Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [152]
Taxi
In Hawai’i, cabbies are typically locals who often act as island tour guides. It’S easy to find a cab at either airport, but most companies are small, with no advertisements or Yellow Pages listings. Cabs don’t run all night or cruise for passengers, so in town call ahead. The standard flag-down fee is $2, plus $2 per mile thereafter.
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DRIVING DISTANCES & TIMES
From Hilo
Destination Miles Time
Hawi 86 2¼hr
Honoka′a 40 1hr
Kailua-Kona 92 2½
Na′alehu 64 1¾hr
Pahoa 16 ½hr
Hawai′i Volcanoes National Park 28 ½hr
Waikoloa 80 2¼hr
Waimea 54 1½hr
Waipi′o Lookout 50 1¼hr
From Kailua-Kona
Destination Miles Time
Hawi 51 1¼hr
Hilo 92 2½hr
Honoka′a 61 1½hr
Na′alehu 60 1½hr
Pahoa 108 3hr
Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park 98 2½hr
Waikoloa 18 ¾hr
Waimea 43 1hr
Waipi′o Lookout 70 1¾hr
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FLY LIKE AN ′IO
For a thrilling bird’S-eye view of the island and its red-hot volcanoes, try a helicopter tour. Lava tours leave from Hilo – most fly over Kilauea Caldera, the active Pu′u ′O′o vent and then hover over live lava flows. Before booking, confirm what you’ll see, and make sure all seats are window seats; some also offer ‘doors off’ tours, and noise-canceling headsets are nice. Other helicopter tours (some leaving from Kona) take in the valleys along the Kohala and Hamakua Coasts. Helicopter tours will fly if it’S cloudy (but not if it’S raining); wait for a sparkling clear day if you can.
Without discounts, expect to pay $165 to $210 for a 45- to 55-minute lava tour, while two-hour valley trips run between $400 and $450. Most companies offer advance-purchase internet deals, and free tourist magazines have discount coupons. (For an overview of the environmental impacts of helicopter tours, see the boxed text, Click here.)
Blue Hawaiian Helicopters (961-5600, 800-745-2583; www.bluehawaiian.com) Reliable, dependable and high volume.
Iolani Air Tour Company (329-0018, 800-538-7590; www.iolaniair.com) Has cheaper 50-minute ‘flightseeing tours’ by small prop plane.
Paradise Helicopters (969-7392, 866-876-7422; http://paradisecopters.com) A good reputation for more personal tours.
Safari Helicopters (969-1259, 800-326-3356; www.safarihelicopters.com)
Sunshine Helicopters (270-3999, 866-501-7738; www.sunshinehelicopters.com) Also has snorkel combo tours.
Tropical Helicopters (866-961-6810; www.tropicalhelicopters.com) Also does custom charters.
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Tours
Several long-time tour operators offer around-the-island tours, which are essentially a mad dash through Kailua-Kona, Hawai′i Volcanoes National Park, Punalu′u black-sand beach, Hilo’S Rainbow Falls, the Hamakua Coast and Waimea. They provide a quick glimpse of the island’S buffet.
Roberts Hawaii (954-8652, 866-898-2519; www.robertshawaii.com), Jack’S Tours (969-9507, 800-442-5557; www.jackshawaii.com) and Polynesian Adventure Tours (833-3000, 800-622-3011; www.polyad.com) offer day-long circle-island bus tours (with variations) that cost from $70 to $85. All three companies pick up passengers at hotels in Waikoloa, Kailua-Kona and Keauhou; the exact time varies, but expect to leave around sunrise and get back around sunset.
Other region- and activity-specific tours are mentioned throughout the chapter. For helicopter tours, see above; and for agricultural tours, Click here.
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KAILUA-KONA
pop 10,000
In 1866, Mark Twain described Kailua-Kona as ‘a little collection of native grass houses reposing under tall coconut trees – the sleepiest, quietest, Sundayest looking place you can imagine.’ My, how things have changed.
Kailua (or Kona) now has the worst traffic, the most hotels and condos, the most tourists, the most souvenirs per square foot, and is in fact the most likely place on the entire island to find businesses open on a Sunday. Along the waterfront’S meandering Ali