Akaka Falls and Volcano Nat'l Park

Can this be done in one day? We are there from 9 - 6 pm and are renting a car. We have never seen the falls but we have been to the Volcano before so don't have to see a lot. We figure we could go to the Visitor Center and see the info there and maybe a little bit of the park.

Do we have enough time?

I think you have plenty of time. I assume that you should be on the road by 10:00 with your rental car, be at Akaka by 11:00, enjoy Akaka, including the nice walk, for a couple hours or less, then drive to VNP. If you are looking for a good place for lunch between Hilo and VNP the Kilauea Lodge is a great spot. It is charming and has wonderful food. Akaka and VNP are two of my favorite Hilo tourist spots. Give yourself two hours from VNP back to the ship for rental car return and return to the port. Also, if you are age 62+ you can get a lifetime National Park Pass for $10 and it will get you into VNP plus many other NPs in Hawaii. You can google directions from Akaka to VNP and from VNP to the rental car return to give you a better idea of time. In my experience it takes about 40 minutes from Hilo to VNP but you will be starting from Akaka. Have a great trip. Cherie

Thanks! Lots of good info. We already have the national park pass so we can get in free. Last year when we did a Hawaii cruise we didn't bring it with us and when on Kauai we had to pay to get into a lighthouse. My dh wasn't too pleased because he was going to bring it along but I said we weren't going to any national parks. Boy was I wrong!

Thanks again.

So funny. A couple years ago I was so excited to have my NP Pass and get into VNP free. We got to the gate and I had left my pass at the hotel and had to buy a new pass for $10. In September I will have my pass with me at the gate.

Have a good time. Cherie