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Hilo Tour Choice


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I’m trying to decide between two small group tours out of Hilo. One is a little bit more expensive, but is slightly longer and includes lunch, so the cost is probably pretty even overall. Both companies have great reviews on TripAdvisor.

I thought I’d ask here to see if anyone has any personal experience that might help me make a decision.

 

Option 1: Mauka Makai Adventure

Explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park including a visit to the steam vents, viewing of the active Halema'uma'u crater where lava is brewing just under the crater floor, walk along the crater rim and through the rainforest to Thurston Lava Tube, and viewing of other volcanic formations. Highlights of Hilo including Big Island Candies for chocolate and coffee sampling, views of Hilo Bay from Liliuokalani Gardens, a drive through downtown Hilo to Rainbow Falls, and visit a beautiful black sand beach home to Hawaiian green sea turtles.

 

Option 2: Big Island Aina Tours

Tour stops include Volcano National Park - Thurston Lava Tube, Jagger Museum, Halemau'mau Crater and Kilauea Caldera, Steam Vents, Kilauea Iki Crater, 1974 lava flow

Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory

Liliuokalani Garden

Banyan Drive

Richardson Black Sand Beach

Rainbow Falls

Orchid Farm on request.

 

We are most interested in lava/volcano focus and and prefer active tours with walking more than driving around.

Any insight?

 

 

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All of these things can easily be visited by renting a car...have you considered that option?

 

It’s been my experience that touring by car from Hilo has been the easiest of the islands to do. We’ve never paid more than $40 to rent a car including as recently as in January 2017.

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We used Marylou’s Big Island Tours in March 2018. Same stops as Aina Tours...only 4-6 people. One of the very best tours and not expensive! We also used for Kona because we were so impressed.

 

 

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We used Marylou’s Big Island Tours in March 2018. Same stops as Aina Tours...only 4-6 people. One of the very best tours and not expensive! We also used for Kona because we were so impressed.

 

 

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Marylou’s is not available for our date. (At lest last I checked.)

Thanks though!

 

 

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All of these things can easily be visited by renting a car...have you considered that option?

 

 

 

It’s been my experience that touring by car from Hilo has been the easiest of the islands to do. We’ve never paid more than $40 to rent a car including as recently as in January 2017.

 

 

 

We have considered it, but really prefer the local knowledge and context provided b6 a tour guide.

 

 

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We are most interested in lava/volcano focus and and prefer active tours with walking more than driving around.

Any insight?

It sounds like you'd want to hike the Kilauea Iki trail (and I'm not sure that either of those tours does it). It's about a 4.5 mile hike (plus an extra 1/2 mile if you add in the Thurston lava tube). The trail takes you along the crater rim, then across the crater floor.

 

The best spot to view the Halemau'mau Caldera and Kilauea Caldera is from the Jagger Museum. (The former caldera nests inside the latter caldera.)

 

If you've been to either Yellowstone or Iceland, then the steam vents will be completely underwhelming.

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We have considered it, but really prefer the local knowledge and context provided b6 a tour guide.

 

 

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We're renting a car and using the Shaka guide app for VNP. Seems like the best of both worlds -- virtual tour guide with commentary and we get to be as active as we want.

Edited by TickledBlue
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Ricky's Tours is who we are using for our trip. Very reasonable and has great reviews!

 

Yes, Ricky’s tour was very nice. Except for the optional 1/2 mile “hike” in the Lava tube, there is not a lot of walking around.

 

OP, I have not been on either of the tours that you mentioned. If you are really interested in walking or hiking, I suggest you look into more hiking type tours. Or at least for part of the tour. There is a significant amount of driving and viewing on most tours.

 

I suggest even if you cannot find something with a lot of walking around that you still do it. There is a garden and waterfall (not rainbow falls) that involve some like hiking. (Walking). If you are interested I can look up the names.

Overall, it is a great cruise stop.

As mentioned it is very easy to rent a car, but I appreciate wanted an escorted tour for your first visit.

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I'm not a fan of tours that include shopping stops like the macadamia nut farm. Have you contacted C Big Island Tours? I understand your not wanting to drive but arranging a private tour to do what you want would be nice. Possibly on your roll call you could find others who want to join you. toursbylocals.com/hilo is a good place to start. I would go insane with the stops that your other two tours are doing but that is just me. Let us know if you need more help. You might also try Marshall's Taxi, 808-936-2654. I have used him for transportation but he also offers tours. I hope you are able to plan a fun day in Hilo, Cherie

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We just used Lavaland because I was looking for a more active tour and less stops at shops. We felt it was totally worth the cost. We walked to a very remote area of the crater and learned so much.

 

 

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Thanks! Lavaland is one that I haven't checked into yet. Glad you had a good experience. Looks like it might be just the right thing for us.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We did a private tour with Marylou's Tours. Ken was our guide and he took three old ladies everywhere we wanted to go. With a private tour, we were able to avoid nuts, coffee and orchids. We also avoided the parking problems you might encounter if you rented a car. I'm sure Ken would have been delighted if we had wanted to hike somewhere. He was a great guide and kept us touring for almost eight hours. But volcano activity might be a problem. I understand the area we went to to see lava splashing in a crater is now closed. Nothing you can do about that.

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All of these things can easily be visited by renting a car...have you considered that option?

 

It’s been my experience that touring by car from Hilo has been the easiest of the islands to do. We’ve never paid more than $40 to rent a car including as recently as in January 2017.

 

I have lived on the Big Island for over 40 years and it is really easy to drive. So much cheaper to rent a car and use a GPS. But if you like being with a lot of other people and have a scheduled route a tour may be better for you but much more costly.

Farmers Market in Hilo is a must see on Wed. and Sat.

If you go up to Volcano Natl Park at night you don't have to pay the entrance fee and can see the lava in Kilauea Crater.

A friend who was visiting did the boat tour of the lava flowing into the sea but was not happy because the water was so rough he could not get a picture.

Weather matters here. Layer up and have a hat or umbrella and sun screen even on an overcast day when the UV rays are magnified. If you have anymore questions ask.

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Another vote for Island Wide Family Tours! We just returned from the POA and we used them for both Hilo and Kona and they were awesome. They will do what you want to do and all their tours are private. Kyle is Mary Lou's son and he and his wife used to do the overflow for Mary Lou until they started their own awhile ago. They have a great love and knowledge of their island and will be happy to share. Highly recommend!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I too would like to recommend Island Wide Family Tours. We used them for our recent Solstice cruise for both Kona and Hilo. We actually had two groups, one went with Kyle and we went with Kea. They were terrific Tours. We changed some things on our Kona tour, skipped the bees and went to a brewery[emoji6]. Our Hilo tour became the most memorable since we were at Volcano National Park when the crater lake erupted and we had several earthquakes the largest being 6.9. Kyle and Kea kept in constant contact to keep us safe but to give us the best day we could have imagined. I would definitely choose Island on any future trips.

 

 

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Thanks, everyone! Good insights.

 

 

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Another vote for Island Wide Family Tours, Kea was a great guide, we were there about 10 days before the volcano really came alive! It was such a wonderful day, one of the highlights on our entire Hawaii cruise! I’ve been thinking of Kea and her husband during these days, hoping her business is not struggling too much as we had such fun on our day with her! Good luck!

 

 

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