Thoughtful and insightful tour -- well worth it!

Posted on: 2017/11/27

We had a fantastic time with our Kailani tour of the Big Island that we booked through Veltra. I’ll go through each category of the trip one by one and leave my detailed thoughts:

GUIDE
Our guide, Kevin, was a former U.S. Navy electrical engineer and was quite knowledgeable about the island. He spoke on the microphone throughout the trip, always providing new and interesting information, but never repeating himself or sounding boring. I got the sense that he wasn’t just trying to fill space, but rather that he genuinely had lots of things to share about the island. I also appreciated how he had studied some Hawaiian and was able to translate a number of names and titles to us in English and explain the cultural and linguistic origins.

ITINERARY
I was stoked to get to see Volcanoes National Park because it was on my bucket list and it was beautiful. The guide provided night-time binoculars so we could see the magma spitting out of the volcano crater at night—truly spectacular. Plus, the itinerary was designed so that you avoid the large crowds at the volcano, making stops before and after it erupts. Hilo was nice but quick, so I’d say if you really want to explore the town of Hilo you should go on your own. This one makes a brief stop in Hilo but really just uses it as a jumping off point to explore the volcano.

FOOD
The lunch was pretty simple but fresh – sandwiches with turkey, hummus, and avocado in various varieties. The dinner is quite special though as the lodge is quite intimate, very cozy and offers great food.

TRANSPORT
The transport is a Mercedes 12 seater van with a co-pilot seat, then three rows of three and one row of four. Even if you get a middle seat it’s not bad, because the windows are essentially panoramic on the bus and they are extremely clean. The black leather interior was very comfortable and not one on our ride got carsick.

Overall I highly recommend this tour!