Lodging for 2 night stay- Volcanoes National Park

We've reserved a house in Waikoloa for 8 days over Christmas (2014) but need to find other lodging for the last 2 nights of our trip. We plan on visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park some time during our stay and thought maybe we should just book something near the park and spend a few days on that side of the island.

Should we stay near the park or in Hilo?

Thanks!

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii) Hilo (Hawaii) Hawaii (HI)

3 Answers

answered by

jaime from Hilo

Hello Mark,

Volcano is the town right by the park and it is very lovely and offers nice vacation rentals and b&b's. However, if you are interested in doing anything past 8:00 p.m. I would suggest staying in Hilo and driving up. Volcano has only a couple of places to eat and everything shuts down at around 8:00, and the drive down the hill is at least 30 minutes.

Aloha!

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Valerie
Great Hawaii answer, Jaime! I wanted to let you know that we've helped you geo-tag the places that you mentioned in your answer so that they appear on a map next to it. You can also do this yourself in future answers by simply typing the @-symbol and then the name of the place as you're typing your answer. Check it out!

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answered by

Paul from Nevada City

Mark, I strongly recommend staying in Volcano to give you ample time to explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It will save a lot of time (for fun), which is precious on vacation. You can see and do a lot in two days in HVNP, but you need two FULL days.

As you may know, the Big Island's vast geographical area means it takes a long time to drive between visitor hot spots. From Waikoloa, it will take at least 3 hours to get to HVNP. You don't want to spend another 3 hours driving back, especially driving at night (it can be foggy or rainy). Also, it's 45-60 minutes from most lodging in Hilo to HVNP. It also takes time to drive to various places in this large park, which eats up time.

The village of Volcano has many good lodging and dining options which make staying there convenient and worthwhile. That way, you can get out early to HVNP attractions (before tour busses arrive around 10-11 am) or start longer hikes early before it gets hot. And, after dark (or if weather turns unpleasant), you're very close to home for food and rest.

It's easy to research lodging and dining in Volcano online, but I recommend http://volcanovillage.net/ I have stayed in two of these properties with family members, and just with my girlfriend, and really thought it was a great stay and a good value. It may be tough to get a reservation at Christmas, which is a high season. Good luck!

Comments (1)

Mark
Thanks Paul. Turned out we were only able to get one night at the @Volcano House but that turned out to be the right amount of time for us. It was definitely foggy that evening which made for a cool experience making the short drive from the hotel to @Hawaii Volcano National Park. We also had a great meal at @thai thai restaurant.

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