Greetings from the BI

[geist1223]

We arrived yesterday. Our flight arrived about 2 hours late. Because of the strong Head Winds we could not fly directly from Portland to Kona but flew down to San Jose, CA, topped off the Fuel Tanks, and then flew to Kona. This is the 2nd time this has happened to us in 10 years. They tried to lighten the Plane. They offered immediate rebooking from PDX to LAX to Kona. They only offered $1,500 in Travel Credits and you would not arrive until after 5pm. I said make it $1,500 in Cash and bump up to 1st Class. They said no. I guess few to no one took them up on their offer so the detour to San Jose.

We went to Safeway before going to the Resort. I was surprised by the cost of groceries. I know things cost more in Hawaii but it was worse than expected. Five Dozen Eggs that would cost $12 to $13 in Oregon were $32. A year ago in Oregon these cost only $9 to $10.

We are at the Bay Club for 3 weeks in a 2 Bedroom Unit. When I called last week we were in a different Unit each week. I asked if they could just leave us in the same Unit. They told me no but Staff would do the move. Yesterday when we checked in the Young Lady at the Front Desk was able to get us the same Unit for the 3 Weeks. So no moving.

I made these Reservations over a year ago with my Worldmark Timeshare through RCI. We are also DRI. I can pay a lot of RCI fees for what they want to join MAX. Also through MAX we would be restricted to Booking only 6 months in advance.

We really like the Unit. It is very spacious. At Checkin there was no mention of attending a Sales Pitch. It is mentioned in the Paperwork they gave us at Checkin but so far no pressure.

We have already signed up for our Night Time Manta Ray Snorkel. It is Wednesday Evening. We did this about 8 years ago. We will do this a 2nd time during our last week. Friends from Salem Oregon are joining us that week and they want to do it.

 

[HedonisticEpicurean]

The winds have been strong the past few weeks. When we flew over to Kona more than a week ago our flight was almost 45 minutes late even with a timely takeoff. We will be back in Waikoloa in about two weeks. We always enjoy the area. I hope you enjoy your time on the BI.

While we usually only buy basic items in the grocery store and eat out one or two meals daily, we have found the grocery prices to have gone up significantly here in Hawaii. I have to laugh because my wife can be so frugal. This trip she brought basic items like cereal, pretzels, English muffins, and even coffee. All you Kona and Ka'u coffee lovers will shutter at importing coffee - totally agree - but that is my wife. I thought it a lot of work to save a couple hundred dollars (her calculation). We usually only bring carry-ons so checking two boxes seemed like more work than necessary. But her parsimonious self was happy.

Speaking of sales pitches, I think I was able to get on the "do not call or attempt to pitch me" list. A simple email to corporate seems to have done the trick. It is so much nicer checking in when you aren't approached or called. Checking in here on Oahu the ts marketing woman who annoyingly accosts people in line while checking in was totally confused that our name didn't show up on her list. She was frustrated to say the least. I just smiled. The disingenuous cover of providing resort information to only get you to a sales pitch is the most annoying part about staying at a ts. Funny, the woman didn't care to share resort information when we didn't show up on her list. Loved it.

Hope the weather is good for your stay! We may pass you guys on our daily walks.

 

[Sandy VDH]

Are all the renovations at Bay Club completed, or are they still working on some of the buildings?

They did a new refurbishment, appliance and furniture replacement, but I don't recall if they are finished or not.

What room type do you have A (facing golf course) or B (facing other bulding)?

 

[DeniseM]

I just want to say, thank you for not calling Hawaii Island "Kona," as if the Big Island is named "Kona."

 

[geist1223]

I normally call it the Big Island. Some folks get confused when I say we are going to Hawaii. They respond by asking: "But which Island?"

Our very large 2nd Floor Lanai faces golf course. It has a Queen Bed in the 2nd Bedroom. We are all the way down in Bldg 1.

