Tour the Volcano From Maui - How to Get to the Big Island
Filed under: Big Island, Big Island Activities, Hawaii - general, Hawaii Volcanoes, Maui, Maui Activities, Vacation Planning
If I spend 10 nights in Maui is it easy to do a day trip to the big island to see the volcano or would you recommend something different. I am traveling with a 15 and 12 year old boys.
Well, you have four options, really. The first three will take *all day*. The last one will not but will be the most expensive. If you really want to see the volcano then go for it - just realize it could be doing *nothing* when you come (it could be in a pause or all the lava could be flowing underground)
- arrange your own flight to hilo, rent your own car, and drive up to the national park, see as much as you can in one day, drive back and fly back to maui. Not a bad choice - probably your cheapest option. I would say it is possible to do this for $100 per person for the flight (if you book early enough to get the lowest rates on the flight) plus $35 to $60 for the rental car. Drive to the national park from Hilo will take 30 minutes. (Do NOT fly to Kona- that will take you over two hours to drive to the Volcano.) Bad thing is, the lava flow is currently (nov 07) viewable only by air so you may not get to see active lava - but you will get to see all the other stuff.
- Arrange your own flight to Hilo, then take a tour bus to the National Park. http://www.hawaiiactive.com/activities/bigisland-volcano-tour.html or arrange your own flight to Hilo or Kona, then take a small plane or helicopter flyover tour of the volcano: http://www.hilowings.com/ , http://www.bluehawaiian.com/bigisland/tours/, http://www.safarihelicopters.com/bigislandtours.html (web booking price is $151 per person when I wrote this)
- Arrange a bus tour to the volcano, starting from Maui - http://www.hawaiiactive.com/activities/maui-volcano-adventure.html - have all the legwork done for you by the tour company
- Do a flyover of the volcano from Maui: http://www.volcanoairtours.com/index.html, http://www.hawaiiactivities.com/us/hawaii/maui/sg/1258/ag/6382/
have a great time!
Should we Visit more than One Island in Hawaii?
Filed under: Hawaii - general, Maui, Most Popular Questions, Vacation Planning
My husband and i are planning a mini-vacation to Maui this december for 6 days. We are being advised to extend our vacation for a few more days and add another island to our itinerary. Do you have any recommendations?
advised by who? this is your vacation - you do what you want! 
I don’t think a ‘few days’ will do another island much justice and I don’t see any need for you to do another island unless there is something *you* want to see. Hawaii is Hawaii, and although all the islands are different, the general idea of nice beaches, local culture, warm weather, and a vacation atmosphere within the United states are still the same on all the islands. Do you really want to go to another island and have the stress of packing, checking out, turning in your car, flying, getting another car, unpacking etc on your mini-vacation? If so, what do you want in another island - more laid back? more people? different climates? more hiking? more shopping? different color beaches? If you could answer some of these questions I could maybe help you pick another island. Maybe this article can help you decide if you feel you need help.
Do I need a Travel Agent to help plan my Hawaii Vacation?
I am planning a trip to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary and feel very overwhelmed with where to begin? Should I seek out a travel agent for this? Would it be better if I find the deals online? What’s your advice?
That depends - are you comfortable planning your own travel or would you rather have someone do it for you? Do you enjoy researching on the Internet or are you already busy enough? Do you want to plan every detail or just tell someone what you want and hopefully enjoy the result? Do you want to personally look for opportunities to save money on your vacation or is money not really an object for this trip? I would start by deciding what island you want to visit, then deciding what kinds of things you want to do on that island, then read the above questions and decide how much personal input you feel you need to have. Your own answer should then be clear to you.