Public Buses in Hilo and Kauai

[Ladyshopper23]

We're cruising next month on Crown Princess. I've booked a hire car in Hilo from the airport, and specifically booked with Budget as everything I read suggested that Budget (and I believe Avis) are the only company to still have shuttle buses running to get to the airport for hire cars, and also that Hilo is the only Island that has re-introduced them after Covid.

 

However, I've read some recent reviews saying that there are shuttle buses but they're mobbed, there aren't shuttle buses (so no idea which one is actually true), plus apparently it's completely manic when getting off the ship as everyone is trying to get the shuttles or get a taxi, and it is quite problematic. I've seen that there is a public bus in Hilo, called Hele-on bus, I just wondered if anyone had any direct experience of it and could offer any tips?

Walking to the airport isn't an option for me, as I have some mobility issue.

Similar thing in Kauai, we have a helicopter ride booked, and need to be at the airport for 10am (dock at 8am), and I naively thought that this would be plenty of time and taxis would be readily available, but it seems not. Again, does anyone have any tips? I've struggled to find a bus service here.

 

Feel free to point me in the right direction if I've missed anything, I'm from the UK so having to rely on what I find via Google! 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

For Hilo, there is no issue with the Avis/Budget shuttle. The shuttles that are mobbed are the Walmart shuttle and the free shuttle to "downtown" Hilo.

 

I have no idea what to tell you about Kauai, other than to pre-book a driver to get you to the airport and back. When we were at Nawiliwili in Oct (Sapphire), the taxi line was probably an hour long, maybe a bit more and Uber was impossible. There are only around 70 Uber for the entire island and Lihue has less than half of them.

[princeton123211]

2 hours ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

Similar thing in Kauai, we have a helicopter ride booked, and need to be at the airport for 10am (dock at 8am), and I naively thought that this would be plenty of time and taxis would be readily available, but it seems not. Again, does anyone have any tips? I've struggled to find a bus service here.

Do not rely on Uber in Kauai-- the only places you can reliably count on Uber are Honolulu and Maui (most of the time). As Scott said, try and prearrange a car/local taxi to pick you up. They are mostly independent and it takes some googling. 

 

A lot of these ports, with the exception of Honolulu, are not designed to take the influx from these large cruise ships and lack the infrastructure to deal with it. 

[Ladyshopper23]

55 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

For Hilo, there is no issue with the Avis/Budget shuttle. The shuttles that are mobbed are the Walmart shuttle and the free shuttle to "downtown" Hilo.

 

I have no idea what to tell you about Kauai, other than to pre-book a driver to get you to the airport and back. When we were at Nawiliwili in Oct (Sapphire), the taxi line was probably an hour long, maybe a bit more and Uber was impossible. There are only around 70 Uber for the entire island and Lihue has less than half of them.

That's what I'd read about Kauai. I don't suppose you have any you can recommend at all? If not I'll google as the poster above has suggested.

I think the problem I read on a recent post about Hilo is that there were limited shuttle buses for the hire car companies to the airport, and some people who had booked hire cars with other companies that didn't send shuttles jumped on the Avis/Budget ones. 

[princeton123211]

2 minutes ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

some people who had booked hire cars with other companies that didn't send shuttles jumped on the Avis/Budget ones.

That would be odd since Avis always checks your name when boarding the bus. 

[Ladyshopper23]

1 minute ago, princeton123211 said:

That would be odd since Avis always checks your name when boarding the bus. 

Fingers crossed then!

I have just had a quick look at Uber, it does seem as if you can request a ride 30 days in advance. Do you think that would be reliable enough for Kauai, or would you not trust Uber at all there even booked ahead of time?

[princeton123211]

7 minutes ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

I have just had a quick look at Uber, it does seem as if you can request a ride 30 days in advance. Do you think that would be reliable enough for Kauai, or would you not trust Uber at all there even booked ahead of time?

I would not trust Uber booked ahead of time-- I would only trust a private taxi company booked ahead of time on Kauai. 

[Ladyshopper23]

3 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

I would not trust Uber booked ahead of time-- I would only trust a private taxi company booked ahead of time on Kauai. 

Ok, thank you. Appreciate the advice. Will have a look and see what I can find.