 

[geist1223]

Today we visited the Kona Coffee Living History Farm and Greenwell Farms (coffee). Learned an interesting fact. Medium Roast Coffee has more Caffeine than Dark Roast. Apparently while the Dark Roast will have a stronger taste the extra roasting removes some of the Caffeine.

Update on shopping. On the way back to the Bay Club we stopped at Walmart and Costco. Many Walmart prices on groceries were substantially cheaper than Safeway. Costco 5 Dozen Eggs were the same $13 I would pay in Salem Oregon vice the $32 at Safeway.

 

[slip]

Today we visited the Kona Coffee Living History Farm and Greenwell Farms (coffee). Learned an interesting fact. Medium Roast Coffee has more Caffeine than Dark Roast. Apparently while the Dark Roast will have a stronger taste the extra roasting removes some of the Caffeine.

Update on shopping. On the way back to the Bay Club we stopped at Walmart and Costco. Many Walmart prices on groceries were substantially cheaper than Safeway. Costco 5 Dozen Eggs were the same $13 I would pay in Salem Oregon vice the $32 at Safeway.

We found Safeway more expensive on Oahu also but there was one in a great location for us and if we shopped the sales we did fine. We didn't have a lot of room in our small apartment for bulk shopping either.

We went to Costco a few times but it was always a mad house and with no room to store bulk items, we never went back. We don't go through enough eggs to be able to buy 5 dozen at a time either.

Hope the weather has been good. We got rained on for most of our round of golf today but we still had fun.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I normally call it the Big Island. Some folks get confused when I say we are going to Hawaii. They respond by asking: "But which Island?"

Our very large 2nd Floor Lanai faces golf course. It has a Queen Bed in the 2nd Bedroom. We are all the way down in Bldg 1.

I also usually call it the Big Island to avoid confusion... But I had quite a few people then assume big island refers to the one with the big city... Actually had at least two people tell me they were stationed on "the big island" while in the Navy... of course then they start describing Pearl Harbor...

 

[geist1223]

Today was a day of rest. Yesterday we drove North. We visited Lapakahi State Historical Park the site of an ancient Hawaiian coastal village. In addition to the Village we watched Whales. Then to Hawi for lunch. We came back on Hwy 250 to Hwy 19. The Winds were really strong as we drove over the Mountain. But the views were stunning.

Tomorrow we travel to Hilo and then a 3 night stay at KMC in the center of Volcano Narional Park. We are taking Hwy 19. Also known as the Hawai'i Belt Road. The long, slow, scenic route. We will probably come back the Southern Route.

 

[breadcrumbslife]

I hope you have a great time there!

 

[geist1223]

Today we return to Salem Oregon after a 3 week stay at the Bay Club. Had a great time, which included a 3 day stay at KMC. The only down note was too many days of high wind. There were many days they shut down the Beaches. But we did do 2 Night Time Manta Ray Snorkel Trips. We did get a day at Hapuna Beach with snorkeling. We also ziplined at Kohala Zip in Hawi. Next year at this time we hope to be in Tasmania.

 

[Yzfguy06]

Today we return to Salem Oregon after a 3 week stay at the Bay Club. Had a great time, which included a 3 day stay at KMC. The only down note was too many days of high wind. There were many days they shut down the Beaches. But we did do 2 Night Time Manta Ray Snorkel Trips. We did get a day at Hapuna Beach with snorkeling. We also ziplined at Kohala Zip in Hawi. Next year at this time we hope to be in Tasmania.

I was there in August and recall the winds being medium to high almost everyday. That was my first time on BI. We watched lots of sand and boogie boards get blown into the ocean. I was told by a few people the winds in that area always seem to be high because of the way the mountains sit. It acts like a tunnel and blasts the Waikoloa area regularly.

 

[Sandy VDH]

We joking call the place WINDkoloa, instead of Waikoloa.

 

[SmithOp]

WaikaBlowa.

