Which way to Volcanoe's Nat Park

[helpme]

We are off to Hawaii in March, the problem is we are in Hilo one day for approx 7 hours, the next time we are in Kona for approx 9 hours. Which place would be the best to rent the car, we can get one in Kona with the rental company we use through business but not one in Hilo. Is it easy to get to the volcanoes from Kona and and how long would it take. Is there a beach or anything else to do in Hilo without renting another car from another company. Looking at the map it seems along way from Kona.

[bug_dan]

Distance from Kona to the Park probably about 70 miles. About a 2+ hour drive, road is mostly two lane, very straight on the Hilo side, but lots of curves around the southern end. Also traffic can be pretty heavy around Kona. I would recommend renting a car in Hilo to see Vocanoes Park, waterfalls etc. For beaches, snorkeling etc, Kona side is probably better.

[jlines]

We went from Hilo and barely had enough time to do and see all that we wanted. My understanding is that the drive time is about twice as long from Kona - plus no rental company except Enterprise has an actual Kona office so it would take awhile to get a car from any other company. We were able to get an 8 passenger van for about $45 total from Hilo so you should be able to get a pretty good deal from a company other than you usual.

[spleen93]

Would agree with Dan.

 

Spleen

[helpme]

Is there another island with a volcano on that we could see, I don't know if its a case of once you have seen a volcano they are all the same, and then do other sightseeing in Hilo. Hope this is not a stupid question. It doesn't seem that we have much time in Hilo to get there and back I'm nervous about missing the ship.

[bug_dan]

The only active volcanoes are on the Big Island. If you go to the volcano from Hilo, it's only about 28 miles south of Hilo. Really depends on how much you want to see. If you stop at the visitor center, drive around the crater and maybe stop to get a closer look, and then go through the Thuston Lava Tube, that probably only takes about 2-3 hours. If you drive down to the current lava flow, it also requires a fairly long hike, that may add about 3 hours, still easily doable when in port for a day.

 

The car rental agencies are located at the airport and most will provide shuttles from the pier. The airport is about 3 miles south of Hilo, so it's right on the way to the volcano. There are also waterfalls, gardens, nut farms etc to visit. If you don't rent a car, there is a bus that runs from the pier into Hilo and to some of the stores. We took it on our last trip and visited the Tsunami museum, very interesting and now probably more so with the events of the past month.

[cjnalley]

We were in Hilo last Wednesday 1/19 on the POA. We got off the ship around 8:45 am and took a tour from Tony with Green Tours for $50 a person. He took 12 people in his van. We toured volcanoes, walked through lava tubes, waterfalls, orchid, coffee, and macadamia nut farm. He dropped us off at the airport for our planned helicopter tour. The helicopter tour was the highlight of the day! We flew over the waterfalls, volcano, lava flow, the ocean and saw whales.

Thursday 1/20 we were in Kona. We shopped and played on the beach. The ship uses a tender boat to get to shore.

Mike

[exbbmom]

Do you have contact information for Tony from Green tours. That sounds like exactly what we would like to do - avoid the ship's excursion, but go on a smaller tour of the volcano.

Thanks

[pengu1n]

Hey, cjnalley,

Which helicopter tour did you take? Did you get a great view of flowing lava? I'm torn between taking the helicopter to see the volcano or taking it in Kauai, where the views are supposed to be more spectacular. (In my eyes, though, what could possibly be more spectacular than flowing lava! :D ) Anyway, having seen both, do you think we should spend the day driving around and seeing old lava up close or flying around to see fresh stuff? Can you actually see it during the day? I read somewhere that you can only see the orange glow at night because during the day the sun interferes. Oh my, the decisions are making me crazy & it's still months till it time to go! :p

[Kalena]

I would like to hear more about Green Tours also.

[iamanoak]

well, no one posted green's info yet. i found them on the web at hawaiigreentours.com. site is not done yet but they do describe their Hilo tours online. Good to check out even if you don't take their tour.