All Reviews for Kilauea Volcano, Big Island

The helicopter ride was amazing! Absolutely unbelievable and breathtaking. The motorcoach bus tour was a bit longer than we expected it to be plus you can only see so much volcanic rock in one sitting before you feel like you've seen it all. But the views were unforgettable. The guides for both the helicopter and bus tour were informative, knowledgeable and made the trip fun. I highly recommend it!!

This company was everything they said. On time with an accurate description and follow through of the tour. Professional all the, from booking to the day of tour.

Overall the tour was well organised and professional. However due to low visibility from low cloud and rain, the helicopter part of the tour was cancelled and refunded. Since the hotel pick up was 6am, we had already flown to the big island before that decision was made, therefore the package became just an expensive day trip bus ride. We would have preferred to cancel the whole trip if we had known the helicopter portion was not gonig ahead, althought that is the decison of the pilots.
The bus tour and guide was very good and knowleldgeable and could not fault what we did experience.

It rained continually all day which was disappointing so we could not see a lot so I will not at any comments on the actual tour. Pre ordered a cheese burger for lunch but this was not on our menu.

Absolutely amazing! Overall Tour was very well organized and the views breathtaking! Leroy our tour guide was the best!

We loved the Volcano tour! Captain Rob was the best tour guide that I have ever had!

Stuck on motorcoach going to random spots that is not near any lava!

Very well run tour. In and out of the airports very smoothly. Our helicopter pilot, Brant, was excellent and took us in quite close. Jane, the tour bus driver was terrific. Full of information and kept us all on time. Would certainly recommend this tour.

This was truly a bucket list experience! The helicopter ride was absolutely incredible, the view of waterfalls and the volcano just awesome! KUddos to our young female pilot.

My husband decided we needed an excursion to the big Island to see the volcano. Did a helicopter tour and day trip. Everything was organized, convenient and no stress. Thank you.

1st time riding a helicopter - a great experience. Everyone was professional and welcoming.
Enjoyed the ride immensely.

A bit of a rocky start as we were to meet group picked up at Waikiki at airport. Group was late and no contact with Veltra guide had us nervous for a while. Once settled and arrived at Hilo, 'Captain' Bob took over as our guide. Our group of 10 toured all sites as mentioned and Bob was an excellent guide throughout. He made the tour much more interesting with his extensive knowledge of the island history, geography, plant and animal life, food, climate, etc. He also shared quite a bit science knowledge related to the volcanoes. All was delivered with humor and was very enjoyable. Keep in mind Hilo is known for the amount of rain received - you are advised to bring appropriate clothing.

John Kala was our tour guide and made the trip well worth. We had so much fun and learned so much. It was very personable. I will definitely recommend this tour to any and all who inquire.

The Tour was great. We only had a day so You cover a lot of ground in short space of time which suited us brilliantly. There was a lot to learn and the guides etc were knowledgeable. The only disappointing thing is that when we booked i felt you were led to believe you would actually see the Volcano up fairly close and your MILES AWAY. !! Also that if you were lucky you may see flowing molten larva...which is rubbish....YOU WONT. It is a HUGE day as the flying from Island to Island isn't made easy and you have far too much down time in the Airport with quite officious airport staff

Jane was our guide on the Volcano Adventure bus tour and did an outstanding job. Not only was she very knowledgable, but also extremely courteous, friendly, and patient. It was also a good tour-group, and we had a terrific time. thanks for everything! :-))

Tour guide was very friendly an had a lot of cool and interesting things to talk about. I was lucky enough to be on the bus with only 11 other people so it seemed very private. While I didn't see everything I wanted to see, I still saw some incredible things. Overall, I would recommend this tour if your thinking about it.

Be prepared for a long day (18 hours) and take a waterproof warm jacket. Hugh, our driver/ guide was great and the tour is outstanding.

Was very informative but spent most of the morning at touristy places and then the volcano park in the afternoon. Was bit disappointed we didn't see lava or get to go up the observatory on Mona Lua. The information the guide provided was worth it though.

Really great tour that included so much of the island. Loved the stop at Mona Loa and the Orchid Producers. Jani, our driver was extremely knowledgeable and gave us a great deal of inside information about the island, Hawaii. The stop at Rainbow Falls gave us a beautiful view info about Hina's home. If I could change anything, I'd shorten the tour by about one hour. The kids (6 and 10 years old) were really exhausted by the end of the day. Then again, no trouble getting them to bed that night :-)

Great tour, love it. The driver Hugh our tour person was informative and great. Would love to go on the Kauai trip soon as well hope to be able to visit again.

I was really excited to visit the big island since it was my first time. We were staying on Oahu but wanted to see volcanos. The trip was exactly what was published but they didn't mention that most if the time was on the bus. We were hoping when we got to the national park we would be able to hike a little but everything was very short stops. I would not recommend if you are an active person and want to explore.

