Mary Lou's or Ricky's Tours in Hilo?

Which would you recommend of these two tours in Hilo?

I think this is going to be a difficult question to answer, because I don't know how many people will have taken tours with both Ricky's *and* Mary Lou's, and therefore would be in a position to compare.

We used Mary Lou's for both Hilo and Kona in a July 2013 POA sailing and *loved* them; we had Ken, who tailored the tour to where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see, yet also exposed us to experiences (tamarinds off a tamarind tree, white pineapple, roadside leis) that we would not have known to request. But Ricky's gets rave reviews on this board too.

What do you want to do?

happy cruising,

el henry

Here are links to reviews:

Mary lou's

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g60590-d3960885-Reviews-Marylou_s_Big_Island_Guided_Tours_Private_Tours-Keaau_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html#REVIEWS

Ricky's

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Search?q=Mary+Lou%27s+tours&geo=28932&pid=3825&returnTo=http%253A__2F____2F__www__2E__tripadvisor__2E__ca__2F__ShowForum__2D__g28932__2D__i36__2D__Hawaii__2E__html

This is the sister site to CC but for land tours, not much different and I use this site all the time if I can't find what I want on CC

I was on the POA this past November. I used Ricky in Hilo and Mary Lou in Kona. Both great experiences. The difference is that Mary Lou gets out with you at every stop and gives you info as she walks around with you and she or her husband, Ken, take smaller groups. Met Ken too and his group really liked him too!

Both very knowledgable, professional and pleasant to deal with!!

Great to have the view point from someone who has used both tour groups. I think we will go with Mary Lou in Hilo. I like the idea of them getting out and getting more information at each stop and the smaller group as well. I think I read somewhere too that Mary Lou's group is given Leis. If so that's kind of fun!!!

Lovebears, we did get leis, but that was on the Kona side. Not to worry, however , if it's leis you want, I am sure that Mary Lou and Ken could find them on the Hilo side.

el henry

Cool! Can't wait!

Which would you recommend of these two tours in Hilo?

We did a tour with them, had Ken. He was excellent. They will customize the tour more than Ricky's will . Last year I was considering both. Ricky's has a set tour & does not vary it . That is what he said to me on an E-mail.

We decided on MaryLou's & so glad we did. You just can not go wrong with them.

We had a wonderful tour with Ricky this past week. He didn't go down to the lava tubes with us or go with us at Volcano National Park but he did describe everything. He did take us to waterfalls and really far down Crater Road and walked around describing everything to us. There were only six on our tour but it could be more.

I would recommend Ricky to anyone.

We used Marylou's tour for both Kona and Hilo in May. There were 11 of us so we had both Marylou and Ken. They got out at every stop and walked along with us. They also tailored the tour to OUR interests. Would recommend them. We felt we were visiting with friends.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

I just booked MaryLou's VNP Tour for the beginning of March. Very excited about this tour with all I have read on here and Tripadvisor.

I just booked MaryLou's VNP Tour for the beginning of March. Very excited about this tour with all I have read on here and Tripadvisor.

Let us know how it turns out, what you liked etc. We are booked with them in May.

Thanks

We used MaryLou's VNP tour and had her hubby Ken-he was FABULOUS-he got out with us and tailored the tour to our interests-took us to out of the way places that a lot of folks did not go to. We stopped for lunch at a great little spot instead of the coffee plantation that was suggested as we were not interested and we loved it!! We met Mary Lou along the way and she seemed great too-they gave us a wonderful little gift at the end of our tour to make the trip even more sweet. I highly recommend them!

We just toured with Mary Lou last week and had a wonderful tour. At the VNP she walked us through the exhibits and shared her knowledge and pointed out a lot of points of interest there and at Thurston's Lava Tube walk. One in our party wanted to see the "rainbow" tree and she made time for the request and she also spotted a sea turtle and stopped making another's day. Would highly recommend her or Ken for a great personal experience of Hilo or Kona.

Curious what the rates are you paid for Marylou or Ricky. I am looking at doing a cruise to Hawaii in 2015 and so I am researching options and figuring out my budget.

We are booked with Marylous's for our cruise in September. The charge is 75 dollars pp and will be a small group of 6 which we like. They take payment on the day of the tour. We are doing the Hilo side. They were very quick to respond to my emails, so along with the super positive reviews we chose to book with them.

We are booked with Marylous's for our cruise in September. The charge is 75 dollars pp and will be a small group of 6 which we like. They take payment on the day of the tour. We are doing the Hilo side. They were very quick to respond to my emails, so along with the super positive reviews we chose to book with them.

Thanks.

This sounds great.

We are also booked with Mary Lou's for September. Hilo side was $75pp, up to 6 people in the group (there were 4 others booked when we booked, don't know who they are).

Kona is $60pp, same deal of up to 6 people.

Really good about email replies etc.

No money paid until the day, they pick you up from the ship.

Probably only going to do a tour on one side. Which one would be better to book, Hilo or Kona?

You might email and inquire if tours on both sides are available for dates you are interested in. When I emailed them they only had our day in Hilo available, so that is what we went with. Your decision might be made based on what is available.

We are also booked with Mary Lou's for September. Hilo side was $75pp, up to 6 people in the group (there were 4 others booked when we booked, don't know who they are).

 

Kona is $60pp, same deal of up to 6 people.

 

Really good about email replies etc.

 

No money paid until the day, they pick you up from the ship.

My wife Marie and I are two that already signed for this tour in September so we will be with you. :)

We contacted them back in December. Should be fun.

My wife Marie and I are two that already signed for this tour in September so we will be with you. :)

We contacted them back in December. Should be fun.

Awesome Bill. Which one, Hilo? We couldn't make a decision about Kona so opted for Mary Lou's for both.

Really looking forward to them after reading such great reviews.

Awesome Bill. Which one, Hilo? We couldn't make a decision about Kona so opted for Mary Lou's for both.

 

Really looking forward to them after reading such great reviews.

We are on the Hilo tour. In Kona we like to just stroll the shops on the main street, the farmers market then enjoy lunch at Kona Brewing.

No sure if you know but there is a roll call started for our cruise here on Cruise Critic. It is not very active right now but should pick up as the year progesses.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1843692

We are on the Hilo tour. In Kona we like to just stroll the shops on the main street, the farmers market then enjoy lunch at Kona Brewing.

 

No sure if you know but there is a roll call started for our cruise here on Cruise Critic. It is not very active right now but should pick up as the year progesses.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1843692

Yep, we are on it! Kirrarne and Brett.

Yep, we are on it! Kirrarne and Brett.

Oops, not very observant of me. :o

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2