When driving from Kailua-Kona, give yourself a whole day to travel to Volcanoes National Park, in order to do the place justice.  There are many roadside shops and stands along the way in some of the small communities of the south Kona Coast. I would suggest you save those for another day, and drive straight through to Kilauea Volcano.  This narrative assumes you will be traveling by car from the Kailua-Kona area south to Volcanoes National Park.

From the Kona area to Volcanoes National Park is 87 miles. The first 30 miles of road is a two lane highway winding it's way along the slopes of the Kona coast. This first section will take you most of an hour ( with no stops), traveling at only 30 mph to 50 mph. Take your time, since some of this road is quite hazardous, with sharp turns and hidden intersections.

Once we leave the South Kona area, and start heading east along the south coast of Hawaii toward Kilauea, the speed limit increases, and the road becomes mostly straight. Coffee and macademia nut plantations abound in this area, especially while we are still near the Kona area. Things start to thin out as we make time toward the volcanoes.

The lookout near Hawaiian Ranchos offers a spectacular view of the southwest coastline. If the wind is very strong, this is the part of the coast is where you will first encounter it. Last stop for gas is at Ocean View.

Once you pass South Point Road, the small town of Naalehu is next. Mark Twain stayed near here. He wrote about Hawaii as it existed over a hundred years ago in his excellent book "MARK TWAIN'S Letters from Hawaii" (edited by A. Grove Day, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 0-8248-0288-8). Available in paperback from most bookstores for about US$8.00. The book makes a good read, if you are interested in bits of history of Hawaii at the time when the islands were still called the Sandwich Islands. Mark Twain climbed all around Kilauea Volcano, and reputedly planted a Monkey Pod tree in Waiohinu (the town just before Naalehu), however the tree blew down in 1957.

When I traveled this road in January 2001, Honu'apo Bay & Pu'u o Ka'au were really taking a beating with the wind.  The surf was crashing hard against the rocks. There is a good view of the coastline from the highway lookout.

The Hawaii Belt Road (55 mph) will take you the last 20 miles to the entrance to Volcanoes National Park.

If you are driving from Hilo, allow an hour travel time to drive the 25 miles to Volcanoes National Park.  It is a good highway, but heavy traffic and/or road maintenane can make it slow going at times. Proceeding south on Highway 11 from Hilo, you will pass Hilo airport, the turnoff to Keaau (Highway 130) and Volcano Village before arriving at the main entrance to Volcanoes National Park.