Hilo Intinerary Help for 2 days

We are planning a 2 night stay in Hilo with our 18 month year old daughter. We are deciding between Naniloa or Hilo Hawaiian, can anyone give me some insight? I%26#39;ve read all the reviews and checked out the websites, and I%26#39;m still torn. Most of the B%26amp;Bs are out of our price range, booked, or don%26#39;t allow children.

We are planning to check out:

Day 1: Driving from Waikola. Does anyone know how long the drive is? We would probably stop at the Waipio Valley Outlook and Waimea briefly and would like to see Akaka Falls mainly.

Day 2:

1. Farmer%26#39;s Market

2. Pana%26#39;ewa Rain Forest Zoo - how many hours should we devote here? Is this a large zoo?

3. One more waterfall: Pe%26#39;ep%26#39;e Falls (Boiling Pots) or Rainbow Falls. Which one is ';better';?

4. Mauna Loa Macadamia Factory - is this worth visiting?

** We hope to walk around town and visit Lili%26#39;uokalani Gardens (since this is close to the hotel).

Any advice would be great. Thanks!

Hilo Intinerary Help for 2 days

Hi ama,

Here%26#39;s a link to a fairly recent thread concerning drive times on the east side. Hope it helps!

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g29217-i268-k14419鈥?/a>

Hilo Intinerary Help for 2 days

Honestly I don%26#39;t know how flexible your 18 month is but if you%26#39;re driving from Waikola it won%26#39;t take too long (and you%26#39;re stopping along the way) I think you could do a bit more on your first day if you wanted.

Day 2 you%26#39;ll have plenty of time to do those things. They%26#39;re right in Hilo and easy to get to. If you%26#39;re already at the zoo you may well stop at the Factory although it%26#39;s a self guided tour (you look through the window) and it would be more for the adults.

We went when they were feeding so we stayed about 2-21/2 hours at the zoo. We brought sandwiches to eat as they don%26#39;t have any food and it was an inbetween stop.

I think you%26#39;ll have plenty of time for what you want to do.

We stayed at the Hilo Hawaiian (2 weeks ago) and it was just fine. Clean room, nice view, the kids liked the pool and for the Hilo area I just like staying there a little better than the others.

Hi again,

We stayed at the Hilo Hawaiian many years ago, and plan on staying there again this summer, but only for one night. The view of the bay from the room was incredible. However, as you%26#39;ve read, reviews have suggested that the hotel needs renovation.

Do you have an Entertainment Coupon book? If so, the Hilo Hawaiian may give you 50% off the rack rate. You%26#39;ll have to call the hotel directly, to inquire if they鈥檙e accepting the coupon for the time that you鈥檙e there.

The Entertainment Coupon book is presently available for $15.00 (including shipping). I don%26#39;t know if there are many coupons for the Hilo area, but if you get a good hotel discount, the price is a bargain. Here%26#39;s the link:

www.entertainment.com/discount/home.shtml

Ama,

Day 1. Figure on 2.5 - 3 hours

Day 2:

1. Go early

2. Depends on when you go, if they are feeding the tiger allow an hour or so. It is a small zoo

3. Both, they are all on the same river. Check out Rainbow Falls first, then up to Boiling Pots 鈥?off in the distance at BP is Pe鈥檈 Pe鈥檈. Don鈥檛 hike down

4. Sure, why not? You will be almost there at the zoo. There isn鈥檛 much to it

You should also check out Big Island Candies 鈥?so yummy

Hilo Hawaiian no question, UNLESS the Naniloa is done with the remodel, then I would not be sure. Be sure you get an ocean front highest floor possible. The view of the bay is great, and the higher up you are the less musty the rooms are.

At Akaka Falls be sure you have a plan for your 18 month old 鈥?there are stairs and such that make it difficult for stroller 鈥?not to mention strollers force other visitors to get off the path.

Good luck and happy travels!

agree with prior advice ...

Lili%26#39;uokalani Gardens, the best paths are not stroller accessible so plan to carry her around. I really like it there.

I think the Mac Nut Factory is boring and the shop there is burned out on tourist busloads and one of the least nice places to shop and overpriced. Guess you can tell I%26#39;d say skip it, and go to Big Island Candies for a real local experience.

Honestly, I would not make the zoo a priority, and the reason is that I have been there with small children and it%26#39;s better for kids who are at least preschool. Several of the enclosures require lifting the child, then back in the stroller, then out of the stroller. Lots of the animals are sleeping and small children don%26#39;t even see them ...

I love the zoo but am saying this from personal experience, that the toddlers are more interested in the other kids than in the animal exhibits. After an hour of trying to get our birthday boy to ';look'; we gave up and looked ourselves, lol.

But the zoo is free and has lots of parking, and if the sun is out it%26#39;s a lovely place to walk. Just stay as long as you have time to stay.

Did you try Orchid Tree B%26amp;B? Because they are supposed to be a good choice with a child.

Thanks everyone.

For Akaka Falls - how many stairs are there? We could always close the stroller and carry her/stroller up/down the stairs...trying to gauge if we should bring the carrier or just let her walk and carry her when she gets tired.

What about Rainbow Falls and Boiling Pots? Are these trails paved? accessible via stroller?

I think you could do all three with her..

Rainbow and Boiling Pots are super easy as the parking lot is right there...no problem.

Akaka Falls should be easy as well. If you were thinking of putting her in a pack on the other hike at the Volcano you could easily do it.

There aren%26#39;t that many stairs and you could easily carry her in your arms.

I would not hesitate to do all of them. Boiling Pots and Rainbow Falls are super close together (like less than 5 min apart) and accessible.

Have fun!!

I would forget Akaka with a child that small...there are several hundred stairs that are steep and wet and not in the bast condition....paths are steep too and narrow and also wet....

The zoo is very tiny...maybe 15 to 20 min tops

Mac nut factory.....a candy store.... this is a mac nut... we break the husk off and sell them....Woopie.....want to visit the shop

I just took house guests left Waikloa Resort not Village at 10...went Waiamea... ( tis just a strip mall of stores for 2 blocks, thn to Waipio overlook, then down the coast and not stopping at Akaka falls or Rainbow, ( only good in the morning after a rain)

via the 4 mile drive to hilo got to Hilo at 2 pm.

no stops for food

About 10 to 15 miles out of Hilo begins the Orange zone many times... at about 1500 ft. I would not take your child past that or drive Hiway 11 to Kona at all. Return to Waikoloa the same way you came

Thank you Hawaiidan. I am reading conflicitng reports on Akaka Falls, so now I am throughly confused. Some are saying that we should be able to let her walk and then carry her if she gets tired. How long is this walk/hike? If this is too ';strenous'; and the path not paved etc., then I would definately want to avoid and just visit Rainbow and Boling Pots.

I would not skip Akaka falls -- the loop is only .4 mi. and it%26#39;s an easy walk. You could skip the loop and go straight to Akaka %26amp; back which would be a little shorter. The view of Kahuna falls is not that spectacular, and IIRC most of the steps were between it and Akaka.

lips