Great tour of the island

Posted on: 2022/03/31

I've been to the island dozens of times over the last 50 years and this tour was one of the highlights of all the visits.

Our pickup time was 6:40am from the Ala Moana Hotel. This is right next to a major shopping mall with ample parking. After a few more pickup locations, at various hotels, we were on our way.

Our driver, Danny (Driver of the year), was outstanding. He not only provided us with island history, but his own personal experiences growing up on the island, while pointing out many points of interest as we spent the day traveling around the island. As we approached each of the stops throughout the day, Danny played a brief video describing the highlights of the next destination.

The bus was clean and comfortable, with an onboard restroom. Bottled water was available throughout our entire tour.

We made our way out of Waikiki, traveling east through the neighborhoods to our first stop at the Halona Blowhole where Danny provided us with a tasty taro poi malasada (a purplish colored glazed donut that was outstanding). We spent about 15-20 minutes taking in the sights, before heading off to our next stop.

We arrived at our next stop, the Pali Lookout, about 20 minutes later. The views down to Kaneohe Bay were amazing. Again we had 15-20 minutes to enjoy the view and take photos.

A short time later we arrived at the Byodo-In Temple. After ringing the bell for luck, you can walk thru the Temple and around the grounds and koi ponds.

After leaving the Temple, we enjoyed an hour long drive along the coast, including amazing views of the North Shore, before arriving in Haleiwa town.
Here you'll have 90 minutes to enjoy lunch from one of the many food establishments.

The final stop in the tour was the Dole Pineapple Plantation, before returning to Honolulu where we got to view the Iolani Palace, and the King Kamehameha Statue.

The nine and a half hours flew by and was time well spent.