Thank you for your recommendation…this will probably find it’s way into my itinerary.
We MUST talk. I saw your other pics…(btw, very cute daughter and lovely wife). The one that struck me most was this. I want to see Crux and other southern constellations, but I’m not sure I will see it during the second half of July. Although, I notice that your May 27th pic at 9:39pm may show some promise, since it hasn’t crossed the meridian yet. Is the date and time correct on your camera when you took this? This is killing me because I cannot find my planispheres and my browser crashes when I access Sky and Telescope’s Interactive Star Charts.
Also, were you privately invited to enter the observatory, or were they open to the public on that particular day?
I must know!
My wife lit up when I mentioned this to her…it will definitely be in our plans.
Thank you. 
I did not go to the Observatory myself - I stayed at the resort with my mother and daughter that day. (She is too young to be allowed up there, and I was hoping that I would be pregnant at the time, which would also have precluded a visit.) The date on the photo is correct, though (the time is probably Pacific time, rather than Hawaii time). But my husband and father were not privately invited. You can drive up to the visitor center, spend a few hours acclimating, and then go on a tour of the observatory. I believe the details are in the guidebook linked above.
You do need a four-wheel drive vehicle to get there, so take that into account when arranging a rental car.
Thanks for the compliments on me and my daughter, though! 
Ahh, I assumed you were the husband! I finally got the Sky&Telescope Interactive Chart working and I will be able to see Crux slowly sinking in the horizon during twilight…I might be lucky to see it. Ok, then I will await the book’s arrival to find out more.
The diner is listed in the Big Island Revealed guide.
We enjoyed chatting with the young couple who own/run it. They just decided to move to Hawaii. They live behind the store, and their kids walk to the school down the block. They didn’t appear to have much in material terms, but they sure appeared happy.
Now I want to go to Hawaii.
I found the emails from my father with links to three tours that they considered signing up with. They ended up not doing a formal tour, but just driving to the Visitor Center, acclimating, then going on to the top. One advantage of the tours is that you won’t have to pack a parka or rent a 4-wheel drive yourself (although the 4-wheel drive is handy at other times, like going to South Point).
Again, they didn’t take any of these tours, so I can’t recommend them - just tell you that they exist.
You really don’t, unless it’s raining (in which case there’s no reason to be there). Past the visitor information station the road is unpaved for a considerable distance, but the surface is of very good quality, graded regularly (it regularly handles 2WD trucks carrying equipment and supplies for the observatories). You do need good sense about what speed is appropriate, and an understanding of how to descend a long downgrade (probably the longest one you’ll ever see) without cooking your brakes.
You probably don’t want to tell any car rental outfit that you’re planning to drive anywhere near Mauna Kea. I think essentially all of them consider it “off limits” - which in practice means that if you have a problem there your insurance is invalid and you’d be responsible for the cost of retrieving and fixing the car (last time I was there, wrecker service at 13,700’ MSL was said to be $800).
Some car rental companies also include the Saddle Road (between the mountains, and from which you access the Mauna Kea road) in their list of forbidden places, sometimes even for 4WD rentals. This is perfectly ridiculous, as this road is paved, smooth and a fine place to drive. It’s surrounded by cooled lava, mostly black, so it may not be a great place to be after dark.
True - but at $169 pp for the tour, you can probably afford some warm clothing. To be fair, I’m sure you get food and a knowledgable guide. But that’s a stiff price even by Hawaii standards.
True again, though South Point itself is no problem with 2WD. You would want 4WD to visit the popular Green Sand beach, a mile east of there. It’s a moderately interesting trip over some very rough dirt tracks. I found the actual beach okay, though possibly a bit overrated.
Fair enough, and it sounds like you have your heart set on the BI.
Do be aware that large swaths of the Kona side (especially northwest) and the center of the island does indeed look like a rocky desert. There are vast stretches of waterless desolation; I thought much of it was beautiful, but you may find it not all that different than a dry mainland area a lot of the time.
ETA:
If you’re lucky. Much of the road to Kilauea is the main street for a lot of towns along the way. Plan for a much slower speed than 50, at least on the first half of the trip.
Post #29 by Xema is chock-full of essential facts and advice. Read it several times.
My own drive to and from the Mauna Kea Visitor Center was a bit harrowing, all because I hadn’t really thought about the implications of driving such a steep grade. Our car seems to have survived, no thanks to my driving skills…
Ok, We’re staying at the Waikaloa Resort with direct flights (5.5 hours each way) on United and rented a mid-size SUV. Went to the old standby Aston Vacations (the same one I used 4 years ago for Kaanapali in Maui). Unfortuantely, I waited too long on the plane flights and ended up shortening the stay 1 day down to 7 days, 6 nights.
