Hilo and Maui...need help!!!

[DandyTwister]

Ok folks I made a mistake and now I need some help!!

 

I was researching the Road to Hana trip and reading TONS of stuff on CC....I got confused and read lots of recommendations for Ricky's Tours....I thought this was a Road to Hana tour. It was less expensive...so I went ahead and booked it.

Then last night me and hubby sat down to try to decide what to do in Maui and that's when I figured out that Ricky's...on Hilo....was NOT a Road to Hana Tour.

 

So...I called the Road to Hana tour company (Valley Isle Excursions) that our roll call group has booked privately, to see if we could still even get in on that tour. The guy was extremely nice,he wasn't sure if there was room in one of the 2 vans booked.but whether it was on the private tour or not he could definitely get us on a tour that day....so I reserved two spots with them.

 

Now here is my dilemma...we don't want to do 2 "ride in a vehicle for long hours" tours...especially not 2 days in a row

 

So now we have to decide to cancel 1 of these tours...any opinions out there...anyone done either or both tours?

 

Once we decide which one to cancel then we have to decide what to do in the port we are not doing the bus tour in.

 

Then we have to decide, if we are not doing a bus tour in Hilo...what should we do?

 

Or, if we don't do the Road to Hana tour...what should we do in Maui??

 

We have a helicopter tour booked in Kauai and snorkeling in Kona, we are doing a luau in Honolulu.

 

We're fairly laid back...I am not physically fit, and have bad knees...so some moderate walking, hiking is fine, but nothing too hard or that includes stairs or steep inclines. We love the water, but we're very fair skinned so can't spend tons of time on the beach (but we will spend some time on the beach somewhere!!).

 

I'm feeling quite confused and a little embarrassed:o at the moment..I need you all on CC to give me a hand here....thanks

 

:confused::confused::confused::confused:

[Middleager]

The major attractio in Hilo is the Volcano National Park. It's easy to get to the airport to pick up rental car, then drive 45 min. to the entrance of the VNP. There you can watch a movie, get maps, talk to rangers, and most people drive the Crater rim road, a circle around back to the VNP entrance. You can go slowly and stop at a few places for very short walks to see things. With bad knee not wanting lots of walking, you can skip the Thurston Lava Tube hike.

 

There may still be time left, to drive to the town of Hilo to see black sand beach, or to the Macademia nut farm. But it's a shorter drive yourself.

 

The RT Hana is a longer drive, with lots of places to stop and see, some with hikes and maybe a little climbing. The road is small, windy, have lots of small bridges some only good for one car width (so need to wait for cars in the other direction to clear). I enjoyed the drive but some people don't like driving it. So it may be one to go on a tour. The tour will also be more expensive on this one.

 

In Maui, if not RTH, can go to Mt Haleakala, Ioa Needle, snorkeling at Molokini, shop/stroll at Lahaina or go north to Kaanapali Beach to snorkel or just enjoy beach.

[Bucky3]

We always rent cars on the islands, but if you don't want to do that, then I actually think you will be fine with the reservations you have made. If the RTH on Maui is important to you, then do it! It will be the longest tour, but there will be stops along the way, and the scenery is beautiful. Ricky's in Hilo will not be that long in a vehicle as I believe it makes many stops, and you won't be going long distances in between, so if a tour guide is what you want and the tour goes to places you want to see, I think you'll be just fine. Sounds like in Kona and Kauai you will have your relaxing time. Enjoy and Aloha!

[metsfan47]

Ok folks I made a mistake and now I need some help!!

 

I was researching the Road to Hana trip and reading TONS of stuff on CC....I got confused and read lots of recommendations for Ricky's Tours....I thought this was a Road to Hana tour. It was less expensive...so I went ahead and booked it.

Then last night me and hubby sat down to try to decide what to do in Maui and that's when I figured out that Ricky's...on Hilo....was NOT a Road to Hana Tour.

 

So...I called the Road to Hana tour company (Valley Isle Excursions) that our roll call group has booked privately, to see if we could still even get in on that tour. The guy was extremely nice,he wasn't sure if there was room in one of the 2 vans booked.but whether it was on the private tour or not he could definitely get us on a tour that day....so I reserved two spots with them.

 

Now here is my dilemma...we don't want to do 2 "ride in a vehicle for long hours" tours...especially not 2 days in a row

 

So now we have to decide to cancel 1 of these tours...any opinions out there...anyone done either or both tours?

 

Once we decide which one to cancel then we have to decide what to do in the port we are not doing the bus tour in.

 

Then we have to decide, if we are not doing a bus tour in Hilo...what should we do?

 

Or, if we don't do the Road to Hana tour...what should we do in Maui??

 

We have a helicopter tour booked in Kauai and snorkeling in Kona, we are doing a luau in Honolulu.

 

We're fairly laid back...I am not physically fit, and have bad knees...so some moderate walking, hiking is fine, but nothing too hard or that includes stairs or steep inclines. We love the water, but we're very fair skinned so can't spend tons of time on the beach (but we will spend some time on the beach somewhere!!).

 

I'm feeling quite confused and a little embarrassed:o at the moment..I need you all on CC to give me a hand here....thanks

 

:confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

Valley Isle Tours will only take you on the Road to Hana tour on your first day in Maui, since the tour doesn't get back until close to 6PM. Because of that, your two tours would not be on two days in a row. You have a second day in Maui, in between.

[DandyTwister]

Valley Isle Tours will only take you on the Road to Hana tour on your first day in Maui, since the tour doesn't get back until close to 6PM. Because of that, your two tours would not be on two days in a row. You have a second day in Maui, in between.

 

 

Our ship (Carnival Spirit) is only in Maui for 1 day! Wish we had 2 days...that would make the decision easier.

[cb at sea]

Having done the "Road to Hana"....not really sure why everyone wants to do it! Sure, there are some lovely things to see, but for the time spent....forgo this one, if you have to make a choice! If you simply want to kill time for 9 hours, then do it. I think there are better things to do!

[tommui987]

Having done the "Road to Hana"....not really sure why everyone wants to do it! I think there are better things to do!

 

I often wonder why the Road to Hana is a big deal. I think the sunrise at Haleakala is a must and should have a higher priority. Of course Haleakala is a "chance 'em" as the weather/clouds etc can louse up a "once in a lifetime" deal.

 

Incidentally, I have lived and still living in Hawaii (admittedly, on Oahu) for some seventy three or four years

[beachchick]

We too do not consider the RTH to be a huge deal, especially for cruise passengers who have limited time on the island. Sure, it's lovely, Waianapanapa was really special, and I'm glad we did it once. But it was during a land trip and we stayed out of Paia in a little place near the beginning of the RTH itself. It's unlikely we'll do it again.

 

A good alternative is to spend a couple of hours at Iao Valley/Needle where you can get a feeling for the RTH experience. That leaves plenty of time to explore other wonderful sights and activities on Maui.

 

beachchick

[lv2bgoofy]

I absolutely loved our RTH trip with Valley Isle tours....would I go back next year and do it again - no but I would do it again on another trip....probably do the drive myself and stay close to Hana the second time.

 

I would definitely do the rental car thing in Hilo though....easy driving there and you have the Volcano - the waterfalls, Macadamia Nut farm, the orchid place....

[21perfectpairs]

We did both tours when we were on the POA and the Road to Hana was our favorite tour by far! (ValleyIsleTour) We also did Rickys Tour and I have to be honest and say that we did not enjoy this tour. We were the only ones scheduled for the tour which was awesome but other than that, it was very hard to understand Ricky and his voice actually was putting us to sleep. I was so excited about this tour when I booked it, but disappointed after and wished we did the sights on our own.....