Circle most of the island of Oahu on a full-day tour by minibus limited to 20 passengers, a smaller group than typical island coach tours. With an informative guide, you’ll make about a dozen stops, including the chance to see Hawaiian green sea turtles in their natural habitat during an hour of snorkeling on Oahu’s North Shore. Get a comprehensive overview of top attractions such as Diamond Head, Makapu’u Beach, Halona Blowhole and the Dole Plantation. Hotel pickup and drop-off in Waikiki is included.
After hotel pickup by minibus in Waikiki, your day tour with your guide starts at Diamond Head for a brief photo stop at a lookout. Search the waters for migrating whales before heading to the Halona Blowhole, where you can watch waves crash into a lava tube and spray water up to 50 feet (15 meters) in the air.
Pass by Sandy Beach and make your way to Makapu’u Beach for a glimpse of the aquamarine surf and views of Makapu'u Point Lighthouse and Manana Island (Rabbit Island) in the distance. Your next 15- to 20-minute stop is a secret spot at Waimanalo Beach Park, a gorgeous white-sand beach that was featured in the TV drama Hawaii Five-0.
Then your guide drives you past lush rainforest en route to Tropical Farms, a family-owned macadamia nut farm and outlet. Try your hand at cracking raw macadamia nuts, enjoy a variety of samples and taste macadamia nut coffee. A short stretch up the road is Mokoliʻi, formerly known as Chinaman's Hat. Stop at Kualoa Point to snap pics of this basalt island in Kane’ohe Bay, and then head further up the windward coast to the rugged peninsula of Laie Point, with views of the Ko’olau Mountains.
Cruising along the North Shore, gaze out the window at famous surf breaks like Pipeline, Waimea and Sunset Beach before arriving at Tsue Farm, where you can purchase a Hawaiian plate lunch. Dig into pork, shrimp, teriyaki chicken or veggie stir-fry, and then stop by Tsue's Shave Ice for a classic Hawaiian treat (all food at your own expense). If you’d like, you can rent a paddleboard or kayak to venture down the Anahulu River during your 45-minute break here.
Next, it’s on to the highlight of your tour: green sea turtles! Stop by a secluded feeding ground referred to as ‘Turtle Town’ for one hour of guided snorkeling. Afterward, you may use the beach park’s outdoor showers and changing rooms before your final stop at the Dole Plantation. Spend about 30 minutes here, where you can walk around the grounds and perhaps try a refreshing Dole Whip, a pineapple-flavored frozen dessert (own expense).
Your day tour ends with the 30- to 45-minute return drive to Waikiki for hotel drop-off.
It was a nice tour. We learned a lot about the island of our guide Brock. We were lucky enough to see turtles when we snorkled. There was also a lifeguard that told about the turtles. We can recommend this trip.
Review by: Joseph M, October 2017
Great tour of the island. We learned so much about Oahu from Brock impressive wealth of knowledge! _br/_ Fave stops: North shore, snorkeling, coconut shrimp lunch, and photo ops. Thanks so much
Review by: Jasmine K, July 2017
This is a good tour if you want a quick tour of the island to get your baring for areas that you may want to explore in more details during your trip. Our driver, Brock, was focused on driving and a good driver. Our guide Justin, was knowledgeable about the area and provided history and background information on the areas we visited. Many of the stops were brief, again , good for an overview of the island. The stops include the Dole pineapple plantation for soft serve,several scenic views of bays. Other stops included a fruit stand and a shop at a macadamia nut farm. Presumably these stops are to promote spending your money at local businesses. The snorkel stop was disappointing. We stopped at a very busy many tourists bay where turtles are know to hang out. But the bay was so busy that the turtles were hiding. Justin did not get in the water to help us find the turtles. All the other tour groups had their guide get in the water and show them turtles. The life guard even said that they guides were supposed to be int he water with us to help us spot the turtles. No turtle sighting for me. : The timing of the visit when fewer people are there, or to a less crowded bay to the bay and having the guide get in to guide the viewing would have improved this tour. Read the inclusions carefully. Unlike every other tour I did, this one did not include lunch or any expenses along the way. You will pay for your own lunch, soft serve and anything else. The tour price includes the bus ride, guide, and snorkel gear only.
