5 Best Tips for Kona Big Island Ironman Visitors

Welcome back everybody who is interested in Hawaii vacation tips!
After our recent post about '10 Best Hawaii vacation tips' today's post has vacation tips for those Hawaii visitors who are visiting Kona for the Big Island Ironman.

I can't believe it that another year has passed and Kona on the Big Island is once again preparing for its biggest Big Island event: the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon Ford World Championship. It's still 9 days to the Big Island competition of this biggest endurance race for triathletes in Kona Hawaii on October 9th but Kona is already hustling and bustling with hundreds of triathletes getting a feel for this year's race swimming the rough Pacific Ocean waters, running along Alii Dr or even trying a bike ride to Hawi.

Before I share my personal '5 Best Tips for Kona Big Island Ironman Visitors' with all of our Best Hawaii vacation fans, here is a great youtube video by everymantri.com which shows an interview with top triathletes like Craig Alexander, twice Ironman champion in the last two Big Island Ironman races. What does Craig think? Can he do it again? Get right into the Ironman mood with this interesting preview event video from Kailua-Kona Hawaii Big Island.



Having been to the Big Island Kona Ironman many times in the past, live and later on through TV and videos, here are 5 tips which pop up in my head for Hawaii visitors who visit Kona for the Ironman this year 2010:

1. When you stay at a Kona hotel downtown, don't even think about taking your car to get anywhere on the day of the Kona Ironman. You can't.

2. When you come from a place farther away on the Big Island, get early into Kailua-Kona like around 6am to secure a parking place and a good observation point in Alii Dr for watching the spectacle at 7am when thousands of swimmers jump in the ocean and fight for a top position. BTW, best top triathletes get a privileged early start before big crowd.

3. You stay on another Island and decide for last minute visit to Kona for Ironman and try to book a hotel room. Kona Hotels are solidly BOOKED for the Ironman weekend and most of the Ironman week. Try places north of Kona like vacation condos in Waikoloa Village (best rates, about 30min drive to Kona) or condos at Waikoloa Beach Resort (more expensive, about 30min drive to Kona). Another option for Ironman accommodations is South Kona.

4. Prepare yourselves for a long day in the hot Hawaii sun and heat: water, sun screen + hat are a must. Remember you'll have an early morning start and it will take a bit over 8hrs for the first men and about 9hrs for the first women to arrive at the finish line after the marathon.

5. Stay away from restaurants at the regular meal hours. They will be totally jammed. Plan your lunch for 2pm and your dinner for 9pm or even later. After the first huge Ironman excitement between 3 - 5 pm with lots of cheering, things calm down somewhat later but if you are in for the long haul, there are many more exciting moments coming before midnight when the Ironman cutoff (no more counting who comes in at what position) takes place.

Hope these 5 best tips for Kona Big Island Ironman visitors will help you make it through a day of unbelievable excitement and exhilaration. Aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacation
p.s.
Last but not least, get yourself a Kona and Big Island West Coast map to make sure you know which roads or highways are closed for the Kona Ironman race on Sat. 10/9. Also see Ford Ironman World Championship Road restrictions from Kona to Hawi.

Big Island Ironman Related Posts

Ever wanted to visit Big Island Ironman for your Hawaii vacation
2009 Hawaii Kona Ironman Visitors Information
Kona Ironman ccommodations
Hawaii Ironman Triathlon Kailua Kona 2006

Tags: Big Island Ironman, best Hawaii event, biggest Hawaii event

A Guide to your Big Island Vacation that will work for you

Aloha Hawaii visitors,

What's on today's 'menu' of Best Hawaii Vacation blog today? It's 'A Guide to your Big Island which will work for you'. Please, keep reading if you own a Big Island vacation rental or if you plan a Big Island vacation sooner or later.

