Hilo Shore Excursion: Active Volcano, Lava Tube, Waterfall And Gardens

Great staff, nice clean, comfortable Mercedes Sprinter vans. The best way to see sights while on a short cruise stay.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day in the National Volcano excursion. We learned a lot. Got to walk around a bit. Our guide was excellent.

We were Princess Cruise passengers looking to see some Big Island sights in a short period of time. Convenient, professional and informative tour of Hilo, Rainbow Falls, Volcano National Park and a walk through lava tubes. Jill was born and raised in Hilo and has some great stories and suggestions on things to do on future visits.

Fantastic tour. Great tour guide, amazing places to see. Would definitely recommend.

Our guide Jill was excellent. She is an owner of the tour company and native to the island. While we could have done most of it by car, her insights were very helpful. As a bonus she took us back to see the new lava just starting to flow from the volcano. It erupted 4 days later.

Tour was great and hit all the spots we wanted to see. The tour guide though had some road rage issues as he kept yelling at other drivers. He thinks highly of himself too which was a turnoff. So tour activities was great, guide needs a new job.

It was a very relaxed and informative island excursion. The guide is very knowledgeable about the island, and has the best personality for his line of work!!

Jill was awesome. Very informative and friendly. Glad we took this tour. I Would recommend to anyone.

Our tour guide was Jill, and she was phenomenal. Very knowledgeable about the area (has lived on the island her entire life) and could answer any question we had. Each stop was well worth it. Jill even gave us suggestions on what to do the next day.

Jill, our guide, was amazing! She is a native to Hilo and had great stories that made the tour come alive! Her knowledge of the history of the area made the tour personal, educational, and culturally relevant. I cannot express what a wonderful experience this was.

I have been searching for the perfect superlative to describe this tour, but everyone else seems to fall short in expressing just how wonderful it was. If you are fortunate enough to have Jill as your guide, you are in for an enlightening experience. She greets you with her effervescent personality, and as the tour progresses, you are introduced to the Hawaiian language, history, and sagas. Time flies by, and at the end, you wish you could have started again.

I have been searching for the perfect superlative to describe this tour, but everyone else seems to fall short in expressing just how wonderful it was. If you are fortunate enough to have Jill as your guide, you are in for an enlightening experience. She greets you with her effervescent personality, and as the tour progresses, you are introduced to the Hawaiian language, history, and sagas. Time flies by, and at the end, you wish you could have started again.

Awesome🌴🏝️🌺 Justin is a wealth of knowledge

Good tour of volcano and other sites. Well versed in culture and tradition. Recommended to all who wants to visit the volcanos.

This was an excellent tour. Jill was very knowledgable and we saw many great sites including an erupting volcano, lava tubes, waterfall, candy factory, etc.

Viator proved easy to use and kept us informed with on-phone tickets days before needed. Our guide, Jill Grotkin, was the bomb! Just the right amount of commentary along the way so there was also time for conversation. She seemed genuinely excited to be able to once-again get to sites closed due to hurricane Lala damages. We had a great time and never had any concerns about making the start or it ending in time for cruise-ship-dictated schedule.

Very pleasant, personable, and knowledgable. Out guide provided the perfect amount of commentary along the route. She made an extra effort for us to catch a rare fountaining. She seemed genuinely excited and pleased at being able to access sites closed until that day due to hurricane Lala. Highly recommended.

We had a great tour. Totally worth it. Jill was a fantastic tour guide. We were able to see a labe eruption and explore the lava tubes.

This was an excellent day trip. Jill met our family (group of 11) at the port. The van was spacious and comfortable. The tour included the Rainbow Falls, Volcanos National Park, an easy walk to into the Lava Tube and a final stop to the chocolate factory. All in all, Jill was an amazing guide. She shared tons of stories and info about Hilo. It was nice to have an intimate experience during our tour.

This tour made a lot of stops to enjoy most of the volcanoes experience. Our tour guide Jill was very knowledgeable about the local history, hawaiian lore, fauna and the science about the volcanoes. Enough time was given to enjoy each stop. We really enjoyed the lava tube.

We had a wonderful time with Josh who is incredibly friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I highly recommend this tour with this particular company.

Josh was a great tour guide and shared many stories about the island. As I hurt my knee prior to this excursion, he was very accommodating. Took us to many beautiful sights that we soon will not forget. If you have the chance to do this tour with him or Jill you will not be disappointed.

Our Hilo tour was a wonderful experience! Visiting Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and exploring the incredible lava tubes was truly unforgettable. The scenery was breathtaking, and learning about the island’s volcanic history made the experience even more meaningful. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, sharing fascinating facts and stories throughout the day. He kept the tour engaging, answered all of our questions, and made sure everyone had a great experience. We never felt rushed and had plenty of time to enjoy each stop. If you’re visiting the Big Island, I highly recommend this tour. It was the perfect combination of natural beauty, history, and outstanding hospitality!

