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The Western side of the island isn't quite as hospitable, but it is by no means a bad place to hitch. Wait times here will be longer--it is not uncommon to sit on the side of a busy highway for at least an hour waiting for a ride--but it isn't unbearable and you will definitely get picked up even if it takes slightly longer. You won't always be waiting forever, though. There were times where I stuck my thumb out and had people pull over thirty seconds later. The Western side is just a bit more unpredictable, I suppose. This is definitely due to the fact that the Western side is where all the resorts are located and where all the tourists tend to stay. You will most likely get confused/dirty looks from tourists driving by, but these can be quite amusing and these looks provide entertainment for a lot of the hitchhikers in the area. Just ignore them and wait a little bit and someone will stop for you eventually. On this side of the island truck bed rides are more common, but you can still find people who will pick you up in the cabin of their cars as long as you don't look like a creep. Just smile and wave and be friendly and you will be fine.

It is possible to hitch the rest of the island with relative ease, but some areas of the island don't get much traffic and it can be difficult to get rides in these areas. The Southern portion of the island can be kind of tricky. I had no problem getting to Volcano National Park from Pahoa, but once there I had an '''EXTREMELY''' hard time getting out. I was trying to head west to get to the southern most tip of the island to visit Green Sands (one of only two green sands beaches on the planet), but no one was stopping to pick me up. I would say 95% of the traffic in this area was tourists heading back from visiting the Volcano and none of them had any interest in picking up a hitchhiker. I thumbed for '''FIVE HOURS''' with absolutely no luck, and eventually had to set up camp in a National Park Campsite for the night. You had to pay to camp there, but since I had no money I could not pay the fee, so I simply set up camp and fell asleep and was woken at around 6 am by a little Hawaiian man asking if I had paid. I said I had no money and explained I had gotten stuck there and he seemed confused but he left me alone after that. I then had to wait for two or three more hours before FINALLY getting a ride out of Volcano from some locals. The locals in the Southern areas of the island were EXTREMELY friendly and hospitable to me and showed me nothing but kindness and aloha. Once you get past Volcano and into the smaller southern towns (Naalehu, for example) you should have no problem getting rides. South Point road is easy to get to but, since it is a ten mile road that leads to nowhere and is mostly frequented by tourists, you will have to wait a long while to find someone to take you down it.

The Northern area of the island can be hitched, but it is so remote that you may not want to attempt it. The bus service is by far the best way to travel through the northern areas of the island. The bus is a $1 and runs a few times a day and goes all around the island.I had success in hitching from Kona to Hawii, the northern most point on the island. Traffic here can be scare, but it isn't too bad. Again, don't look like a creep and you will be fine. For all other areas in the Northern part of the island I would, again, recommend the bus. The bus stops at every little town in the north on the Hilo-Kona route and the ride is absolutely beautiful.

"I backpacked the Big Island for four months. For two months I hitched in small amounts just to get to places I wanted to see, but for my final month I hitched pretty much all day every day and camped out on beaches (or stayed in communes) every night. Very easy to find rides on the Big Island. Lots of hippies and Rainbows around and many great times to be had. The people on this island are so incredibly kind. While hitching through I had people let me stay at their homes for a few days, I had people buy me food and groceries even though I told them I had the means to pay for them myself. So much aloha here. Note: as mentioned above, be careful of native locals, especially on the Eastern side of the island. All the locals I met in the west and in the south were nothing but kind to me, but the locals in the east can be very sketchy and could definitely resort to violence. It is very easy to tell who doesn't have good intentions, though, so as long as you stay aware and are careful then you will be fine. There were times where I stuck my thumb out and had people pull over thirty seconds later. The Western side is just a bit more unpredictable, I suppose. This is definitely due to the fact that the Western side is where all the resorts are located and where all the tourists tend to stay. Locals on this side of the island were, in my experience, much more friendly than the locals on the Eastern side and were very very kind to me. Again, vibe out the situation and don't be afraid to refuse rides, but on this side of the island you shouldn't have problems with the locals. The Southern portion of the island can be kind of tricky. I had no problem getting to Volcano National Park from Pahoa, but once there I had an '''EXTREMELY''' hard time getting out. I was trying to head west to get to the southern most tip of the island to visit Green Sands (one of only two green sands beaches on the planet), but no one was stopping to pick me up. I would say 95% of the traffic in this area was tourists heading back from visiting the Volcano and none of them had any interest in picking up a hitchhiker. I thumbed for '''FIVE HOURS''' with absolutely no luck, and eventually had to set up camp in a National Park Campsite for the night. You had to pay to camp there, but since I had no money I could not pay the fee, so I simply set up camp and fell asleep and was woken at around 6 am by a little Hawaiian man asking if I had paid. I said I had no money and explained I had gotten stuck there and he seemed confused but he left me alone after that. I then had to wait for two or three more hours before FINALLY getting a ride out of Volcano from some locals. The locals in the Southern areas of the island were EXTREMELY friendly and hospitable to me and showed me nothing but kindness and aloha. I had success in hitching from Kona to Hawii, the northern most point on the island. Traffic here can be scare, but it isn't too bad. Again, don't look like a creep and you will be fine. For all other areas in the Northern part of the island I would, again, recommend the bus." --[[User:DfizzleShizzle|DfizzleShizzle]] ([[User talk:DfizzleShizzle|talk]]) 21:52, 25 September 2013 (CEST)