 

[b2bailey]

The winds have been strong the past few weeks. When we flew over to Kona more than a week ago our flight was almost 45 minutes late even with a timely takeoff. We will be back in Waikoloa in about two weeks. We always enjoy the area. I hope you enjoy your time on the BI.

While we usually only buy basic items in the grocery store and eat out one or two meals daily, we have found the grocery prices to have gone up significantly here in Hawaii. I have to laugh because my wife can be so frugal. This trip she brought basic items like cereal, pretzels, English muffins, and even coffee. All you Kona and Ka'u coffee lovers will shutter at importing coffee - totally agree - but that is my wife. I thought it a lot of work to save a couple hundred dollars (her calculation). We usually only bring carry-ons so checking two boxes seemed like more work than necessary. But her parsimonious self was happy.

Speaking of sales pitches, I think I was able to get on the "do not call or attempt to pitch me" list. A simple email to corporate seems to have done the trick. It is so much nicer checking in when you aren't approached or called. Checking in here on Oahu the ts marketing woman who annoyingly accosts people in line while checking in was totally confused that our name didn't show up on her list. She was frustrated to say the least. I just smiled. The disingenuous cover of providing resort information to only get you to a sales pitch is the most annoying part about staying at a ts. Funny, the woman didn't care to share resort information when we didn't show up on her list. Loved it.

Hope the weather is good for your stay! We may pass you guys on our daily walks.

Thank you for introducing me to a new word I can use in the future to describe myself -- parsimonious.

 

[djaneczko]

We arrived yesterday. Our flight arrived about 2 hours late. Because of the strong Head Winds we could not fly directly from Portland to Kona but flew down to San Jose, CA, topped off the Fuel Tanks, and then flew to Kona. This is the 2nd time this has happened to us in 10 years. They tried to lighten the Plane. They offered immediate rebooking from PDX to LAX to Kona. They only offered $1,500 in Travel Credits and you would not arrive until after 5pm. I said make it $1,500 in Cash and bump up to 1st Class. They said no. I guess few to no one took them up on their offer so the detour to San Jose.

We went to Safeway before going to the Resort. I was surprised by the cost of groceries. I know things cost more in Hawaii but it was worse than expected. Five Dozen Eggs that would cost $12 to $13 in Oregon were $32. A year ago in Oregon these cost only $9 to $10.

We are at the Bay Club for 3 weeks in a 2 Bedroom Unit. When I called last week we were in a different Unit each week. I asked if they could just leave us in the same Unit. They told me no but Staff would do the move. Yesterday when we checked in the Young Lady at the Front Desk was able to get us the same Unit for the 3 Weeks. So no moving.

I made these Reservations over a year ago with my Worldmark Timeshare through RCI. We are also DRI. I can pay a lot of RCI fees for what they want to join MAX. Also through MAX we would be restricted to Booking only 6 months in advance.

We really like the Unit. It is very spacious. At Checkin there was no mention of attending a Sales Pitch. It is mentioned in the Paperwork they gave us at Checkin but so far no pressure.

We have already signed up for our Night Time Manta Ray Snorkel. It is Wednesday Evening. We did this about 8 years ago. We will do this a 2nd time during our last week. Friends from Salem Oregon are joining us that week and they want to do it.

I know this is old, but still trying to educate myself. How difficult and how many points to trade WM into Hawaii? Studio or 1bedroom..BI or Poipu…thinking of travel in late January-March. Not this coming year, but in general.
Geist mentions RCI…is II an option as well?

 

[geist1223]

It was 10K Credits for each week in a 2 Bedeoom at the Bay Club. A 1 bedroom or studio would be less. Yes II is an option.

 

[mentalbreak]

Thank you for resurrecting and responding to this thread.
@geist1223 do you recall the manta ray vendor(s) you used and would you recommend them?
How about the zip line experience?

 

[geist1223]

The Manta Snorkel Trip was Fairwinds and we do highly recommend them. As for Zipline in was Kohala in Hawi and we do highly recommend them.