Most of our visitors are aware that besides our weekly Hawaii vacation blog posts, which include vacation articles about all the Hawaiian Islands: Big Island, Kauai, Maui, Oahu and Molokai, we constantly update and improve our Hawaii vacation sites Big Island Vacation Guide and Kohala Coast Vacation Guide. Having called the Kohala Coast on the Big Island our home and having been Hawaii vacation rental hosts for many years before retiring from the business in 2006, that's the Hawaii we know best.

Our Big Island Vacation Guide with exclusive information about the Kohala Coast and beautiful Kohala Coast and Big Island photos, which we and Hawaii visitors took over the years, was getting Google's and thus Hawaii visitors' attention right from the beginning in 2004.

Some time after having created our Big Island Kohala Coast Vacation Guide, we noticed that we cannot pack all the Big Island vacation info onto that site. Exploring the Big Island on vacation, in cyberspace or in reality, is a huge project. Big Island visitors can get easily overwhelmed and lose track of focus. The biggest issue for any Hawaii visitor is to find the right home base on the Big Island from where they want to start their daily explorations. We consider our Big Island Vacation Guide with islandwide Big Island vacation rentals a guide which will work for you, Big Island visitors and for Big Island rental owners!

To tell you the truth there are lots of Big Island vacation sites and blogs out on the WWW. Naturally, our amateur, homemade Big Island Vacation Guide was facing strong competition especially from such big corporations like Homeaway, Alwaysonvacation, Vamoose, just to name a few. As former vacation rental hosts it was kind of sad to watch Homeaway buying out all the old well established rental directories like greatrentals, cyberrentals and even vrbo and thus being able to dictate the highest vacation rental listing prices rental owners have ever seen. Unfortunately, the high annual listing price does not guarantee Big Island rental owners that their Big Island rental gets found among the hundreds of listings and gets booked.

What makes our Big Island Vacation Guide unique?

1. Only affordable Big Island rentals, below $200/nt., get listed.

2. Only individually owned Big Island rentals get listed.

3. Big Island map shows location of vacation rental.

4. Guide displays lots of Big Island vacation info:

Activities, Car Rental, Events, Weather

Best Big Island Vacation Guide Feature for Big Island Visitors

- See all available Big Island rental locations at one glance.

- Click your preferred Big Island locations.

- See nightly rental rates at one glance.

- Only affordable Big Island rentals are listed.

- No wasting your time by visiting hundreds of rental pages!

Best Big Island Vacation Guide Feature for Big Island Owners

- Your listing is absolutely FREE. No limited time offer.

- No fine print restrictions.

- Link back to HawaiiAffordable + get a free link to your site.

So, visit Pua's and Keoki's Big Island Vacation Guide and let us know what you think of our unique Guide to your Big island vacation. Aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations

Tags: Big Island Guide, Affordable Big Island vacation, Big Island vacation rentals

2009 Hawaii Kona Ironman visitors information

Aloha Best Hawaii vacation blog visitors,

What's on our mind today? Let's talk Hawaii Ironman and here is why. It's a short 3 months to Hawaii's biggest event: the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon Ford World Championship. The 2009 Hawaii Ironman takes place on Saturday October 10th in Kailua Kona. Kona attracts for the Big Island Ironman event thousands of visitors and athletes from all over the world. Last year's 2008 Ironman Triathlon recorded 1731 athletes at the start. What's new for this 2009 Kona Ironman?

2009 Hawaii Kona Ironman Visitors Information

1. Book your Kona accommodation early

Remember our most recent blog post about 'Will Hawaii foreclosures help your dream of living in Hawaii?' We mentioned there that one Hawaii town is hit especially hard by foreclosures. The town is Kona. The foreclosures of many Kona condos which were used in the past as vacation rentals will limit the availability of Ironman accommodations. Kona condos, especially those in Alii Dr, are in high demand because they are self-catering and offer the best training conditions for the triathletes participating in the Ironman. Visitors love this location as well because it's in walking distance to the Kona Pier, the start and finish of the Ironman.

