Cruise Days – Hilo, Honolulu & Kona, Hawaii

Sep 22, 2011 by Joel

The first ports of call after Long Beach, California, is three different stops in the Hawaii Island’s. It was great to get to these ports after four full days at sea, even if the first port Hilo, Hawaii, was experiencing it’s regular weather of rain.

Hilo

Hilo is located on the Western side of the Big Island, in Hawaii. Arriving here this morning we were welcomed by grey skies and just as the ship had docked and we were starting to go ashore, greeted by rain. Although the rain was not heavy it was persistent and was around for a majority of the day.

I was booked on a shore excursion from the ship today, and to be honest it was rather disappointing. The tour which was named waterfall Spectacular, was far from spectacular with the possible exception of one of the three Waterfalls which was Akaka Falls, at over 440 feet high.

The other two waterfalls however were anything but spectacular. The second of the three was Kahuna Falls, which you could hardly

see from the vantage point offered. And the third was Rainbow Falls, which had so little water in it that it look like a running

tap rather then a waterfall.

In the afternoon after the tour, I got to visit some of the other places to see around Hilo. One was Big Island Candies. They make quite a range of Chocolates, cookies and Shortbread. Next was a stop at Hilo Hattie’s, which is really a big souvenir store, you get a free shell necklace, and I did buy some little things here. The biggest problem in Hilo, being on a cruise ship is the distance from the Pier to the town, getting there is relatively easy by the free shuttles available, however it just takes time getting there and back plus waiting for the shuttle at each end.

Honolulu

Honolulu was the next stop, the day after Hilo. But the weather situation was worlds apart, the sun was shining, and although there was clouds in the distance they did not cause any problems all day. The pier in Honolulu is Pier 10, which is right near Aloha tower, which is a small shopping area. However the best part about the pier location is that it is literally on the doorstep of downtown, for shopping or a number of other attractions

Again I had booked on a shore excursion, which today worked out much better. The tour was to take me to Diamond Head Crater, which is the remnants of an old extinct undersea volcano. The peak of the crater towers above the southern coast line of Oahu at 762 feet, which once you make it up is definitely worth the hike. However the hike can be a little bit of a challenge, 1.5 miles or 2.2km will get you to the top however some of this is almost level while other parts like the photo below are straight up steep stairs (the set below was 99 stairs, however over 200+ stairs) a 200 feet long tunnel, and even a spiral staircase.

Of course after you reach the top of Diamond Head Crater, the rewards are to be seen all around. To the south is the Ocean as far as you can see. The West is the rugged coastline and beaches of Oahu. To the North are the mountains that cover the centre of the island of Oahu, which were shrouded in clouds. Finally to the East is the sprawling city of Honolulu, and the coastline including beaches such as Waikiki, and in the fair distance a glimpse of our ship in port.

After the tour which really only took part of the time I was in port, I decided to go for a walk around some of Honolulu. It is a fairly easy city to navigate without a map as long as you have some basic directional ability, to be able to locate the waterfront again and then head in the right direction to return to the ship. My main goal here was to do a little shopping (I bought a couple of new shirts, and a new pair of hiking shoes). However I also found a couple of other interesting places to visit which are pictured below.

Kona

The last stop in Hawaii was Kona, this was also the first port in which Tender’s were required to get from the ship at Anchor to shore. This allowed for one important thing I had been wanting to do, which was get a good photo of the MS Volendam, which I will have to update later on.

I had no plans here at all, and ended up going with a group of people I have met onboard and we walked along the main street, taking a look at the shops, and other little fun details that were to be found around Kona.

Using Tenders here made this a bit of a challenge getting ashore. Timing was not great We were at anchor around 8am, and even though we were waiting with tender tickets at 9am, we did not get ashore until after 10.30am. Due to the number of people wanting to get ashore and also the case that it was a little more bumpy then usual to board tenders. This was not a huge problem however wanting to allow ample time to get back to the tenders there was more we could have done, if we had got across earlier.

In the end, in addition to the main street we were able to take a look at a local market which was selling quite a range of local produce, trinkets and other things. Which was kind of interesting to see some of the things that are made and sold locally. Before also taking a breather at the Kona Island Brewing Company, I did not try any of the local beer this time, however it was a nice place to take a little while to rest before heading back to the ship.

Although the weather and the tour was a little disappointing in Hilo, I did really enjoy my three stops in Hawaii. It is definitely a place that I will look to return to in the future for a little more time, where I do not have a time limit getting back to a ship.