Now for my Itinerary:
Volcanoes NP
Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden
Golf with my 11 y.o. during the day…go on one of the Mauna Kea excursions to the telescopes
Cruise our way down Kona Coast to South Point, stop off at various beaches (recommended in the guide) along the way.
One day of just flaking out at the resort.
That’s 4 days figured out.
How’s Waipo Valley (in the northeast)…anybody been there?
You’re planning to drive from Waikaloa to Volcano, see the volcano, and drive back in one day? That’s like going to New York City and seeing Boston as a day trip. You can do it, if you don’t mind spending the day in the car and missing 90% of the interesting sights.
I’m way too late here, but jeez: – Waikoloa to Kilauea is like 120 miles each way*. On crowded HI roads. In one day! You should plan an overnight at the Volcano Lodge or something, or you won’t see anything but the inside of your car.
*Although google maps gives a recommended route as going through Hilo, distance 95 miles, but that route seems nuts to me. But I’m a haole, what do I know?
Ok, you guys are giving me second thoughts…keep em coming though.
That sounds like it is going to be a bit of driving.
What worked really well for us was staying a couple of days in Hilo, then driving to Volcanos NP for a couple of days, and then to Kona for a couple of days.
IIRC, it was a 2-3 hour drive from Hilo to Volcanos, and then at least the same from Volcanos to Kona.
We walked down into the Waipo Valley in a torrential downpour. I think it rained something like 16" that day. An interesting experience to be sure.
Musta been a bad day. That’s just shy of 30 miles on a good road (albeit one that sees a decent amount of traffic during rush hour).
There you’re talking around 95 miles, which will easily take 2:30.
I’m back…what a trip!
Lotsa good things happened and only some bad. But overall, a great trip that I do not regret taking. My only regret being it WAS to short…just like you guys warned me. (The worst thing happened on day 1):
7/20/08: Our 9am PDT flight to Hawaii was cancelled due to mechanical problems. I didn’t know about it until I got the counter to check in our bags. The ticket rep from UNITED AIRLINES was kinda jerkish. Didn’t tell me the reason why it was canceled, just said “That flight has been cancelled.” She said she had 6 seats left for the 7:00pm flight (which was 11.5 hours later which in turned burned the rest of the day traveling instead of visiting a nearby beach or pool). Before I finished asking for any other flights leaving sooner, she snarled “Do you want them, or do you want to come and TRY tomorrow?” I just buckled and said, “OK, give me 4.” I checked in my bags and proceeded to security checkpoint. Spending 11 hours at a terminal in LAX turned out not as bad as I thought. The kids took it in stride with their games and toys…they and my wife took naps half the time while I vigilently guarded my carry-ons. Got on the plane at 6:30pm PDT and arrived at Kona airport at 9:10pm HST. I won the grand prize of a 3 pack (about 1.5 lbs.) of mac nuts AND the first and second prizes as well which were boxes of Hilo Hattie Chocolate covered mac nuts for guessing the time that the plane crossed the half way point (distance in nautical miles) of the flight. Just off by one second…6:31:30 HST. My 6 year old son “guessed” (but I actually calculated 6:31:31 for his entry). My 11 year old came in second with his “guess” of 6:32:21), and I took third with 6:30:41. Sadly my wife was shut out with her “guess” of 6:33:11. Oh well, maybe next time… Flight attendant running the contest was slightly amused when he read the results and finally figured it out when he read the last winner (me), and just gave me the whole shload of stuff. The people we met at the airport and on the flight were kind and helpful to us visitors, so the whole day was not a total loss. Talked to family returning to Maui from their visit to Vegas. Met a guy (standing in line at the United Airlines customer service counter to learn that it was mechanical issues responsible for the cancellation and to see if I can improve upon the 11.5 hour wait with other flights…which in turn was fruitless) who overheard me talking about my 6 year old’s ASD and told me about his 14 year old daughter going through the same type of issues that we’re going through and told me that it was actually intestinal issue that was remedied by a more natural diet. The couple who shared our row on the flight were elderly and well travelled and we conversed with them most of the flight. That and getting my mac nut fix early in the trip made me feel pretty good by the time we arrived. Our SUV was not available by the time we got there at near closing time, but I got a Sebring convertible (which is fine for two, but not for 4…I returned this car for an H3 the morning after). My Costco run couldn’t happen at this point in time, so we settled for the Foodland Store about 4 miles north of where we were staying…got there 15 minutes before they closed at 11pm…got our stuff and headed to our condo. Very nice location. The furnishings were a little dated (wicker with older appliances), but still nice enough to make it home for the week. Got hooked on KAPA radio.
More to come…tomorrow.
Glad to hear it went well.
The long flight (and potential airline hassles) are probably the main thing that will keep me from returning anytime soon. On the return trip my son - on the other side of the plane - was bracketed by a trio of screaming kids all the way from Honolulu to LA. He restrained himself far better than I fear I might have.
Looking forward to future installments.