Big Island Day Trip: Volcanoes National Park from Oahu
Oahu, United States of America
Discover the sights of the Big Island on this guided day trip from Oahu. Inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, a UNESCO-listed site, hike along a crater rim, step inside a lava tube and witness the glowing red embers of Kilauea Volcano. Walk on Hilo’s black sand beach, see the misty Rainbow Falls, stroll through Akatsuka Gardens and snap a pic of a $20,0000 orchid. This Oahu Volcano tour includes a visit to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory, where you’ll learn first-hand how the nuts are roasted to golden perfection.
After early morning hotel pickup in Waikiki (if option selected), you’ll
fly from Oahu to the Big Island of Hawaii for a full day packed with
beautiful sights. Throughout the tour, learn about the history
and geology of the Big Island from your guide's informative commentary, before returning to Oahu.
See Itinerary below for details.
Well worth the effort of a very long day. It was exhilarating to stand on the edge of the main crater.
Review by: Kristopher G, April 2015
The tour was amazing. My tour guide, Rob, was funny and knew what he was talking about. The only gripe I had was the tour went on for too long and the very early start. I think the tour description needs to be made more clear in terms of morning/night flight details and more organisation is required
Review by: MARK C, April 2015
Driver was very friendly- only problem was that we were looking forward to seeing Rainbow Falls. I believe we shouldve been notified that the US Park Service closed that portion of the tour since, according to the driver, its been closed for some time.
Review by: heidikester, April 2015
My sister and I enjoyed this excursion. It was a LONG day, but worth it. It includes many stops along the way but ultimately, the volcano, history, lava tube, and the lava fields were the most exciting.
Review by: ANNIE D, April 2015
The guide was amazing! He gave us lots of informations! The volcanoes National Park is definitely a one of a kind place on earth and is totally worth seeing !
Review by: Marcelo Y, April 2015
Our guide/driver Hugh was very nice and informative, but there's no more visiting to the Rainbow Falls neither Black Sand Beachthis doesn't even exist anymore. At the moment there's nowhere you can actually see molten lava flowing. You should review information folio to avoid disappointment to customers. Besides that a nice day around lots of cooled down lava, craters from previous eruptions and some nice views around the park. Somewhat tiring for being an all day tour, and that's from 5:30 am to around 9:00 pm.
Review by: Michelle E M, March 2015
Our tour guide, Captain Rob, was AWESOME! He was right with us in the museums and in the lava fields and explaining things up close and in person and it was so much better than any of the tours that I had otherwise taken. If you don't have time to spend more than a day on the Big Island than this tour is worth it because it was amazing!
Review by: Michael S, February 2015
This is one of those yours where the tour delivered exactly as advertised, the guide was great, and I had fun for the day, but I was expecting more and hoping to see more than what was there. That's not the guide's fault or anything it's just seeing the volcano just as a crater with steam coming out of it...I don't know. I was expecting more. The stops at the fields were lava had flowed over the land were great and the lava tube was very interesting albeit short. I guess it just has to do more with what I had in mind more than the quality of this tour. I guess to I'm bias in my review as I prefer Kuaui or Oahu to The Big Island. It's worth doing, but I found myself wanting to be on another island at the end of the day rather than returning to the Big Island.
Review by: Deborah G, February 2015
The only downside of trip was the lady who met us at the airport at the beginning of the day. She was very disorganized and could not believe we were there o early. We found her at 5:40- we were told to be there by 5:30!_br/_
Our day guide,Leroy Johnson, made up for the bad start. He was knowledgeable and quite personable. Leroy was very organized and professional
Review by: Carlos, February 2015
Our driver/tour guide was very knowledgeable. He was by far the best tour guide we had while on or visit to the Big Island. Had a blast and learned a lot from his show and tell. We would do it again if I knew I would have him to go with. Even thought we did not see Lava like we did 10 years ago. He made this trip enjoyable and very pleasant.
Review by: AMMARIT B, February 2015
Amazing Big Island !! so so beautiful !! I love it.. tour guide was very nice and sweet.
