mantas

To Clincher: Nice pictures. Did you take a tour to the la lava tubes and crater hikes or did it by yourself?

To bocastephen: I will post whatever the answer be, in case they answer.

To Mango man: The Mauna Kea Summit site tells about they take the kids -with parents- up to 9200 ft, which I think is the point of climatizing before going up to the summit. I ve already send them a mail to clarify the point. The tour is expensive enogh just to not reach the top and be left in the middle of somewhere. Anyway I find that apparently you do not need a special permit, or payment, or something to go up there, except for assuming the risks (http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/mko/visiting.htm). You can save lot of money, but I am not sure if it worths for a totally stranger to the zone as me with a rental 4x4 which behavior is mostly unknown.

Clincher

We did it on our own. No special tour guides needed. Our Big Island Tour book (Revealed) had directions. Basically parked and walked in. No costs involved.

bocastephen

If they won't take you to the Summit, and you research driving on Saddle Rd before taking it on, you can drive yourself and your family to the observation station which is below the summit, but they have an excellent stargazing program - you can get there early, watch the sunset (not as great as the summit view, but not bad either), have a picnic dinner and then get ready to stargaze. Just know you would need to bring your own cold weather clothes if you do this - it can get very cold at night even at the observation center level.

Care must be taken when driving up and down the Access Rd because the high altitude will make the engine complain under load - and on the way down, you want to be sure and not ride the brakes or they will overheat and fail.

mangoMan

As bocastephen points out, you can drive a regular car to the visitor center at 9200', and bring your kids. A summit visit is where the 4WD comes into play. And I agree with you, I would not pay for a tour only to skip the summit.

mantas

I was watching several You Tube videos of the trip to the Mauna Kea summit and I doesn't look as dangerous as it is said. Most of the Saddle Road looks good enough to ride with some caution and the Muana Kea unpaved road looks wide enough (I watched a SUV going uphill and a Bulldozer coming down both at the same time. That's wide). Maybe, my main concern is how difficult could be the return trip after sunset?
So now I am looking for a car rental company, where rent a AWD SUV and that does not put liability restrictions for using this route. I always rent with CDW and LIS and all inclusive when is offered. I do not want any worries ever. Does anyone know about which company offer that?

bocastephen

Harper's is the only place I know of that will rent a 4WD and let you drive to the summit - but they are expensive....although cheaper than 4 people paying for a Hawaii Forest/Trail tour.

http://www.harpershawaii.com/4wd.html

One thing to be aware of - if the tour company won't take your kids, it's probably a good sign they should not be going up there. If you do decide to go, you should do the following acclimation process along the route:

1) 45 minute stop at the Mauna Kea state park
2) minimum 1-1.5 hour stop at the MK visitors center (star gazing center)
3) target your ascent to minimize the time at the summit (just for sunset) - an hour or less
4) return to the visitors center for stargazing

If your kids develop any signs of altitude sickness, head down to the visitors center right away. Also, you want to be careful on the way down - use full-time 4WD in the lowest gear and keep off the brakes.

The high altitude and cold can make you tired, which can create a hazard on the drive back to town - make sure you load up on coffee or tea during the stargazing so you're not feeling sleepy on the drive back.

Ancien Maestro

3 full days.. IMHO.. Volcanoes National Park, Four Seasons Surf Sand and Stars (Saturday nights only), and Kona Village Luau (Fridays and Wednesday nights). Check out Mauna Kea Beach.. golf there if you can.

For general dining.. Ruth's Chris Mauna Lani.. prime time running all night for a little while more.

ddavault

Just back from 6 nights on the Big Island, stayed at the Mauna Kea. Great remodel after the earthquake, I had been there before and the place was getting tired. Be sure to get one of the rooms with the new bathroom, it was very nice.

A couple of data points:

The Clam Bake at the Mauna Kea was a huge disappointment. Expensive, and the quality was not that great.

Monstera at the shops at Mauna Lani was awesome. Great sushi, great tempura, and moderately priced.

Merriman's in Waimea was as good as it has always been. Our server was a little odd, but the meal was great. I've read a lot of reviews about how they can be snobby to tourists and provide preferential treatment to locals, but I did not experience this in any way. We had 6:30 reservations and were seated promptly. They were running a buy one entree get one free special that I was not aware of the, the server actually mentioned it.