Review by: Catherine R, June 2017
Great tour. KC very informative. Nice to be in a van with a few people, not a huge bus. Did see a turtle, but I had to go walking quite a way down the beach. Overall a really enjoyable day.
Review by: Sondra O, June 2017
Raul our tour guide and Brock our driver were wonderful. Both very knowledgeable about the island sites and history. Took us to some great locations and we managed to see a Monk Sea Lion napping on the beach. What an awesome time! Would do it again!!
Review by: Steven O, December 2016
Good overview of island, tour guide Casey very knowledgeable, turtles turned up right on cue.
Review by: Tedra B, September 2016
Our Island tour was great, the swim with the turtles was amazing, something we will never forget. Our guide was very professional and knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend it.
Review by: Nicole R, September 2016
There is so much to this beautiful island and we got to experience just some of its awesomeness on this tour. Our tour guide was super friendly and shared a wealth of knowledge with us.
Review by: Wayne S, September 2016
A must see , from KC the driver to the great lookout stops. Lunch to dole farm. But time spent with the turtles with alway be with my wife and I .My wife's first time snorkelling , the guild spent 10 minutes helping 3 people understand what to do . And it was on. In 60 minutes seen 10-12 turtles swimming past . Some stopping to eat the sea grass .others looking at us please do this tour.
Review by: Happy Traveller, August 2016
This was an excellent small group tour in a minivan. Our driver, Raul, was very passionate and knowledgeable about the island. He also had a sense of humour and looked after us very well. There were only ten of us on the tour which made it very personal. The tour was very comprehensive and covered a lot of the island which we wouldn't otherwise have seen as we only had two days in Hawaii. The highlight was snorkelling with the green turtles. Although the water was a bit murky, Raul helped us to find the turtles. Would thoroughly recommend this tour.
Review by: louise.saha, August 2016
Was very good tour. Saw lots of island that would never have seen on own. Beautiful beaches etc. Lots of info with Justin. Was just what said on the tin. Only saw one turtle but was fine. Didn and #39;t like food but it was good to experience. Would highly recommend if you just want to see take photos and go
Review by: Lisa P, August 2016
It was a very good tour. Feel like we really saw old Hawaii. Raul was patient with those that had not snorkeled before. Our tour ran a little long, that was my only complaint. It was awesome overall. Highly recommend.
Review by: Mary F, June 2016
Even though we had a rainy day it didn't stop us from having a great day. Our tour guide Raul was full of interesting facts and lots of fun. It's a great way to see the island outside of Waikiki. Highlight of the day was definitely swimming with the sea turtles.
Review by: Adrienne H, June 2016
This tour is good if you want to see a lot of different things, especially if you aren't renting a car. It has several stops for pictures of different views and beaches. It also stops at Dole and a Macadamia nut farm, which are good to see, but you don't need a lot of time at. There is a lot of getting on and off the bus. I wouldn't recommend buying the deluxe package as you can buy your own lunch and if you decide you want to kayak or paddle board you can purchase it there. I'd recommend wearing flip flops. There's not a lot of walking, but some will be on the beach. You don't need your bathing suit until halfway through the day, but it will cut into your snorkeling time if you have to walk to the bathroom to change. Also, bring a towel. Our guide Mark was very entertaining. We did see a lot of turtles as well. The food at lunch wasn't the best, but the fruit stand had these awesome fried bananas for only 1. Overall I think it's a good buy since it's a full day and you see so many different things.
Review by: Arend v, September 2015
Beautiful sceneries, great guide and the swimming with the turtles is really the crown of this tour.
Review by: Amanda C, September 2015
This tour was advertised as a Turtle tour through the company that runs the tour. Only about an hour is spent with the tours- the water is very murky. I only saw the turtles twice, my husband didn't see any at all. Overall, the tour was fun and we got to see a lot of the island. Like most of these tours, they take you to all of the tour traps small gift stores where you stay for 20 minutes.... Our bus driver, King Mike, was very nice and easy going. Recommended if you're interested in seeing the island, not recommended if you want to snorkel with turtles.
RSS Feed