14 days in Hawai'i ($2000)

Accommodation: $0

We had a studio apartment located just outside of Hilo for the two weeks which really allowed us to dive right into the heart and culture of Hawaii. The only drawback is that it rains ALOT on this side of the island, basically atleast once a day. If you are on the Kona side (ie: the sunny side) it basically never rains.

Transportation: $629

Our two week car rental was super expensive, but thankfully being back in the states meant that our gas price came down; so that was a relief. As always, we booked the cheapest thing we could get, but if you have a little bit of money in the bank, I would highly remcomed spending the extra dough to get a 4x4. So much of the island is only accessible via an all wheel car, so I kind of regretted not splurging for that. We had to do a lot of extra walking so that we could still get to the places we wanted to get to.

Flights: $1324

I probably never would have come to Hawaii if it wasn';t an easy transition from New Zealand back home. We picked up a one way flight to Kona through Honolulu with Hawaiian Airlines which was a smooth ride.

Groceries: $438 (not included in budget) I felt that the groceries on the island were a bit expensive. We definitely could have used the local farmers markets more to keep the costs down, but we really didnt have much time. We were constanty on the move.

Dining Out: $56

The one and only time we ate out was at the local night market at Uncle Roberts Market. Every wednesday all the locals come out to eat and buy local handmade treasures. It was amazing and a must visit if you are in the area.

Hilton: $275

On our last night we grabbed a night at the Hilton on points. We wanted to have an easy kid friendly day at the waterslide, but also to grab dinner at Rays on the Bays. Everynight they shine a bright light into the water so that you can watch the Manta Rays feed. Big Island is one of the best places on earth to see Mantas, and since our kids are just a tiny bit too small to go snorkelling with them, we chose this instead.

Total: $2,284

(yikes! we went over budget on this one)

Have you been to Big Island? What did you get up to?