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Hawaii
This tour was life changing for me! Such an awesome experience to really see the island and have someone guide you through it so you really understand what you're seeing and the history behind it.
Tour guide was Chris who was excellent. He has a real gift for this, and you can tell he is truly passionate and loves what he does. Makes the tour feel more real and less like show and tell or reading from a script. 10/10 highly recommended tour.
Tour provides you with all the comforts you need for the day so you're never hungry, cold, or unsure of where a clean bathroom is. Even had plugs for you to charge your phone although I had a portable charger with me that day which I recommend for any trip.
Our guides made our 12 hours together seem too short and they went above and beyond to make our day the best ever. Both were extremely knowledgeable about virtually any Hawaiian subject. They picked us up precisely on time and we started our day. We were taken to a lava flow surrounded by mountains that went on as far as the eye could see. Just our first stop of seeing mother nature at its finest. We continued on to a park for a gourmet box lunch that was obviously freshly made and to get to know our tour mates better. The views and fresh air were wonderful. The Hawaiian gods of weather were certainly shining down on us. Off again for a tour around the quaint town of Hilo where we enjoyed the statue of King Kamehameha and a stop at a candy shop. We then went on to Rainbow Falls with its beautiful waterfall and scenery. We stopped along the way at steam vents from the volcano. Ladies, if you want a facial, that's the place to go. Volcano National Park was amazing. The Visitor Center had a great museum and showed us the history of the crater. This was just a preview as we would return later for a nighttime view. Leaving the crater we visited the naturally formed lava tube used in the filming of the rolling boulder scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The ferns at the park were also used as a backdrop for scenes from Jurassic Park. We were treated to dinner at the Kilauea Lodge in Volcano, Hawaii. Fabulous. After dinner we returned to the crater to view the night time glow and star gaze. We were able to get a glimpse of the lava pool where the level varies 100s of feet over a few days' time. Jim talked about the stars and pointed out several constellations. It was definitely a once in a lifetime view. Throughout the entire trip our hosts provided almost continuous commentary on the history, stories, customs, flora and fauna of Hawaii. A total 1st class experience and the highlight of our trip to Hawaii. We would definitely do this tour with them again. Mahalo!
One of the best tours in Hawaii. Our tour guide Adam was very knowledgeable and polite. We did the night viewing of the volcano tour with stargazing. During the entire trip our tour guide shared abundant histories about legends and culture from Hawaii. We stopped for lunch at a very beautiful place near Mauna Loa. Adam(tour guide) baked some delicious cookies for us too :) We covered Rainbow fall, Jagger Museum and the lava tube, out of which viewing the volcano at night was absolutely breath taking.The tour had included dinner at Kilauea Lodge(fine dining) by the volcano national park. Overall our experience with Kailani tours was amazing, we would definitely recommend this tour to all those who visit the Big Island.
The entire tour was incredible. We saw the active volcano with lava spewing out during the flight. The bus tour guide had lots of interesting stories. One person in our group was on a wheelchair and she enjoyed the entire tour as well. Highly recommended.
We feel extremely fortunate to have joined Kailani Tours with our tour guides Kawika and Kevin as our guides. Together they shared a wealth of knowledge and personal charm. They gave us the history, geology and volcanology of the Big Island of Hawaii. Both were engaging, humorous and attentive to our every need. They provided us with lunch and a sumptuous dinner. They shared many sites along the way all detailed with their particular history. The highlight was a spectacular visage of our living Mother Earth in her volcanic glory along with a clear and beautiful view of the stars in the night sky. Breathtaking is an understatement given the epiphany of our smallness in the universe. We thoroughly enjoyed this "not to be missed" experience shared with an intimate group of 14 - giving us more opportunities to learn from our guides. If you find yourself amongst the fortunate to have Kawika or Kevin for your guide, you are truly in for a treat! Can't thank you enough Kailani Tours for a job well done! Mahalo Nui Loa - Suzy and Betty
We did the night time volcano viewing tour with stargazing through Kailani Tours Hawaii. It also included lunch, Rainbow Falls, Lava Tube and Jaggar Museum. This was one the BEST tours that I have EVER been on! It was our driver, Kawika's, first day and Kevin was his "co-pilot". We were VERY fortunate to have the knowledge of 2 excellent tour guides that could bounce things off of each other. They were both VERY personable and friendly. They took special care to make sure we were well fed, had water, jackets, flashlights, hot chocolate and cookies! The lunch was excellent and the dinner was superb! The service at the restaurant was just as good as the service from Kawika and Kevin! We ended up having some extra time due to all the pick up's being in the same vicinity, so we were able to see a couple of little extra things in the Volcano National Park - not normal - so it made the day extra special. Kawika was extremely knowledgeable about the volcanic system and was great at explaining it to us. The volcano viewing at night was the most spectacular thing I have ever had the privilege of seeing on this Earth! The weather was perfect and the view was INCREDIBLE! Kawika and Kevin set up a great telescope to view the stars through and they were also able to take photos of the volcano through it with our phones! I HIGHLY recommend this tour and the tour company! You won't regret it!
