Kilauea Summit To Shore From Kona: Small Group

A Volcano Van Tour is the ideal way to spend a day on Hawaii Island! Scott is enthusiastic about volcanoes and has vast knowledge about the island, vegetation, and history. We were wondering how it would go, spending 9 hours on a van tour, but Scott’s approachability and his energy made the day a delightful adventure that we could not have duplicated if we had tried to drive ourselves. I am most thankful for the opportunity to drive through PAHOA and see the town!!! I recommend touring with Scott 1,000% (yes, that is correct 1,000, not a typo!)

Scott is an excellent tour guide. He designed the tour day exactly as we had hoped, making great use of our time on the Big Island and I wouldn’t hesitate to book any tour by the Volcano Van, especially if your cruise ship pulls into Kona pier. It was awesome to see both Kona & Hilo, and Kīlauea Volcano all in one day. Exceptional!

Driver is very personable and knows a lot about the island. He only takes small groups which makes it very comfortable. We saw a lot in 8 hours.

Scott bent over backwards to make it accommodating for us. He is very knowledgeable and knows the local area, history and customs. Took my wife and I on a tour to the shore, waterfalls, volcano and lava tubes. We stopped and got out at every place. He didn’t rush us and let us explore. Told us about local history and answered our questions! You must book with him!

Scott was an absolute joy! He was informative and accommodating. My sister and I had a great time seeing the beautiful island of Hawaii. Scott showed us beauty we will never forget.

This is the third time that we have used volcano van. And Scott is the best tour guide around. Skip all the big companies and go with this locally owned business where the owner is your driver and he knows all the great spots. He’s a true volcano nerd with a passion for the big island. You’ll be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t use volcano Van.!

What an amazing island! Scott's love for Volcanos shows as he tells you all about them. He also shares many interesting facts and knowledge of the various environments that you will pass thru during the tour. The diversity is amazing. Unfortunately we were a little rushed the day of our tour and had very typical January weather, so some of our photos are not what you would hope for scenery wise, Scott also liked to avoid the crowds and venture where the crowds were not. I too like to go to the more less traveled areas, but sometimes you have to deal with the crowds a bit, especially at overlooks and such that don't require a walk or hike. I would have liked to have spent a little more time exploring Kīlauea Crater Rim. But the weather kept us moving quick as we tried to beat it to upcoming points of interest.

Scott was amazing. He made the tour fun and was very knowledgeable. He is a friendly guy and easy to talk to. We had a great time and would absolutely recommend The Volcano Van Private Tours.

We've been to the park several times in the past, but this experience with Scott with The Volcano Van was fantastic! Scott is so knowledgeable about Volcanoes that he could work for the geological pros! Loved our adventures for the day, including the Lava Tube, and a stop at Punalu'u Bakery. Scott was prepared, most attentive and professional during my clumsy fall! Nothing broke, just banged up, and we were able to complete the day's activities. The lunch was awesomely delicious and plenty of water was provided. The pick-up and drop-off at our resort was an extra bonus. Highly recommend this excursion with Scott!

Scott was very knowledgeable about the Big Island. We saw so many amazing parts of the island. He made the tour so much fun. I would highly recommend The Volcano Van.

We had an amazing time on tour with Scott. He was extremely knowledgeable and made us feel extremely safe and comfortable on our drive south of Kona. This is honestly a must do if you are visiting the island to catch some of the most amazing landmarks here. Don’t miss out on this one. My son was super happy at the end of this day! Thank you Scott !

Scott was a great tour guide! He was very knowledgeable. It was a great day! Loved the small group experience.

Scott was a great tour guide! If anyone says he didn’t bring the energy, don’t believe them. Scott was knowledgeable, personable, and you could tell he cared about giving his clients the best experience possible. Episode 9 of Kīlauea happened in the middle of our tour and he managed to switch the itinerary tour up on the spot in his head to ensure we would get a view. Once in a lifetime experience, thanks Scott and the Volcano Van!

If you are visiting the big island, this trip is essential! Opportunity to tick off all the must do locations in a small very personal group! Scott was amazing with incredible knowledge. Talking us through the coffee farm, black sands, many volcanoes and rainbow falls all in one day! Turtles and rainbows were an added bonus 😉 Mahalo Scott a day we will never forget and the perfect ending to our trip to the big island!