Review by: Sara L. B, January 2015
The tour was comprehensive, though rather touristy. Disappointed not to see flowing lava, but the guide was very informative. Very glad to have a small, rather than large, bus.
Review by: MerLyn, January 2015
This was a BIG day and an expensive tour .. 17 hours in total (with 1 hour delay for our flight back) and not one i would recommend unfortunately. _br/_
It was promised as a day engulfed in the excitement of the Volcanoes however we were not allowed anywhere near the lava flow or even any vista of it .. so the day was spent walking over hardened flows from the 1960's and 80's, Orchid flower nursery(????? why ?) and macadamia nut factory (which was closed other than the store)._br/_
Not really recommended
Review by: Stephanie M, January 2015
I enjoyed the trip but it could easily have been a couple of hours shorter and made even more enjoyable. There were several stops (like at the orchids shop, the Japanese garden in Hilo, and the Volcano House hotel) that could have been eliminated, allowing folks to not have to leave their hotels at 5:00 am in order to catch a 6:50 flight.
Review by: Cynthia H, December 2014
We had a wonderful day. I highly recommend this trip. Our guide Jane, was knowledge and did her very best to make sure very one had a great time. The best part was Rainbow Falls.
Review by: Elizabeth J, December 2014
Such a long day but brilliant. We thoroughly enjoyed it especially the hula lesson from our tour guide in the bus.
Review by: Michael H, December 2014
Great tours and guides were wonderful!!!
Review by: Emily T, December 2014
This tour guide, Jane, was beyond incredible. She had a fantastic attitude, never tired of explaining things and educating us. The tour itself is well worth the money. It was well-thought-out, perfectly executed, and could not be any better. Big kudos to Jane, a tremendous asset to your company.
Review by: Terri C, December 2014
My tour of Volcanoes National Park was very thorough and worth the money. The tour guide was very knowledgeable as he attended University of Hawaii and learned their language and history. I highly recommend this tour.
Review by: Randy M, December 2014
All went well except the weather, no control over that. Foggy and drizzle most of day. But tour on bus was good guide was entertaining. Weather cleared for about 30 minutes and we did get to see the volcano, steam vents, walked on old lava flows, thru lava tubes, etc. I think we got on and off the bus at least 25 times at different places. All went well and my wife and I had a great time.
Review by: Emily W, December 2014
A must when visiting Hawaii. Was well and truly worth every cent. HUGE day but worth it. got to see everything up close. great bus driver had lots of local knowledge and was very entertaining. Lots of stops for food and breaks and freedom to go explore at your own leisure then meet back at the bus.
Review by: Charlene R, December 2014
Jane our tour director was AWESOME!! Very knowledgeable, very pleasant, great speaking voice, very well spoken. Great trip!! Thank you!!
Review by: BAYOUGYPSY1, November 2014
Our tour guide really helped make this a totally enjoyable day with her knowledge and humor throughout the day. Although a long day, it was a good value.
Review by: LibrasRock, November 2014
Wonderful tour guide! He was very knowledgeable. Tour was fabulous. Learned a lot about Hawaiian culture. Various stops/sites along the tour were great! Black sand beach was a little underwhelming. Overall, great tour!
Review by: Jason H, October 2014
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Tresna P, October 2014
Long day but well worth it. The Tour Guide shared his knowledge and as he grew up on the island he was very interesting and easy to listen to. A must do.....
Review by: Rick W, October 2014
I would have given this tour a 5 star rating, but I thought the morning was a bit of a waste of time for me personally. I wanted to go and see the volcanoes, but we spent most of the morning driving around various parts of the island, visiting a Macadamia Nut factory and Orchid nursery. We only went into the Volcanoes National Park after lunch. However, the wait was definitely worth it. The Volcanoes National Park was spectacular. Our tour guide for the day was a local islander, who was very knowledgeable and a great host for the day. This tour is a full day, with a very early start and a late return flight back to Honolulu.
Review by: Cheri T, October 2014
It was good!
Review by: Caitlin K, October 2014
Great trip and tour guide. Only thing that would have made this better is getting to see active flowing lava which you do not see on this tour.
