Hawaiʻi Island is larger than every other Hawaiian island put together, and it behaves like two islands that happen to share a coastline. Choosing one base and driving from it is the most common Big Island mistake, and it costs whole days.
The numbers that explain why are rainfall numbers, and they are not subtle.
The wettest and driest places in the state, 90 miles apart
| Area | Annual rain | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Kohala coast, Waikōloa | 8.5″ | The driest resort coast in the state. |
| Kailua-Kona | 9.9″ | Airport gauge, on the lava plain. The town above it catches more. |
| Volcano Village | 96.2″ | Rainforest at 4,000 feet. Cold and wet, and worth one night anyway. |
| Hilo | 120.4″ | One of the wettest cities in the United States. |
NOAA NCEI 1991 to 2020 normals. The wettest entry here takes 14.2 times the rain of the driest, on an island you can drive across in an afternoon.
Hilo is one of the wettest cities in the United States. The Kohala coast, on the far side of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, is drier than most of Arizona. The mountains wring the trade winds out on the way over, and everything about where you sleep on this island follows from that.
This is also the answer to "is Hawaii rainy in March." Which side of which island you are on matters far more than which month you pick, and the gap in that table is bigger than the gap between any two months anywhere in the state.
Kona and the Kohala coast: where nearly everyone stays
The west side, dry and sunny, with the island's best beaches and essentially all of its resorts. Kailua-Kona town is the cheaper, busier end with condos, dive shops and a walkable seafront. The Kohala coast north of it is the expensive end: big resorts spaced along the lava with excellent beaches between them.
This is where the boat trips leave from, including the manta ray night snorkel, which is the activity most people book here and the one most worth checking the cancellation policy on.
The trade is that Volcanoes National Park is a two and a half hour drive each way, which makes for a very long day and a night drive home.
Compare Kona and Kohala resorts
Hilo: cheaper, greener, and closer to the park
Hilo is a working town rather than a resort strip, and it is dramatically cheaper. Rooms run a fraction of Kohala rates, the waterfalls are minutes away, and Volcanoes National Park is 45 minutes rather than two and a half hours.
It rains. Not "there might be a shower" but 120 inches a year, most often in the afternoon and overnight. Mornings are frequently clear, which is why the standard advice to do Hilo-side sightseeing early is worth following.
Nobody should spend a whole week here on a first trip. Two or three nights, as the second half of a split, is the shape that works.
Volcano Village: one night, for the right reason
A scattering of cabins and B&Bs in rainforest at about 4,000 feet, minutes from the park entrance. It is cold at night by Hawaii standards and takes 96 inches of rain a year.
The reason to stay is that an eruption glow, if there is one, is a night-time sight, and driving back to Kona afterward means arriving at 1am. One night here turns that into a walk to the car.
Whether there is currently anything glowing is on the live status page, which reads the USGS alert level fresh rather than quoting a number from whenever this was written.
Check current activity before you build a trip around it. Eruptions start and stop without notice, so the live USGS alert level is on its own page here, read fresh every time it loads.
Waimea: the middle option
Ranch country at 2,700 feet between the two coasts, cool in the evenings and with some of the best food on the island. Rainfall varies sharply across a few miles here, from about 23 inches on the dry side of town to 60 on the wet.
Useful if you want one base rather than two and are willing to accept 45 minutes to the Kohala beaches. Not a beach base in itself.
The split that actually works
Four or five nights on the Kona or Kohala side, then two or three in Hilo or Volcano. You see the park and the waterfalls without a four-hour day, and you never repeat the crossing.
If your airline allows it, fly into Kona and out of Hilo, or the reverse. Inter-island carriers and most mainland routes make this possible and it removes an entire drive from the trip.
The seven-day itinerary is built this way, and a car here is less negotiable than on any other island. Before committing to a single base, look at the measured drive times for this island: the longest leg here is over two and a half hours in each direction.
The short version
One base, first trip: Kailua-Kona.
Beaches and comfort: Kohala coast.
Budget matters: Hilo, and accept the rain.
Volcano at night: one night in Volcano Village.
Under five days: stay on the west side and accept that you will not see the park properly. It is better than spending the trip driving.
