Hilo, Hawaii Port Reviews

Volcanoes National Park was very easy to get to from here. I only wish the itinerary let us overnight here.

never got off. 'port' looked like a small ship dock

We went with another company's excursion because NCL did not have an itinerary that suited us. We wanted to as much of the Hawaii Volcano National Park as possible, and include a stop at a local farm or shop. While I wish we had time to do a Macadamia Nut Farm, Coffee, Chocolate, and Big Island Candies, we forgot our Time Turner at home. We settled on a tour that included a fairly comprehensive visit to HVNP and Big Island Candies.

Our plans for our stop in Hilo took an unexpected turn, but it ended up being a fantastic day nonetheless! When we arrived this morning, we disembarked from our cruise ship and took an Uber to the airport, excited for our helicopter tour over the island. The itinerary included highlights like Volcanoes National Park, Akaka Falls, and several other stunning sites. However, as the time for our tour approached, a dense fog rolled in, reducing visibility to almost zero. To our surprise and delight, the tour operator didn’t try to push us into an experience that would have been disappointing. Instead, they gave us the option to reschedule or cancel without any hassle. Since we were only in Hilo for the day, we had to opt for the cancellation. Luckily, we had a backup plan! We rented a car and drove to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park ourselves, and it turned out to be an incredible adventure. The views were breathtaking, and we enjoyed every minute with our amazing friends. We even used the Shaka app for a guided narration along our route, which added a fun and informative element to the drive. The best part? We saved over $1,500 by doing the trip this way, which we’ll put toward our next vacation! While our original plans didn’t work out, we ended up having an unforgettable experience in Hilo. Highly recommend having a flexible plan when exploring this beautiful island!

On this island, we booked the Best of Big Island & Volcanoes National Park tour with American Airlines. Great tour and much less expensive than what NCL was charging. Got to walk through a lava tube, saw Rainbow Falls, stopped for Kona coffee & macadamia nuts, walked on a black sand beach and saw sea turtles.

Went ashore, walked through local farmer's market. Lunched at simple local spot. Took a locally offered short tour of local zoo, nut farm, candy factory, scenic park. Felt I had adequately explored available interests, stayed onboard ship second day.

We took a tour through you to the Volcanoes. Excellent.

Transportation around town was difficult to obtain and poorly organized at the port. Nearby beaches were rocky and not walkable - unable to swim from them.

Budget/Avis has free shuttle bus to car rental. They did not check or verify reservations, could probably sneak a ride if wanted to. They do want only 2 people per party to ride and go back and pick up the rest.

Not enough time to see the sites. Didn’t do any excursions because they were outrageously priced! It was much cheaper to rent a car and do what we wanted.