Things to Do in Big Island in 2025 – Tours & Activities

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Great experience

Reviewed by: RH

Loved this tour - our tour guide was very accommodating and knowledgeable and we saw some beautiful spots of the island. Definitely recommend this trip as you get to see a lot in one day. My favourite places were the black sand beach with the sea turtles and the Volcanoes National Park (but to be honest, I loved all the sites).

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

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Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Solo Travelers
Weather:	Sunny
Posted on:	2025/11/25
Activity Date:	2025/11/23

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

Ziplining and hiking

Reviewed by: Kara

The course felt very well run, safety was clearly a priority, and the transitions between ziplines were smooth.

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Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Adventure
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2025/11/23
Activity Date:	2025/07/11

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Fun!!!

Reviewed by: Kara

Loved this tour! We saw so much of the Big Island in a single day. And the guide shared really interesting facts along the way.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

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Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Friends
Posted on:	2025/11/22
Activity Date:	2025/07/15

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Great Island Experience

Reviewed by: Kara

A fantastic way to see the islands highlights in one day like the Volcanoes National Park, Waipio Valley (our favorite), black sand beaches, and gorgeous waterfalls.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Friends
Posted on:	2025/11/22
Activity Date:	2025/07/15

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Full day!

Reviewed by: Kara

The tour guide was super knowledgeable and kept a smooth pace, making it easy to enjoy every stop. Highly recommend for a comprehensive island experience.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families with Young Children
Posted on:	2025/11/22
Activity Date:	2025/07/10

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Jam packed!

Reviewed by: Kara

Such a great day - from the black sand beach to the Waipio Valley lookout and multiple waterfalls, of course with visiting Volcanoes National Park as the standout!!

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Friends
Posted on:	2025/11/22
Activity Date:	2025/07/06

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Love the BI

Reviewed by: Kara

So many gorgeous stops along this tour, and the guides are so funny and make a long day seem like a breeze.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2025/08/20
Activity Date:	2025/06/30

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

Fun time

Reviewed by: LK

Zip line over 250 foot waterfall. Great fun. Mirabell & Calista were fantastic guides, made our day.

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Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Adventure
Attended as:	Couples
Posted on:	2025/07/12
Activity Date:	2025/07/10

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

A fun filled day!

Reviewed by: Kara

Highlights included walking through Volcanoes National Park, seeing steam vents and lava fields up close, the stunning black sand beach at Punaluʻu, and panoramic views over Waipiʻo Valley.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2025/06/30
Activity Date:	2025/05/31

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Fabulous!

Reviewed by: Kara

It’s a long day, but absolutely packed with jaw-dropping sights and well-paced stops.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2025/06/30
Activity Date:	2025/05/31

Big Island Backroad Adventures - Water & Fire Private Volcano Tour with Meals

Fantastic custom experience

Reviewed by: The relaxing and exciting way to see Big Island

Shawn is super polite and well educated in many topics regarding the lava, plant life, history and sites on the islands. He was particularly helpful in suggesting to us to change the itinerary so we could see the active eruption and we are so happy he made the suggestion. 100% well worth the private tour. We changed things up and kinda called audibles throughout the day and Shawn was all about it. We had a great dinner and the day was a total success. Thank you.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Tips and suggestions

If you don’t want to be herded in a tour bus and would like the ability to customize, book this!!

Reply from activity provider

Aloha Monika,

Mahalo for taking the time to share your experience with us! One of my favorite parts of just doing private tours is the ability to call those audibles and customize our itinerary based on our guests desires, or in this case the Volcano. Happy that we were able to get to the Volcanoes NP, see the eruption before it stopped, still be able to take you to the other locations we had planned, and enjoy a great dinner! Thanks again!!

Mahalo,
Shawn

We got to see the eruption and Shawn got us there
Really nice nature walk and falls
The beautiful falls

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Rating:
Packages:	12-Hour Private Tour with Lunch & Dinner
Attended as:	Families
Weather:	Rainy
Posted on:	2025/05/18
Activity Date:	2025/05/16

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Wonderful day

Reviewed by: Kara

Kilauea was just amazing, I could go every day if it was possible!

Local customer service: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2025/05/07
Activity Date:	2025/04/11

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

Thrills!

Reviewed by: Kara

Great course, the waterfall was breathtaking. Overall would do it again!

Location & environment: 5

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Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Tour (7-Line Course)
Attended as:	Friends
Posted on:	2025/03/19
Activity Date:	2025/02/15

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Excellent day tour!!!!!!!!!!!

