Hilo: kilauea iki crater trail from Cruise Ship Dock

What's the best way to get to the kilauea iki crater trail from the ship dock (Princess)? We plan on hiking the trail - just have to figure out how to get there. Don't really want to do a "tour". Is there any kind of shuttle, or would we be better off renting a car?

Looks like, to get a car, we'd have to go to the airport?

Your best bet is to rent a car at the airport. The airport is very close to the cruise pier....you can see the ship from the airport. All of the car rental agencies run a shuttle from the pier to the airport. Hilo airport is very easy to navigate as it is a very small airport with hardly any traffic. Make a left onto the main road when you exit the airport, then continue straight until you make a left at the entrance to Volcanoes Nat't Park about 40 minutes later. You cannot get lost!

Thanks!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

We did this hike during a port stop in Hilo in 2014. We rented the car through Discount Hawaii Car Rental, $41 in 2014. Make sure you are the first ones off the boat, that way you will get on the first rental car shuttle and be first in line at the airport. We also drove down the Chain of Crater Road, walking to where the lava went over the road. We also had time to walk to the Petroglyphs (just off the Chain of Crater Road). We still had time to go to the Jaggar Museum and see the crater from the back deck. Make sure to leave enough time to check the car back in, there were a lot of people checking cars back in. The shuttle back to the port was crammed and some people had to wait for another one.

Your best bet is to rent a car at the airport. The airport is very close to the cruise pier....you can see the ship from the airport. All of the car rental agencies run a shuttle from the pier to the airport. Hilo airport is very easy to navigate as it is a very small airport with hardly any traffic. Make a left onto the main road when you exit the airport, then continue straight until you make a left at the entrance to Volcanoes Nat't Park about 40 minutes later. You cannot get lost!

Another option is renting from Enterprise on the road going to VNP which has been cheaper than from any airport location. They had a shuttle to their location & our future reservation is about $35 at that location and $50+ from the least expensive airport location.