The Surf Bus North Shore Fun Tour - Snorkel, Bike, Kayak, SUP & Waterfall
Overall Rating
4.65
Explore the north shore without having to rent a car.
Reviewed by: Anon, 2018/05/05Guide (Kevin) was very professional, informative and accommodating. This tour is a great way to explore the north shore area.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2018/04/12 |
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Best way to the North Shore.
Reviewed by: Jessica, 2018/03/29This is the tour for people who like to be on there own once they get there. This is broken into two parts morning activity and afternoon activity. You have a fully narrated ride over to the North Shore telling you virtually everything about the island. Also all landmarks are pointed out. You arrive get snacks if needed. You are then dropped off at your first activity. The falls etc. Pk up time is set you meet back at bus and your off to bike,kayak,shop or lunch or whatever. Your pk up time is set for your hassle free ride back to waikiki. All fully narrated back. Worth every penny. AC was our guide and knew everything about the island. Was the highlight of our trip.
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2018/03/21 |
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Tour was great! Weather was a downer
Reviewed by: Al Schroeder, 2018/03/02AC was our guide for this tour and he was funny and full of information. The lunch at the waterfall was not the best and very limited. We heard from other people that the lunch at the burger place was very good. It started to rain right after lunch which cut short afternoon activities. AC took us to the Dole plantation to try to make up for the rain. AC really tried to make the day better for us.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2018/02/18 |
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Great tour!
Reviewed by: Corinne, 2017/08/26This tour was awesome! We had plenty of time to do the waterfall hike and swim in the morning, then a relaxing lunch hour, then AMAZING surfing lessons with Uncle Bryan's very capable instructors. Honestly one of the best experiences of my life!
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| Attended as: | Friends |
| Activity Date: | 2017/08/04 |
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Fun Time but a little rushed
Reviewed by: Kim, 2017/08/05This was a lot of fun but I think it would have been better if the bus would go to the waterfall and one beach place to allow more time to do activities. Our bus driver was informative but repeated himself alot which did get a little annoying at times.
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| Attended as: | Friends |
| Activity Date: | 2017/08/02 |
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Really enjoyable tour to the North Shore
Reviewed by: Cmschwab, 2017/06/22Picked this tour to the north shore due to the choice of activities and since it had pick up from Waikiki. Mike was our guide and informative. Snorkelled at Shark's cove then headed to Waimea Bay for some snorkelling and beach time. Then chose to paddle boarding down the river near Haleiwa instead of kayaking. Ended the tour at Haleiwa. Good tour for the time spent up north and activities you could participate in and p/u provided.
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| Attended as: | Friends |
| Activity Date: | 2017/06/06 |
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Surf bus
Reviewed by: Adrian, 2017/05/13Good activities. Well organised
Bus driver/guide was very informative and friendly.
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2017/04/23 |
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A day to remember
Reviewed by: Sandy, 2017/05/01Such a great day! A fantastic way to discover the north shore, just the right blend between organized activities and free time! I would do it again without hesitation
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| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Activity Date: | 2017/04/28 |
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Surf bus
Reviewed by: Susie, 2017/01/14Sam was our driver and tour guide. He was very informative and we learned a lot about not just The North Shore but also Hawaii.
We were able to change activities if when we checked them out we changed our mind. Sam explained the activities well and made everyone feel comfortable.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2017/01/09 |
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The "non-tour" tour of north shore
Reviewed by: Renee, 2016/09/23The best of tour plusses without the negatives. You spend most of your time at the location you choose and doing the activity you choose. Justin was very knowledgeable and personable. He let us choose our activity on site and even let people customize it by picking 2 morning activites and no afternoon ones. It was awesome.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2016/09/20 |
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Fun day
Reviewed by: Erin, 2016/08/28Fun day off activities. Good driver and guide, well organised, good options of activities. Saw a variety of different beaches including sea turtles.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2016/08/03 |
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Big disappointment
Reviewed by: cueno, 2016/07/06Driver only spoke of food! Then it was not very clear on what was included so we missed the food trucks and NO lunch (after all talk and no food).
