Hilo Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Excursions

[junmy3]

We will be cruising Hawaii on the NCL Wind in April. Hilo is our first stop and while reviewing the available excursions, we found that the ones we liked the most are at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Would it be best to rent a car and visit the park on our own or should we take one of the ships excursions? It seems to me you could see more if you take a rental car.

[jlines]

We rented a car in Hilo - very quick and easy. Yes, you can see much more. The ships tours DO NOT go down Chain of Craters Road to where you might be able to see actual flowing lava. Also with a bus load of passengers, at each stop you must wait for everyone to unload and then load back up again. We rented cars in each port which gave us the freedom to do whatever we wanted and it saved us a ton of money over ship tours. Remember Hawaii is a state so renting cars there isn't as daunting as in most ports of call.

[Umbarger]

Rent a car! Rent a car! I did and I'm a big chicken. :-) It was quick and easy. And best part you will save lots of money versus the ship excursions. Linda

[daWoods]

Unless you want to be a herd member, rent a car. That way you can take as much or as little time as you want at each attraction, or see things they don't go to.

[Gandalf]

We were in Hilo in 2003 and rented a car saw a great deal of the park and the live flow. We needed to hike only about a mile then because the lava flow was close to the road.

 

We were on the 1/9/05 POA cruise and this time took the NCL lava viewing tour. The tour took us to the actual lava flow site. It was a long hot sweaty 6 miles round trip, many did not make it to the hot lava flow. The path is not marked all the way and having the guide was comforting. Before you decide whether to do it alone or go with an organized trip find out where the lava flow is and how easy is it to get there. If the schedule permits do the trip in the dusk. Generally there will be rangers guiding at that time.

[Ocean Spirit]

Hi we just got off the ship on 1/23/05. We did the ships tour and enjoyed it.

We rented cars in other ports and it was so easy to get a car and very easy to get around. You can do the same tour in half the time than the bus tours if you do it on your own.

We met some folks that walked off the ship and took a van tour for $50. each and saw lots more than those of us on the ships tour.

Also, if you plan to rent a car in Kona, rent it from Enterprize. The other companies are at the airport and you lose at least a hour going to and from the airport.

[cjnalley]

Hi we just got off the ship on 1/23/05. We did the ships tour and enjoyed it.

We rented cars in other ports and it was so easy to get a car and very easy to get around. You can do the same tour in half the time than the bus tours if you do it on your own.

We met some folks that walked off the ship and took a van tour for $50. each and saw lots more than those of us on the ships tour.

Also, if you plan to rent a car in Kona, rent it from Enterprize. The other companies are at the airport and you lose at least a hour going to and from the airport.

We were on that cruise and in Hilo took Green's van tour (12 people). Tony was our guide and he was terrific. We toured from 9:00 am until he dropped us off at the airport for our helicopter tour. He took the rest of the group for more touring & they got back to the ship around 4:30. We toured volcanoes, walked through lava tubes, steam vents, saw the waterfall, orchid, coffee, and macadamia nut farm. We got our $50 worth. Mike & CJ

[BPCruiser]

We were on that cruise and in Hilo took Green's van tour (12 people). Tony was our guide and he was terrific. We toured from 9:00 am until he dropped us off at the airport for our helicopter tour. He took the rest of the group for more touring & they got back to the ship around 4:30. We toured volcanoes, walked through lava tubes, steam vents, saw the waterfall, orchid, coffee, and macadamia nut farm. We got our $50 worth. Mike & CJ

We will be in Hilo in March and would be interested in this type of van tour. Do you have the phone # or web page or any other info that I can use to contact this company "Greens Tours" for info on the Hilo Tour? The all day touring price of $50.00 sounds great for what it included!!

[suziehmkr]

For those renting cars... are there plenty to rent, or do you think it would be better to reserve in advance?

[Umbarger]

Make sure and make a reservation for a car. I made reservations and am glad I did. In Hilo everyone came off the ship looking for cars to rent but every rental agency was sold out. To avoid disapointment I would make a reservation that way you dont have to worry.

Linda

[suziehmkr]

Thanks Linda!

Our sailing date isn't for quite some time, but I am certain that this is one excursion that we will be doing... our daughter will love it!

 

Thanks again.

[bankofdad]

We rented a car, and here's what we did (extract from my review):

 

In Hilo, we opted to rent a car and go off on our own. We chose Hertz, because I’m a Gold Club member, and it made the paperwork process simple and easy. I’m sure we could have reserved for less elsewhere, but we were willing to pay for the convenience. The shuttle driver, Ernie, is a local man born and raised in Hilo. He went out of his way to tell us how happy he was to see tourists visiting, and strongly made it clear that they need us to economically prosper. He also took the standard Hertz guide book and highlighted the sections that would lead us away from the tourist traps, and take us to the more scenic locations. He did this on his own time, and went through the details with us during our drive to the airport rental car location. His advice was very much appreciated!

 

 

Besides the tips we received from Ernie, we planned our stops using the “Big Island Revealed” guidebook, and I’ll tell you it was right on. We explored the Puna area to the south of Hilo (after some stops in the Hilo area which included Rainbow Falls). After lunch at LaQuins in Pahoa (a guidebook recommendation, fantastic Mexican Food, less that $20 for two, and that included beer), we headed on down to the Kopho tide pools, the Anahuli (check the spelling on that ) volcanically heated pool, and the volcanic devastation from 1992, which is now beginning to form the “new” black sand beach. Very interesting “on-your-own” tour that takes you away from the masses of tour busses heading up to Volcano National Park. We thoroughly enjoyed our day, and got back to the ship at around 5PM.

[fourtunas]

did you get the phone number for Green's tours. We are going 7/2 and would like a more personable tour. This sounded great

[morgan1929]

Green's Tours:

 

Chun-Kai Huang,

 

Green Travel & Tours, Inc.

 

Tel: (808) 934-9187

 

Fax: (808) 961-9611

 

Mobile: (808) 937-5625

 

ckhuang@hawaiigreentours.com