Back from Hawaii!

Just got back from the Big Island! Checked out the venue and met with vendors. We had great weather and I feel completely comfortable with the hotel and the wedding coordinator Kim. It's going to be a great event!
I wanted to give a couple of tips and advise for your travels to Hawaii!

1. Rental Car: If you are renting a car that is separate from your flight and hotel package, you will want to make sure to look for coupons online. I was able to find a 50% coupon online for several car rental agencies on the Big Island. I rented a full size sedan for 1 week with unlimited mileage for a total of $189.00 through Budget Rental. It would have been $400.00 if I didn't search for a coupon online...all you need to do is use a search engine and type in "coupon budget car rental". There are websites that will give you the coupon codes at no charge and they work! You will definitely need a rental car while visiting the Island. It is "Big". Nothing is fairly close together on the island so a car is a must. They do have taxis and some hotels have shuttles too.

2. Flights: If you are flying out of San Luis Obispo, United Airlines has the best rates and most direct flight to Kona. From SLO the flight will either go to LAX or SFO for a connection flight directly to Kona. The flight from SLO to LAX or SFO is usually 40 minutes or so. From LAX or SFO the flight is about 4.5 to 5 hours to Kona.
If you decide to drive to LAX or SFO area to catch a flight..I would recommend Hawaiian airlines. They have the best service and prices that I have seen. Hawaiian does leave from Oakland and San Jose too. The only bumber with Hawaiian is that there is a connection flight in Honolulu. It's usually a quick layover and you will get to see a lot of the islands from the airplane which is pretty cool. Most airlines do charge for bags now so make sure you look at those fees too before booking. United also charges for food on the plane now...there is no free lunch anymore. And if I remember right Hawaiian had a free meal and a less costly baggage fee.

3. Big Island: The best airport to fly into is Kona (KOA) airport. From the Airport to the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel..it's about 45 minutes north. I will never forget the first time I landed on the Big Island. I thought we were landing on the moon. There is a lot of lava!! You will be driving through many lava fields on paved roads that lead to the Kohala Coast. Don't be worried that the entire scenery will look like lava as I did the first time..Ha! The resorts are beautiful and most have fantastic beaches. As you travel north or south from the airport..there is more greenery and rain. The Big Island has 11 different climate zones.. so if you are looking for a rain forest or waterfalls, all you'll need to do is drive. The northern end of the island is very lush and green as well as the entire eastern part of the island. The Kohala Coast is considered dessert like so there is little rain in this area.
We were able to visit the Volcano National Park on this trip. It was about a 2 hour drive from the Kohala Coast to the Park, which is at the southern tip of the island. You could spend a whole day at the park, so I would suggest to leave early in the morning if you decide to go. There are helicopter tours of the volcano area. It's a lot less expensive to drive to Hilo and catch the helicopter than take the one on the Kohala Coast.

Roads and Police: Hawaii does have great roads that are well maintained. All the roads in Hawaii are only two lanes so please drive safely. The speed limits in Hawaii are usually between 45 and 55 at the max! You will notice most everyone drives slow. The police in Hawaii drive their own vehicles that are unmarked...so you never know when you might see them. They usually have a blue light they stick on the roof of their car when working, but sometimes they don't put it on until they want to pull you over. One very important item to mention is drinking and driving. You do not want to get a DUI on the Big Island...We have heard they can be very very expensive!! There are taxis available and shuttles to and from some hotels.

Well, this is it for today! Please let me know if you have any questions too. I will post again soon.
Katie