Should I book tours to the Big Island volcanoes and Pearl Harbour before I leave home on the internet or should I wait and book something when I get there? Is it cheaper to wait and is there plenty of availability at the end of August if I wait until I get there? I am going to Waikiki for 5 days and then spending a week on Kauai before returning to Waikiki for a couple of nights.

For PH, you can book a day in advance from your hotel. If you are only on Oahu and Kauai, are you taking an air tour to the BI vocanoes?

We would like to take an air trip to the volcanoes but wondered if we should wait and book when we get to Hawaii.

I would call the airtrip companies and ask the least amount of advance reservation time they recommend. The fewere days in advance that you reserve, the more you will be sure of what the weather will be. This way you can choose a day that has a weather favorable for flying and viewing.

i generaly make advance reservations during high season. One never knows if anything is available. Have been burned a few times because waited - learned my lesson....

I am not sure what you are expecting to see in the volcanos. We had planned such a trip while we were on the Big Island in April 2012. However, now that the lava is not flowing into the sea and the crater is only a glow that can only be seen at night, together with the heavy pollution, we saved our $AUD and just saw the volcano from the ground - great walking trips with the ranger from the Volcano Visitor Centre.

Just taking the rim drive around the old Volcano is a marvelous trip.

As for helicopters rides on the Big Island - Blue Hawaiian http://www.bluehawaiian.com/ is very good - and they probably have the most experienced pilots.

And for Pearl Harbor - the Navy boats are the only ones that get you right up to/on the USS Airzona and not sure if they take reservations - but go early to beat the crowds and you should be find.

This site might lead you to better info re: a Pearl Harbor tour. http://www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm

To answer the question about advance reservations for Pearl Harbor--yes you can get reservations for a tour out to the Arizona since March, I believe. Here's the website
http://www.recreation.gov/unifSearch...abIndex=Search

You need to get there 1 hour before your reserved tour time to pick up your tickets.

"Just taking the rim drive around the old Volcano is a marvelous trip."

If you refer to the rim drive around the Volcanoes National Park, much of it is closed.
"Crater Rim Drive and Crater Rim Trail are CLOSED from the Jaggar Museum south around the caldera to the Chain of Craters Road junction"