We had Josh as our tour guide, and he was all around awesome. He had a great deal of knowledge about Hilo and the volcano having grown up in the region and also having worked at the Volcano National Park previously. He knew all the best spots to take us for both the lava viewing (got very lucky to have the volcano vent go active on our tour day; day before and after there was no lava flowing). The Rainbow Falls were a nice surprise - very beautiful there! Great photo opportunities there on your first stop. The last stop was the candy shop, which was exceptionally delicious and very artisan. Highly recommend the shortbread cookies and the Ice Cream Pie w/chocolate crust. All in all was a fantastic experience that we will never forget. Mahalo Josh & Jill.

This was a great experience that had a little something for everyone. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we leaned a lot about the landscape, culture and history.

Josh was an excellent guide! He was very informative on the area and on the volcanoes. He made the excursion fun and enjoyable. Would highly recommend doing this tour while in Hawaii!

Informative. A great way to get a feel for the island. Guide very knowledgeable. Nice to have native guides.

Great tour of Rainbow falls, Volcano Park, and Liliuokalani Park! It lasts about 3 1/2 hours. We had a great time.

Great experience with knowledgeable tour guide and driver. Josh was fantastic! He gave us so much information about the island.

Josh was a great tour guide. He was very knowledgeable and catered to our small group. We got to see a good bit of places in a short time. Josh also knew less visited spots so we weren't crowded by other tourists. Would recommend.

Take lots of pictures and videos. The sights are amazing and Jill did a magnificent job telling the history of the island.

Our tour, led by Jill, was very informative and fun. We enjoyed Jill’s stories of life on a volcano and her kindness. We saw much more in one day than we could have on our own and had so much fun!

Great tour great tour guide!! Rainbow falls was beautiful and the volcano was awesome. Relaxing tour with lots of interesting stories and history.

Our guide, Jill, was very knowledgeable and a great storyteller! We saw some great sights and had a wonderful experience.

Josh was an amazing tour guide, super knowledgeable and funny!! Very attentive and the snacks were a bonus

Very easy to find the tour guide at the Hilo cruise terminal and Josh was an excellent guide. Rainbow Falls is very pretty but I’m originally from Buffalo, NY so Niagara Falls makes me pretty biased on the magnificence of other falls. Great experience at Volcanoes National Park, and I enjoyed the brief stops at the Gardens and macadamia nut factory.

Jill was great and when we told her that Kilauea was erupting she took us straight to it! We had great views of it and got out of the park befor it got crazy busy!

Our wonderful guide Josh made this a great trip beginning with the Botanical Garden in Hilo, visiting the Volcano National Park, and ending with a visit to the Hawaii Cookie Company in Hilo.

Missed the eruption by a day but what we saw and what was explained was excellent. The best part might have been listening to Jill tell us about her experiences growing up near the volcano. Might have been better than seeing the actual eruption. OK - maybe not. Jill and her husband are the owners, nice to support a small business.

Jill is an excellent tour guide. She had in-depth knowledge about the volcano and shared it with us. So we learned a great deal about volcanos and about living near one. Also, the stopping by the falls was an added bonus. The van was very comfortable, snacks were tasty and I would recommend this trip.

What a great tour!! Jill was a fantastic host and was so pleasant, knowledgeable, and kind. The transportation was excellent with only 12 total guests. The itinerary was excellent and the tour of the volcano was spectacular. A true must do when in Hilo! Once again a spectacular day, don’t hesitate to book this tour.

The walking was doable. Great view. Great variety of experiences. Comfortable ride to and from excursion

Josh was very knowledgeable and entertaining. He had lots of great stories about the islands history

Jill was an excellent tour guide. I highly recommend this company for anyone who visits Hilo. Very informative and knowledgeable. It was a pleasure ❤️

This excursion was very good. Jen was very knowledgeable about the town of Hilo as she grew up here. She gave us many stories about the town and how it was all made throughout the years. I would recommend this excursion

A great way to spend an afternoon! Multiple stops along the way with opportunities to buy souvenirs. Great guide!

A great trip. Met at the port. A 16 seat van, not a 50 seat bus. Less than half the price that Princess was charging for a similar, but not as comprehensive trip. The guide was knowledgeable and gave us plenty of time at each location. The lava tube and a walk through the tropical rainforest was for us the highlight. Great value for money

Our party of four recently did this tour and it was such a memorable experience. There was a great mix of sights starting with a garden, then Rainbow Falls, followed by the volcano and steam vents to walking through the lava tube. It never felt rushed and there was plenty of time to take everything in. Our guide Josh, really made the day. He was so knowledgeable, sharing local stories and explaining the history and geology in a way that made everything come to life. you could tell he genuinely loves what he does. Such a well-rounded tour and a fantastic way to see the highlights of Hilo - highly recommend,

We had a great time on the Mauka Makai small group tour from Hilo port. Don't be fooled by Josh's laid back nature. He grew up on the island and had a wealth of knowledge and experience about the history of the island, the culture, and the volcanos and plants we saw. We learned so much. The small group also allowed us to see more things, spend more time, and ask lots of questions. He got us back to the cruise terminal with plenty of time as well. We highly recommend Mauka Makai tours!