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2016/06/29 |
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The Surf Bus
Reviewed by: Laura, 2016/06/06It was great, i got picked up and he drove out to the northshore, showed us around the town and then the activities started. He was very available to pickup after each activity and drop you off where you wanted to go. Waterfall, snorkeling, shrimp truck, beach time & stand up paddle board, it was great. There are other activities to pick from. He even stopped because he saw a sea turtle was sitting on the beach, so we could see it and take pics, it was great!
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| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Activity Date: | 2016/06/03 |
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Outstanding!
Reviewed by: Angela, 2016/05/29This tour is a great way to see and experience the North Shore from the land and in the water. Our tour guide (HC) knew his way around the island like nobody's business. He went the extra mile to ensure we had a great time. Plenty of time for snorkeling, bike riding, checking out waterfalls, SUP or kayaking AND SHOPPING! I highly recommend!
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2016/05/27 |
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Great Time
Reviewed by: Monty Magnet, 2016/04/25Taking this tour was very helpful in making sure we made the most out of our visit. Our guide gave us a detailed review of the area so that we were able to make an informed decision on our activities. I would definitely recommend this tour.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2016/04/22 |
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Amazing!
Reviewed by: Lauren , 2016/04/07We loved this trip. The guide was super helpful and friendly. We will be booking this trip again.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2015/05/14 |
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Awesome day on the North Shore
Reviewed by: Georgie C, 2016/04/02I think our guides name was AC... he was amazing, had so much interesting information, made the drive to the north shore very entertaining.
First stop was Haleiwa Town on the north shore where we could have a look around and even got to try the famous shave ice. Next a drive along the shore to see all the amazing beaches and even some celebrity houses, then had a stop at the pipeline for some photos, and then he took us to see all the activities so we knew what they all were.
My friend and I chose the waterfall hike/swim, then AC took us the Waimea Bay for a swim, then the kayaking in the afternoon, and a great burger from Haleiwa Town. On the way back to Waikiki we stopped at a beach famous for turtles and we saw one on the beach. AC then dropped us off at the dole plantation - a complete surprise - so we could have a look around and try the dole whip. On the drive back AC played some stand up comedy on the tv so we could all relax and have a laugh.
Overall an incredible day!
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| Attended as: | Friends |
| Activity Date: | 2016/03/12 |
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This is EXACTLY what I was looking for!
Reviewed by: Lani S., 2016/02/17I wanted to head out to the North Shore, but did not want to sit on a stodgy bus all day and listen to someone drone on and on. The Surf Bus was the PERFECT choice since I not only got to experience the highlights of the area, but got to do some fun activities as well.
I decided to do Snorkeling, the Waimea Falls nature walk and SUP. Harry was very accommodating about squeezing in two activities for the morning section, and I am so happy that he did. The snorkeling was AMAZING! It was literally like swimming in an aquarium. I got to be in the water for a little over an hour and then I was picked up to go to Waimea Falls Park. The walk was quite easy, and if you have a hard time walking, shuttles are available for $10 round-trip at the park. I didn't go into the water since I just wanted to sit and relax, but the walk to and from the waterfall was about 45 minutes total. REALLY beautiful.
For my afternoon, I chose SUP and even though I had never done it before, I figured it out pretty quickly after the briefing from the guys at the surf store. I never quite made it to the "stand up" part of "stand up paddling", but my "sit up" paddle was just as fun and I made it all the way down the river.
With about an hour left before I had to meet the bus, I had a delicious burger and fries at Teddy's Bigger Burger and washed that all down with some shave ice from Matsumotos (lychee and strawberry YUM!). All in all, a great experience and wonderful way to see the best of the North Shore in a day :)
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| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
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Expectations...
Reviewed by: -PAUL-, 2016/01/11I mentioned this before on the phone. This was fun, but was only able to do one activity. Unfortunately the ad misleads you into thinking you can do whatever activities, whenever. You are allowed to swim, snorkel, bike ride or hike in the morning. Then you can either surf(which you cant cause it will cost you more when you never did it, apparently you have to take a lesson before using their boards), kayak, or stand up paddleboard in the afternoon. It just was a disappointment to have an expectaion of what to get for my day, then not do it. In other words, two spereate locations for the morning and afternoon activities, so majority of your time is traveling. Which is fine, but also would of have a different opinion. Knowing what i know now, i probably would never choosen this activity.