La Bourgogne French Restaurant in Kona was as good as it has been in the past, I did think the portions were too large though, and the place was a bit noisy when we were there. Again I've read reviews that the owners can be a bit stand offish, but I didn't experience this at all.

The Saddle Road is really coming along. The middle section is the best road I have seen on the Big Island, we drove it at 65 mph. The back side into Hilo is a mess right now, sections are gravel, but it's only 6-7 miles I estimate. We made the trip from the Waikoloa Village area to Hilo in about 75 minutes. I've done this drive many times and it really is getting better.

Lava is flowing into the sea from Kīlauea, we did a Blue Hawaiian tour and was able to see the flow into the sea, it was very cool. I had read they needed to maintain a high altitude over the caldera and at the sea, but we got pretty close to the action, as did other helicopters.

National car rental at Kona was a disappointment, I normally rent from Hertz, in and out in a few minutes. It took me 45 minutes to get my car and leave the lot. I must have been behind a few big jets from the mainland.

bocastephen

How do they tell who is tourist and local?

cblaisd

If you live there, you can tell, believe me.

(Even with the tourists who are not wearing fanny packs, shod in brand-new pristine white tennis shoes with black mid-calf dress socks, carrying a copy of The Big Island Revealed, and wearing an aloha shirt whose pattern can be seen from the moon )

mantas

Back here again, after dealing with hotel reservations.

About Harper's, I have already sent them a mail 4 days ago, but they don't mail me back. I want to make the reservation, but I do not how it could be done if they don't answer back and tell me how much is it, and what kind of coverage (LDW, LIS) I can take. I will insist with another mail in a few minutes. I'm not confident enough to do it by phone, since english is not my native language and do not want any misunderstanding.

About the issue with the kids going up to the Mauna Kea summit, my father reminded me that when I was 11, and my brothers around 9 years old, we went up to the Christ Redeemer of the Andes (a monument high in the Andes at 3,832 metres (12,572 ft) above mean sea level on the border between Argentina and Chile). I can not remember that any of us - adults and kids as well - showed any evidence of altitude sickness or lack of breath, so this is encouraging me to go for the Mauna Kea summit. But also I am trying to collect memories from all the family members in case they remember something we both forgot, specially how many time we spent up there.

bocastephen

They may not respond to emails in time - can you ask a local travel agent to call them on your behalf?

Here is a link to their terms: https://secure33.securebuyers.com/%7...onditions.html

LDW is extra on all rentals.

Ancien Maestro

Clambake wasn't as high quality experience as the Four Seasons Surf Sand & Stars (all you can eat lobster too). Although the Clambake had the best and nicest all you can eat Maine Lobster.. My wife and I ate twelve halfs, so six complete lobsters.. I was joyful extrapolating the nice meat out of the lobster. We only visited the Mauna Kea for the Clam Bake.. as we are FPC and usually stay at the Fairmont. Nice reno on the Mauna Kea hotel.. hopefully they've taken care of the structural integrity of the hotel.

mantas

I am back after some days taking care of diff. issues.
Again about going to the Mauna Kea summit with my kids (11 and 9 yo), I have been in long debate on TripAdvisor with some members who think I am completely crazy to take my kids up there. Also they totally fear the west side of Saddle road. So I am trying to get in touch with the Argentina Mountain Medicine Association to visit or talk with a medical doctor specialized in AMS to get proper advisory.
I sitll do not understand what could be the difference between going up the Christ Redeemer of the Andes (12,500 ft) and Mauna Kea summit (14.000) for a little while.

I am also planning to get the LavaOcean Boat to go and see the lava flow falling into the sea, but also some think I am out of my mind to go there with the kids.

Am I soooo crazy?

bocastephen

I'm not familiar with the Andes, but the issue is your starting point. If you visit the statue at 12,500ft after starting from a 5,000ft elevation, the gain is not huge. When you visit Mauna Kea, you are starting from seal level and going to 14K feet in a matter of a couple hours. That sort of altitude gain can cause sickness in even healthy people - so you need at least a couple hours of acclimation along the way.

I recommend a picnic lunch at Mauna Kea State Park and another 1-2 hrs at the Mauna Kea Visitors Center before heading up for sunset.