More Hilo Help Needed - Is This Going to Work?

[Sea Hag]

Hi all,

 

I posted last week or so that I'd booked us a helicopter flight and asked if you all thought we'd have time to drive to VNP after that. Got some good answers (thanks again), but my DH wanted me to try and get the flight earlier.

 

What we have now is a 9:30 am flight, with an 8:45 am check in time. Is that completely crazy and undoable or do you suppose we can make that? We're going to be on the Golden Princess and are supposed to arrive in port at 8:00 am. Experience tells me that ships are almost always in port earlier than listed and that for a port like Hilo where we'll be docked rather than tendered, it might be fine.

 

Any informed guesses? Comments? Any "you're crazy for even thinking this might work" comments?

 

Thaks in advance for any and all!

[Wants2cruise]

Are they going to shuttle you to the heli flight or do you have to pick up a rental car first?

 

If you have a shuttle it is tight, but can be done as long as the ship is in on time. If you have to pick up a rental car, I don't think that it is possible.

[kapoho2]

Or, you could just jump into a taxi to ride from the pier to the airport. Last time we did it I think it was about $12. It is only about a 5 minute ride. They are really close....you can see the ship from the airport. Then after the helicopter ride you can rent the car at the airport and head out for VNP.

[Sea Hag]

Thanks for the replies! We have a rental car at the airport, but I doubt it's a good idea to wait around for the shuttle when time's tight. If Google maps knows what it's talking about, it's only a .9 mile walk. So, I think the taxi suggestion is a winner if we get off the ship at 8:00 or later. If we get off earlier, we can easily walk this. Funny thing - it's hard to find the mileage for this but after I posted this I was able to get it in Google maps.

[kapoho2]

It would be a very long walk. You would have to go all the way down to the main road and then back into the airport which is quite a long way. And, I don't think there are any sidewalks for most of the way....you would be walking on the roads with the traffic. It just would not be a pleasant walk. And, don't forget that Hilo can have frequent small rain showers. On the walk there would be no where to run for cover from the rain....or the sun!!

[Sea Hag]

It would be a very long walk. You would have to go all the way down to the main road and then back into the airport which is quite a long way. And, I don't think there are any sidewalks for most of the way....you would be walking on the roads with the traffic. It just would not be a pleasant walk. And, don't forget that Hilo can have frequent small rain showers. On the walk there would be no where to run for cover from the rain....or the sun!!

 

I sure thank you for the info about the possibly no sidewalks! I hate that and will avoid it if at all possible. As for the rest, we know about the rain - and the sun. :)

 

And we don't - and I'm not kidding - consider anything up to 10 miles as a long walk. Now, of course if it were 10 miles, time constraints would disallow it. The Google map walking directions - not driving but walking - said it was .9 miles, so call it one mile. This may be completely wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time I've found an online map to be just plain nuts.

 

Anyway, given the possibility of no sidewalks, a taxi is looking pretty good to me.

 

Thanks for the input!

[kapoho2]

I just did a quick search on Google maps....and I got a distance of at least 2.7 miles.....which I can see on the map is not the entire distance. They gave a time of 53 minutes walking time. So, You will have to ride to make your flight. Have fun...I am very envious!! One of these days I hope to take the helicopter ride over the volcano :)

[Sea Hag]

I just did a quick search on Google maps....and I got a distance of at least 2.7 miles.....which I can see on the map is not the entire distance. They gave a time of 53 minutes walking time. So, You will have to ride to make your flight. Have fun...I am very envious!! One of these days I hope to take the helicopter ride over the volcano :)

 

This is weird! I sit at Google maps and ask for walking directions from the Hilo Cruise Terminal to Hilo International Airport. The silly thing doesn't give me any walking directions, but it keeps telling me .9 miles. I think your number might be closer to reality than mine is, and I think maybe Google Maps likes you better than it does me! Think that's it? As long as I get there, I'm fine with whatever method works. We've booked one of the doors off flights, and I think that's going to be great. :)

[SANDYJABS]

I'm looking at doing the same thing so this thread has been very helpful to me. Thanks!

