The Surf Bus North Shore Fun Tour - Snorkel, Bike, Kayak, SUP & Waterfall
Overall Rating
4.65
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| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Activity Date: | 2023/08/08 |
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Definitely would recommend
Reviewed by: Des, 2023/01/20Uncle Kevin was awesome. Friendly n funny great host/driver. Enjoyed our tour had a great time we did hike to waterfall n kayaking. Worth the money. I would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to enjoy north shore with some history/information. Read in other review that it was rushed but that’s not how it was at all at least not with our driver uncle Kevin.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2023/01/18 |
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Excellent day on O’ahu
Reviewed by: TSW & KLH, 2022/10/29This was a very enjoyable experience of the North shore. It was filled with fun activities, excellent food, and good shopping. Uncle Kevin was a perfect host and tour guide, and the trip would not have been the same without him. Very wonderful experience!
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2022/10/26 |
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Cousin G
Reviewed by: Katie, 2022/02/28This was our first activity in Hawaii and I am so happy it was. Cousin G was knowledgeable, fun and funny! Great tour and highly recommend!
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2022/02/27 |
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Loved this!!
Reviewed by: Awesome day!, 2021/10/02Cousin G was awesome! We had a great day. The morning activity we chose snorkeling. Unfortunately for others, the falls were closing on Monday’s starting THAT day due to covid restrictions, so everyone had to do snorkeling. Had some food from shrimp truck, it was okay. We stopped at a macadamia nut and coffee tasting place, that was really cool. We did kayaking for our afternoon activity- not a lot of shade so definitely bring sunscreen or wear a long sleeve top, we roasted on the river. Then we stopped in town. Was a great day on the north shore, thanks again cousin g!
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2021/09/13 |
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North Shore Tour
Reviewed by: Hannah McKinney, 2021/08/04This was an amazing experience for our girls trip. If you are looking for fun activities that are self guided this is the tour for you. We did the snorkeling and paddle boarding both were extremely fun and we had plenty of time to do both. The price was great and included everything we needed. We got to see 2/3 of Oahu, which was beautiful. Our tour guide was Sam he was helpful and funny. Would recommend this tour/activity day to anyone!!
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| Attended as: | Friends |
| Activity Date: | 2021/08/02 |
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Had so much fun!
Reviewed by: Christy, 2021/06/12This was so much fun! We got to see part of the island. I got to SUP for the first time. Learned a lot while on the bus. The driver was telling us about the scenery and where certain movies were filmed.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2021/05/23 |
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The north shore surf bus.
Reviewed by: Roy Barnes, 2021/04/18Kevin made the entire trip outstanding. He was funny, on time, very knowledgeable, even though I've been to north shore before, this was the first time I felt like it was not only fun but informative. He was very accommodating. I am telling my friends and family to put this on their list . Thanks Uncle Kevin!!
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| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Activity Date: | 2021/04/16 |
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1 people find this helpful!
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Fina and amazing time!
Reviewed by: Denisse, 2020/12/17Had a wonderful time w uncle Kevin!! He showed us a lot of places and haves the background story! Very knowledgeable and happy to share his experience and love for his Hawaiian culture.
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| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Activity Date: | 2020/12/15 |
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Better the first time
Reviewed by: Dassh, 2019/12/17I had fun hiking to the waterfall and going swimming but the water was freeeezing!! I felt like the first time I did this activity we had a lot more time. I was able to snorkel, eat, stand up paddle and walk the town. This time I felt like going to the nut farm wasted a lot of time to do the activities. That part should be taken out and the time should go towards the actual activities. But all in all is was fun.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2019/11/23 |
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Awesome!!!
Reviewed by: Lisa, 2014/06/28I so so so recommend the Surf Bus!! It was one of the best ways to see and experience North Shore! The driver was the best! He have great information and was so funny!! The paddle board was amazing, waterfall beautiful and the beach with snorkeling just awesome!! I recommend wearing water shoes as the rocks can be a little hard on your feet...(waterfall and snorkeling areas) Hands down best your we took!
