1

It's a reasonable itinerary.

You will have to decide if you are staying in the Kona-Kailua area or in the south Kohala resort areas. Kona, as a town, is a tourist dump with low-end condos and lots of t-shirt shops. Few sandy beaches for swimming or snorkeling.

South Kohala has the big resorts but also the best big sandy beaches. Personally, I want to be in a hotel on a beach so I can walk along the beach and get in the water any time I want. I love Hapuna Beach and the Hapunaq Beach Prince Hotel for that purpose. You can easily look to see how hotels are situated and what beach they do or don't have on:

http://www.hawaiigaga.com/big-island-beaches.aspx

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2

Devote a full day to Volcanoes National Park. Depending on where you are starting from, get up early and do some hiking in the area. Bring lots and lots of water if you want to walk up near the lava flow.

If you are a golfer, make sure you play a round of golf. There are incredible courses, and I am still kicking myself that I didn't play while I was there.

3

Posts 1-3 are all good. the north point, hapuna, magic sands, 2 steps, place of refuge, south point, volcano nat park are all must sees.

If you are a diver or snorkeler you must do a night dive with the manta rays. We did the night dive last month and it was absolutely spectacular.

The Kona Brew Co has some amazing pizza and beer. A must visit.

We like to stay at the southern end of Alii Dr.

Buy the book "The Big Island Revealed" at wizardpub.com. Best guide book ever.

4

No one can predict what the Kilauea volcano will be doing next year. You need to monitor the NPS website to see what activity is going on and how best to view it.

http://www.nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/lava2.htm

No guarantees there will be anything viewable so you should be flexible. When there is a flareup in the last several years, sulfuric steam and smoke have limited access to the park and vog (volcanic fog) can be fairly extensive. You can generally count on the lower elevation parts of the park as being very very hot and dry because of solar radiation from the old black lava, and high elevation parts of the park as being very windy and cold. Be prepared.

5

In Hilo, I highly recommend the Dolphin Bay Hotel on the north side of town, away from the airport.
Also, try to make it up to Hawi at the north end of the island. There are a couple of good restaurants there.
Enjoy!