The tour led by Kevin was great! He is very knowledgeable and humorous. The lunch spot had a great view of Mauna Loa. The scenery along the drive was like going through many different climates, which was amazing. The Big Islands Macadamia Nut factory was fun as I couldn’t stop eating various samples. It was nice meeting the King Kamehameha statue in Hilo. Dinners and drinks were delicious as we sat by the famous Friendship Fireplace in a historical lodge/restaurant, Kilauea Lodge by the Volcano National Park. The best part of the trip was revisiting the Mauna Loa Crater for live lava during nighttime. It was stunning! I wish I had taken the tour beginning of my vacation so I can decide where to go and explore more later. I strongly recommend this tour during the first few days of your vacation so you can enjoy the rest of your vacation.
First of all, this is a fantastic trip. When we first booked the trip, we saw the 4.9 out of five rating and doubted. When we came back from the trip, all doubts were erased!
Our guide Kevin is extremely knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. We were picked up at our hotel at 12:05 noon. The lunch was served in the Mauna Lao Rest Area at 1pm. The quality of the lunch is totally out of expectations. Kevin told us they were picked up from a famous deli at 11:30 AM. No wonder it’s so good and fresh!
The Rainbow Fall in Hilo is the first highlight. We saw the rainbow as soon as we got there. It’s exactly the same as shown in the advertisement picture. Absolutely beautiful! Kevin specifically warned us not to climb on the rocks in the upper river because many people died falling into the pond under the waterfalls. We saw about 10 people on the rock that day. Two days later I saw a news that a young couple were seeing struggling in the upper River and disappeared. The lady was later found dead at the bottom of the waterfall and the guy was still missing. Very good advice from Kevin!
The highlight of all highlights is of course the view of the live volcano. The tour company’s arrangement it’s very smart. They let us view the volcano crater at sunset for about 30 minutes. Then, we were transported to a very nice restaurant nearby to enjoy a five course formal dinner. Again it is so good that it is totally out of expectation.
We were back to the volcano after dinner when it is dark and very few people there. We can see the lava glow very clearly. When Kevin set up his high quality binoculars on a stand, we can even see the lava splashed out of the crater like fireworks!
Overall, it worths all 5 stars. I would recommend this trip to anyone!
Kailani tours on the big Island of Hawaii was wonderful! Our tour guide Kevin, was an excellent tour guide. He was very knowledgeable and understanding and he took us to so many beautiful destinations on the island. The timing of the tour was perfect we had a beautiful lunch with an amazing view and the weather was great then he took us to see a beautiful waterfall at rainbow Falls and I actually saw a rainbow! We saw so many wonderful things on this tour. They took us out to a wonderful delicious dinner and after dinner we got to see the amazing volcano the red glow was magnificent. One of my favorite parts of the tour was when our tour guide Kevin offered to take an amazing photo that he captured in the dark from my cell phone. He was able to capture us and the red glow from the volcano behind us. True photographer status and that was just a bonus!! From what I recognized throughout the day on the tour is that there were a lot of other tour buses out there as well but I noticed that those tour guides were rushing their customers in and out of the van not giving them very much time to actually explore and learn about Hawaii. This is one thing that made Kailani tours and our tour guide Kevin stand out to me! Our tour guides patience with the group was excellent and he allowed us to really explore the land. The whole day I learned so many amazing things about Hawaii. Kailani tours made our Hawaii trip perfect. And I will cherish these memories forever. I highly recommend taking a Kailani tours if you’re ever on the big Island. I give them 5++ stars!! Thank you Kailani Tours of Hawaii.
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!
My wife and I were celebrating our Honeymoon in Hawaii and were lucky enough to have a full day of entertainment with this tour! The Big Island can require a lot of driving time to get to see the numerous sights it has to offer. The tour we booked provided us with an experience I know we would not have gotten on our own. I cannot speak anymore highly of our awesome Tour Guide Jim Carey (I know and yes he has the same name). He made the whole experience that much more memorable by his genuine appreciation for Hawaiian culture. He was extremely knowledgeable about EVERYTHING which made the tour in depth and interactive. His added commentary was great while visiting the waterfalls and volcano. The day flew by and we were continuously more and more impressed with everything the tour offered. The provided lunch and dinner were both delicious. Every part of the day flowed very well and it was capped off by our last stop back at the volcano to stargaze. We were able to set up the telescope and see the lava erupting in the volcano! I definitely would recommend this tour to anyone and everyone and I can't thank our tour guide enough. Jim made the whole experience 10 times better! Thanks Jim!
