How long does it take to go around the Big Island of Hawaii?

Driving around the island takes about six hours – and that's without stopping or running into any traffic. If you're looking to break up your trip a bit, try taking a self-guided tour like the one Action Tour Guide offers. Action Tour Guide's self-guided tour allows you to drive through the Big Island at your own pace.



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Driving around the island takes about six hours – and that's without stopping or running into any traffic. If you're looking to break up your trip a bit, try taking a self-guided tour like the one Action Tour Guide offers. Action Tour Guide's self-guided tour allows you to drive through the Big Island at your own pace.

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Big Island Geography The Island of Hawai'i is the youngest and largest of the Hawaiian islands, measuring over 4000 square miles in size. In fact, the 7 other Hawaiian islands' would fit comfortably together within the Big Island's land area. A trip around the Island via highways 19 and 11 is a total of 222 miles long!

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There are three routes depending on what you mean by “across” since there is no road directly across the island. To drive from Hawi in North Kohala south to South Point at the southern tip of the island would take about 5 hours . To drive from Kona to Hilo on the quickest route would take almost three hours.

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The island of Hawaii is big—giving it its nickname: The Big Island! While you may think of tropical beaches and palm trees when you think about a trip to Hawaii, the Big Island offers so much more. If you are pressed for time, 3 days on the Big Island may be all you have. But don't stress about it.

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But, that said, some months are still better when considering things like weather and your budget. The best times to visit the Big Island of Hawaii, taking into consideration the weather, how crowded, or not, the island is, and demand for accommodations are the month(s) of April, May, August, September, and October.

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However, driving in Hawaii does come with its own set of challenges that you should be prepared for, including poor road conditions. While the more populated islands like O'ahu or the Big Island have decent roads, the more rural isles like Kaua'i have roads that are often unpaved and difficult to drive on.

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Geographically unique, the island of Hawai'i (or the Big Island, as it's more commonly known) boasts everything from black sand beaches to snow-covered peaks, from hardened lava deserts to steamy and lush rainforests. And it's still growing.

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Getting to the Island of Hawai?i There is also the option of flying into Honolulu International Airport (HNL) on O?ahu first and then taking a short, 35-40 minute flight to the island of Hawai?i. Because the island is so big, consider arriving on one side of the island and departing from the other.

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Driving around the island takes about six hours – and that's without stopping or running into any traffic. If you're looking to break up your trip a bit, try taking a self-guided tour like the one Action Tour Guide offers. Action Tour Guide's self-guided tour allows you to drive through the Big Island at your own pace.

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The public (Hele-on) bus service is an alternative if you have plenty of time and want to avoid renting a car. The cheapest way to get around the Big Island after walking yourself is the public bus (Hele-on-Bus). This bus will get you to most places on the island, but transit times are long and connections infrequent.

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Drive from Waimea/Hilo to Volcano. From the Saddle Road, North Big Island, or Hilo Airport, you can arrive at Aloha Junction via Route 11 on the Eastern shore of the Big Island to Volcano (45 Minutes).

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If the park determines that access to the flow is safe you can go on a hike to see the lava. Because viewing conditions change on a daily basis you should look up the most recent information about the active surface flows shortly before you plan to see the lava yourself.

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Big Island lava flow hike Reaching the coastal lava flows from Kalapana involves a stenuous hike of at least 2 hours over rough & undulating terrain. You need to cross a massive lava field full of cracks and jumbled piles of rocks, riddled with lava tubes underneath.

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To discover Big Island as a whole, we recommend staying ideally 8 to 10 days so that you have time to explore it at your own pace, as the island is quite large.

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While many vacations are five to seven days long, we recommend staying for at least 10 days to enjoy your Hawaiian vacation. The time change is difficult to adjust to at first and takes about 3 days to get fully acclimated. So, allowing a couple days to get over the jet lag is important.

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