tatterdema

Kingsland should be fine, maybe a little vog, but only intermittently. Have you been there? Great place, I wish I had the choice of there or where I am staying downtown, instead of regular Hilton. It is way out of my budget though. Have a great time, Kingsland is a fun and well run place, especially the heated pools!

windnsea26

Thank you! We haven't been there yet. First time to this island so we're looking forward to it. We are there for 6 days and then 2 days at the Sheraton Hapuna Beach resort.

tatterdema

Just make sure to make time to travel around a bit. I had friends who stayed at Waikoloa, and hated the island because they thought that the whole island looked like that. It is not the prettiest place, miles and miles and miles of lava fields in every direction, and that is all you see from the airport to the resorts. Lol, and its not the pretty kind of lava, it is the ugly brown stuff that looks like turned dirt. You are staying in 2 of the best hotels on the Island in my opinion though. Hapuna has a great beach and HUGE rooms. It is a massively spread out resort because the rooms are so big and all water facing. BI is my 2nd favorite after Oahu, but this year will be my first trip to Kauai, so will see if the order changes. This will be my 5th time on the BI. Once on Maui was enough for me.

windnsea26

Our favorite is probably Kauai and then Maui. We went to Oahu many times and got burned out from it. Lol. My kids said Oahu is almost like San Diego. Stayed in Waikiki and North Shore. If we ever go back to Oahu it will only be in the winter when we have more of a chance to see Pipe breaking.

tatterdema

I keep hearing that about Kauai, that it is peoples favorite. 2 days, woo hoo, I cannot wait. I felt like the whole island of Maui was a great big disney like production. It was just too touristy for me. That and the funeral procession traffic did me in. I think that is what I liked about Oahu, is the city to party in, but then easy to get out of it to the more remote beaches. The BI is not at all touristy really, at least if you get away from the resorts. And while traffic can get bad in places, it is highway traffic mostly. Plus I think it is the only island with 65 mph speed limit in places, lol.

windnsea26

LOL! I don't think I have ever seen a speed limit in HI over 45.

DenverBrian

Big Island has a lot of 55 mph speed limits and even some 60 mph speed limits - and on wide open, new asphalt roads.

Tourists are buying into the media hype and hotels are down on occupancy on the west coast. But there are no issues there, except for occasional vog. It's like saying you can't travel to San Diego because there are wildfires in Orange County.

hailstorm

In the aftermath of the 2011 Japan earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster, there was a feeling of "self-restraint" that lasted for several months. Even in unaffected areas like Tokyo, people did not want to be seen enjoying themselves when so many people were going through such a hard time.

Perhaps that feeling is having a bigger impact on Big Island tourism than actual fear for one's safety.

msp3

If you said that about Kauai, the narrative would have been somewhat easier to swallow. Puna on the Big Island doesn't exactly evoke warm and fuzzy feelings amongst most people in the islands, its a mix of mainland transplants, hippies, and even the locals there can be described as extremely cheap people who *choose* to live somewhere where this happened multiple times in modern history...

hailstorm

But only the kama'aina know that, and they aren't spending many nights in Hilo hotels on leisure to begin with.

Also, there are million dollar homes swallowed up in Vacationland now.

hailstorm

Now noted as closed through June 30th.

Realistically, with all the ash and earthquake damage still ongoing, I would be surprised to see it reopen this year.

windnsea26

So we've been here almost 48 hours but are staying on Waikoloa Village area. We've been around here and also to the Kona side for a little bit. Air quality seems fine. My daughter and I went for a run early in the morning both days and have been fine. Glad we ended up keeping our trip. Ate some good food at Broke Da Mouth in Kona.
We are planning to go to the Hilo side tomorrow so I'll update how it is for those that want to know.

MSPeconomist

It was certainly the same in China after the Chengdu earthquake, long after the official mourning period.

OTOH, in New Orleans after Katrina, first they were encouraging visitors to come back, then there were the ninth ward tour buses, etc. Still, locals seemed to appreciate the business generated by visitors and were trying their best to make NOLA a good place to visit again.

Eastbay1K

This is a totally different event. This is an event where absolutely no one needed to get hurt, nor die, and everyone had plenty of time to evacuate in non-panic conditions.

DELee

True, but it is clear that there's a bit of vog/laze/east rift zone lava event fatigue given that the event continues on through month 2...They may not be panicking but because the event's impact is truly island wide with the loss of tourism, displaced folks, vog, etc., many are not in the chipperest of spirits.

David