After a self-guided drive and tour of the Haleakala volcano in Maui, I decided to let a professional do the drive from Kona to the Kilauea National Park. After reading many of the TRIP ADVISOR reviews (97% excellent), I felt confident this was the tour for my wife and I. It did not disappoint! I hate bus tours because it seems you spend half your day loading and unloading the 50+ passenger buses. Our 11 person tour allowed us to spend much longer times at each wonderful stop with no pressure. Our guide, Kevin Hasting, just said “Come back when you have seen enough.” Fantastic! In addition, Kevin had an encyclopedic knowledge of Hawaiian culture, lifestyle, history, geography, ecology, you name it. He was also an excellent storyteller between stops which made this tour a unique and personal adventure. Lastly, Kevin was so proficient at navigating the Eastern Coast, Hilo area and park that he was somehow able to adjust his routes and timing to avoid the many rain squalls and downpours common to this area. I cannot say enough about how great this tour is. Don’t drive yourself, you will miss so much. One piece of advice. Take some warm clothes with you as it gets cold at night at the high elevations. I carried a light windbreaker jacket, a hoodie, a knit cap and a pair of pullover slacks to put on at night. I ended up giving my hoodie to a fellow passenger to wear who was shivering. The tour does provide emergency blankets and jackets.
This tour is very informative. You get to see black sand, volcanoes, waterfalls, and more. Our driver/guide was excellent.
There was more walking than indicated on the website, including climbing lots of stairs. Therefore I was not able to see some of the sites. But if you don't have any mobility issues, I recommend this tour.
Our guide, Michelle, did a wonderful job explaining the sites. While we travelled between sites, the movie clips on the bus were very entertaining!
We decided to go on the Hawaii Movie and TV Show tour. We had a blast. There were only 2 couples and we actually made a couple side stops. All the places we saw were great to learn about. And the beauty of it all was wonderful too.
Don't miss the helicopter tour, its something you will never forget
Deluxe is the word! As if the natural awesomeness of a live volcano,a national park and stars was not enough this trip also includes a tasty picnic lunch and a 5 star dining experience for dinner. Add to this an extremely knowledgeable guide who serenades you with ukulele, tells amazing Hawaiian myths, provides astronomical binoculars to improve photographs taken on your phones and cameras of a live volcano at night and leads a sing-along on the way home.
This was a long day but easily the best tour our family has ever taken. Booking via Veltra tours was easy, even from overseas.
The guide was outstanding. He is a geologist with a lot of experience. He provide
a lot of information on the volcano as well as information about the the big island in general. He helped us take pictures as well as provided answers to questions we asked. This was a great tour.
This is an absolutely terrific tour and worth every penny. Our family has visited the Big Island many times but we learned so much from our energetic and knowledgable tour guide, Kevin. Absolutely adored the gorgeous candy facility stop on the way to the volcano. This store is beautiful and we ended up purchasing client gifts which were efficiently ordered and shipped back to the mainland. The dinner stop at the Kilauea Lodge was amazing. I ordered a Cosmopolitan cocktail which was presented just as chic and lovely as any found in a Five Star hotel bar. Good meal enjoyed in a cozy spot among new friends. Back to the night lava viewing at the volcano which was utterly amazing. The warm coats and flashlights provided by Veltra made the experience even more enjoyable.
Last but not least I must give kudlos to Kevin, our tour guide. This man has truly done his homework and is passionate about educating his guests about the gorgeous Island of Hawaii. Thank you, Kevin for making each and every one of us feel important.
GREAT TOUR!
I requested a pickup service. Even after the scheduled pickup time had passed, I waited for a long time. The receptionist at Royal Cliff was considerate and made an inquiry (they were Japanese). They mentioned that they were running late due to making rounds, but a taxi arrived 30 minutes late. The driver seemed very apologetic.
However, it was such a wonderful sightseeing flight that I didn't mind at all. Thank you, pilot TOSHI. I would definitely like to request this again on another island.
送迎付きでお願いしました。お迎えの時間を過ぎてもずっと待っていました。ロイヤルシークリフのレセプションの方が気を利かせて問い合わせしてくださいました（日本の方でした）。あちこち廻ってるので遅れているとのことでしたが、30分遅れでやって来たのはタクシーでした。凄く申し訳なさそうに謝ってました。
そんなことも全く気にならないほどの素晴らしい遊覧飛行でした。パイロットのTOSHIさん、ありがとうございました。他の島でもまた是非お願いしたいと思います。
Translated by OpenAI
Was a little disappointing to have helicopter tour cancelled but that was due to bad weather.
