As our shore excursion to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was in the afternoon, we decided to head out and explore Hilo. The good news is that here in Hilo at the cruise terminal there were some tour operators selling last minute tours, a hop on hop off shuttle and a free shuttle return service to the Hilo Farmers Market sponsored by Destination Hilo.

Once in downtown Hilo we checked out the Hilo Farmer's Market and an open air market across the street selling Hawaiian souvenirs.
Hilo town is really cute and retro. There are some great local cafes and shops here. We did explore a bit until it started pouring with rain.

We had lunch at Cadillac Diner which was the restaurant onboard the Pride of America that is open 24 hours a day.

We were then off on our Hawaii Volcanoes National Park shore excursion with Norwegian Cruise Line. Our first stop was at Big Island Candies where they make sweet treats including hand dipped shortbread cookies. Then we made our way to the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park.

Our first stop was the Kilauea Viewpoint which is at the end of the road. This area was closed when I was here in December of 2019. The visibility wasn't the best as it was sprinkling rain and the volcano was smoking heavily. The smell of sulphur and smoke was heavy in the air today. The visitors center and museum that is also located here is closed as the building has begun to shift and fall into the crater.

The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day including holidays. So I would highly recommend coming here at night if you actually stay on the Big Island of Hawaii, apparently the glow from the volcano's crater is quite something, it's also easier to see the lava floes at night for obvious reasons if the lava is flowing.

We then continued onto the Steam Vents.

The Kilauea Visitor Center is located near the entry to the park. It's a great little museum with park rangers who give talks here and they show a video about Kilauea and the volcanoes that are active in this area.

Across the street from the visitors center there is a hotel called Volcano House. It seems like a really interesting place to stay for a night. There is a restaurant and if you walk through the hotel there is another viewing platform which is free to visitors. They also have a large gift shop here.
I would really recommend coming to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park if you've never visited. However I would recommend coming with a smaller tour company that offers a more in-depth visit to the National Park like I did when I was here in December 2019, or rent a car and come and explore yourself. I did enjoy our shore excursion with NCL, however I personally prefer excursions that have a much smaller group size.

It was then time to head back to the Pride of America and get ready for dinner at the speciality restaurant, Cagney's Steakhouse. This is another Norwegian Cruise Line favourite for me. I ordered the Black Tiger Shrimp Trio to start, followed by the Filet Mignon with a Chimichurri Sauce and Grilled Zucchini and Potatoes Au Gratin as my sides. For dessert I love the Raspberry Creme Brulee here.

Please consider joining my Wanderlust Journey Community as a Patreon supporter. For less than the cost of a cup of coffee per month (my community membership tiers start at $2 per month), you can help support me to create more content. My Patreons receive perks such as postcards from my travels, access to behind the scenes footage and zoom calls. For more information you can visit my Patreon community page here:   / wanderlustjourney  

You can also support my channel through “Buy Me a Coffee”: https://www.buymeacoff.ee/WanderlustJ

As a luxury travel advisor my clients typically receive added benefits when booking vacations, hotel stays and cruises such as to destinations such as Hawaii through me. I'd love to work with you as your travel advisor, contact me for more information: https://wanderlustjourney.ca/contact-me/

Travel with Me! Click here for more information: https://www.wanderlustjourney.ca/trav...

Join my monthly email newsletter: http://wanderlustjourney.ck.page/subs...
---------

To watch the entire Hawaii Travel Series I filmed, click here:    • Hawaii Travel Vlogs  

----------

Connect with me on Social Media:

Instagram: @wanderlustjourney.ca
  / wanderlustjourney.ca  

Facebook:   / wanderlustjourney.ca  

Patreon:   / wanderlustjourney  

Music is from Epidemic Sound: https://share.epidemicsound.com/uzawu0

*Affiliate Link Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the link(s), we may receive a small commission (which are so grateful to help keep Wanderlust Journey content going) at no extra cost to you.