Big Island
My partner and I went on this tour with Aaron. He was a fantastic tour guide, with lots of interesting tidbits about the history of the island and plenty of jokes. He also offered to take plenty of photos of us at all the stops. A huge thank you to him for remaining so cheerful and helpful after such a long day. If it was a long day for us, I can't imagine how long it was for him.
The tour was exactly what's stated in the description. We chose to do the tour in part because we weren't certain how to navigate Volcano National Park, and the tour offered highlights of the Park. After the tour though, I wish we had had more time on the island so we could explore Volcano National Park ourselves. Two hours wasn't nearly enough. If you're lucky (we unfortunately weren't), there will be lava at the Park. But don't worry, the volcanoes on Hawaii won't kill you, but bad tour guide jokes will (thank you for that one Aaron!).
Another highlight was Punalu'u Bake Shop. Try the pineapple malasadas: you won't regret it! I was initally hesitant because I'm not a fan of pineapple not in its raw form/juice, but the pineapple malasada was the best of those we ordered. I wish we got more. The passionfruit (lilikoi) and apple ones were also delicious.
After the bakery, we went to Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. It's absolutely lovely and a nice chance to see the endangered Hawaiian sea turtles up close. It's also very picturesque. Just don't get too close to the waves or you'll get very wet.
We finished the tour with stargazing.
Overall, I highly recommend this tour for anyone who wants a quick, yet interesting and surprisingly thorough, tour of the southern part of the Big Island. If/when we go back, we would book with Wasabi Tours again.
This was a long tour, about 13 hours, and it was so informative and fun! Our guide Aaron was very safe, smart, and informative during our tour. We had a great time at the coffee plantation, black sands beach, a famous bakery, and at the volcano national park. Dinner was good and so was lunch they provided. We had a great and unforgettable time.
I definitely recommend taking this tour. It’s very well paced so that you’re never stressed out or rushed, but never bored either. I loved learning Hawaiian history and fork lore expertly told by my tour guide Uncle Jim. I would request him if you can. The stops are great and it’s a really nice day trip. Hope you can do this and have fun!
So much goodies in 1 day- we loved the Kona coffe and cannot stop thinking about it!
Amazing experience! Lots of the island wrapped up in a day you can't go wrong.
We loved this tour! P.J., our Tour guide, loves his job, and that was obvious in his knowledge and enthusiasm. Comfortable shuttle. Great service. Good food. Great sights!
We booked this tour based on these reviews, it seems that these reviews were spot on. Our tour started when Tod picked us up on time and whisked us off to our island adventure. He was very knowledgeable and went out of his way to explain Hawaiian culture and pointed out things in our drive that were informative.
The stargazing portion of our tour was an incredibly unique and awe-inspiring experience. Tod was a knowledgeable guide and took us to a dark and remote location in Mauna Kea, perfect for stargazing. With the use of his personal high-quality telescope, binoculars and a powerful laser pointer, we were able to see constellations, planets, and even faint nebulae. Tod also shared interesting facts and stories about the night sky, making the experience both informative and enjoyable.
Tod even made the experience memorable by playing The Planets by Gustav Holst, its those little details, that made this tour the highlight of our Big Island Vacation.
Overall, this tour is a must-do for anyone who wants to see the stars in all their glory accompanied by our an amazing guide Tod.
Make sure to request him on your next stargazing adventure.
This was a great hike with our guide Jennifer. She adjusted it to match my kids’ level of interest. She was well prepared with all the supplies including backpacks, snacks, rain gear and jackets. On our visit we got sun and rain and sun and rain. My kids’ were tired so we cut our hike short but it was just enough to have great introduction to the park, and the plants and history around it.
Tour was excellent, Aaron was a great host. Very informed, engaging. Had fun all along the way. We had plenty of time at all the stops to experience and enjoy. Made our 1st trip here an experience to remember. We are telling everyone if they come to the Island they need to take this tour.
In addition when we 1st booked, we were told that our location was around 90 minutes from the tour pickup. We chose to go ahead but very much appreciated the help and advice. Excellent service all around.
This was a great way to see a lot in one day. The ride was very comfortable, our driver was extremely knowledgeable and engaging and we saw and learned so much!
