This tour is better for those travelling in a couple, I wouldn't recommend it for young families as is it a huge day, 21 hours._br/_ We were picked up from our hotel at 3:30am for a 5am flight over to the Big Island. Once we arrived we waited 45 minutes to be picked up and begin the tour. Unfortunately as it was such an early morning some of the sights driving around the island were missed as most passengers were asleep on the bus. We stopped at numerous places our favorites were the black sand beach, the Volcano national park and the waterfall. I would recommend spending a few days over here and driving around the island on your own time if you can afford it as it is such a beautiful place and so different from the mainland of Oahu, but for those looking to get things done on a time basis this is the best way to see the island in 1 day!
Review by: Heidi K, March 2018
Excellent tour. Although the day was long, the trip was fantastic. Rainbow Falls, Black Sand Beach and Volcano National Park were tours best sights.
Review by: Kelleen H, September 2017
This was a very fun tour. If you have never been to Hawaii like me, it allows you to see more than you could possibly on your own. The stops were not long but if you want to see as much as you can, you have to stick to the timeline. Volcanoes National Park was my favorite. The only downside was that I thought that we would see the operations at the macadamia nut factory and Kona Coffee but it was just a gift shop. It was still interesting anyhow. Also, the samples were abundant! I would recommend that if you are flying in from another Island to make sure that you can get in bed early the night before. I accidentally scheduled this tour after spending the whole previous day at the Polynesian Culteral Center and did not get back to our motel in Waikiki until 10 PM. Then we had to be at the bus stop at 3:30 am for this tour on the big island!
Review by: Thomas Z, February 2017
This tour was well-worth our time, even though it started at 4:00 a.m. with a pick-up to the airport for the flight to the Big Island and didn't finish until we were back to our hotel at 10:45 p.m. An hour or two less would have been great. Tommy, our tour guide on The Big Island was amazingly knowledgeable and friendly. Thoroughly trustworthy and professional. In some ways, Rainbow Falls and the Black Sand Beach were more impressive than Volcano National Park, where we had hoped to get closer to the actual volcanoes. We were still very happy to see it all, though. The one thing that we didn't like was when we were approaching a sales place, like the shortbread cookie company, or the macademia factory. Suddenly our tour bus became a QVC-type hard-sell promotion for the 20 minutes before each stop where we were highly encouraged to buy, buy, buy. Tone it down, ok?? It was a turn-off to sit-through this sort of non-stop advertising each time we came to a place to buy coffee, nuts, or cookies. That said, the tour of the entire island's major tourist sites is outstanding and still to be recommended.
Review by: Merrick J, January 2017
Our drivers name was Fred. From the minute we boarded his bus, he made us feel comfortable and was very organized in his thoughts an communication. He is a 21 year Coast Guard retiree and was organized in his timing of the trip, the answering of questions, the knowledge of the Hawaiian island of Oahu and it's history and culture, etc., etc. There was not a single question that he was asked that he couldn't answer. He was very polite, orderly, kept us on time in getting to our destinations and making sure that our breaks were timely. I would highly recommend Fred for your guide.
Review by: Sarah M, December 2016
For what it was it was a good tour however knowing that there was so much else to see on the island I'd suggest skipping it and spending more time. If you only have a day spare and are desperate to do it then definitely recommend.
Review by: Jessica K, October 2016
Although it was a very long day 4am pick-up! I would thoroughly recommend this tour! It is a great way to get a sense of the biggest island of Hawaii and it was surprising how many different landscapes/scenery the island has to offer. Our bus driver Kala was exceptionally knowledgeable and likable and made the tour insightful throughout. Personal highlights for me were the black sand beach at Punalu'u and the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park purely for the landscapes and the active magma. Unfortunately on this tour, we did not make it to the Macadamia Nut Factory as our bus experienced a tyre blow-out! This was disappointing and also slightly concerning about whether we would make it back for our inter-island flight. However Kala handled it all very calmly and professionally and we made it to the airport by alternate transport supplied by Polynesian Adventure Tours. There was a minor delay in being collected once back at Honolulu airport due to a change in the arrangements that we were not notified of. My boyfriend and I will definitely be returning to the islands and would be happy to use Polynesian Adventure Tours again!
Review by: Donald S, August 2016
We flew over from Oahu so had to leave the North Shore at 3am. Got to the airport at 4 and was met by an agent from Polynesian Adventures. She gave us our tickets and got us to the counter. Our flight landed at 5:45am but no one was there to meet us. A call was made to the Polynesian office where we were informed that they don't pick up that early but would send someone in 15 min. hmmm? Aside from that the trip was fantastic!. Tommy our guide and bus driver was knowledgeable, funny and talked for 12 hours God bless him He drove that big bus like a pro!! Give that guy a raise :.The big island is so different from Oahu we were awestruck. A few recommendations if you are flying over take an empty water bottle as there is no place to buy water except lunch, which is on you . Also if you are a coffee person bring an empty container as you can refill it at your first stop free. I think a cooler on the bus with water would be a good addition that Polynesian could implement especially considering the cost of the tour All in all this is a tour that I highly recommend even if you are staying on the big island. Tommy got us to the airport in plenty of time for our flight home walked in the door at 9:30 pm exhausted but so glad we did this.
