Driving to Hilo side from Kona?

We will be sailing on the Pride of America in June and would like to know how long it would take to drive to the Hilo side from the Kona side of the Big Island. On the day we at port on the Hilo side, we would like to explore VNP. However, we would also love to do the Umauma Falls Zipline Tour. We were thinking of trying to be ready to wait in line to tender by 6:30am so we can get off the ship and to the rental car company as early as possible. I'm reading that it takes 1.5 hours to drive to the zipline place and that the zipline experience takes 2.5-3 hours. If I round up on everything, I figure we would need 4-4.5 hours of drive time and 3 hours of zip time. This is 7.5 hours. I think it will be tight, but if we are up really early for tendering do you think this is possible? (tendering starts at 7am and ship departs at 5:30pm).

Thanks in advance for any input!

Personally I would not even think of doing this. What day of the week will you be in Kona? If it is a week day you could run into road work delays to and from Hilo. Have you thought about a zip line on Maui? Too bad your ship does not have Hilo as a port-of-call. Cherie p.s. plus if the ship departs at 5:30 your "all aboard" is going to be earlier.

We have stayed in Kona a several times. That is one heck of a drive. I know what the given drive times are, and honestly, it takes longer than an hour and a half to get to the Hilo side. If you cannot use the saddle road, no way (some of the rental agencies discourage it, as parts of the road are narrow, with single lane bridges).

Personally I would not even think of doing this. What day of the week will you be in Kona? If it is a week day you could run into road work delays to and from Hilo. Have you thought about a zip line on Maui? Too bad your ship does not have Hilo as a port-of-call. Cherie p.s. plus if the ship departs at 5:30 your "all aboard" is going to be earlier.

The POA does have both Hilo and Kona as ports of call, but the OP wants to spend the Hilo day doing the VNP tour and then return to Hilo from the Kona side the following day in order to do the zip line.

OP, there is one solution I can think of and it is pretty radical, but other POA cruisers have done it in Hilo. The solution is to just "miss" the ship when it leaves port in Hilo. The reports I have seen indicate that this is discussed with the ship in advance so that they are not calling your name repeatedly over the loudspeakers. You can then have a very long day 1 in Hilo. Day 2, you do your zip line early and then head out, probably via the saddle road which apparently is the quickest route over to Kona where you can rejoin the ship. Or possibly, you could even do the zip line later on day 1 and have the full day available for the return trip and a little Kona exploring.

Of course this means you need to book a hotel on the Hilo side. Personally not sure a zip line tour is worth it. And of course, this means you will not have much time to see anything in Kona area, so it's a trade off.

There is a thread here on cruise critic discussing this started by the people who have done it. You should be able to find it by using the search feature either on this forum or the NCL one.

Edit: Found it. It is "The Somewhat Definitive Guide to Missing a Port On the POA" by brrrdog. I believe it was posted here on the Hawaii board.

Another vote for 'don't try it'. In addition to the time you've calculated, don't forget about standing in line at the car rental company along with all the other passengers who want to get a head start on the day, plus the fact that the roads in and out of Kona are mostly 2 lanes. Traffic does back up quite frequently, especially when there's a ship in town. There was also major bridge construction on the northern route which caused backups when we did the trip in December - it looked like it could go on for a long time. Many other people will also want to be on that first tender, so there's no guarantee you'll win a spot. Just too many negatives that could result in disappointment!

Another option - there is a zip line on the west side of the island, on the Kohala coast, which is much closer. We haven't done it, but have good friends who live on the island who have done it and loved it. Here's a link to their site: http://www.hawaiiactivities.com/en/hawaii/big_island/a/16413.

punkincc - sorry...I read and responded to the post so quickly before leaving the house that I didn't read carefully enough:o There are so many beautiful things on the Kona side that I hope the OP decides to enjoy some of them. However they may have visited Kona before. Cherie

The drive between the 2 will be at least 2 hours. I have done this several times, but only once on the new highway and that was how long it took me.

The ONLY way that would be recommended is stated above with staying overnight in Hilo. I stay at the Hilo Seaside which is reasonable in rates and right near the cruise dock.

Especially in Kona with tenders being required, it is not easy to get off the ship without priority or a ship tour. Every time I've been there (over 10) including last year, being platinum I walked past 3 stories of lined up people. If you get behind a ship tour departure- more waits. A great many people want off the ship.

I don't think this drive is a good idea either. Even though the Saddle Road is now a brand new paved highway, many times it gets fogged in in the afternoon. The clouds and fog move in and make the drive much slower on some of the upper portions of the road. Too much of a risk with the possibility of missing the ship.

Have they repaved the saddle road down the Kona side? We saw a nasty rollover happen right in front of us about ten miles up the Kona side, two years ago. Soft shoulders! Fortunately, the driver was belted in, and in a big pickup truck. My husband helped him crawl out the passenger window. The nice pavement did't begin until closer to the Army facility up there then.

I want to try the Ditch next time we are there.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1007318-d2140644-Reviews-Kohala_Ditch_Adventures-Kapaau_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html

AntiM...yes, the new Saddle Road now runs all the way across. The last section opened about a year ago. This eliminates that final stretch over by the Kona side that was very hilly, winding and had all of the one lane bridges. Much safer now.

Have they repaved the saddle road down the Kona side? We saw a nasty rollover happen right in front of us about ten miles up the Kona side, two years ago. Soft shoulders! Fortunately, the driver was belted in, and in a big pickup truck. My husband helped him crawl out the passenger window. The nice pavement did't begin until closer to the Army facility up there then.

 

I want to try the Ditch next time we are there.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1007318-d2140644-Reviews-Kohala_Ditch_Adventures-Kapaau_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html

Awhile back, on one of my Hawaii vacations, I did the Flumin' da Ditch. It was really fun! Rubber ducky kayaks down the old irrigation canals. At the end, we went to a natural pool and cooled off. I definitely recommend doing The Ditch!!

Back to the OP: I wouldn't recommend trying to do that LONG day, either. Also, probably everyone on the ship will be trying to get that early debark. I don't think any zip line is worth that much of a drive...

Well looks like this excursion is no longer offered:( It closed in December due to damage of the water system.

Thank you all for confirming that we should not do the drive. I think we may try the zip line in Maui Near Haleakala after the sunrise instead. Thanks again!👍