Pack for rain, ride for sun
Hilo is the lush, wet side. Expect afternoon showers most days; it's why everything is so impossibly green. A light rain shell beats fighting an umbrella.
Hilo International Airport · ITO
Landed in Hilo.
Keys in hand in ten.
Hilo is Hawai'i Island's east-side arrival: the rainy, waterfall, farmers-market side. We deliver your 12 or 15-pax van curbside at ITO so you can point south toward Volcanoes or north up the Hamakua Coast within minutes of baggage claim.
Airport code
ITO
- Side of island
- East · windward
- Meeting point
- Curbside baggage claim
- To Volcanoes NP
- ~45 min
The meetup
Outside baggage
claim. Under
the covered drive.
ITO is a small, friendly airport. There's one baggage claim area, one exit, one ground-transportation curb. When you walk out, you walk straight into the covered drive, where we pull up with your van, keys ready, A/C running.
First 15 minutes: we confirm your name, walk you around the van (damage photos, seat belts, rear A/C control), hand over keys and a paper-backup of your paperwork, and point you at the highway. No upsells, no pitch for a bigger van than you ordered.
If your flight is delayed: we track arrival times live. Hilo gets weather; inbound flights sometimes hold or divert. We adjust, you focus on getting off the plane.
If your bags don't show up: it happens. We'll wait with you while you file a claim at the counter so you're not choosing between a lost bag and a missed meetup.
The Hilo side
Rainy, lush,
criminally underrated.
The east side is wetter than Kona. That's the deal. It's also why every overlook looks like a postcard and every valley runs with waterfalls. Pack light rain layers and plan accordingly.
First stops nearby
Rainbow Falls (15 min from the van drop), Liliʻuokalani Gardens for a calm walk, and downtown Hilo for farmers-market poke and shave ice before you point south toward Volcanoes.
Volcanoes is close
Forty-five minutes down Hwy 11 and you're at the park entrance. Steam vents, lava fields, the Chain of Craters Road: a full half-day without moving camp.
From Hilo, it's...
Driving times
for the ITO side.
Hilo is a great base camp. Volcanoes is under an hour, the Hamakua Coast runs north, and Saddle Road cuts you across to Kona inside two hours.
- Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
- Hwy 11 south, straight shot.
- Waimea
- Hwy 19 up the Hamakua Coast.
- Mauna Kea Visitor Info Station
- Up Saddle Road to the VIS at 9,000 ft.
- Kona (KOA)
- Cross-island via Saddle Road (Hwy 200).
- Akaka Falls
- Quick Hamakua day trip.
- South Point (Ka Lae)
- Southern tip; the U.S. ends here.
~45 min
~1 h
~1 h
~2 h
~25 min
~1h 45m
Do you have car seats or booster seats?
We can include car seats and boosters on request. Mention how many, and what ages, at booking; we'll stage them in the van before delivery.
Can I return the van to Kona (KOA) instead?
Yes. One-way ITO → KOA drop is available on request; just flag it at booking so we can coordinate.
Is there a fee for Hilo delivery?
Airport delivery is included for eligible trips. Rate, dates, and group size factor in; we'll confirm at booking so there are no surprises.
What if my flight to Hilo is delayed?
We track your flight live. Weather delays are common in Hilo; we deliver the van to the curb when you actually land, not when you were supposed to.
Keep reading
Flying into ITO?
We'll pull up.
Send us your flight, we'll send you a van. Same-day availability on the Hilo side is common. Ask.