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Hilo Shore Excursion: Volcanoes National Park, Rainbow Falls and Highlights
Badge of ExcellenceHilo, United States
From $153.34
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- 6 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Overview
Sample a cross-section of outdoor sights on the Big Island during this shore excursion exploring Volcanoes National Park, waterfall, black sand beach and more. Discover the postcard-perfect Rainbow Falls before visiting the amazing volcanic steam vents and unique geology around Kilauea Volcano. Before your day is done, check out an ornamental Japanese garden, snack on treats at a local candy shop, and visit a gorgeous black sand beach. A guide, park entrance fees, and round-trip port transport are included.
- Explore the Big Island's top scenic sites and volcanoes on a shore excursion
- Volcanic steam vents, lava tubes, smoking calderas and unique geology of Volcanoes National Park
- Visit the ornamental Japanese garden, Liliuokalani Gardens
- Scout for sea turtles on the gorgeous Richardson Black Sand Beach
- Covered by Viator’s worry-free policy: guaranteed on-time return to your ship
What's Included
- Port / Hilo Hotel pickup and drop-off
- National Park fees
- Bottled water
- What to bring/wear: Walking shoes, light sweater, camera, hat, sunglasses
- Souvenirs
- Gratuities
Meeting And Pickup
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This activity ends back at the meeting point.What To Expect
Spend the day enjoying an adventure in paradise during this shore excursion exploring the giant volcanoes, beautiful waterfalls, rare plants and tasty treats of the Big Island. If you’re looking for a great way to sample all the amazing scenery Hawaii has to offer, this is a great way to do it.
Start your trip from the Hilo Port in the morning, heading to Hilo for a glimpse of this historic town before moving on to Rainbow Falls, a picturesque waterfall that looks straight out of a movie. After Rainbow Falls, your adventure really kicks into high gear as you journey into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and up to the summit of its massive Kilauea Volcano.
Continue your day by stopping to view some of the Big Island’s most beautiful rare orchids at the Akatsuka Orchid Garden, where more than 500 of these gorgeous plants (some worth more than $20,000!) are on display. If you’re feeling hungry, have no fear because your next stop is at a local candy shop where you will get to snack on tasty locally made high quality chocolate and treats
Cap off your epic Hawaiian adventure by stopping at Richardson Black Sand Beach. This unique dark-colored seashore is produced by the slow erosion of the local volcanic rock. Keep your eyes peeled on the beach for the resident sea turtles that like to hang out on shore. You are returned back to the Hilo Port in the afternoon.
Start your trip from the Hilo Port in the morning, heading to Hilo for a glimpse of this historic town before moving on to Rainbow Falls, a picturesque waterfall that looks straight out of a movie. After Rainbow Falls, your adventure really kicks into high gear as you journey into Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and up to the summit of its massive Kilauea Volcano.
Continue your day by stopping to view some of the Big Island’s most beautiful rare orchids at the Akatsuka Orchid Garden, where more than 500 of these gorgeous plants (some worth more than $20,000!) are on display. If you’re feeling hungry, have no fear because your next stop is at a local candy shop where you will get to snack on tasty locally made high quality chocolate and treats
Cap off your epic Hawaiian adventure by stopping at Richardson Black Sand Beach. This unique dark-colored seashore is produced by the slow erosion of the local volcanic rock. Keep your eyes peeled on the beach for the resident sea turtles that like to hang out on shore. You are returned back to the Hilo Port in the afternoon.
Banyan Drive (Pass By)
Our first path drives us down Banyan Drive known as the "Hilo Walk of Fame" for the banyan trees planted by celebrities, such as Babe Ruth and Franklin Roosevelt and many others. These trees have withstood several tsunamis that have devastated the town of Hilo
Liliuokalani Gardens
This is the largest Japanese garden outside of Japan donated by Queen Liliʻuokalani in 1917. Throughout the gardens are stone lanterns, gazebos, and torii gates, recalling the Japanese immigrants who came to Hawaii.
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Vehicle: 11-14 passenger van or mini bus max 16-25 pass mini bus
- _________________________________________________________
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Easy tour - Involves walking over relatively level terrain, possible gravel or uneven ground in some areas. Lava tube is .4 of mile long with descending and ascending steps. Comfortable walking shoes & light jacket recommended
- Not wheelchair accessible
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
- Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
- This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.
about cancellations.
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Traveler Tips
There is ample time to see everything without feeling rushed.
excursion started on time, stoped to early for lunch (11.30)no coffee option available, rainbow falls nothing to get excited about.excellent guide
If you can avoid a cruise ship day I would highly recommend.
Reviews
4.5
349 reviews
Reviews by Viator travelers.
Showing 1-10 of 349 reviews
Great tour!
Gina_J, Mar 2023
This was a very good tour. Donna went out of her way to make the experience enjoyable for all of us. 10 out 10, I would definitely recommend. We had rain all day, but we made the best of it. Bring your rain ponchos!!
Ernesto was the best....
yidah_H, Mar 2023
Ernesto was the best. Knowledgeable and passionate about Hilo and his culture. Our group of 10 had the best time. Exceeded our expecations.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Thank you yidah for the wonderful review for Ernie ❤
Save money. Do this every on your own!
David_L, Mar 2023
Driver Edmund was 15 minutes late for pickup and no communication from Viator so we were starting to wonder what was going on. I sent a message to Viator but never got a response.
Driver started strong in town, then was very quiet with no info/history/stories on the way to Volcanoes National Park. We learned more there from another tour guide since our’s would not explain anything. That’s unacceptable for the amount of money we paid.
