Oh gosh I hope not! Honestly my husband took care of the car rental stuff and I was happy to let him, if so, I guess we’re lucky nothing happened. I could be wrong about the name of the road, it was State Route 200. But yeah, definitely check the car rental agreement.
1 Like
The Saddle Road was improved about 10 years ago. It’s now the best road on the island. It’s now Highway 200.
1 Like
Good to know!
Check the rental car agreement for folks contemplating drive to Hana as well. Some rental car agreements specifically prohibit that road.
Saddle Road Trivia—the government specifically built saddle road so that the curves were counter-intuitive to slow an invading army would be slowed and perhaps many of them would perish on the then-tortuous road. Since there never was any invading army, it just caused many, many bad accidents and as was said has finally been redone after multiple lawsuits in which the government was a party due to the terrible design of the road.
2 Likes
We drove the new and improved Saddle Road the last time we were on the island. It was a breeze, and the views of the volcanos were spectacular. We still love going over to the Hilo side (or coming back) via Waimea, but definitely the Saddle Road in the other direction.
This thread is making me really “homesick.”
3 Likes
The one thing that I wish I would have known about BI is that the Waikoloa side is not the green, lush Hawaii I expected (at least where we were); it was more like “moon crater” lava appearance. Don’t get me wrong, it was still beautiful in its own way, and the snorkeling was great, but I had expected more of the appearance of the Hilo side (or Kauai or Maui green). It’s a wonderful place and I’d be happy to return. Have a great trip!
3 Likes
Some good news—effective 7/8, fully vaxed passengers who meet requirements no longer need covid testing to avoid quarantine.
https://governor.hawaii.gov/newsroom/office-of-the-governor-news-release-hawaii-bound-domestic-travelers-fully-vaccinated-in-u-s-to-bypass-testing-quarantine-starting-july-8/
5 Likes
YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!! Thank you!
Just curious if anyone on here has used Costco for travel. We almost always book our own way and stay at small places but sometimes I just want to get on a plane and have it all taken care of. Costco’s packages seem pretty reasonable with the downside for me being a large resort but I think I could tough that out.
We used Costco “hotel and car” package back in the early days. What you get is a car reservation number and hotel reservations with some extras like $$ for activities or a a Costco gift card.
We have had very good luck with Costco car rental, and I typically do a lot of shopping around. Occasionally, they will have a gift card incentive making their rate even better.
We have not had good luck with the Costco accommodations. Although they do have a lot of condo options, I can almost always get a better price through Airbnb or VRBO. It’s been years since we stayed in an actual hotel for more than one night though, so if you prefer a hotel over a condo or house, then I wouldn’t know how Costco travel compares there.
My D and her boyfriend went to Maui through Costco. They got a lot of extras such as food credit and activity credit. They were pleased with the value.
3 Likes
Yeah, just in time for my trip.
2 Likes
In the past I’ve “only” used Costco travel for car rentals (and they seem to only partner with the big 4 - Alamo, Avis, Budget & Enterprise) - but their other offerings were actually more expensive than what I could find on my own.
I have to agree with you, @justamom. I sat down and looked at airfare, air bnbs and decided that we could do much better and nicer on our own. I’ll let my husband look at car rental . He gets some super discount from work. Back to information on Hawaii!
1 Like
I’ve only ever used Costco for car rental on their travel side. I’ve never gotten one of their packages. One of our friends did book their cruise through Costco on sane ship & sailing we were on and got some free gift card and/or onboard credit plus some bonuses thrown in. They didn’t book the hotel or air, just the cruise. If you compare, sometimes you can get nice deals.
So if we fly into and out of Kona, where on the coast would you recommend to stay? Kohala or Kailua? We are now looking into Air bnbs and like a quieter feel. I was thinking of staying 5 days here with day trips and staying 3 days in Volcano. Any thoughts on that?
If you like a quieter feel, and flying into Kona, I would look in the Kealakekua, Captain Cook area - do take note that there’s little swimming in that region (it can be found, it’s just not expansive beaches) - However on Ali’i Drive, starting around mile marker 3, you’ll find condos and vacation rentals, and only a mile or so up Ali’i (going north) are some great eateries and shops (we sometimes stay around mile marker 4, and walk to food/shops) on the map look for Magic Sands Beach and look north from there, to about the Kona Tiki Hotel for the area I’m referring to - you’ll find a couple of wonderful small swimming beaches around there too… in the other direction, I’d look in the Kawaihae area - I might even go further north on the 270 into Puakea - a friend stayed at Puakea Ranch and really enjoyed it very much - very mellow area - you will need a car up there, absolutely.
We normally booked our rental cars through Costco - found the prices to be consistently lower than other sites. Haven’t booked a car in over a year and a half - will have to see how the prices are now. Need one for San Diego in October.
We did book a couple of cruises through Costco. They were not cheaper than booking through the cruise line directly - but you did get additional benefits (some freebies) and a costco cash card for booking through them.
Thanks, @JustaMom !
1 Like