I missed the bus to go to the afternoon location, needless to say i was given the wrong time by tourist, but honsestly by the time i got there, i was out of time. One thing that is odd is the memory game, being dropped off somwhere and being picked up elsewhere. However, the people that works at the snorkel rental place, especially that young kid, clueless to his surroundings. Knew who i was & i who else i was there with in regards of the other party on the tour bus & couldnt inform me of the other party making it back. So knowing the time i had to be picked up, this kid not being observant and missing the bus is all my fault, right? So thanks for that! I had to wait for the city bus to pick me up to find out where the tour bus was to get back on it.
All in all, i only did one activity and did a lot of sitting & waiting around. Snorkeling was fun, but was my excitement was short lived with the turmoil. I had fun snorkeling, and thats about it. Oh yeah, dont worry, ill take care of that bus fare!
We are sorry you got the pick up times mixed up and were forced to catch a city bus to catch up , therefore missing your second activity. Normally we have other drivers on the North Shore and could have expatiated things so sorry for that too.PLEASE GIVE US A FUTURE DATE TO COMP YOU THE TOUR SO WE CAN SHOW YOU WHAT ITS REALLY LIKE.
P.S; FOR SAFTEY REASONS SURFING IS THE ONLY ACTIVITY WHICH IF YOU HAVE NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE WE REQUIRE YOU DO A LESSON. Those with some prior experience may surf with our basic package pricing.
Aloha Justin
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| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Activity Date: | 2015/05/16 |
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Great day with AC as tour guide
Reviewed by: McDougalls, 2015/12/23We had a wonderful day with AC as our guide. He was very knowledgeable, pointing out local sites and giving history along the way. He bent over backwards to accommodate everyone on the tour, taking each group to their favorite locations, running back and forth moving us around from hot spot to hotspot as we each finished our excursions. He was very professional at all times. We would hIghly recommend him as a tour guide. We had a blast! He even went out of his way to go back and find a lost article for us- which fell out of the van at a previous stop.
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2015/12/21 |
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North beach tour
Reviewed by: Laura, 2015/09/26Great day at the north beach. We chose the waterfall hike as our activity in the morning. You could have done snorkelling or bike rides if preferred. We then had free time on waimea bay beach. In the afternoon we had a free lunch instead of doing another activity such as kayaking. Saw sea turtles at a beach on the way home
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2015/09/25 |
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Rain
Reviewed by: Bill, 2015/09/14Rained most of day, so sopping wet weather in water or not. Confusion all day about activities etc.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2015/09/11 |
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North Shore Beach
Reviewed by: Family Trips, 2015/07/30Overall it was a family friendly, enjoyable and relaxing experience. We all had a wonderful time.
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| Attended as: | Families with Young Children |
| Activity Date: | 2014/08/26 |
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Perfect setup if you want to do North Shore, but Not sure what activities
Reviewed by: John A, 2015/04/29My wife and I were staying in Waikiki for a week and everyone said we need to make a trip to the North Shore when on Oahu. We scoured Trip Advisor, Yelp and other Hawaii Adventure sites and this one looked appealing. Turns out to be a great deal if you are looking for transportation to the North Shore and a variety of options to choose from once you get there. We chose to snorkel in the mornng at Sharks Cove then spend an hour at Waimea Bay, then in the afternoon we did the SUP down the river in Halewia.
The tour is setup where they pick you up on a ~20 person bus from multiple Waikiki hotels, then up a narrated drive up to the North Shore which took about 1 1/2 hours all together. Sam was our host for the day and is awesome at his job. Very knowledgable, humourous and makes the tour a good time. Once you are there, you get to see the options for the day such as hanging at the beach of Waimea Bay, surfing, snorkeling, beach bike cruise, Waimea Botanical Gardens, stand up paddle boarding and probably a few others options that I am missing. There is no additional cost to do these unless you want to do more than two. If there was one draw back for the day, it was that we could have enjoyed a few more hours on the beach and shopping at the local surf shops there.
Overall, great trip and glad we did it!
