Is this possible?

[rsd_cruiser]

We will be traveling to Hawaii in a few weeks. I am curious to hear based on others' experiences if what I am thinking will actually work.

 

Day 1 - Hilo: Get off the boat and take shuttle to the airport to pick up rental car; drive to Volcano National Park. Return to car rental in time to catch last shuttle back to boat (at 5pm?)

 

Day 2 - Kahului: Rent car and drive to Haleakala National Park for sunset (approx 6:45-7pm). Drive back, drop off rental car and return to boat by 10:30pm. My main questions here are 1) how long does it take to get out of the park after sunset when everyone else is leaving at the same time 2) where do you rent cars in Kahului, is there a place to rent/return near the pier? If the return is not near the pier, how late do shuttles run.

 

Any info/suggestions would be appreciated, thanks!

[TyrnaD]

We got off in Hilo around 9 or 10, took shuttle to airport to pick up car, and drove to VNP. We did part of crater rim drive (the rest was closed) and drove all the way down to the ocean on chain of craters road, stopping at a lot of overlooks, the visitor center, and the lava tube. We were back on the ship by around 5pm

[the2ofus]

You will want to check with the car rental agencies to see how late they are open and how often their shuttles run. As I recall, the rental agency we used in Hilo closed up around 4 or 4:30 p.m. and after that there were no shuttles. It was five years ago so things might have changed.

 

By the way, coming back into Hilo from VNP, there will be a shopping area on your right as you come into town. There's a Wal-Mart there which sells the hawaiian shirts and dresses that ordinary folks wear and the prices are good.

 

There are also ABC stores near the piers where you can get good prices on mac. nuts and other island souvenirs.

[beachchick]

In Kahului, you rent cars from the airport locations. Most companies have a "cruise pier" location listed, but this is so that they know you are coming in by ship. The rental locations are almost all at the airport and the companies send shuttles to the ship. There is no dropoff or pickup right by the pier, but the airport is only 10 minutes (or less) by shuttle. I believe that most companies stop running shuttles to the ship at about 9 pm or perhaps 9:30. You'd have to grab a taxi back to the ship. It wouldn't cost more than $15 and probably less.

 

If you leave Haleakala right after sunset, plan on about 2 hours back to Kahului. It will take longer than getting there because you'll be coming down the volcano at night on a winding, fairly narrow, dark road. Doubt they'll be a huge amount of traffic though. Watch the weather because Haleakala kind of "makes" its weather and can get extremely clouded in up in the afternoon and late in the day. You may be driving down in the dark and fog and need to drive carefully.

 

beachchick

[daWoods]

Enterprise has their office very close to the pier, and their shuttle runs until 9pm.

 

Beachchick is right. You may not even see a sunset on Haleakala on many days because of the cloud buildup. And the drive down in the dark could be a bit hairy.

[sceptic]

Back to your question - is it doable? Absolutely. Both are doable. Regarding how late the rental offices are open at the Hilo airport (ITO) it depends on the company. I've come into that airport after that time and the big names were still open. For example, Avis (I just randomly selected this one) is open 6AM to 9:30PM seven days a week at the Hilo airport

 

The weather on Haleakala is ever-changing; you can look up at the mountain from Kahului and think it's totally socked in, but by the time you get up there the summit is clear. Unfortunately, the reverse is true also. Personally, I wouldn't do the sunset thing precisely because the drive down will be hairy at night, coupled with the likelihood of driving through "clouds" (which is basically a peasoup-thick fogbank sometimes). If you want a nice sunset, find a beach and sit. Heck, it will be 80 degrees rather than 45.

 

You did ask about all the traffic leaving the summit after sunset, and I must say that I've never seen the huge crowds at sunset as I have for sunrise, so there really isn't some big traffic jam coming down the mountain. This doesn't change the potentially lousy driving conditions. Again. Sunset> Beach> Sit> Drink in hand.

[beachchick]

Back to your question - is it doable? Absolutely. Both are doable. Regarding how late the rental offices are open at the Hilo airport (ITO) it depends on the company. I've come into that airport after that time and the big names were still open. For example, Avis (I just randomly selected this one) is open 6AM to 9:30PM seven days a week at the Hilo airport

 

The weather on Haleakala is ever-changing; you can look up at the mountain from Kahului and think it's totally socked in, but by the time you get up there the summit is clear. Unfortunately, the reverse is true also. Personally, I wouldn't do the sunset thing precisely because the drive down will be hairy at night, coupled with the likelihood of driving through "clouds" (which is basically a peasoup-thick fogbank sometimes). If you want a nice sunset, find a beach and sit. Heck, it will be 80 degrees rather than 45.

 

You did ask about all the traffic leaving the summit after sunset, and I must say that I've never seen the huge crowds at sunset as I have for sunrise, so there really isn't some big traffic jam coming down the mountain. This doesn't change the potentially lousy driving conditions. Again. Sunset> Beach> Sit> Drink in hand.

 

I must agree with your most excellent advice. I can't count the number of sunsets my DH and I have done exactly like that.:D (Well, little caveat: Not actually on the public part of the beach with alcoholic beverage in hand because that would be against the law and we don't fancy getting in trouble with the local constabulary...but there are plenty of bars/restaurants, both open air and semi-enclosed, that are right on the edge of the beach, so that's close enough for us.)

 

beachchick