Review by: Cathy W, October 2014
Rob was a wonderful tour guide. The weather wasn't the best so he did his best under the circumstances. I had hoped he had a website or printout of all the places we went that day so I could refer back to all the photos I had taken. Unfortunately, he didn't. Overall, I would recommend this tour!
Review by: Johnny S, October 2014
This was the highlight of our 2 week stay in Hawaii. Hugh(our tour guide ) was a wealth of information and very pleasant. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see red hot lava but there were so many stops that I didn't expect it made up for it. The orchids were awesome and the macadamia nuts delicious. The most meaningful part of the tour was devastation trail which really bought home the power of nature.
Review by: Wendy M, September 2014
The morning part of the tour was slow and a little boring. Once we got to the volcano area it was very interesting. It would have been nice to have spent more time there and maybe have started our day a little later and even finished earlier. The mountain bit was great, the guide was good. A good quality picnic lunch may work well.
Review by: Tory P, September 2014
This tour was more than I could've asked for! Though it does make for a long day you get to experience so many great aspects of the big island. We were met at the airport by our guide for the day John. He was extremely knowledgeable as he has lived on the island for 20-30 years and had items for "show and tell" which gave you a great perspective on exactly what he was talking about. Our first stop was at a local store in order to stock up on water (which I promise you will want and need) as well as to get breakfast or snacks for the day. After that we were off to touring. Stops on the tour included a Japanese garden, a black sand beach with an opportunity to see a little bit of green sand, a visit to the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory, rainbow falls, visit to an orchid nursery, lunch and then the rest of the day was spent in volcanoes national park. You really get to experience so much on this tour and we thoroughly enjoyed every aspect. Ample stops are made within the park getting to experience craters, different types and anomalies in lave flow, and the lava tube. You get back to the airport in plenty of time and we even ended up with extra time at the end of our tour so john stopped where there were some fast food and coffee options to choose from so that we could have dinner and not rely on the very limited options at the airport.
Review by: Brittaney R N, September 2014
I really enjoyed this tour, and especially thought the tour guide, Capt. Rob, did an amazing job. It was a bit of a bummer that you don't actually see lava, but I knew that going into the tour. My only complaint from the day was at the very end of the tour. When we flew back to Oahu we had to sit and wait at the airport for a different tour group to get back before our bus would take us back to the hotel. We ended up sitting and waiting on a bus for about 45 minutes. Overall though, the tour was fun and informative.
Review by: Bradley B, September 2014
Simply amazing tour and guide. Sharon was fun and knowledgeable. Bus a/c died part of the day but windows down mode worked fine. Won't see spewing lava as sort of implied but lots of older lava flows and the crater. Left with 20 lbs of macadamia nuts i think! Great day trip.
Review by: ROBERT W M, September 2014
Captain Rob showed us so many things on this tour and was very knowledgeable about volcanoes and The Big Island. The tour was very well paced and managed to fit in a great diversity of places of interest. I'd also like to say how very grateful I am that the tour operator was willing to change our tour dates when our whole Hawaiian trip was rescheduled due to the hurricanes. We are extremely appreciative of the flexibility shown to us and the efficiency of the good people at Viator for sorting things out for us.
Review by: Christopher M, August 2014
False advertising at its greatest. The Lava hasn't flowed for 2 years. How can they justify advertising this when it it only possible to see some smoke ( not even a peak of red ) from 3 miles away. I was very disappointed as i paid for 6 members of my family to have an adventure. Shame shame
Review by: Douglas H, August 2014
Tour was fair to OK, but padded out with frequent stoppages to fill in the day. Half hour stops at gardens and black sands/canoes are a waist of time. Just filling in the morning. Orchid displays and macadamia nut farm were ok, but could be classed as time fillers also. Time was also waisted at cemeteries, to help fill in the morning and time allocated at these morning stops was not enforced by tour guide. e.g. the 30 minutes allowed often expanded to 45 minutes and guide was not worried by this extended time. This only indicated that he was filling in time. Waited all day to see larva flow, larva tube and volcano, which was very good. Tour promotion is over rated and not good value for money. Shot gun approach to seat allocation on plane was another minus for the tour. Could not recommend tour at its current price and time wasting format. Day on island could be shorter, just concentrate on main features. I.E. Volcano, larva flow, larva tube, and Rainbow falls. The day is very long, pick up at 5am, return home at 9:30pm. So consider this before booking
Review by: Christopher J, August 2014
Overall, this was a fabulous day. Upon arrival in Hilo, it started a little slowly, with sights and locations en route to the Volcano National Park. But overall it was a fascinating and really enjoyable tour. Well worth the long day.
