Ultimate Waipio Valley Off-Road Tour, Akaka Falls and Waterfall Swim
If you can afford it, you should definitely take this trip
If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would.
My family and I did this our first day in Hawaii, and it served as an amazing introduction to the culture, geography, and geology of the island. The waterfalls were beautiful and the valley was unexpectedly incredible. Our guide for the majority of the tour was named Ehitu and he was extremely knowledgeable and nice - he even brought us fresh pineapple from his house, which was amazing. The private waterfall where we swam was beautiful, albeit a little chilly. Definitely bring water shoes if you want to swim and jump off the rocks! I didn't catch the name of our guide into the valley, but he came up to take us on his day off, and he knew everything and everyone down there. He had lived there in the past, so he was able to take us off road and drive down rivers and even introduce us to the wild horses, who came up to the vehicle when he called them.
Overall, this was an amazing excursion - breathtaking views and excellent guides. Do this if you have the chance.
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| Attended as: | Families | ||
| Posted on: | 2017/06/24 | ||
| See individual review | |||
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Worth the workout!
This was a really unique way to see the island, and my family and I had a blast! The snorkeling quality and difficulty of kayaking obviously vary with weather, but the beautiful views are amazing no matter what! The seas were pretty rough the day we went out, so we couldn't spend as much time in the cave, but the guides were really helpful, and we were still able to see plenty of fish, eels, and urchins despite the weather. The guides also pointed out some historical sites and things we never would have noticed alone. Excellent day trip!
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| Attended as: | Families | ||
| Posted on: | 2017/06/24 | ||
| See individual review | |||
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Puna Coast Expedition & Kilauea Volcano After Dark Lava Hunt Adventure
Best way to see the volcano, no doubt
If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would.
My family and I had an absolutely amazing time on this tour - it's a long day, but it's SO worth it. Both of our guides were fantastic; they did an excellent job teaching us about the history and geology of the island while keeping the tour atmosphere casual and fun. They had answers to pretty much every question that was asked, and despite not being Hawaiian natives, they clearly studied extensively about Hawaiian history and cared deeply about Hawaiian culture. The volcano national park was as spectacular as we hoped it would be and the hike out to the lava flow was well worth it.
Some of the highlights of the tour were kind of unexpected. The bakery we visited on the way from Kona was delicious, and walking through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and learning about the past eruptions was fascinating. The southern area of the island where we had dinner was absolutely incredible. Our guide talked to us about the politics on the island and about the movement for Hawaiian freedom centered in that region. If you take this trip, bring your passport so you can get it stamped! Honestly, the evening portion of this tour was the highlight of our whole vacation - it cast light on aspects of Hawaiian culture we had never thought about and gave us breathtaking views of the ocean and the lava. It was totally amazing in every respect.
Absolutely take this tour if you get a chance!!!
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| Attended as: | Families | ||
| Posted on: | 2017/06/24 | ||
| See individual review | |||
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Best snorkeling I have ever done
Seconds after we got to the snorkeling spot, one of the guides emerged from the water holding an octopus, which everyone got to see and interact with. There were probably 7 or 8 sea turtles of all sizes and ages around us the whole time we were in the water, in addition to the tropical fish and moray eels on the reef. It was absolutely incredible.
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| Attended as: | Families | ||
| Posted on: | 2017/06/24 | ||
| See individual review | |||
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Not much to this tour
There isn't much to this tour that you couldn't do on your own. Both of the national parks were interesting, but my family and I would have loved to have more time to take them in. The bee farm was also cool - their employees were really enthusiastic and we enjoyed tasting all of the honey. However, the coffee tour was given by a coffee farm employee who seemed to not know much of what she was talking about. Our tour guide from the tour company was honestly the highlight of the tour - he was really knowledgeable and funny, and he definitely made the tour as fun as it could possibly be. However, it felt like he didn't have that much to work with.
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| Attended as: | Families | ||
| Posted on: | 2017/06/24 | ||
| See individual review | |||
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Aloha, Thank you so much for writing such a wonderful review! We so very much appreciate your time and we are delighted that you enjoyed our tour! We realize that it is a bit of a long day, but it is a big island and we want to show you both sides of the volcano!! The National Park and the hike out to the lava on the back side of the volcano. They are both so unique and worth the time! I will be sure to pass on your kind words to our team (and yes, they all study a lot to be a part of our team:)) and I know they will appreciate your comments. We hope to see you again someday!! Mahalo!