I wouldn't have booked this tour without the helicopter part.
The first part of morning was spent going from Macadamia shop and orchid shop which really didn't interest me.
However the second part of the day was very enjoyable - going through national park.
Overall it was an enjoyable day though it was a very long day and probably could have been an hour or two shorter
Was disappointing that helicopter tour was cancelled but that was due to bad weather - so not much you can do. Probay wouldn't have booked tour without the helicopter part. The first part of island tour was a bit commercial so you can spend money at the macadamia shop and orchid shop. However the second part was very interesting - going through the national park and seeing the damage the volcano has caused.
It's a very long day and probably could have been an hour or two shorter. Despite the initial disappointment was still a fun day though probably wouldn't go back to this island again
Early pickup in Waikiki and flight to Hilo on The Big Island. Well organised with your group being led easily through the whole day. Exciting helicopter flight over the lava and craters and plenty of info given throughout. Coach tour for rest of day to see the National Volcano Museum, plenty of stops at different sites including the walk through the old lava tube, walking on old lava, seeing craters and steam vents. Also stopped at macadamia nut factory and fuschia gardens. It's a long day but well worth it. We were picked up at 4.30am and didn't get back to Waikiki until 8.30pm.
Thank you very much for all your help this time. Thanks to you, the weather was great, and I was able to see the vast Big Island of Hawaii and the long-desired Kilauea Volcano from the sky. If I had to say, it would have been perfect to see a bit more volcanic activity, but I suppose we can't go against nature (laughs). However, I was satisfied as I could clearly see the lava flowing.
I was a bit concerned about the budget, but considering it as a once-in-a-lifetime memory, I don't think it was expensive at all.
このたびはいろいろお世話になりありがとうございました。おかげさまで天気もよく、広大なハワイ島と念願のキラウエア火山を空から観ることができました。敢えて言うならばもう少し活発な火山活動が観られたら最高でしたが、さすがに自然には逆らえませんね(苦笑)。でも溶岩が流れ出ている様子などはハッキリ見えたので満足しています。
予算的にはどうかなと思いましたが、一生の思い出と考えれば決して高くはないと思いますよ。
Translated by OpenAI
I was able to see the rarely seen bright red magma and a rainbow over the valley, making it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was an absolutely amazing flight.
なかなか見る事の出来ない真っ赤なマグマや谷にかかる虹などを見ることができ、一生に一度の体験ができました。とっても最高なフライトでした。
Translated by OpenAI
Last year, I couldn't fly due to two cancellations caused by the weather. This year, it was a success on the first try. This tour allows you to enjoy both the volcanic side and the canyon side of the Big Island, giving you a real sense of the richness of nature. This time, we were taken care of by a Japanese pilot named TOSHI, and I was very satisfied as I got to see wonderful scenery while listening to various stories. My 9-year-old child was with us, and TOSHI explained things in a way that was easy for the child to understand at various points, so it seems my child enjoyed it as well. The air conditioning inside the helicopter was well-functioning, making for a comfortable environment in short sleeves and shorts. I would love to do this again.
昨年、天候のせいで2回のキャンセルの結果、飛ぶことが出来ませんでした。
今年は1発OKでした。
このツアーはハワイ島の火山サイドと渓谷サイドを両方楽しむことができ、自然の豊かさを実感できるツアーです。今回は日本人パイロットのTOSHIさんにお世話になりましたが、色々なお話を伺いながら素敵な景色を見られて大満足でした。9歳の子供も一緒でしたが、TOSHIさんが色々な場面で子供にもわかりやすく説明して下さり、子供も堪能していたようです。
ヘリコプター内は空調がしっかり聞いていて半袖短パンで快適な環境です。
またお世話になりたいです。
Translated by OpenAI
I really loved the helicopter tour over Kilauea! The staff at blue Hawaiian were really helpful and our pilot Jeremy was really lovely. The flight went really quickly as there was just so much to see, we even got to see some lava in a crater. It's definitely not big pools of flowing lava on the surface but that would depend on your luck and Mother Nature. Loved it all the same. I found the coach part of this tour a bit too long, as did everyone on the tour. Honestly if it was 2hrs shorter it would have been more enjoyable.
Excellent. Chris was exceptional. Had passion for his job and loves Hawaii
Had a great time Kevin the tour guild was great ,
We even had great weather
If you only can do one tour this would be the one and must have kevin
Our driver and tour host presented us with a very interesting and colorful history of the Big Island. He had a great sense of humor too! He paced the trip on the attendees, when there was an obvious interest in an area. This tour is a good for those wanting to get a broad acquaintance with the Big Island and it's various areas and interests. It was our springboard for other activities!
