Hilo Island Tour Excursion Reviews

This was the Akaka Falls, Macadamia Nut Farm, and Tropical Gardens tour. It was difficult to find the meeting place. However, the tour took us to many unexpected places in addition to those mentioned. We also saw Rainbow Falls, the Rain forest Zoo, Wailoa River State Park, a black sand beach, etc. We got back an hour later than planned, but luckily we had no other tour booked. It was a great tour. Later we took a free shuttle to Hilo Hattie's to do some shopping.

Provider: Independent Operator

Don't bother booking this one, you won't get what you think you are paying for. Cost $414 per person over the age of 12 years, for this price we were expecting premium service. The waterfalls are lovely, the Hawaiian BBQ is just some marinated meat cooked on a gas BBQ similar to the one you probably have in your back yard. The helicopter tour was the most disappointing of all. Our group was over booked (I suspect he company took advantage of the fact that both my daughter and I are light weight and of small stature to jam more people in) and instead of there being 3 people plus a pilot in the helicopter, 5 people plus a pilot were squeezed into the helicopter. My 13 yo daughter was jammed in a centre seat with no hope of seeing anything out of the window around the passengers either side of her. We made a complaint to the Princess Tour desk who gave us a written response that stated "window seats could not be guaranteed due to the weight and balance of the aircraft" which essentially means that passengers who are light weight and small in stature will be given second preference when seats are allocated. If we had known that we were paying a premium price for a second rate tour we would have made our own arrangements with a professional tour operator.

Provider: Princess Cruises

Long bus ride, short hike; good info from guide.

Provider: Princess Cruises

Very comprehensive --- Rick really knows tons of history of Hilo.

Provider: Independent Operator

This tour took us to lava flows, black sand beach, McKenzie's Park where there was a blow hole and gorgeous cliff views, the hot pool, and a Macadamia Nut Farm for a wonderful grilled lunch. The farm was a wonderful quiet location with beautiful grounds. The fresh nuts, fruits and lunch was a nice break in the day. This is a small group of people in a 14 passenger van. The views were just breath taking. The guide was very interesting and accommodating. We even stopped for NoNi juice.

Provider: Norwegian Cruise Line