Where to stay in Kona?
I got lucky in the Kona lottery last week, and need to decide where to stay. I've been to the Big Island a couple times. I'll be there with my wife, kids (ages 4 and 7) and my parents. My brother's family may come as well. I'd much prefer to make it a nice beach vacation for everyone and stay up at Hapuna/Mauna Kea or Waikoloa. I don't mind shuttling back and forth to Kona on Thursday to register, Friday to drop off my bike, and Saturday to race. Will my family be able to make it into town for the finish, or would the road closures be too much of a problem? My dad and brother would probably want to see the whole thing, including the swim, but I figure that the younger kids could catch me on the bike out on the Queen K a couple times near the hotel, then come into Kona for the finish. Is this a crazy plan? I know there are some places on Ali'i south of town that logistically are easier, but don't have the nice beach location that is important to everyone else.
Comments
Congratulations on the lottery spot! I was in the same place last year. I ended up staying at the Marriott in Waikoloa for a few days before the event, but moved into a condo in Kona on Wed and stayed there until we left the island.
Pre-race, the shuttling back in forth is doable, but I think race day may be a different story. The Queen K is pretty much closed to traffic during the bike course. There are detours, but in talking to locals, it sounded like the trip more than doubled in time.
Brad
If possible, I would stay close to the race for the night before and after, but otherwise get away from the craziness that is there. I stayed the week before and after at Volcano and just drove in for all the admin stuff and to see the town, but was happy to leave it behind. I felt staying relatively close to the race the night before was positive because it took away some of the stress for the morning and kept me away from family (just like to be in my own selfish world). Post-race was enjoyable because I did not want to stay seated in the same position for any length of time and because it was a positive vibe to be around triathletes after all the stress was gone.
After that I spent 3 weeks on the islands to actually enjoy the fact I was there and to relish days that didn't involve ANY formal training plan. I ran to enjoy running the trails of Hawai'i and I swam to enjoy the ocean and amazing views. I happily did not touch a bike until I got back to the mainland.
I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I did.
There is a ton going on in Kona the week before the race. If you want to see the parade, swim on the course, run on the course, go to the expos, see the pros talk, pre dace dinner, awards cermony, etc, then I suggest staying close to or in Kona. As you could be making many trips to and from Kona.
If you could care less about all of that and only want to do the race and enjoy hawaii, I would stay outside of Kona.
Keep in mind you will at a minimum you will need two make 3 trips to Kona (registration on Wed/Thur, bike check in on Fri, Race on Sat).
My family stayed just about 2 miles south of the pier in Kona at a condo. It was perfect for us as we could walk to the peir in under 30 minutes and easily get to anything we wanted at the race site during race week. However we were far enough away that when I wanted to get away from the craziness of the expo/etc we could. Plus that 5 miles of Ali'i south of the pier are on the run course so that makes is easy to spectate.
From that location they can watch the swim and catch you around mile 1 and 9 of the run without having to even leave the property. With about a 5 - 10 minute walk they can easily see you you doing the climb intown on the bike before heading to the queen Q. And of course they can walk to the finish and see you on Ali'i at night.
That is basically the same thing my family did last year and worked out very well as they could go to the pool and go inside to cool off, eat, and nap in between watching for me.
And, most important, you're right across the street from Lava Java.