What a fantastic tour! Scott was very knowledgeable and was an amazing guide! We learned a lot and every stop was great! Everything was just what we had hoped it would be! Highly recommend!

The whole day was an incredible experience! Scott was an exceptional tour host and was knowledgeable in all things volcano! It’s impossible to say what our favourite part of the day was- too many memorable moments! Scott made we sure everyone was looked after and all questions were answered. Thank you!

What a great day! Every stop was fun and meaningful, filled with information and photo ops. The driving portions, too, were fun and interesting. We got to see and do so much! Highly recommended and well worth the money!!

Our guide Scott made the trip for us. He was the most informative guides that I've ever had. I've gone on many tours, he by far is a cut above the rest. He made it educational and took us to the prime spots for views. He was also very entertaining and you would be lucky to have him as your guide.

Scott was an amazing tour guide! Very knowledgeable, welcoming, and most of all adventurous! Perfect for younger kids and families, we had the best time!

The Thurston lava tube was great, the different ecosystems were interesting, the green sea turtle sighting was wonderful! This is to-date, the best tour I've ever experienced! Scott was very knowledgeable and had the best personality!

New experiences always thrill, and we were pleasantly surprised by Scott meeting and exceeding our expectations! He was very knowledgeable about his history, the stats on each volcano and his personality wowed...I would definitely suggest this tour to anyone looking for a Big Island activity! We were given water, juice, and wraps for lunch, stopped for malasadas on the way back to the resort...I highly recommend!

Our driver Scott was the BEST! Very informative and knowledgeable -- we had a great time. The Kilauea crater was incredible, certainly makes you feel infinitesimally small. Hitting 10 different climate zones over the course of the day was amazing! Beautiful scenery around every corner! So worth it!

Scott was an excellent tour guide! What a kid of fun too. He really knows about volcanos and volcanic activity. Going up to the inner rim was just wonderful. Even though the weather was not ideal Scott kept us informed and got us to spots we never would have seen. I really appreciated that he tried twice to get us to see the lava tubes- unfortunately each time there was no parking available and tourists pretended to not speak sufficient english to recognize they were parking in a spot reserved for tours. Scott tried and was very respectful. We highly highly recommend this tour. Scott also took us to a wonderful coffee farm and we got an up close and personal tour by the GM. Fabulous!

We had so much fun with Scott!! Because we came in the off-season, we got lucky enough to have our own private tour that was catered to exactly what we wanted to see. We even stopped at a few local spot here and there. Scott is the perfect combination of an informative, cheesy, genuine guide. It was great spending a few hours with a fellow volcano nerd, and to see all the beautiful nature sites we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to see. Highly recommend!!

The tour was fantastic, informative and fun. All of those things were made possible by Scott, our tour guide, driver and all around cool dude! If you go with any other tour, you are cheating yourself.

This whole trip was amazing. My wife and I enjoyed that it was a small group and Scott was the best host/tour guide you could ever ask for. His knowledge of the island and volcanoes was outstanding. He is a very kind person who engages everyone in the group. I cannot recommend this trip any more than this - do it!! You will thoroughly enjoy every minute of it.

We had a wonderful trip with Scott! He was incredibly knowledgeable about the island and volcanos, and super friendly. He took us to great places and knew how to avoid the cruise ship crowds. We had a wonderful trip and would highly recommend him to others.

Fun, informative, entertaining, beautiful scenery! Scott was the best guide one could ask for. Thank you for the memories!!

Scott is AMAZING! He made certain we saw everything we wanted to see AND had a blast doing it!!!! He is knowledgeable, funny, kind and generous. I highly recommend this tour. You will love it. You will love Scott!!!!!

Scott is amazing. Friendly, knowledgeable, and funny. He connected with everyone in our group and by the end of the day we had running jokes and a great rapport throughout. The volcano is amazing. The malasadas at the Punalu'u bakery are not to be missed. We loved the black sand beach and were happy the sea turtles waved at us. The waterfall and lava tube were also great. Overall this is the best way to get introduced to the big island. Cannot overstate just how great Scott's contagious enthusiasm and genuine passion really made this experience fun.