Aloha Susan and Dave,
Thank you so much for your kind words! It is a lot to see in one day for sure. We pride ourselves on having engaging guides with knowledge of all things Big Island. We're glad you enjoyed your tour and hope your time on the Big Island was enjoyable!
From local coffee to black sand beaches to wineries to lava flows to lava tunnels to a charming sunset, this tour is a entire day filled with memories. The guides were knowledgeable and so kind and accommodating, which we appreciate :)
Aloha Kara,
Thank you so much for the kind review! Thanks for acknowledging the guide, they are your captain for the day and we are so proud of the ones we have. We hope you enjoyed your time on the Big Island!
I was able to learn a lot about lava from the very detailed explanation. Although we couldn't see the starry sky, we can't go against nature.
非常に丁寧な説明で、溶岩について、多くを学ぶことができました。
星空が見えなかったですが、自然には逆らえないですね。
Awesome day on the Big Island. A full day with a coffee farm, tour of the Volcanoes National Park, then stargazing on a clear night. Our Tour guide Aaron was the best. His knowledge of Hawaiian culture, the volcano, and then the night sky was awesome. He was so helpful and kind. This was a once in a lifetime experience. The volcano stopped erupting a few days after our tour. So, we felt so lucky to get to see an active volcano. Be sure to take a sweatshirt or jacket. It got cold in the evening. It is a full day, but so worth it.
We really enjoyed our experience on this tour. Our tour guide, Aaron was very informative! I mean who better to have for a tour guide than a history teacher!! The only part that could use some improvement are the meals. We expected a meal with more substance.
Not only does it cover so many aspects of the island, you have an excellent guide the full time that makes you understand each area you are stopping at and the history!!
Aloha Kara, and thanks for your kind words. We're glad you enjoyed the tour, and we thank you for choosing Kailani Tours!
Just want to say that my husband and I really enjoyed our tour with Zachary he was very knowledgeable and attentive with everyone in our group! Thank you!
Aloha Flora,
Thank you for your review! We appreciate you picked Kailani to tour you around the island. Zachary is amazing, a very humble and knowledgable guide. Thanks again for posting, and we hope you enjoyed your time on the Big Island!
This tour was worth every penny. The sites and culture we experienced were beyond our expectations. The tour guide was so friendly and her knowledge of each and every site visited and of the Hawaiian culture and history was beyond outstanding. This tour has to be the highlight of our visit to the Big Island. If you want an exciting, exhilarating, beautiful, and culturally immersive experience this tour will meet your every expectation.
The guide was very friendly and shared many interesting stories! Everyone participating was American, and we all had a great time together. We were able to see a starry sky that you can't experience in Japan. The guide also explained about the stars, which was very enjoyable.
ガイドさんが非常に気さくな方で色々な面白い話をしてくれました!参加していたのはアメリカ人だけでしたがみんなでワイワイしてました。日本ではみるようなことができない満点の星空を見ることができました。ガイドさんが星の解説もしてくださり非常に楽しかったです
This tour was a great way to see the highlights of the entire Big Island. To start off, our tour guide, Christopher, was fantastic. He was exceptionally knowledgeable about the island, interesting to listen to, energetic, and willing to do anything needed to make our tour great. We started out being picked up at our resort in a very comfortable Mercedes van. We visited Kona Joes coffee farm where we had a good lunch. We toured the southern side of the island, and stopped at the Punalu’u Bake Shop to have excellent pastries. Next stop was the black sand beach where we watched the huge surf crashing into the rocky coast, and saw two very lazy green turtles sunning themselves on the beach. After that, we went to the Kilauea volcano crater to see it in the daytime. Wind and rain hampered this visit, so we went to dinner at a great resturant nearby. On the way, we stopped to tour the rain forest and walked through a lava tunnel. Both were great experiences. Finally, to top it all off, we say the lava eruptions at night at the crater. Fantastic experience...
Aloha Mark,
Thank you for your review, very thorough! Christopher is a gem of a guide for sure, we're so happy you enjoyed your day with us, and we hope your trip to the Big Island was great EVERY day.
It's not every day you can say you saw new earth being formed in front of your eyes. We loved seeing the glow of lava at night. Not many places you can do this in the world.
Mahalo, Kate!
We really enjoyed our full day tour filled with waterfalls, visiting volcanoes national park and capping it off with a stargazing tour at the end. Our guide was good but would have liked him to relate more of his stories to our grandaughter. When we did the stargazing, he was great. You could tell this was his passion.
