Tried to search in the forum to see if there was a topic like this. But didn’t have much luck.
So I’m going to Kona in October , was supposed to go with my boyfriend. But he’s not in the picture anymore
My sister has 3 little kids , so she can’t afford to come
Ex and I did book a condo on Ali drive , it’s about 3km from the race village.
I just bought my flight tickets a few days ago , and flying from England with American via LAX.
I’ve done a few races in America , as a solo person , Texas twice and Chattanooga once. But all 3 times I stayed really close to the race village , so was able to walk everywhere. And took an Uber to airport and back.
We looked up the hotels with my ex , but they were crazy expensive. So decided to pick a condo a bit further out. So can save money on food as well and cook our own meals etc.
But now I’m going alone , how manageable is this ? Specially on race morning ? Can we like pre pay for parking on race day ? So I won’t have to walk home afterwards?
I’m trying my best not to worry about this , specially that this is probably once in the life time thing.
Anyone ever went to Kona alone ?
I was planning to hire a car , so can do a bit of sightseeing before and post race.
I will do some more planning and looking into thinks in the coming months. I just wanted to connect with others who done Kona alone.
I´d say MANY people goes solo to Kona, especially now that prices are so steep.
On race morning, parking is not a BIG problem (as I recall). We stayed in Captain Cook bay and loved it, being downtown was a bit stressfull in the race week, so nice to be able to get away from that. Rent a car for Mauna Kea, Hawi and a couple of other sights, but 2-3 days max I´d say. Cars are expensive also. There really isnt that much to see. The east coast is dull and not too nice.
You can probably catch/hitch a ride to the pier on race morning, no problem.
Hey - kudos for your KQ. You have a HECK of experience in front of you.
And sending good energy to mend and heal over the break-up
If you’re staying on Ali Drive roughly 3km from the pier (Kona Isle / Kona Shores etc.), you don’t need a car to / from race. Just walk, everyone does, it’s a straight road. Last hundreds of meters around pier would anyway be blocked for traffic, no point in stressing out.
If I was alone there, I’d rent a car anyway. This would cover airport transfer, grocery shopping (for you either in Kailua-Kona or Keauhou Shopping Center) and trips, if you’re staying long enough. Unlike Mulen, I think there’s plenty to see on the island.
I stayed 10km down ali drive no point to think about driving on race day its mostly clogged or shut. Car makes heading out to energy lab up to nearer to hawi and visiting stuff easier, highly recommen swim with the mantas, go to some beaches, visit some good restaruants.
Cheap smaller car enough, a lot of chances to befriend others and share cost. Save the money by eating at home mostly and avoiding uber etc.
Also if like me u have a bike crisis the car makes life a lot lower risk.
I have done Kona solo a number of times and stayed on Alii drive in the 2-3km range. After the race, I put all my stuff in my backpack and rode my bike back to condo as the road is closed for runners till midnight anyway and super safe. Race morning walk to race start. That’s the easiest logistics. I have also not used a rental car on race week and just rode my bike to groceries and social stuff (carried a cable lock) but once I rented a car and that was nice to have. Best of luck
They all stayed close, within 2-4km from race site. There were plenty of triathletes staying in the area that they were in that were helpful with the occasional offer for them to tag along to the grocery store or pool.
One brought a backpack & lock then rode their bike to the store as well.
If you’re use to doing any solo travel you’re going to be fine.
Congrats and bummer at the same time on the breakup.
No matter what @pk says, and he’s a very wise dude, avoid t3!
I went solo pretty much every year every year from 1999 to 2011. Female too. You’ll be fine solo. There are so many things to do during the week that you’ll make friends and have a great time.
Like mentioned, you won’t need a car on race day. It’s nice to have pre-race to get out of KK town and see the sites.
Ohh wow so many answers. Thank you very much.
As I said I’ve done a few races alone and also I had a few when I had friends and family.
But this is Kona , and would have been better not going alone. I think.
I only was thinking about the car hire , because I’d have to hire an uber XL from and then to the airport. Not too sure how much is that going to be.
I know it’s never cheap.
Then if I’d do a few more trips here and there , then the car would be worth it. Did see there’s a Costco on the island , doesn’t look to be really far. And love Costco in England. So would be good to stock up for food for the duration of my stay.
Just double checked the condo is 2.74km (1.7miles) from the pier, and google recommends it takes around 35mins to walk.
Thanks for the supporting comments everyone , it’s good to know I won’t be totally alone
I know loads of things can change till October , new boyfriend maybe , but cant expect him to drop this much money for a trip.
So I’m pretty sure I’ll be going alone.
You should make the new boyfriend come and put him thru the misery of being support crew all week. If he lasts, then you’re set. My wife met me while I was in my final 4 week build for my first IM, she came to my second…then she came to way too many. Now its 31 IM’s and 31 years later and it worked out. If someone can withstand the misery of a Kona build and a trip, then you’re likely set. Having said that, she almost NEVER comes to races (of any length) anymore…been there, done that and me wanting to go back to the same stupid places to do the same stupid distances, talking splits and gear and workouts with roughly the same people (I won’t call them stupid, they just do this stupid sport too)…she’s way out of the race scene!!!
But hey, either they support all this or they don’t and you get to find out pretty soon during IM race week which by any measure is all about a bunch of self centered hobbyists taking sport way too seriously given that other than 10-20 people in Kona, almost everyone needs other sources of income other than sport so this is basically a hobby!!!
I’ve done it solo 4 times and stayed various distances along Ali drive maybe close to 3km and walked race day every time. Someone may correct me but I thought there was a bus that did pickups race morning?
I’ve done it without a car twice, 2013 and 2023, staying both times on Ali’i Drive at Kona Shores and another place near there. Both times, I had at least one roommate, though. There is a free shuttle, but you can’t really count on it being on the times listed in its schedule. It’s nice if you can get it. In 2013, before the roommate showed up, I fetched groceries using a stroller I bought at the local WalMart, and then left it at the end of the visit. Easier than risking a back injury carrying a heavy backpack. Of course, the food is so expensive you really can’t afford to go crazy on groceries.
In 2023, unlike ten years before, there are rideshare bikes posted along Ali’i Drive and in the village, and there were usually some in each place, so that would be an alternative to the walk into town, although I didn’t end up using them.
You can also get an Uber for getting groceries and such. On race day, we walked to the race and walked home. Thankfully a friend staying with our group managed the bike checkout, so it was really just walking with a backpack of race gear.
I can weigh in on this as an also recently-single triathlete planning to go to a Worlds race this year.
The primary discomfort for me, and possibly for you too, is that this trip was originally planned with someone else and now it’s a solo trip. That mismatch between the original expectations and reality feels weird, like “I was supposed to be sharing this experience”. But the fact is that it’s your experience and your trip, so don’t feel like it’s going to be somehow less because of that. It was always your trip.
I haven’t been to Kona (yet!) but I hope that helps somehow. For race logistics, I’ve done many races by myself and it’s a bit more difficult but it can be done. Plan out your logistics. Put AirTags in your gear bag and special needs bag, and your bike also.
Everything on the island is very expensive from what I’ve heard, so riding your bike everywhere like one poster suggested might not be a bad idea. Just think of it as heat acclimation.
Race morning will probably be a cluster once you get close to the venue, so being on foot is an advantage at that point.