This tour was fantastic! Scott is super knowledgeable and personable. The van was comfortable and he personalized the tour for what we wanted to see. He even managed to engage our teens in conversation! Pick up directly from our hotel. Our expectations were well exceeded.

I liked that our driver, Scott, was so knowledgeable about the separate lava flows & pointed out the different effects each one had, and how they still are affecting the area.

This was our first trip to the Big Island and we did the tour on our Day 1 of our trip. The weather was questionable and Scott called us to see if we wanted to reschedule or go ahead. Since we didn't have any other time available, we decided to go. Good decision. While it did rain at points during the day, the overview of the island helped us to make decisions on what to see and do the following few days. We were the only guests he had for the day so the itineary was up to us. We chose to see the volcano parts first going through Saddle route to Hilo, then coming up and over the top of the island via Hwy 19. Scott knew the waterfalls we'd like to see, hidden views of the ocean that we would not have found and we passed a few things that I decided we did not have to do the following days. Scott was knowledgable, not only about volcanos but also vegetation, wild animals and history. I wondered how he could remember all those dates, numbers and names but couldn't check his accuracy (having no internet to fact-check)...he was certainly passionate about it! We learned a lot about lava and understood that the landscape we saw was not buldozed land ready to develop, but was actually all lava rock. Lunch was provided and tasty, I'd just share a donut next time instead of ordering one each. They were filling! It was helpful to have a pick-up and drop-off at the hotel door. We thoroughly enjoyed the view, the drive and appreciated we didn't have to navigate. We did that on our own (including getting lost) the next few days.

We met Scott at the port and away we went on a great adventure. We got to walk through lava tubes, see red lava at Kilauea, and see turtles on black sand beaches. My wife liked that Scott could point things out while driving. His knowledge of the land is very impressive. It was so cool to have a private guide give us a tour of the Hawaii volcano national park. Scott is who you want to take you on your tour. If you are on a cruise and want a private tour of the area, call the Volcano Van! You will not be disappointed!

Scott was awesome! He was funny, knowledgeable, and fun to hang out with on this tour. Me and my kids had so much fun doing this! So much better than those big tour busses with a bunch of people on them. This was personable and my kids really enjoyed that it was just us 4. I would recommend Scott and this tour to anyone looking. He picked us up at our hotel, provided lunch and water, we got to see so much of the Island we would have never seen without him. What a fantastic experience!

Very impressed! This was a great tour. It’s so awesome that these guides spend an entire day with you and give their best. Scott was great, super knowledgeable , detailed, and passionate about volcanoes! We made several stops. Greenwell coffee farms for some delicious coffee, Punalu’u bakery for delicious bread and snacks, and the beautiful black sand beach where we saw some turtles and did some splashing around. We finally arrived at volcanoes National Park and walked to the caldera. I was in awe, and Scott was there the whole time answering questions and educating us. After volcanoes park we passed through Hilo and saw rainbow waterfall before headed home. It was a packed day , and Scott kept it lively! Thanks Scott! Highly recommend!

Scott was an amazing guide and we loved the small van with 4 of us. Great sites and he has so much knowledge of the whole island and then some. Above our expectations and memorable trip. Highly recommend his trips. Thanks for a wonderful trip where we left the driving to Scott. Kudos!!!👍❤️

Scott was the best tour guide!! So knowledgeable and fun! He made the entire tour so personable and interesting. He knows more about volcanoes then anyone! We had the best time with him and would highly recommend him to everyone! If going to Kona book with the Volcano Van!!

I highly recommend taking the Volcano Van Tour of Kilauea Summit to Shore from Kona: Small Group with our tour guide Scott. He was helpful and made it convenient from the initial booking to the finish. We stopped at all of the beautiful spots along the way and he took into account our particular interests. His commentary was educational, engaging, as well as humorous. The personalized service, including a wonderful lunch, made this one of our favorite days on the Big Island. Fortunately for us, Kilauea was erupting, and we were able to watch, from his colleague’s telescope, the lava flowing which made it that much more exciting and interesting, This tour and everything about it was great. Well worth it.