2. Early bird Kona Ironman specials?

Your best chance of finding an 'early bird' special for your stay in Kona for this year's 2009 Hawaii Triathlon World Championship is when you book NOW. Generally, Kona vacation rental hosts charge double the rates for the Ironman week. If you are early enough with your inquiry, Kona hosts might be still willing to cut you a special deal. If you don't mind a little bit driving from Kona Captain Cook Kealakekua area to downtown Kona, your chances for an affordable vacation rental are even better.

3. Share a Kona vacation home with friends or family

This way your Kona visit won't stretch your budget beyond your limits. In addition, you can stay at a more luxury Kona home - maybe with a pool and jacuzzi - which you can afford by sharing the rental fees. You are hanging out with your friends anyway, so why not stay at one place?! The Kona Ironman is a huge social event. Feel the excitement of the cheering crowds and become part of it.

4. Plan your Big Island activities

The Big Island offers some of the biggest Hawaii attractions, many beyond the ordinary. Don't leave the Island of Hawaii without having visited our live volcano in Hawaii Volcano National Park or snow-covered Mauna Kea Summit for a spectacular stargazing night. These are once-in-a-lifetime adventures. Make your plans for exploring the Big Island ahead of your arrival in Kona Hawaii. Your Kona vacation week is over in a wink of an eye. So get the most out of your Kona Ironman visit.

If you have visited the Hawaii Kona Ironman in the past or have anything to share with our blog visitors about Kona or the Ironman, please, leave a comment right here. Mahalo and aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations

Hawaii Kona Ironman Related Articles

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Visit Hawaii 2007 Hawaii Ironman in Kona
Hawaii Ironman Triathlon Kailua Kona 2006

Watch 2006 Ironman Kona videos

Tags: 2009 Hawaii Ironman, Kona vacation, Best Hawaii Event, Hawaii

Big Island Hotel Vacation

Aloha everybody,

Our recent post about finding the dolphins on Hawaii vacation was really fun to read. Dolphins are the most friendly creatures. Anybody who had a chance to swim with wild dolphins, will confirm that this is really a magical encounter. So, if interested, try one of the island companies which offer that. For Swimming with wild dolphins on the Big Island, Nancy from DolphinJourneys in Kailua-Kona is a good choice. Always keep in mind, this is nature and even though the boats are guided by captains who are experts on dolphin behavior and where to find them, there is no 100% guaranty you will swim with the dolphins when you booked a tour.

Let's stay a bit with the dolphins in Hawaii. Here is our Hawaii photo of the week, which fits perfectly into the dolphin topic. We will tell you why in the next paragraph. Our Hawaii photographer friend Jennifer Crites chose a photo of one of the most popular hotels for a Big Island vacation. The photo shows the Hilton Waikoloa Village at Waikoloa Beach Resort. OK admitted, with the big size oceanfront location and three towers for room accommodation, the Big Island Hilton is a bit on the busy side. So, when looking for a peaceful, private honeymoon vacation, the Hilton Waikoloa Village, would not be the perfect option to find it there.

However, for tourists who love to do things, the Hilton accommodates many Hawaiian activities right on site. One of guests' favorites is Dolphin Quest at a huge pond in the middle of the Hilton property, bordering the huge swimming pool and ocean (sorry no beach access there). Dolphin Quest is an educational program to learn more about the dolphins in Hawaii in a friendly environment. Dolphin Quest participants get close to dolphins and interact with them. This is a bit different than Sea World where dolphins are exclusively trained for performing for an audience.

Even if you are not staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Beach Hotel, go visit the hotel when exploring the Kohala Coast on your Big Island vacation. I love the gentle boat ride meandering on a canal in this beautiful tropical. You will even see tropical fish & barracudas right from the boat, as the water is very clear. Boat and tram rides are free and fun.