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2015/04/24 |
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The surf bus
Reviewed by: R Studley, 2015/03/23The concept is great. Transport is reliable, clean and on time. The tour guide, Harry, was entertaining and very friendly. The only thing we would suggest is that surfing be offered as one of the activities - it is after all what the area is best known for!
I would recommend this for anyone who wants an active day.
Thank you for the great review, surfing is offered to those with prior experience with our basic package.For the unexperienced folks we require they book the package which includes the "SURF LESSON". We are sorry if that wasn't explained thoroughly by Harry and will have to talk to him about that.
Mahalo Justin
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2015/03/20 |
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North Shore Beaches Surf Bus Tour with Driver Sam
Reviewed by: The Lyons Lot, 2015/03/21Our family of 6 adults from Brisbane Australia loved this whole day tour. Our driver / tour guide Sam picked us up from our hotel on time, & drove safely. He was so friendly and knowledgeable about Oahu, and explained all the sights on the way to the North Shore - he make the entire trip an awesome experience. He gave us a drive by & quick stop at each of the available activities before we chose them, then dropped us all to our chosen areas. 3 of us chose bike riding along the famous surfing beaches where we could stop and have beach time as we liked; the other 3 the walk through the beautiful gardens to the waterfall. Though a lovely walk, it is quite a long one, for anyone older. If you want a swim at the Falls, take cash for a compulsory life jacket hire! From there we walked back to Waimea Bay beach for a swim until our bus pick up. Our next activity for 4 of us was SUP (stand up paddle boarding) and 2 did kayaking. We LOVED this time on the water and would have liked to have a bit less time on the morning activities and more time for the afternoon ones! After, we walked through the town and sampled the Shaved Ice and some delicious lunch before boarding the bus completely satisfied with our day. We did several different tours while in Waikiki, and this was BY FAR the very best for the sightseeing, and activities on offer, plus the freedom to have our own time was fantastic. We were REALLY impressed with Sam the driver & happy to tip him well for his outstanding service - he contributed in a big way to making it the best tour during our time in Hawaii. Thank you Sam! I would highly recommend this tour, well worth it and we have great memories of our day.
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2015/02/26 |
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Awesome time
Reviewed by: Grace S, 2014/12/12This was a truly awesome experience. We had Sam as a driver and he was totally great. He navigated traffic well and all of his narrating was necessary, funny and enjoyable.
We had a slight problem in that we missed our pick up (oops!) but the company was helpful and told us where to go to get another pick up.
We did some bike riding in the morning, saw Pipeline and had a great time. In the afternoon we tried SUP and saw turtles! It was a fully awesome experience. So good getting out and SEEING the North Shore, not just taking pictures of it.
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2014/12/09 |
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Guide
Reviewed by: Kristen Olthuis, 2014/11/02My husband and I were disappointed with the tour guide. We felt he had a attitude about him and really didn't want to be there. At times we thought he was being rude in his manor and attitude. We went on another tour and the guide was so different and really acted like he wanted to be there. It made a big difference on the tour and made it much more enjoyable. The tour itself was great, but it could of been a lot nicer if the guide was more interested in the people on his bus and what he was doing.
I'm so sorry, who was your driver?
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2014/10/27 |
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North Shore Beach Adventure
Reviewed by: Betty, 2014/09/09This was a great tour. Our tour guy, I believe his name is Sam was very helpful and funny. Sam was also very knowledgeable and he made the tour a memorable experience for us. We like the fact that we get to plan out our activities and get to see couple places at North Shore. The only suggestion that we think can improve for the tour is the activities in the afternoon. There wasn't a lot of options in the afternoon activities like in the morning. Overall, we enjoyed the tour very much.
Aloha Betty,
Mahalo for your review and to make suggestions on how we can improve. This is essential to make guest's experience even better. We will think about ways to try to incorporate more activities to the pm break. Alooooha!
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2014/08/28 |
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Aloha Ms Cueno, we are very sorry to hear that the driver was not clear about things an only talked about food.
We will definitely talk to him about it.
Just to be clear, the tour package you bought included the kayak plus the admission to the falls park, but did not include a free lunch on us.
Some of the other customers use only one activity and have lunch on us -in lieu- of the second activity . Is this where the confusion started?
Our manager will call you to clarify everything with you.
Much aloha