​

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Fire and Falls

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was our focus for today, with a side trip to Rainbow Falls and a stop at Big Island Candies and Walmart.

Renting a car is easy in Hilo.  The Airport is only a few miles away or about a $15 cab ride.  We found out that AVIS/Budget will send a van for pick-up at the cruise port.  We didn’t realize this at first, so we took a taxi, but we did take advantage of the shuttle to return to the ship after we dropped off our car.  We left the Cruise Terminal at 9:30 am and were in our rental car at 9:45 am.  All the AVIS paperwork was already completed, so I showed my drivers’ license and we were on our way.

Hilo gets a lot of rain, but there wasn’t any in the forecast today, which turned out to be accurate.

Our rental car was configured with Apple Play so we used that for our GPS.  There was good cell service everywhere we went so any GPS app on your phone would work.

Roads are good, light traffic and we arrived at the National Park in about 45 minutes.

Kilauea Military Camp

The Kilauea Military Camp, known to service members stationed in Hawaii as KMC, is inside the National Park Grounds.  It is open to anyone eligible to use Military Exchanges.  There is a Military Exchange General Store, Restaurant, Café, and a number of cabins of various sizes.  We stopped by the Exchange to check out the Volcano-related souvenirs.

Note:  Don’t follow your GPS directions to KMC as our GPS directed us to a back entrance which was closed.  Enter the Park and then continue past the Visitors Center.  You will soon see signs for KMC.

The restaurant was only open for breakfast and dinner.  We didn’t check out the Café which was open for lunch.  After browsing the General Store, we headed over to the National Park Visitor Center.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

The Visitor Center is closed due to COVID.  The National Park gift shop, where you can also get your National Park stamp, is open but limited to 10 people at a time.  There was a short line that moved quickly.

A Park Ranger is stationed at a safe distance outside the Visitor Center’s front entrance, in front of large park maps, and will answer questions and provide information about what to see and do in the park.

We drove to the Kilauea Overlook and did a short hike to the Lava Lake Viewing area.  We were able to pick out a small lava flow at some distance in the center of the crater.  It took us about 30 minutes to visit the Kilauea Overlook and hike the quarter-mile round trip to the Lava Lake Viewing Area.

There are many other viewing sites available as well as longer hikes and drives.  Check out the park information to plan your visit.

Aunty Pon’s Thai Food Truck

We always enjoy food trucks and Aunty Pon’s Thai Food Truck in the nearby town of Volcano gets great reviews.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t in operation when we arrived although their website said they should be open.  More about Aunty Pon’s Thai Food Truck Here.

Rainbow Falls

Forty-five minutes later we were back down the mountain and in the parking lot for Rainbow Falls.  Parking is free and there isn’t any admission fee.  The falls lookout is within 100 yards of the parking lot.  The falls produce a lot of Rainbows when the sun is shining in the right direction – it wasn’t shining today.  I wouldn’t make a special trip to see these falls, but if you are already in Hilo, they are worth a quick stop.

Big Island Candies

If you are on a HAL tour, I can almost guarantee you will stop at Big Island Candies in Hilo.  They sell a variety of cookies, shortbreads and other locally made sweets and snacks.  The wall between the store and the factory is glass and we spent some time watching the factory in operation.  You won’t find many bargains here, but the cookies and candies are very good.  We always end up buying something.

Walmart

Walmart was our final stop.  Its getting harder to find crackers and other snacks anywhere on the ship – so we picked up a few bags of munchies to satisfy our late night cravings for something salty.

Returning the car was easy and we were soon back on the ship.

Frankie’s Guys

Jukebox Rogues presented “Frankie’s Guys” on the World Stage.  This was their version of Jersey Boys.  The Jukebox Rogues are four tenors, assembled from around the world, who create a variety of musical shows of various genres.  They present an engaging, energetic performance.