Reviewed by: DJW

Brett was an excellent tour guide. Funny engaging and informative. It is a long day as the island is rather large. Greenwell Farms (coffee farm) was our first stop. Excellent coffee! Brett explained the growing and harvesting process, followed by tasting and souvenir purchases. Then on to the Punalu'u sweetbread bakery for treats. I lived the Lilikoi flavored pastry. Nice gift shop also. Next stop was Punalu'u black sand beach with a bonus sleeping turtle. Quick provided tasty lunch at a shady state park. Next into Volcano National Park. Brett has fantastic volcano pics. Kilauea was steeming and erupted hours later. Traveled down a large lava tube, very cool. Huge old lava fields. Next on to Rainbow falls and majestic Akaka falls on the East side of the island. On the North end, we visited Waipi'o lookout for sunset. It was along day, but excellent. Strongly recommend. Brett made the trip very enjoyable.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Tips and suggestions

It is a long day, lots to see.

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families
Weather:	Sunny
Posted on:	2025/01/11
Activity Date:	2024/12/22

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

It's a great way the experience the island in one day

Reviewed by: Sand under foot

The Grand Circle Island tour is a great way to have a compact adventure all in one day. It was full of beautiful scenic views of cliffsides, beaches, cooled lava formations, waterfalls, volanic crater, and so much more. You experience a hike through a rainforest with some inclines at times, volcanic steam vents that feel like you're in a sauna, turtle viewing at Black Sand beach, cliffsides overlooking crashing waves, a coffee harvesting & processing walkthrough, a lava tube cave, and much more. Some hikes can be a bit challenging if you have mobility problems but our tour guide Brent is so accommodating and on the HNP Kilauea hike, you can ride along with him to the top of the viewing area if you're not able to do the short walk. Additionally, Brent is not just a tour guide, he will transport you to another time. He wove an amazing storytelling of Native Hawaiin history into the scenic mountains, beaches, historical battleground sites, trees, buildings, fantastical stories, and rich cultural backdrop. I walked away with a deep appreciation for how the Hawaiian island and culture came to be. This was an amazing way to experience the island!

Drained lava dome atop Kilauea

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Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Couples
Posted on:	2024/10/06
Activity Date:	2024/10/04

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Fabulously Done

Reviewed by: Kara

Really easy way to get to see so many fabulous spots around the Big Island without needing to drive and look at directions all day!!

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Friends
Posted on:	2024/09/16
Activity Date:	2024/07/21

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Amazing experience!

Reviewed by: Sharda

We thoroughly enjoyed the Grand Circle Island Tour. We had the opportunity to visit so many different parts of the island and experience the true beauty of the Big Island. The tour was well planned and Neil was an amazing host!
I definitely recommend that all visitors try this tour at least once!

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2024/06/29
Activity Date:	2024/06/05

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

AMAZING experience!!

Reviewed by: Kelly Michaelson

We had the most AMAZING time ziplining!! It was a little rainy/misty but that didn't take away from the experience at all! The crew was informative, funny and put our safety as their number one priority.

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Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Tour (7-Line Course)
Attended as:	Friends
Posted on:	2024/04/01
Activity Date:	2024/03/15

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

You'll Feel Like Mary Poppins but over a Waterfall

Reviewed by: LarryC

First timers will experience an exhilaration rush of amazing views. Even if you are afraid of heights don’t be, the crew are professional experts to ease your worries. They know what they are doing (with a flare of joking) to take your nerves from reminding you you’re going to be hundred of feet up in the air. It’s worth it! You’ll appreciate the picturesque palm trees, streams and lastly the huge waterfall. This took my breath away but in a good way. Bring your camera for all the unforgettable shot. What you show all your social media friends and family will surely make them jealous. Love the experience highly recommended!

Beautiful Waterfall in the background
The crew and me
My cousin and myself

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Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Tour (7-Line Course)
Attended as:	Solo Travelers
Posted on:	2024/02/29
Activity Date:	2024/02/14

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Excellent!

Reviewed by: Kara

I felt like I got to see all the best spots of Big Island on this 1 day tour!

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Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Friends
Posted on:	2024/01/28
Activity Date:	2023/10/24

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Second tour and still amazing

Reviewed by: Leah

Took this tour 6 years ago and had the most amazing experience. So I had to do it again. This tour offers the best of Big Island because you get to see Akaka Falls and Rainbow Falls. We saw lots of turtles at black sand beach and an actual rainbow at Rainbow Falls! Our guide Brent was very informative and helpful.

