Hilo Travel Forum

We are on a cruise that will dock in Hilo Oct 1 from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm. Are there tours at that time that we can take? Any independent tours available at dock?

We went on NCL Pride of America in December 2006. During our stop in Hilo, we booked the "Rainbow Falls & Volcano" bus tour. We very much enjoyed this excursion. I assume that your cruise ship offers excursions? I do not recall any independant tours at the dock. My experience on my Hawaii cruise was that for excursions like this one, if there is an operator on the dock, then that operator offers it for essentially the same price as if you booked through the cruise ship. This makes sense. The cruise ships bring in thousands of customers so these operators don't want to upset the cruise ship by under cutting the price on the ship. If you want to get a better price, my guess is that you would have to get out of the dock area. I do recall some shops that looked like tour operators within 10 minutes walk of the ship (but I can't guarantee it because, as I said, I was already on a bus leaving the docks). Enjoy your cruise.

I was there also on October 1, 2006, coincidentaly. There are numerous tours that you may take. You will find some operators just inside the dock area,
note; these operators will be just inside a large warehouse type area, which is
also your security checkpoint. Possibly a few will be in the area just outside of this same warehouse area. If you are a first time cruiser, your options are to either pre-book the excursion from home online or, in your room before arrival(though the closer you get to your actual cruise date, availability of some excursions decrease, so keep tabs online). Most tours last between 2 and 1/2 to 6 hours. This means a moderate, easy terrain walk or drive tour will not be as long as a full fledged hike (See my travelpage on Volcanoes National Park for this type of hike). You'll have plenty of time therefore to enjoy at least 1 excursion, and possibly have time to shop, depending upon the excursion, length and time of the excursion you choose. So Have Fun and, Live Life