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You are here: Big Island > Travel Planner > Plan your Trip Planning your Trip When to visit the Big Island If you plan to stay on the Kona side of the island for most of your vacation, weather is not really an issue because the mountains block most of the moist air resulting in very little rain throughout the year, some areas getting less than ten inches a year. Your time in Kona will most likely be dominated by sunshine every single day! Hilo on the other hand is one of the wettest places on Earth, routinely getting over 130 inches of rain a year. You can expect March and April to be the rainiest months, and June to be the driest. For details on each region of the Big Island, check out our Big Island Overview article. Winter is when the sea swells and the waves are at their peak. Surf conditions also means rougher seas for snorkeling and SCUBA diving in Kona during the winter. During the winter months, hump-back whales travel to Hawaiian waters and whale watching is very popular on both sides of the island. Late spring and early fall are out-of-season times when you can find good travel bargains. Airfare and lodging tend to be more expensive during the "high" season of mid-December to mid-April. If you plan to visit during this period, make your reservations early. Unless you plan to attend the Merrie Monarch Hula Festival, you should avoid the Hilo area of the Big Island during the week after Easter. The Ironman Championship Triathlon in October each year makes the Kailua-Kona area of the Big Island very busy.
How Long to Stay A lot of people poorly plan their visit to the Volcanoes National Park. This is by far one of the greatest attractions of the Big Island, but too many visitors end up running out of time and missing out on much of the park. If you plan on doing the one day trip from Kona, keep in mind that you will be driving more than five hours round-trip, not including the time you spend in the park. The best way to do this is a very early morning start out of Kona. If you plan on staying late and hiking to watch the active lava flow at night, remember that at the end of all your hiking (sometime after 9:00 PM) you still will have to drive nearly 3 hours back to Kona - it's doable, but you must prepare for this demanding trip. A better way to plan this adventure is to plan to spend the night at the Volcano or nearby in Hilo, then drive back to Kona the next morning. See our itineraries section for suggested travel itineraries for the Big Island. Other than visiting the Volcano, many visitors will spend all their time in Kona and miss out on the Hilo side of the island and all of the wonderful sights and things to do. If you have the time, it is well worth spending time in Hilo town and north of town along the Hamakua coast where steep sea cliffs, canopied rainforest, and waterfalls dominate the scenery. One good way to see the whole island is to drive from Kona to the Volcano, spend the night in Hilo, then drive north up to Waimea and over to the other side of the island back to Kona - basically doing a complete circumnavigation of the island in two days. Check out our Big Island Sightseeing Guide for a list of most of the island's attractions.
Guide Books
Frommer's
Exploring Hawaii
Read our next article: Big Island Transportation
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