Hilo, Hawaii Private Volcano Tours

[Wiseask]

We will be sailing to Hilo next month. Although we’d like to see a volcano while we’re there, we purposely did not purchase a ship excursion or an excursion on TripAdvisor, mainly because the tours they offer are too long to suit us, usually six hours or so.
 

Although this will be our first visit to Hawaii, I know from sailing on several other cruises, say in the Caribbean, that there are usually tours offered by guides on the dock, and even taxi drivers willing to take us to tourist spots. 

 

Can we expect the same in Hilo, and if so, has anyone taken a private tour to any of the volcanos with a guide they hired on the dock or even with a taxi driver willing to take you? If so, how would you rate your experience? Thanks.

[CruiserBruce]

Dock tour pick isn't a thing in much of the world, including Hawaii. Caribbean and Alaska,  yes. Most of the rest of the world, no.

 

Most of the islands don't have a lot of extra tourist supporting personnel,  or a lot of taxix just sitting around. I would pre-book. 

[BermudaBound2014]

I agree with CruiserBruce on this one. It's about 45 minutes to the volcano from the port. Once in the park the distances to drive to different viewing platforms aren't short. A six hour tour only gives you 4 hours in the park. That would not be enough time for me, especially if I wanted to see the volcano from different vantage points. I think a 6 hour tour will be cutting it a bit short given the drive time.

[teachingforme]

• Pre book. We booked with Big Island VIP for our group of 10. It was an awesome private tour experience.