. Have breakfast in town over the water, or drive south on Highway 11 toward Captain Cook to the Coffee Shack, open 7am to 3:30pm and closed on Wednesdays, and order the Kona coffee.
Continue south to Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, the City of Refuge, where ancient Hawaiians came for absolution. Entry is $20 per vehicle for seven days, or $10 on foot, and the entrance station takes cards only. Then snorkel at Two Step, 300 feet from the park entrance and one of the best snorkeling spots on the island. Local families swim here too, and the place of refuge sits right next door. Give any turtles room and watch your footing on the entry ledge.
Small-Group Super-Raft Snorkel Tour South of Kona
With twin Suzuki 350 engines, this small-group raft reaches two snorkel sites south of Kona before the other boats, with expert guides in the water at every stop.
from:
$130
What is a suggested tour?Our suggested tours are hand-picked tours that receive consistent good reviews, give back to the community, and work hard to minimize their impact on the environment. Read more about these tours on our website.If snorkeling isn’t your thing, there are other outdoor activities near Kona for the afternoon. Fit them around the tours you already booked.
Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park on the shore south of Kona
If you booked a Maunakea summit tour, take it today. Do South Kona in the morning and be back in Kona for the pickup, because the tour takes up the afternoon and the evening, eight to nine hours door to door.
Maunakea Summit, Sunset, and Stargazing Tour
A small-group tour from Kona to the 13,796-foot summit of Maunakea: dinner at 9,200 feet, sunset above the cloud layer, and a private star show with an 11-inch telescope. Saturn, Jupiter, and the Milky Way on a clear night when they are above the horizon. 8 to 9 hours.
from:
$315
What is a suggested tour?Our suggested tours are hand-picked tours that receive consistent good reviews, give back to the community, and work hard to minimize their impact on the environment. Read more about these tours on our website.Hawaiʻi Forest & Trail runs the tour above, and it’s 13 and over only. Its pickups are all on the Kona and Waikoloa side plus the Maunakea visitor station, so from a Kona base you never drive Saddle Road in the dark. For altitude and what to wear, see our guide to stargazing on Maunakea.
You can also drive yourself as far as the visitor station, at 9,200 feet, open daily 9am to 9pm at no charge.
Above it you need a 4WD vehicle with low range, and most rental agencies don’t want you to take your car up to the summit, so check what your rental agreement allows. The nightly free stargazing program ended in 2019. The visitor station still holds occasional free stargazing nights, but they are rare and need a reservation that is hard to get, so a guided tour is the reliable way up top.
Day 3: Pololū Valley, Waimea and Hāpuna
Leave Kona early and drive north to the end of the road first. The Pololū Valley lookout is about 60 miles away, up Highway 19 to Kawaihae and Highway 270 through Hāwī, and it has about a dozen parking stalls. The state counted an average of 597 visitors a day here in 2023, and much of the roadside parking people fall back on is on private land. Trail stewards turn cars away once the stalls fill.
You can see down the coast from the parking stalls. The trail to the valley floor is 0.6 miles, steep in both directions and slippery after rain, with no restroom and no cell coverage in the valley. Carry water and sunscreen and give yourself more time for the climb out than the walk in. If you leave Kona before dawn, this is a sunrise spot.
Drive back to Hāwī and take Highway 250, the Kohala Mountain Road, 19 miles of open cattle pasture over the ridge to Waimea. Waimea sits inland, well above the coast. Stop there for lunch.
From Waimea, Highway 19 drops to the coast at Kawaihae and runs south past Hāpuna, around 30 miles north of Kona, so you can swim there on the way home. Non-residents pay $5 a person plus $10 for the car, card only, and the gates close at 8pm. The Kings’ Shops at Waikoloa sit just off Highway 19 farther south if you want food before Kona.
Day 4: Kona to Hilo by South Point and the volcano
Pack before breakfast. The southern route past the volcano is about 125 miles, a 3-hour drive, and our guide to the three Kona to Hilo roads names places to eat on the way. Today you move to Hilo the long way around, south on Highway 11, and it’s the longest drive of the week: about 95 miles to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, two to two and a half hours without stops, before you go on to Hilo.
Break it at South Point, the southernmost land in the United States, or at Punaluʻu black sand beach, where sea turtles haul out to rest. Punaluʻu has no entry fee. Stay 10 feet back from a resting turtle; it’s a state rule.
The park sits at about 4,000 feet, where the NPS warns temperatures can run 12 to 15 degrees cooler than the coast and it can be rainy any month of the year. Keep a fleece and a rain shell where you can reach them. Entry is $30 per vehicle and covers seven days, so today’s receipt also covers tomorrow, and the entrance station doesn’t take cash.
Walk out to the caldera rim, and if you want a drink with the view, the Volcano House inside the park has a crater-rim lanai and a bar. Save the trails for tomorrow.
Hilo is 30 miles northeast on Highway 11: the road drops off the volcano and runs straight down to the coast. You sleep here for the last three nights, so book a room in Hilo if you still need one.
Day 5: Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park from Hilo
The park is about 45 minutes each way from Hilo on Highway 11, and yesterday’s receipt gets you back in. Ask the ranger at the entrance station what’s open that day and which free ranger-led walks are running.
Nāhuku (the Thurston Lava Tube) and the Kīlauea Iki Overlook are the morning’s main stops. The Kīlauea Iki trail itself drops 400 feet into the crater and takes two to three hours for the 3.3-mile loop. Parking at the overlook is very limited. If the lot is full, ask a ranger where else to start the loop.
In the afternoon, drive the Chain of Craters Road 18.8 miles down to the coast. There’s no food, water or fuel anywhere along it, so fill the tank and pack lunch in Hilo.