The name of the tour is Volcano Adventure but the actual volcano-related activities are very limited and a disappointment. They pick you up at 5:00 am and by 2:00 pm you have not done any volcano activities. It felt like we were being taken to places just to spend money: a dinner, a macadamia plant, an orchid greenhouse, another restaurant. And when the volcano activities finally start, you do not get anywhere near the active volcano. You can't see it at all. The tour's material show pictures of flowing lava and they say that "This tour company cannot guarantee the viewing of active lava flow". This is very misleading. The reality is that they know for a fact that you will not be anywhere close to the flowing lava because, as they explain once you are in the bus in the Big Island, there are simply no roads to get to it.
They kids got really bored and were very disappointed. So were we...

We had such an amazing time. We had Capt Rob as our guide and he was great. The volcano tour was great and Rob was very accomodating for breakfast and lunch needs knowing most of us had come over on planes from Oahu.

Flight was a huge disappointment. If you have the choice fly Hawaiian not Go! Airlines. We were dropped off at the airport in Hilo at 6pm and our flight back to Oahu didn't depart till 8:30. Not much to see or do at such a small airport. It ruined our day and destroyed our dinner plans for the evening. Everyone else on the tour were flying with Hawaiian and departed straight away. We were not given a choice in airlines but wish we had.

Good. Well recommended Good guide. Slightly d is appointed with some commercial stops

- It's a really long day and not sure it was worth it. The only thing you can get at the Big Island that you can't get at Oahu is the volcano.
- Flight was cancelled. Didn't notify us until we called them, after waiting for the shuttle for 15min at 5am. Then they woke us up again in the morning to reschedule. We later learned that it is common for Go! Airlines to cancel flights/be late. So I would recommend to go with Hawaiian Airlines instead; it's a bit more expensive, but likely because it is more reliable. FYI, the number listed on your voucher has normal business hours so if you have an early pick-up, you should call them the day before and get the dispatcher number in case you need to contact them early.
- I noticed they gave us longer times at spots with shopping areas (even if there was not much to see, e.g. the nut factory) and very little time at some of the nature vistas (like 5-7 minutes). so it felt a bit rushed.

We very much enjoyed this tour, our tour guide Captain Ron was informative and entertaining and also attentive to our needs (appropriate bathroom breaks, breakfast needs, etc). The volcanoes are amazing! We have 3 kids (Ages 14, 11 and 8) and traveled with friends who have teenage/young adult children and a good time was had by all. My kids loved climbing on the lava rocks and it kept them entertained. The sites in Hilo that we went to were beautiful. Since there was 10 of us, we decided to save a little money and use Go! Airlines instead of Hawaiian Air. Big mistake. They were 2.5 hours late on the flight back from Hilo to Honolulu, which was a big deal with 10 very tired people who were already jetlagged. After reading the reviews for Go! Airlines, it seems like this is a very common occurrence. The ticket agent sent us to the wrong gate, and there was very little communication as the why the flight was late or when we were leaving. Spend the extra cash and fly Hawaiian.

this tour can't say it's bad, but can't say it's good.
we have spent a lot of times on volcano but some of the places we stop by seems repeated.

we have arrived to airport very early and wait for couple hours to fly back to Oahu.

the tour should be more well organised the time and make the tour more fruitful

The tour is amazing. See what the lava does is spetacular. Our guide is so funny. I really recomended.

Positives: our flights were on time and without incident with greeters ready for us at the terminal.
Our tour guide was fun and enthusiastic.
We made it to all places on itinerary without being rushed.
Negatives: I found it unusual compared to other tours that the guide stayed with the bus which meant we didn't get any feedback while visiting sites, only in between.
The coordination of three different groups of customers on different incoming and outgoing flights a) took a lot of time b) distracted the tour guide

If I had to do it all over again I would look for a tour where all customers are on the same flight or leave if customers haven't arrived at designated time / spot within 30 minutes of start time.

We took the Big Island Volcano tour from Oahu last week - it was a long but enjoyable day.

Leroy was our guide/driver, and he was everything you could want from a tour guide - friendly, knowledgeable and patient. All of the places visited were interesting. There was no lava to be seen, just steam rising from Kilauea, but we knew to expect this when we booked. Leroy allowed just the right amount of time at each stop, and told us a lovely story about Pele, the goddess of fire, on the trip back down the mountain.

The only slight downside was that the GO Airlines flight back to Oahu was delayed by 2hrs, so it made for a very long day.

Make sure you wear sturdy shoes and take a jacket as the temperature drops significantly when up on the mountain. We were blessed with good weather, but I am told that it does rain quite a bit on the Big Island, so perhaps also take a foldup umbrella.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful island with us !