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Solo Travelers
Posted on:	2023/12/24
Activity Date:	2023/12/23

Hawaii Waterfall Swim Adventure, Waipio Valley Lookout & Botanical Garden

Drew's the best!

Reviewed by: Tricia

The six if us had a great time with Drew who kept us entertained while ensuring we understood the historical and cultural importance of many of the sites we visited. The dad jokes were appreciated over the course of the day travelling from Kona to Hilo and points in-between. The consensus highlight was the swim in the waterfall pool. Even the weather cooperated. Fabulous day! Mahalo Drew!

Hawaii Bioreserve & Botanical Garden
Waipi'o Valley

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Rating:
Packages:	Standard Tour
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2023/11/08
Activity Date:	2023/11/06

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Best way to experience BI

Reviewed by: Kara

You hit it all and you do not need to drive and miss views along the way!

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2023/09/18
Activity Date:	2023/08/02

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

Amazing experience

Reviewed by: Minhchau

The tour guides Vince and Kekoa was awesome! Kekoa was super witty and it mean the tour so fun! Definitely, would recommend this tour 100%

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Tour (7-Line Course)
Attended as:	Couples
Posted on:	2023/08/23
Activity Date:	2023/08/17

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

Monique and Byron were awesome!!

Reviewed by: SoCalFam

It was a perfect day! The plantation was BEAUTIFUL and we learned so much about all the native and non-native agricultural while walking to the next platform. Byron and Monique were amazing and had our family laughing the whole time! Totally making everyone feel at ease. The tips they provided ensuring we got the most out of each ”zip”were a huge help and made the adventure just that much more fun. We would do it all again in a heartbeat!

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Tour (7-Line Course)
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2023/08/20
Activity Date:	2023/07/25

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

Best Zipline ever!!

Reviewed by: GopiK

We had blasting time at the 7 Zipline tour!! It was an amazing experience to fly on top of the waterfalls, Our tour guides both Zoey and Emma were so fun and took care of us in every step of the Zipline with safety!! Me and my sons were able to experience the Zipline on top of the big waterfalls more than 500ft who was an amazing memory this summer!!

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Tour (7-Line Course)
Attended as:	Families with Young Children
Posted on:	2023/08/14
Activity Date:	2023/07/22

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Hit all the events!

Reviewed by: Kara

So much goodies in 1 day- we loved the Kona coffe and cannot stop thinking about it!

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Couples
Posted on:	2023/08/13
Activity Date:	2023/06/19

Grand Circle Island Tour - Volcano, Black Sand Beach, Waipio Valley & Waterfalls

Loved this day

Reviewed by: Kara

Amazing experience! Lots of the island wrapped up in a day you can't go wrong.

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Grand Circle Island & Volcanoes National Park
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2023/07/31
Activity Date:	2023/06/09

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

Best zip line adventure!

Reviewed by: Cathy and Steve

I liked how you start small for those who a less experienced and afraid of heights. Our guides were awesome in explaining everything and giving history of the area. The funniest part was when Angela hid behind some bushes and started making pig sounds, causing one of the participants to jump back! LOL! The guides really did a great job making it fun and relaxing my nerves.

Helpful

Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Tour (7-Line Course)
Attended as:	Couples
Posted on:	2023/07/22
Activity Date:	2023/07/20

Hawaii Zipline Tours - Big Island Waterfall & Rainforest Zip Adventure

One of the top ziplines Ive done

Reviewed by: Kara

A fantastic experience that I would recommend for anyone to experience.

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Rating:
Packages:	Zipline Tour (7-Line Course)
Attended as:	Families
Posted on:	2023/07/07
Activity Date:	2023/05/22

Things to Do in Big Island in 2025 – Tours & Activities | HawaiiActivities.com

All Reviews for Akaka Falls State Park in Big Island

Overall Rating

Reviews

Great experience

Ziplining and hiking

Fun!!!

Great Island Experience

Full day!

Jam packed!

Love the BI

Fun time

A fun filled day!

Fabulous!

Fantastic custom experience

Wonderful day

Thrills!

Excellent day tour!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a great way the experience the island in one day

Fabulously Done

Amazing experience!

AMAZING experience!!

You'll Feel Like Mary Poppins but over a Waterfall

Excellent!

Second tour and still amazing

Drew's the best!

Best way to experience BI

Amazing experience

Monique and Byron were awesome!!

Best Zipline ever!!

Hit all the events!

Loved this day

Best zip line adventure!

One of the top ziplines Ive done

Hawaiian Islands

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