Review by: Stephen J L, December 2015
We totally enjoyed the trip. Be prepared for a very early start but it was great to be picked up from our condo at Waikiki Banyan at 4.30am and taken to the airport, where we met a another guide to received our flight details. We had time for a quick breakfast after going through security so don't forget passports and/or Id. At the Big Island we met our guide and driver for the day. Tommy gave us great information flavoured with humor and some local community information to make our day enjoyable. Tommy described what we would see at each stop and made sure everyone knew how to appreciate and understand the enviroment, or the production process and history to produce the products we were about to sample. The number of stops were ok but I personally would have liked one on local art/crafts but really we were interested in the volcanic park so we both felt the tour met our main objective for the trip. It was a big day for us and all was going well untill we arrived at Honolulu Airport. Well when we met the transfer resentative she was confussed about our arrival time and indicated we were very late but in fact we came straight from the plane to meet her. The transfer driver was unimpressed that he would have to go out of his way to drop us off at our condo and instead dropped us off at a nearby corner. This was not appreciated but we really had no choice but to leave the shuttle, this was disappointing and discourteous after being up from 3.30am and very tired after a 17.5 hour day. One has to ask who would have taken responsibility if we had had an accident whilst walking from the corner to our accommodation. Perhaps the company used needs to make sure their staff are well informed and follow procedure in a courteous and considerate way.
Review by: Robyn D, November 2015
Very good tour. Interesting and informative. Shame about the weather. Only negative was the long wait at the airport until our flight back to Honolulu.
Review by: Mrs P. J, October 2014
Despite the early start this is an amazing tour, well organised, although it would have been appreciated if fellow travelers had been a little more considerate and arrived back at the coach on time. You see many different types of terrain, walking through a lava tube, how often will you get the chance to do that! Sightseeing interspersed with a lunch stop as well as visits to both sweet and macadamia nut factories, delicious!
Review by: Mark, July 2014
This tour was very interesting but not exactly what we were expecting. Most of your time is spent on the bus. We had 45 minutes for lunch (cost not included), and only 10-15 mins. at the few stops we made. We were led to believe we would be able to actually see fresh lava, but our tour guide said that could only be done by air and that we had been lied to. He said the same thing about waterfalls. He stopped at one and we "saw" several others as we sped by in the bus. Again, he said we were promised to see waterfalls, not get close enough to touch or get good photos. The majority of the tour you drive by lava fields, coffee trees, and macadamia nut trees. It was a good Island over view with some beautiful scenery, but after returning home to view our photos, many were blurred because they were taken out the window of a moving bus. We would not do this tour again, especially considering the $$ paid. If we knew then what we know now, we would fly over, rent a car, and stay overnight. Anyone could drive to any of the places we stopped themselves with a map for much less cost.
Review by: Sarah A, March 2014
Although the day is a long one (3:30am pick up in Oahu to the airport) it was fun to visit the Big Island! We got to see most of the island, including volcanos (no lava) -- and we were kept well informed on the history by our tour bus driver, Sal. We were a little bummed because we got to the airport to fly back to Oahu only about 12 minutes before the plane took off - and this was after being driven for what seemed like hours at night time to drop off folks staying on the island at their hotels. A good tour though and glad we did it!
Review by: wyatt, February 2014
Early start (4:30 a.m.) but everything was organized perfectly. I had never used Viator before and was nervous especially about this large group of 7 people and the details surrounding getting us where we needed to be. The pick up bus was a little late, but other than that, everything worked great and we enjoyed our day tour of the big island. The tour guide/bus driver was very entertaining and knowledgeable. I would suggest reminding people in advance to tip the driver well. We hadn't thought about this until later in the day and did not have much cash left.
Review by: ROBERT B, December 2013
excellent trip wish we could stay longer
Review by: Sachin J, December 2013
The trip advertises (as you can see by the main image on the left on this rate your trip page too - a trip to the molten lava area). This is false advertisement.
Review by: ihsan A, December 2013
It was a nice trip that let you feel of the wonderful naturals seens
Review by: Cathryn N, December 2013
I didn't expect this to be mostly sitting on a bus with only 20 minutes at every stop.
Review by: Edward G, October 2013
The tour was too long and it was not what I expected. To be dropped off at airport and to have to wait two hours before our flight back to Waiiki was very disappointing. There was an earlier flight however - we would have had to pay $50 pp extra..This is the first tour that I have booked through Viator that didn't reach our expectations. The tour guide was very annoying spoke the whole time while on the bus and repeated himself two or three times, when he should have gave us rest time.
Review by: Ora C, July 2013
Tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and highly entertaining. This tour does have a very early start from Oahu (3 am pickup) so expect to be completely wiped out by the time your plane returns. We had the 8 pm flight as was totally sleeping in the airport by the end. Another gotcha.. 2 pina colado drinks at the big island airport will run you $30 so beware.
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