Hotels

If you're interested in additional information on bed-and-breakfasts, contact the Hawaii Island B&B Association, P.O. Box 1890, Honokaa, HI 96727 (no phone; www.stayhawaii.com).

In the listings, all rooms come with a full private bathroom (with tub or shower) and free parking unless otherwise noted. Remember to add Hawaii's 11.42% in taxes to your final bill.

If you would like to go "on the road," contact Island RV and Safari Activities (tel. 800/406-4555 or 808/334-0464; www.islandrv.com). They offer weekly rentals of a 22-foot class-C motor home, which sleeps up to four, for $2,100. Included in the package are airport pickup, all linens, barbecue grill, all park registration fee permits, your last night in a hotel (Royal Kona Resort), and help with planning your itinerary and booking activities.

Quake Update -- Since the Oct 15, 2006 earthquake, most of the Big Island, and especially the Kona-Kohala coast (where the quake was centered), has been repaired and is back to normal. The main exception is the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, which had extensive damage and as we went to press was still renovating. The hotel and all its restaurants are closed, but the golf course is still open.

The Kona Coast

Inexpensive -- Interested in a B&B? Call Pu'ukala Lodge (tel. 808/325-1729; www.puukala-lodge.com), a five-room lodge (but only three rooms are rented at one time) on the slopes of Hualalai with sweeping views; rates start at $95, which includes full gourmet breakfast.

The Hamakua Coast

In addition to those listed below, another B&B in this area, in Ahualoa, a mountain community a short drive from Waipio, is Mountain Meadow Ranch Bed & Breakfast, 46-3895 Kapuna Rd., Honokaa, HI 96727 (tel. 808/775-9376; www.mountainmeadowranch.com), offering both a private cottage ($135 for four) and rooms in a house for $95 double.

Hilo

Just outside Hilo is a terrific B&B, Lihi Kai, 30 Kahoa St., Hilo, HI 96720 (tel. 808/935-7865), a beautifully designed house with mahogany floors, perched on the edge of a cliff with a wide-angle view of Hilo Bay; rooms start at $65 double (with a 3-night minimum; otherwise, it is $70 a night).

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

As a result of Hawaii Volcanoes being officially designated a National Park in 1916, a village has popped up at its front door. Volcano Village isn't so much a town as a wide spot in Old Volcano Road, with two general stores, a handful of restaurants, a post office, a coffee shop, a new firehouse, and a winery.

Except for Volcano House , which is within the national park, all of the accommodations in this section are in Volcano Village. It gets cool here at night -- Volcano Village is located at 3,700 feet -- so a fireplace might be an attractive amenity. It also rains a lot in Volcano -- 100 inches a year -- which makes everything grow Jack-and-the-Beanstalk style.

I recommend spending at least 3 days to really see and enjoy the park. The best way to do this is to rent a cottage or house, and the best rental agency is Hawaii Volcano Vacations (P.O. Box 913, Volcano, HI 96785; tel. 800/709-0907 or 808/967-7271; www.hawaiivolcanovacations.com). Manager Aurelia Gutierrez selects only the top cottages, cabins, and houses in Volcano and makes sure that they are perfect for you. Her reasonably priced units range from $99 to $200, and each one is outfitted with a full kitchen, plus an outdoor grill, cooler, flashlight, umbrella, and fresh flower arrangement for your arrival. Many of them are great options for families traveling with kids.

On the way to the park is Bed & Breakfast Mountain View (tel. 888/698-9896 or 808/968-6868; www.bbmtview.com), a 7,000-square-foot home overlooking a 10,000-square-foot fish pond with teahouse, spa, and patio; rooms start at $65. It's located on South Kulani Road, between mile markers 13 and 14 off Highway 11.

The Volcano Guest House (P.O. Box 6, Volcano HI 96785; tel. 808/967-7775; fax 808/985-7056; www.volcanoguesthouse.com) has four terrific units from a one-bedroom apartment for $85 to a stand-alone cottage for $105. (I recommend the cottage as an ideal place to stay with the kids: it's completely childproofed and stocked with toys -- even a basketball hoop.) The cottage has two twin beds and a queen in the upstairs bedroom, a sofa bed in the living room, a full kitchen, and a backyard forest trail that goes all the way through 2 miles of tropical rainforest to the Thurston Lava Tube in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The Log Cabin (tel. 808/262-7249; www.crubinstein.com/cabin.html) is a century-old ohia log cabin for the young at heart, for just $125 double, $150 for four, and $175 for six. And the Volcano Teapot Cottage (P.O. Box 511, Volcano, HI 96785; tel. 808/967-7112; www.volcanoteapot.com) is a quaint 1914 two-bedroom cottage, decorated with one-of-a-kind antiques, complete with hot tub spa in the forest out back, and renting for $195 double.