Review by: Gary B, October 2012
Great trip and certainly worth doing. Just be aware of that if you want to take sunscreen in a normal size bottle, that you have to pay to check in a bag when you fly to the Big island. We had a great guide on the island and all the volcanic formations are outstanding. The lava tube, steam vents etc. are really interesting and you are given plenty of time to see everything and walk on the old lava flows. Even though it was a long day it wasn't too tiring, highly recommended.
Review by: Stuart L, October 2012
Interesting tour but cool and wet weather put a bit of a dampner on things.
Review by: David W, October 2012
Excellent, Great way to meet people from different parts of the world. On brochure it shows molten lava, there is none, just steam. But still a great trip.
Review by: Nhu N, October 2012
Well worth waking up early and picking the Hawaiin airline option.
Review by: Sabrina T, October 2012
This trip was more about shopping opportunities than volcanoes. The volcano stops were for shorter periods than the stops to the general store, nut factory, orchid nursery etc. Despite advertising a full day in the National Park, we didn't get there until well after lunch.
Review by: Mitzi, October 2012
Bus was hit by car. Not driver's fault. Guide was nice but too much stop at lavas. Wished more time at orchid farm. Lunch was 2stars. Took too long to take air from Oahu. I will not recommend the tour from Oahu but if you stay at big island, it is good.
Review by: Debra V, October 2012
Fabulous - worth every cent - a long day, but just amazing - highlight of my trip. The only disappoint was that there were no "tacky" Volcano souveniers to be purchased!!!
Review by: Carla A, September 2012
the bus was late picking me up by 20mins and then it wasn't at my motel as they said it would be. if it wasn't for me seeing it across the road picking up people i wounder if he would come overfor me.once on the big island it was great the guide was full of information and gave us plenty of time to look around and take photos. when the tour was over it was back to the airport where i recomend that you book your flight with hawaiian airlines as it left eariler then my flight with GO airlines it was 2hrs after our return and there was nothing to do or go at the airport
Review by: CHELSEA O, September 2012
Very disappointing. The tour stated a full day trip to the Volcanoe National Park, we didnt enter the park until after lunch. Before that there was a number stop offs at sourvier stores and places not even related to the volcanoe eg macadamia factory, which personally I could have done without. Once in the park there were many stops at various lookouts but we were given a very limit time to 'explore' or walk down any of the trials. There is absolutely no chance you will see any lava flow at all on the tour like it is suggested. The plane doesnt go over the volcaneo coming in and when leaving its too dark to see anything.
Review by: Ashley Z, September 2012
well well well, what can i say , cause sharon said it all!.. for 10 hours straight. she's definaltly one of a kind! most knowledgeable person I've ever seen! so pay the money just for her! the volcanos come second on this trip, and in the first hour she'l tell you won't ever see any lava cause she has never seen it in 30 years of doing the tour. ok so don't get disjointed its worth the money you defiantly see a lot of cool stuff, rainbow falls, cool flower shop, nice lunch, lava tube, top of an active volcano, and you get to stand right on recently old lave flow its defiantly amazing, take heaps of photos we did.. just pack a few red bulls and expect to be out all day 16 hours or something.. best tour u could go on at the Big Island! youl understand what i mean :) from downunder
Review by: Allyson D, September 2012
It was a really long day, but totally worth the day trip to the Big Island. It made me want more adventure though! A couple of stops were so beautiful or made me want to venture deeper, but were too short of a stay. I guess I will have to make another vacation for the Big Island to hike the volcano and hang out at Black Sand Beach longer.
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