Hilo car rental?

[CaptainSeaBreeze]

We'd like to rent a car in Hilo to drive to the volcano national park, etc...

 

It looks like most car rental companies are at the airport, is there a shuttle between the port and the airport? 

 

Any other advice? We've never rented a car in a cruise before. At least it's the US. We'd like of course to be in the road as fast as possible, and need to allow time for return.

 

At least if we missed the ship, we can catch it on Kona on the other side of the island the next day  🙂

 

 

[tscoffey]

We plan to do the same thing next April (perhaps we’re on the same ship?).

I read that there is a shuttle to the airport, which is small and not far away.

And I’m even contemplating getting pre-clearance to do a planned reboarding in Kona, to get an additional day on Hawai’i to explore.

[CaptainSeaBreeze]

I'm doing the Dec2 Ruby Princess voyage.

 

I like your style, it could be a good way to catch a luau

[DCwom]

20 hours ago, CaptainSeaBreeze said:

We'd like to rent a car in Hilo to drive to the volcano national park, etc...

 

It looks like most car rental companies are at the airport, is there a shuttle between the port and the airport? 

 

Any other advice? We've never rented a car in a cruise before. At least it's the US. We'd like of course to be in the road as fast as possible, and need to allow time for return.

 

At least if we missed the ship, we can catch it on Kona on the other side of the island the next day  🙂

 

 

We did this last May, we had the same thoughts, we never rented a car on a cruise, and figured worse case if we missed the boat, were still in the US and can drive to the other side of the island. This thinking eventually lead us to renting a car on all 3 islands.

 

As for shuttle, the only island with a shuttle in May was Kaiwai and that was Avis/budget, we used Uber on Maui & Hilo.

 

To be on the road as fast as possible, get in the gangplank line about 15 minutes before its expected to open, and either pre-book an Uber or be ready to order one when you hit land, you will not be alone.

 

As @tscoffey mentioned it would be nice to maybe overnight on the island and drive over to Kona, but I've heard that they don't really allow that without a good reason (medical, etc.) Also you end up adding the cost of the 1-way rental and overnight lodging/food.