Madi is the perfect tour guide! She has great knowledge of the volcanos, loves answering everyone’s questions, and has a bubbly personality that makes it impossible to not have fun!! It was a long day, but everything is worth seeing. Walking through a lava tube is an amazing experience and my personal favourite. My hubby enjoyed the whole volcano park experience. To top it off they feed you all day, so it’s impossible to go hungry. Thank you so much and we’ll recommend this tour to everyone we know! Well worth the money!
Mahalo for the kind words about Madi and your experience! We strive for all of our guests to have this enjoyment with us!
This trip was such a convenient way to see Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. I think it can be a bit daunting when planning trips to the different islands for the first time especially considering location of places, terrain, the type of vehicle you may need, parking, and the length of the trip. So I would say this is a great way to get a taste for a bunch of different activities to do on the big island.
It will take about 13 hours to complete the whole trip and the temp will be warm during the day and cold at night so be prepared. Luckily the company does provide windbreakers and fleece jackets for the cooler temperatures. Our tour guide Aaron was great! He was very friendly and helpful. He is very knowledgeable about the history, environment, landscape, and so much more! Thanks so much for touring us around, Aaron. We appreciate it so much.
Todd was great, he went out of his way to make it a great experience for us. He set up his own telescope for the group to get a good look at the stars and moon. He was very knowledgeable and extremely patient. We were also lucky enough to catch the eruption making the trip really great
Wow! This tour was absolutely amazing from start to finish. Our tour guide, Bryce, was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever met. He knew so much of the history and culture of Hawaii and told us so many in depth stories with a lot of detail. He also has extensive knowledge in almost every topic known to man and can easily talk about any topic for hours—literally! This tour was super long but so worth it. Bryce kept us entertained the whole time while driving from place to place. The volcano was spectacular to see in both the day and the night! In the day, you get to enjoy the vastness of the volcano and see all the steam vents. In the night—wow nothing will ever beat that experience—the most stars you will ever see in the night sky and the lava flow was unreal! So unbelievably cool. This really was the best tour we have ever been on—amazing sights, fun times, and extremely informative! Highly recommend!
Aloha Erika and Nate,
Thanks for your review, we're so glad you enjoyed it! Bryce is a wealth of information for sure, and we're lucky to have him as a guide. You're timing was great for the eruption, we're so glad you were able to see it live! We hope your time on the island was amazing!
We had a great time! The whole tour was packed with well thought out stops.
Our guide Chris was a wealth of information on the history and culture of the island. We could not have asked for a better guide. He was engaging, attentive and professional. He never tired of the countless questions we had.
The coffee farm was the perfect setting for a quick lunch. The views were absolutely beautiful!
The dinner was nice and cozy and gave us a chance to get to know our fellow riders.
The night sky was incredible! Living in a city, we forget what the night sky really looks like beyond the skyscrapers and light pollution. Thank you for a great and for us, a very memorable tour!
I was lucky to be in a small group for this tour so the guide was very flexible with the schedule and we had enough time to enjoy each place. Our guide was a very knowledgeable local man who knows a lot about Hawaiian history and how the different spots we visited have changed through time.
All the stops we made at the volcano's park were totally worth it but my favorite spot in this tour was the Akaka Falls, what a gorgeous place!!!
Mahalo for spending the day with us Laura! Glad you enjoyed your visit...and yes Akaka Falls is a magical place!
You see everything on this tour!!! Delicious coffee!!
Thank you Kara! We hope you had a wonderful experience and that your time on the island was amazing!
I must admit I almost didn’t book this tour because of the duration. I’m so glad we did though!! This tour was a fantastic blend experiences. Our guide was super knowledgeable and kept us engaged in conversation just enough. When we had stops to explore the coffee farm, black sand beach, lava tube, nighttime lava flow. None of the stops felt rushed or lingered too long. I would highly recommend this. It was one of the best experiences we had on our trip.
Dylan was a fantastic guide! He put an interesting spin on the whole tour, and he taught us a lot about the geology of the island as a whole. Every part of the tour was great. The coffee farm had a wonderful view, the bakery was great, the beach was very unique, and the volcano + hike were really cool. The fact that they'd brought a telescope made it even easier to see the laval.