Big Island Accomodations (Oct 1-9)?

[sauruman]

Hullo again everyone,

Per your good advice, my wife and I will be staying on the big island for the first week of October. Hope that we aren't overrun by the iron man thing. We had been hoping to stay near Kailua, possibly at the Outrigger Kanaloa (#1603 looks awesome), keeping the price ~<$200/night. The problem of course is availability. Oh well, I thought a month advance notice would be tons. My bad.

In the price range do you have other recommendations? We could of course go cheaper, but I'm hoping to stay at a reasonably nice place nearish to Kialua that is not noisy (ocean noise is okay , is clean/well kept and scuba friendly, prefereably with a kitchenette so that we can save a bit on eating out. Perhaps this is too much to ask for the price, but I haven't seen a lot. Ocean front would be great.

The other option was to spend a couple of days in Hilo (see the volcano and market) and/or a couple of days at a resort further north (more $$ but for a couple days, its tolerable). Any suggestions?

Our latest plan is to arrive on Saturday Oct 1st and fly back to Oahu on Sunday Oct 9th, heading home at stupid o'clock in the morning Oct 10th.

Also, is anyone around the big island interested in some shore dives that week?

thanks!
Ian.

 

[montyb]

Hi:
Hope you can find something in the range your looking for. My wife and Ihave been going to Kona for the past 14 years and we always try to book our plane tickets and condo reservations and car rental as soon as we go under a year. we booked our march 2006 trip in april 2005. Enjoy your trip

montyb

 

[Wildcard]

Good luck finding anything during Ironman. Try looking in "west Hawaii today" under vacation rentals for rooms or condos.

 

[sauruman]

Good luck finding anything during Ironman. Try looking in "west Hawaii today" under vacation rentals for rooms or condos.

Thanks for the advice, Wildcard. I'll check it out today. Are there any properties that we should stay away from?

Thankfully, the ironman isn't until the following week. We're out on the 9th and the ironman is on the 15th. Hopefully people aren't coming too early.

I know we've left this a bit late, but both my wife and myself keep pretty insane schedules and just haven't been able to spend much time planning. Ah well....

Are you free at all the week prior for a dive in Oahu?

 

[friscuba]

Thanks for the advice, Wildcard. I'll check it out today. Are there any properties that we should stay away from?

Thankfully, the ironman isn't until the following week. We're out on the 9th and the ironman is on the 15th. Hopefully people aren't coming too early.

I know we've left this a bit late, but both my wife and myself keep pretty insane schedules and just haven't been able to spend much time planning. Ah well....

Are you free at all the week prior for a dive in Oahu?

VRBO.com and a1vacations.com have tons of condos listed. Many of them will have availability calendars so you can have a clue up front before inquiries. This is our slowest time (I'm leaving for the week you are here to do DEMA) so you very well do have a chance at finding a place. The athletes and immediate families tend to show up about 2-3 weeks or so prior to the event to acclimatize, but the big push seems to come about the tuesday/wednesday/thursday before the race.

Good luck!

 

[Alkiman]

It and the Islander are the two best deals in town. Also consider Bottom time for your diving adventures. A little more expensive, but they let you stay down as long you surface with 500 psi and the staff can usually find you something to look at. Good luck

VRBO.com and a1vacations.com have tons of condos listed. Many of them will have availability calendars so you can have a clue up front before inquiries. This is our slowest time (I'm leaving for the week you are here to do DEMA) so you very well do have a chance at finding a place. The athletes and immediate families tend to show up about 2-3 weeks or so prior to the event to acclimatize, but the big push seems to come about the tuesday/wednesday/thursday before the race.

Good luck!

 

[friscuba]

It and the Islander are the two best deals in town. Also consider Bottom time for your diving adventures. A little more expensive, but they let you stay down as long you surface with 500 psi and the staff can usually find you something to look at. Good luck

The Islander, if you get a good unit, can be a very good deal. Uncle Billy's, I've met maybe one or two divers who stated they prefer that over other spots in town in the last 7 years. Think about trying the Kona Seaside or Kona Tiki for lower end hotels. The Tiki has kitchenettes available also. The Royal Kona might run an extra twenty to thirty bucks a night over Billys, but I have met tons of people who've switched after a night. For real discount accommodations, try the Manago Hotel in Captain Cook, but you'll need a car and be prepared to drive 30-45 minutes for dive tours.

There are reasonable priced hotels in the area.

Aloha,