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| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2014/06/13 |
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North Shore
Reviewed by: Jen, 2014/04/19We did several tours and the North Shore was our favorite. The North Shore was gorgeous. There were a bunch of awesome little shops and art galleries. We rode bikes and went snorkeling. It was awesome!
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2014/03/24 |
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The best way to see the North Shore
Reviewed by: Gerry, 2014/02/18We were looking for a tour to see the North Shore but have the freedom to do what we want to do....we couldn't have picked a better tour. This is the perfect tour for people looking for freedom to do/go where they want. We had Sam as our tour guide, a native from Hawaii. He was informative and very the perfect style of guide for this tour. Knew what he was talking about, laid back but still detail oriented enough to handle everyone's activities and where they were. We went there the day of the Volcom Pipe Pro at the Pipeline. We rented bikes at the North Shore Surf Shop (an included activity with the tour - no extra charge) and that allowed us to go freely around. We rode up to the surf competition to watch live. The nice part was with the bikes, you were stuck in one spot the whole time. Watched the competition, then rode down the coast to Sharks Cove and Waimea Bay. It was great to have no schedule or "planned activities" when we got there. We had 3 hours to do what we want. Some wanted nothing to do with the surf competition and they could do what they want. Everyone had their own agenda and this tour worked great with it. (For a quick bite to eat, hit up Pupukea Grill. Its a food truck in Sharks Cove with a heavenly flatbread.) Met back next to Sharks Cove for the bus and rode to Haleiwa for the afternoon. Again, free time through the town to experience the city itself or do water activities at Surf N Sea. We wanted to experience the town, so we went into the surf shops, stores and walked around the town itself. (For a great sandwich, hit up Waialua Bakery and Juice Bar next to the grocery store...phenomenal.) For being a smaller town, Haleiwa is a very cool town to experience. After the town, we were to a beach to view the sea turtles that come on shore. It was amazing to see the turtles that close.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2014/02/03 |
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fantastic experience of the north shore
Reviewed by: susan, 2013/05/13Sam was a wonderful friendly tour guide. I liked the flexibility of the tour, being able to do various activities and see many different things. The sea turtles were a highlight. I also enjoyed the history and personal anecdotes of the tour. It was the best part of my trip to Oahu.
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| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Activity Date: | 2013/05/06 |
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Totally worth it!
Reviewed by: Kathleen, 2009/12/31This way a great way to explore the North Shore without having to do the driving. The driver, Keoki, was great! He showed much aloha which made this trip very special. Thanks again Keoki!
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| Attended as: | Couples |
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Justin's Surf Bus was Awesome!
Reviewed by: Chris B, 2009/05/30The Surf Bus tour to the North Shore was the best tour that we took. Our driver Justin was awesome. On the tour of the island he was very knowledgable and pointed out lots of things that we would have missed if we had just taken a rental car. This tour also gave us lots of options as far as activities and a choice of beaches to spend time at. Waimea Bay was the best beach on the island and the jumping rock was a lot of fun. I would recomend this tour to anyone!
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| Attended as: | Families |
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North Shore tour
Reviewed by: Mr. Anonymous, 2009/03/16Guides Justin & Gabe were great. North Shore is amazing-must do if staying on Oahu. We got to see sea turtles, Waimea Falls, the Bonzai Pipeline & surfing was even an option.
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| Attended as: | Couples |
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Awesome Time in North Shore
Reviewed by: Terry, 2008/03/04This was our first trip to Hawaii, and we wanted to make sure that we don't miss North Shore, but didn't want to take a typical sightseeing tour on a huge bus with 50 other people. This tour turns out to be a great one with a lot of personal touch. We were able to enjoy a full day on Waimea Bay, just relaxing, snorkeling, swimming, etc. A perfect day on the north shore. We were also able to check out the Haleiwa Town to do some shopping. There are a lot of artists living there to sell their beautiful arts. Highly recommended!
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| Attended as: | Couples |
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We are very happy to hear that you had an amazing trip! And that Sam was helpful and funny! We hope to see you again on the surf bus, the original north shore tour!