He skipped the Japanese garden as he said it was supposed to be a drive by but many on the tour said it was a stop. He blamed it on the booking sites for not updating but eventually stopped at end of tour.
Bottled water was to be included but never once did he mention it. Only after seeing someone get a bottle about 2-3 hours into trip did we realize this. And, the water was warm and not enough for everyone on bus. For the amount of money for this tour, you’d think they could’ve had a bag of ice in cooler for the water.
We recommend skipping this tour. Save a lot of money and do it on your own if you have the transportation. Most of the places we saw are free and since he was not a good guide, we wouldn’t have missed anything. It’s $30 per car to enter National Park.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
😢 Ouch David on the 2 star review. So sorry you felt this way. Yes customers can, of course, go to the national park on their own but it is a choice to book a tour with a knowledgeable guide. Remember Viator is a third-party booking site not us directly. Apologies for the late pickup, our guides are sometimes stuck getting through security from our first pick-up at the cruise ship. I know personally, Edmond is full of knowledge about all the local sites. He has been a guide since 2012. I will speak with him about why you were not given the information on the sites. We have had complaints about guides speaking the whole time during a tour. So we try to do the happy medium .....and yet it seems we still can't please everybody when trying our best.
A wonderful excursion
Lisa_H, Mar 2023
Donna, our guide, was wonderful. She was full of facts and interesting stories. We were able to see many different things in Hilo. My grandson was able to get his junior park ranger badge at the Volcano National Park visitors center.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Aloha Lisa, so neat to hear your grandson got his junior park ranger badge for the Volcano park! Really glad you enjoyed volcano guide Donna :) Thank you for the review
Fantastic tour!
Carla_S, Mar 2023
We were picked up at the cruise terminal and left on time. Ernie was our driver. He was excellent! Our tour was everything it said plus a few extra stops. We highly recommend this tour.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
thanks, Carla for the wonderful review!
sour taste
John_S, Mar 2023
The scenery was beutiful. The guide was knowledgable about Hawaii but I didn't really care about a lot of the stuff he talked about. That was probably just me though. The part of this tour that turned me sour was the stop for lunch. Our 25 person tour was taken to a convienant store to pick up a sandwich and then we were to have a picnic at volcano national park. What a mickey mouse operation this was. We went into the the store and got in line to order our sandwich. After we ordered our sandwich we were then instructed to get into another line to pay for our sandwiches. Well to start off there was part of another tour there when we arrived and then another tour of around 25 came in behind us a short time later. To make a long story shorter, more than half of the next tour group had gotten there sandwich before our party of 5 did. Further, the person in front of us had to wait because they gave his sandwich away to someone else. He was there another 5 to 10 minutes after we had gotten our order. Also along side us from our tour and waiting were were 3 ladies waiting for a hamburger and 2 potugese sausages.
When we were at the front of the line my wife ask if they had gluten free options and the said they didn't. Our tour guide tried to get my wife a lettuce wrap after she had asked him to let his company know this establisment can not cater to people with gluten intolerences. By that time (close to an hour later) my wife wasn't willing to get back in line and wait some more so she went without lunch that day. For some reason the sandwiches are made on the spot and this tour company doesn't space out there tour groups enough especially for a 3 person work crew. It would be better if the store would make the sandwiches ahead of time. I will say the sandwich did taste good.
The tourguide from the group behind us made the comment that the store wasn't staffed as much as they usually are. I for one am getting tired of getting poor service with the excuse of a company saying they are short handed. I do not want to waste an hour to an hour and a half on any tour to wait for a sandwich no matter how good it would be.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Aloha John, yes this lunch stop usually is spaced out. I'm glad to hear you thought it tasted good. They make it all there to insure its fresh instead of just an early morning pre-made sandwich. Since the loss of our other lunch stops in 2020 this place has been a blessing to have for our customers to get a locally-made meal. Otherwise, it would be Mcdonalds. They have accommodated gluten-free in the past so not sure why this was an issue that day..... apologies.
Enjoyaboe
Jane_S, Mar 2023
This tour gave us a chance to see a lot of the island in 6 hours. Our tour guide was very good and watched the weather and did the tour in a manner that we made stops when it wasn't raining.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
We have had terrible weather, sorry wish it was something we could control to give all travelers beautiful sunny days. Thank you for the review ❤
Volcanoes National Park
Kelly_P, Mar 2023
Our driver Volcano Bill was extremely knowledgeable and entertaining. Volcanoes National Park was a must see.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Thank you Kelly! Glad you enjoyed Volcano Bill as your guide and all our beautiful sites in Hilo
1 traveler found this review helpful
We had a great time. Saw...
Victoria_P, Mar 2023
We had a great time. Saw everything we were suppose to. Would recommend this company. Tour bus was the right size just enough people.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Yes, the biggest our mini busses hold is 25 passengers. Glad you enjoyed. It really does make easy for customers to walk in and out :)
It’s all about the tour guide!!
Mark_G, Feb 2023
Our tour guide Donna was awesome!!! Very knowledgeable friendly and a great driver!!! I would highly recommend her as a guide!!
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Thanks Mark for the awsome review for Donna! The guides love to see these reviews 😊
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Product code: 22796P3
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Attractions in Hilo, United States
- Thurston Lava Tube (Nahuku) Tours & Tickets
- Puako Bay Tours & Tickets
- Kilauea Iki Crater Tours & Tickets
- Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory Tours & Tickets
- Captain Cook Monument Tours & Tickets
- Coconut Island (Mokuola) Tours & Tickets
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- Hawi Tours & Tickets
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