Getting Around

By Car -- You'll need a rental car on the Big Island; not having one will really limit what you'll be able to see and do. All the major car-rental firms have agencies at the airports and at the Kohala Coast resorts.

There are more than 480 miles of paved road on the Big Island. The highway that circles the island is called the Hawaii Belt Road. On the Kona side of the island, you have two choices: the scenic "upper" road, Mamalahoa Highway (Hwy. 190), or the speedier "lower" road, Queen Kaahumanu Highway (Hwy. 19). The road that links east to west is called the Saddle Road (Hwy. 200), because it crosses the "saddle" between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Saddle Road looks like a shortcut from Kona to Hilo, but it usually doesn't make for a shorter trip. It's rough, narrow, and plagued by bad weather; as a result, most rental-car agencies forbid you from taking their cars on it.

By Taxi -- Taxis are readily available at both Kona and Hilo airports. In Hilo call Ace-1 (tel. 808/935-8303). In Kailua-Kona call Kona Airport Taxi (tel. 808/329-7779). Taxis will take you wherever you want to go on the Big Island, but it's prohibitively expensive to use them for long distances.

By Bus & Shuttle -- For transportation from the Kona Airport, there are three options: two shuttle services that will come when you call them and a discount shuttle that leaves the airport every hour on the hour. Door-to-door service is provided by SpeediShuttle (tel. 808/329-5433; www.speedishuttle.com). Some sample rates: From the airport to Kailua-Kona, the fare is $19; to the Four Seasons, it's $17; and to Mauna Lani, it's $38. Kona Airport Express Shuttle (tel. 808/334-0464, ext. 03), is priced about the same as SpeediShuttle: airport to Kailua-Kona costs $18 for one passenger ($20 for two), to Four Seasons is $20 ($22 for two), and to Mauna Lani is $36 for one ($40 for two). Kona Airport Express also provides a discount shuttle on the hour leaving the airport for hotels in the Kailua-Kona area. You may have to wait for the next shuttle, but the prices are terrific: $8 per person from the airport to Kona and $12 per person to Keauhou (children under 12 are half-price). You can get the shuttle from the Rental Car median strip. The only caveat is that there's a limit of one bag per person ($1 additional for the bag), and you must pay in cash.

There is an islandwide bus system, but all it does is take passengers from Kona to Hilo and back (and does not stop at the airports). It's the Hele-On Bus (tel. 808/961-8744), and it leaves Kailua-Kona from the Lanihau Shopping Center, at Palani Road and Queen Kaahumanu Highway, every morning at 6:45am, getting into Hilo at 9:30am. The afternoon return trip leaves the bus terminal on Kamehameha Avenue at Mamo Street, in Hilo, at 1:30pm, arriving back in Kailua-Kona at 4:30pm. The fare is $5.25 each way.

For transportation around Kailua-Kona all the way to Keauhou, take the Alii Shuttle (tel. 808/938-11121), which travels up and down Alii Drive (the coastal road) and Palani Road (the main entrance to Kailua-Kona) from the Lanihau Shopping Center to Ohana Keauhou Bay Resort, stopping just about anywhere you want on Palai Road or Alii Drive (just flag the bus down). The buses run about every hour and a half. The cost is $2 one-way; the current hours of operation (subject to change, so call to check) are from 8:30am (leaving Keauhou Bay heading north to Kailua Village) to 7pm.