Many years ago, the Hilton would still sell pool passes, so families with children could spend a day at the Hilton with their many water slides. If you want to do that these days, you have to pay for a day room but if you share it with another family, it's worthwhile the expense. The kids love the dolphins, the water slides, the tram, the boat, the Nene geese and all the fancy artifacts from different cultures and times. Well, and adults can enjoy some relaxing and rejuvenating time at the Kohala Spa or visit all the fancy shops and galleries. Afterwards, sit and relax enjoying a delicious lunch at the Lagoon Grill overlooking the dolphin lagoon!

The only thing missing at the Hilton is a real beach. There is an artificial one with white sand and a big pond, where you can swim, snorkel (water is a little murky to see much but the turtles are there!) and even kayak. Otherwise, the real Kohala Coast beaches, like A-Bay, Hapuna and Mauna Kea beach, are not far away from the Hilton.

Well, if you have visited the Hilton, please, share your experience with our Best Hawaii Vacation Blog visitors. Mahalo and aloha, Pua Hawaii Vacations

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Tags: Hawaii, Best, Hawaii Vacation

Best Hawaii Vacation Destination

This post is sponsored by Free Hawaii Vacation Rental Listing

Aloha Hawaii visitors,
We get asked again and again which Hawaiian Island is the best Hawaii vacation destination. To tell you the truth, nobody can answer you that question. It all comes down to your expectations what kind of a vacation do you want to spend. Luckily, we all have different ideas of our Hawaii vacation.

Let's name a few:

Hawaii beach vacation - beach bums don't even rent a car but take a shuttle to their Hawaii hotel or resort vacation condo and don't move, maybe just picking up a Mai Tai from the beach bar...
Hawaii adventure vacation - explore all the famous sights of an island, like seeing an active volcano on the Big Island...
Hawaii activity vacation - scuba diving, deep sea fishing, whale watching, sunset ocean cruises, helicopter flights, horseback riding, mountain biking
Hawaii golf vacation - the passionate golfer just moves twice a day...to the early morning tee-time and back to the hotel from the golf course
Hawaii relaxing vacation - this group of Hawaii visitors just wants to have peace and serenity, away from the big Hawaii hotels and resorts but on their private peaceful tropical piece of Paradise (just like Oprah's special getwaway).

Here is 'the' Hawaii vacation home which offers you a nice combination of all the above in lovely Kailua-Kona of the Big Island, near best beaches. We'd like to introduce the unique Lako House in Kalua-Kona on the Big Island. 'Lako' is to replenish! With incredible panoramic ocean views, a cool dip in the pool, just hanging with friends/family pool side or on the lanai, Lako House in a quiet part of Kona truly embraces a complete fulfillment of 'lako'. Visiting Lako House picture gallery makes you want to be there, right now!

This is your rare chance for an incredible Hawaii vacation with friends or family at a big discount. Call the Kona Vacation Home owner today with your discount code HAF082: 808-329-6804 / 408-930-2758 or email and ask for your special discount from our blog. The vacation home owner has just extended his Promotion Special for the following dates: 9/1 - 9/12 + 9/17 - 21 + 9/26 - 10/5. He is awaiting your call. Have a wonderful vacation in Hawaii! Visit this page for more Hawaii vacation rental discounts.

And for those who are not familiar with Kailua-Kona. This is the town which is known all over the world for the famous Hawaii Triathlon - Big Island Ironman in October. But there is so much more...just a few miles from downtown Kona, one can find the best snorkel and scuba diving spots on the Big Island, in Kealakekua Bay and at City of Refuge. From Kona it's a short 1 1/2hr trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park which provides more excitement and adventure than any of the other Hawaiian islands. If you want to know more about Kona, visiting Kona and the Big Island, visit KonaWeb. Find more Kailua Kona vacation rentals.

As usual, we'd love to hear from you, about your Hawaii experience and Hawaii vacation plans. Aloha, Pua Kohala Coast Vacation Guide
p.s.
Last but not least, with Hawaiian Airline one-way special rates at low $25, it's time for island hopping again. Hawaiian Airlines even offers special car rental packages.

Tags: Best of Hawaii, Big Island, Kona