Really enjoyed the tour with Scott today in the Volcano Van. Saw some awe inspiring views of the Kilauea caldera. He was passionate and knowledgeable about volcanos and all the other aspects of the park and Big Island. He was also super helpful with everyone in our family (esp. the slow folks.) Great with the kids (and has a daughter the same name as ours!) Highly recommend booking a tour with him!

Scott was fantastic, friendly, personable and very in-tune with how we were doing doing the trip. We saw great sights and learned a lot about the island, volcanos, and their transformations.

Scott was a great and informative guide. We enjoyed every minute of the tour. We saw things that we would never have known about during the tour.

SCOTT WAS AWESOME!!! We did a volcano tour with Scott right after the Kilauea volcano erupted in late December 2020. He picked us up from our Airbnb and was very well prepared for covid safety during the tour. He carried hand sanitizer in the car and made sure the car was well ventilated by keeping windows open for the most part of the tour and keeping his mask on. Scott was also extremely flexible with the itinerary of our tour. We wanted to hike across the volcano crater on the Kilauea Iki trail which isn't a part of Scott’s original tour but he accommodated our request and hiked with us throughout the trail which included some seriously steep parts. The full hike was about 3 hours after which we were pretty exhausted and hungry. Scott was prepared with fresh pineapple, chips, and really good chicken sandwiches (more chicken than bread, just the way it should be!) for us. For the last part of our tour, we wanted to hang out around the erupting Kilauea to see if we could catch the lava glow in dark. The weather got pretty rough around sunset with some showers along with chilly winds. But just like the hike, Scott hung out with us while we waited for the sun to set, and never let the energy down!! Scott is also extremely knowledgeable when it comes to volcanoes and the history of Hawaiian islands. I learned more about volcanoes on this trip than I did in all my past years. We highly recommend Scott to anyone visiting Big island and looking for a day full of fun and learning.

The best part was waiting at the volcano until sunset to see the glow of the active lava eruption. The guide knew the volcano and island well. We loved hiking to the other side of the volcano and eating local cuisine. Since it was a small group tour, we were able to slightly adjust the tour to fit our needs and the activity of the volcano & weather. The guide was fun, enthusiastic, and knew history & culture of the island. We very highly recommend this tour!!!

In February we enjoyed two days of touring with The Volcano Van on the Big Island. Both the Kilauea Summit to Shore from Kona and Heavenly Hamakua from Kona were great tours. Scott is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide who ensures his guests are comfortable and enjoying the tour. We came away with a new appreciation and understanding for volcanoes and the diversity of climates on the Island. Both tours had something different to offer and it was a great way of both of us seeing and learning about Hawaii without the stress of driving. Thanks Scott for the good memories. Excellent!

Scott is a great host, and made the trip very personalized for our group of four. He checked in regularly with us to make sure we were happy, and was willing to adjust the day to suit our wishes. Scott is extremely knowledgable about the volcanos, and the island in general. We saw the new lava fields as well as the Caldera in the National Park. He took us to the Black Sand beach and photographed us with sea turtles on the shore. He answered our questions, (even those about plants which is admittedly not his speciality!). The booking and reservation were also very professionally handled by his wife, Rebecca. Thanks Scott & Rebecca for a fantastic, personalized tour!!

This tour was amazing. We were a small group (4), so you are not wasting time waiting for everybody. We did a lot of things : coffee stop, turtle stop on black sand beach, volcano (the best ! stunning and really impressive), Rainbow falls, a quick tour through Hilo and much more... Scott is a really nice man, funny, full of knowledge. He's really passionate about what he does and he will do everything he can to accommodate you. It was a real pleasure. Thanks Scott and Becky, seeing a volcano was a dream come true and a truly unique experience.

My husband and I came to Hawaii for our vacation and we saw the great reviews for The Volcano Van tours. We can’t stress enough how much fun we had learning about Hawaii, it’s history and the volcanos. I would take this over a helicopter ride any day! Driving through The Big Island, you get to experience sounds, smells and sights. Our tour guide, Scott, is so personable and such a joy to be around! His knowledge of Hawaii and its volcanos is very impressive! It is an experience we will never forget!

We had a comfortable ride, got to see a lot of volcanic deposits and learn a lot. Also got a sneak peak into Hilo and the Rainbow falls. Definitely recommend.