At the end of Chain of Craters Road, the Hōlei Sea Arch stood out from cliffs 80 to 90 feet high until it fell into the sea in late September 2026.
As of October 2026, Kīlauea has erupted in short fountaining episodes since December 2024, with pauses of weeks between them. Stay for the glow above Halemaʻumaʻu after dark only when an episode is running. Check the USGS daily update before you plan the evening. Park at Uēkahuna or Kūpinaʻi Pali, two overlooks on the caldera rim, and remember the drive back to Hilo is about 45 minutes in the dark.
When an episode is running, you can see the glow above Halemaʻumaʻu from the overlooks around the caldera after dark. Between fountaining episodes there may be no glow at all
Instead of the park: lower Puna and the Red Road
If you’d rather see where lava reached the sea, spend the day in Puna. Kalapana went under lava in 1990, and a new black sand beach has been forming at Kaimū ever since. In 2018 lava from the lower East Rift Zone buried over 700 structures and 30 miles of road, and added 875 acres of new coastline.
From Hilo, take Highway 11 south to Keaʻau and Highway 130 south through Pāhoa to Kalapana. Drive the Red Road, Highway 137, as an out-and-back: east from Kaimū to Isaac Hale Beach Park, then back the way you came. MacKenzie State Recreation Area is on the way, open during daylight hours with no entry fee. There’s no drinking water, so bring your own.
Isaac Hale, or Pohoiki, has a black sand beach that didn’t exist before 2018. Finish with dinner in Pāhoa, a one-street town with a row of restaurants along the main road, on your way back to Hilo.
The Red Road, Highway 137, running between the palms in lower Puna
Day 6: The Hāmākua Coast to Waipiʻo and back
Head north out of Hilo on Highway 19 after breakfast. The drive up the Hāmākua Coast, past gulches and over one-lane bridges, is the prettiest of the week, and today you take it as far as Waipiʻo and come back the same way.
About 7 miles out of Hilo, Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden sits on the Onomea Scenic Route, the old Māmalahoa Road. To reach the scenic route, turn off Highway 19 at Kulaimano Road, just north of the garden. The garden is open daily, 10am to 6pm. Last entry is 5pm, and adults pay $35.
Back on Highway 19, ʻAkaka Falls State Park above Honomū has a 0.4-mile loop trail, and non-residents pay $5 a person plus $10 for the car. ʻUmauma Falls, a few miles farther north, has a drive-up viewpoint, open weekdays 8am to 5pm, and admission is $10 an adult.
Rappel down the Triple-Tier Umauma Waterfall and swim the pools between
Great for adventurous families: navigate 5 waterfalls and swim the pools between. Includes 4 rappels, a down climb, and jump off a waterfall
from:
$399
What is a suggested tour?Our suggested tours are hand-picked tours that receive consistent good reviews, give back to the community, and work hard to minimize their impact on the environment. Read more about these tours on our website.Keep going to Honokaʻa, an old sugar town with a row of galleries and second-hand shops. Tex Drive In on the highway opens at 6am and makes its malasadas to order behind a window you can watch. Highway 240 runs out of Honokaʻa and stops at the Waipiʻo Valley lookout.
The lookout is as far as you can go on your own. Waipiʻo Valley Road has been closed to all pedestrians since 2022 under a county emergency rule that the county has renewed ever since, and vehicle access is limited to residents, permitted tour operators and Native Hawaiians exercising traditional rights. You can reach the valley floor only on a permitted shuttle tour, currently $67 for adults and $36.50 for children, and that has to be booked ahead.
From the Waipiʻo lookout you see the black sand beach and the taro flats in one view. Hiking down is prohibited, so without a shuttle booking the lookout is as close as you get
Drive back the way you came. Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots are both inside Wailuku River State Park, a few minutes up Waiānuenue Avenue from downtown Hilo, and one fee covers both: $5 a person plus $10 for the car, non-residents only, card only. The gates lock at 6pm, so leave Waipiʻo in time to get there first. The Kaumana Caves lava tube, on up the same road, is free.
Private Kulaniapia Falls Day Pass
Swim and play at a private waterfall about five miles west of downtown Hilo and skip the crowds.
from:
$49
What is a suggested tour?Our suggested tours are hand-picked tours that receive consistent good reviews, give back to the community, and work hard to minimize their impact on the environment. Read more about these tours on our website.
Rainbow Falls is an 80-foot drop on the edge of town. The rising sun puts a rainbow in the spray, which is how it got the name, so if you pass in the afternoon, stop again on your last morning
Day 7: Hilo town and the flight home
Start with breakfast at Ken’s House of Pancakes, an old diner that opens at 6am, with window booths and waitresses you address as “auntie” out of courtesy. On a Wednesday or Saturday, stop at the farmers market downtown for fruit and a bento.
Downtown is a walkable grid of shops and galleries. Give the Pacific Tsunami Museum an hour. It’s open daily from 10am to 4pm, and adults pay $15. For mochi, Two Ladies Kitchen on Kīlauea Avenue makes it fresh to order.
Walk the bayfront through Liliʻuokalani Gardens, the Japanese garden on Hilo Bay. If there is time for a last swim, Carlsmith Beach Park and Richardson’s are a short drive out along the Keaukaha shore, and there are more beaches in Hilo past them.
Then head for the flight. Hilo’s airport is about two miles east of town, with the rental car offices on the ground level across the street from the terminal. Return the one-way car there. Our Hilo airport guide has the terminal map and the flights out.
Short on time? Our 1-day, 2-day, 3-day and 5-day itineraries cover shorter stays, and all our Big Island itineraries are listed in one place.