[Sea Hag]

I'm looking at doing the same thing so this thread has been very helpful to me. Thanks!

 

I also posted this question on the Princess board and got some input there as well. We've decided we're definitely going to go for the early flight. Stampede off the ship as soon as possible and dive into a taxi. I think that'll work! :D We have an 8:45 check in time for a 9:30 flight. When's yours?

[kapoho2]

This thread got me curious, so today I was in town (Hilo) and I checked the mileage from the helicopter check-in areas at the airport to the cruise terminal. It came out to 3.3 miles....so I think that Google is off just a bit like we suspected. One possible answer is that once you turn off of the main road into the airport, there is a 1.7 mile drive on an airport road before you get to the terminal.

 

Actually, the cruise terminal and the airport are quite close, but the runways are in between and you have to drive all the way around them to get from point A to point B.

 

Hope this helps!!

[Sea Hag]

This thread got me curious, so today I was in town (Hilo) and I checked the mileage from the helicopter check-in areas at the airport to the cruise terminal. It came out to 3.3 miles....so I think that Google is off just a bit like we suspected. One possible answer is that once you turn off of the main road into the airport, there is a 1.7 mile drive on an airport road before you get to the terminal.

 

Actually, the cruise terminal and the airport are quite close, but the runways are in between and you have to drive all the way around them to get from point A to point B.

 

Hope this helps!!

 

All info helps, and info coming from somebody who's actually in Hilo is worth its weight in gold! Thank you so much for checking this. :)

 

It's that old thing of "as the crow flies" and "as the person gets to the airport anyway he or she can." We brought up Google Earth, and we see exactly what you mean - all the way around and then in through the driveway. I'm thinking definitely a taxi. No way are we going to have time to walk it. Might walk it back if we feel like doing that.

 

Thanks again for going out of your way to post such good information!

[jeanarch]

The airport is also in an industrial area. don't try to walk it either way. just got back.

[Sea Hag]

The airport is also in an industrial area. don't try to walk it either way. just got back.

 

Is that coming from a "no sidewalks" direction or is there some other objection to the neighborhood? Just curious here, since I doubt we'll have time to walk it anyway. I think it's going to be a taxi, which is fine.

[emilygeorgia]

We are considering a helipcopter flight out of Hilo also. We arrive by Carnival Spirit on April 18. We are in port from 8 Am to 6 PM. What helicopter service do you suggest? Will we have time to also drive to VNP after the flight? Will the clouds and rain stop or hinder the flight? What is your suggestion for our time at Hilo?

Thanks for the info.

Emily

[Sea Hag]

Hi Emily,

 

I booked us on Paradise Helicopters, the Doors Off With Waterfalls flight. There were a couple of reasons for that: I love the idea of doors off and this flight is in a small copter that only carries four passengers and the pilot. For a small additional charge, you can get premium seating which should guarantee you of getting your own window. That's a biggy with me, since I don't like being jammed in between two people in any kind of seating. I want my own window, doors off, and my ears flapping in the wind like a dog going for a ride in a car! :D

 

I don't have nearly as much exeperience with cruising Hawaii as some here do, but we did go once before. We'd scheduled a helicopter flight in Hilo, but it was canceled due to rain. That answers your question about that - they do cancel due to weather. On that same cruise, we tried again and booked a circle Maui and Molokai that flew out of the Kahalui airport. That was with Blue Hawaii, and it was great. I'd recommend that company any time. They tape a video of your flight that you can purchase after it's over. We bought it, and it was a wonderful souvenir of a wondeful time.

 

For this trip, we have a 9:30 AM helicopter flight, and we have a rental car reserved. The plan as of now is to streak off the ship as soon as possible and take a taxi to the airport in time to make our 8:45 checkin time with Paradise. I sure hope this works.

 

After the flight, we're going to Volcano National Park in the rental car and will do as much as we have time for there.

 

It's going to be a busy day, but if everything goes well, it ought to be great!