Hawaii advice

BruceyboyNotts

Hi all,

I am going to Hawaii in May of next year, specifically Maui. Whilst there I think it would be a shame not to try and get out on the bike and see some of the local scenery.

So...... does anyone have any experience of hiring bikes over there or could possibly recommned some good routes? Any advice or links would be really appreciated.

cheers, Andy

tatanab

Not Maui, I've only ridden on Big Island and I took my own bike.

A quick search shows http://www.westmauicycles.com/Maui-bicy ... -shop.html which looks optomistic.

BruceyboyNotts

I forgot to say, I am also going to Big Island for 4 days as well. Any recommendations for there?

thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

tatanab

Kona (Kailua-Kona) is the big town. Bike rental http://konabikerentals.com/

North from Kona towards Hilo takes you over the Iron Man Triathlon course. There is a stretch which goes over old lava flows and is just miles of open road, no shelter, and heat haze. There are also some pretty good golden sand beaches along here. Inland a bit from here ,Waimea to Hawi is a road at a couple of thousand feet which gives excellent views over ranch land. Way south, Punaluu, there are black sand beaches. A ride around Volcanoes National Park is good and exposes you to odours that occupants of air conditioned cars will not get. North East coast there is Waipio Valley and Bay which is the picture postcard tropical inlet.

Kona is not bad at all, but the rest of Big Island is nice being pretty quiet not getting anything like the tourist masses on Oahu. If you take a hire car you will find that many of the interior roads, pretty rough, are forbidden under the terms of your rental. Too many people trying to drive up Mauna Loa I guess. If you want to go up there you can take an excursion van from Hilo, or perhaps Kona. Hilo airport also does flights over the volcano.