Disappointing. Expected to see and explore highlights with a fresh visitor - this was a glorified taxi and stop - macadamia nut store - no history or how. Dole plantation - no time for tour. I felt like this “tour” was no learning and all shopping stops. Of 19 listed stops we completely missed 5 including morning donuts and coffee roasters stops. Four stops were “partial” - for example we saw diamond head from the side of the road but no sight of Amelia Earhart marker statute or info. Tour lists 10-11 hours and my experience was that a text was received day prior shifting departure 30 minutes later. We departed 0830 and returned to ship 1640. Driver Henry was knowledgeable and pleasant. My suggestion would be that you rent yourself a car and hit blow hole, beach, dole, a nut place, a coffee roasters and a brew pub on your personal time schedule.
About Activity
What's Included
Includes
- Use of Snorkelling equipment
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Pick-up and Drop-off service in Waikiki area is included
Excludes
- Gratuities
- Parking Fees
- Towels not included (guests should bring their own)
- Breakfast and lunch expense not included
Departure & Return
Departure Point
- Traveler pick up offered
Itinerary
Amelia Earhart's Marker - From this parking area you get to view the Diamond Head Light house it is a prominent symbol of Hawaiian history to residents and visitors alike, originally built in 1899 spreads light nearly 18 miles out into the Pacific Ocean. From this parking area there are fine views over Kuilei Cliffs Beach Park and up the coast toward Kahala. On the east side of the parking area , you'll see the Amelia Earhart Marker, which recalls her 1935 solo flight from Hawaii to California. Be advised this tour does not drive into Diamond head crater!
Leonards bakery is a Portuguese Bakery , Hawaii's only Portuguese donuts! Hawaii, known for popularizing the malasada. The fried pastry, slightly crispier and chewier than a doughnut and with no hole, is known as a cuisine of Hawaii. - optional and time permitting
The Hālona Blowhole is one of Hawai'i's natural wonders, created thousands of years ago when molten lava tubes were formed from volcanic eruptions. Halona Blowhole now occasionally shoots seawater up to 30 feet in the air because of waves coursing through the underwater lava tubes. The viewing point provides a breathtaking view of Halona Cove, a beautiful beach that has been featured in many movies and music videos. During winter, you may be lucky enough to witness whales in the nearby waters.
Sandy Beach Aka "Broke Neck Beach" Drive-by or Restroom stop - Sandy Beach, also referred to as "Sandy's" and known to Hawaiians as Wāwāmalu, is a beach on the southeastern shore of Oʻahu in Hawaii. It is known for its excellent bodyboarding and bodysurfing opportunities due to its peaky shore break and consistent barrels.
Makapu'u Body Surfing Beach - Makapu'u means "Bulging Eyes" Makapu'u beach on the eastside is located just below Makapu’u Point which marks Hawaii’s easternmost tip. Rabbit Island sits just offshore and makes it very picturesque. This is a very popular beach for bodysurfing and bodyboarding large waves. Back in the early days of the sport it was along this stretch of coast that bodyboarding had its first hardcore crew including Jack The Ripper who was a familiar sight catching all the set waves out the back. Like Sandy’s grinding barrels, Makapu'u has a ferocious shore break that is well suited to bodyboarding. Overlooking the Rabbit Island and Makapu'u Lighthouse - Famous movie scene from 50 First Dates
Hawaii's Hidden Treasures - Jamie's. Restroom Stop, Light Shopping of Hawaii memorabilia items to purchase and taste freshly made delicious fruits and pineapples.
Chinaman's Hat - Kualoa Regional Park located on the east and north side of Oahu, famous for its view of Mokolii Island (Chinaman's Hat) and known for its swimming, picnicking, barbecues and camping. Guests are able to take pictures and use the restroom.
Tanaka's Shrimp Stand - What's a road trip with around the island without a stop at one of the famous delicious shrimp trucks! View the menu and choose a lunch plate that includes delicious fresh shrimp either garlic shrimp, coconut shrimp, spicy shrimp, lemon shrimp
Turtle Bay Fruit Stand - Mixed local grown fruits , desserts , shave ice to purchase to enjoy
Sunset Beach is a famous surf spot known for its powerful waves that challenge even the best surfers in the world
Bonzai Pipeline aka Pipeline is one of the most famous surf spots in the world known for its barreling waves. During winter, massive swells break on shallow reef, making it a dangerous beach for only the best and bravest surfers (and a great place for watching some of the world's top surfing).
Shark's Cove is part of Pupukea Beach Park and is known for its spectacular underwater rock formations and diverse marine life. Located near the northern end of the Marine Life Conservation District (MLCD), is a popular snorkeling site with shallow depths up to 20 feet
Waimea is famous for its 30-foot waves in the winter and is a top place to watch some of the world's best and bravest surfers. During summer, the water calms considerably and is a great destination for swimming, snorkeling, and diving.
Laniakea Beach, or Turtle Beach, is located on Oahu's North Shore and is well known for being a popular feeding and sunbathing area for Hawaiian Sea Turtles (honu). Many circle island tours make a stop here for photo opportunities, but the beach is also a favorite surfing and recreational swimming spot for locals.
This is the tours swimming and snorkeling opportunity (optional). The Pua'ena Point Beach Park is a hidden location in Oahu, North Shore but quite popular among surfers. The location is nice and shallow, making it ideal for beginners learning how to swim, paddle board or surf.
Macadamia Nut Store - Taste free samples of season macadamia nuts and Black coffee and other purchased items , ASAHI fruit stand , Shave Ice, "Live Music" to enjoy while shopping
During this time, you can explore the Dole Plantation Store, where you'll find pineapple-themed souvenirs, local crafts, and specialty foods like jams and dried fruit. Don’t miss trying a Dole Whip, the famous pineapple-flavored soft-serve treat. You can also take a short walk to see the beautiful Rainbow Eucalyptus trees, known for their colorful, multi-hued bark.
Taste free samples of multiple coffee flavors, choose from 8 flavors made in Hawaii Dave's ice cream, Shave Ice, Hawaii coffee gifts to purchase and enjoy
Language Offered
Additional Info
Cancellation Policy
Reviews
It was good we had a partially rainy day. Would be better on a dry day . Lots of beautiful scenery all over
Wasn't worth the money. The bus was late. They kept changing pick up times as we were waiting at pick up spot. Almost two hrs. later they arrived. Bus was hot a/c didn't work well. Couldn't hear the bus driver. Bus driver wasn't very interactive. Most people were very agitated on this tour as it many other issues also. Not a good tour.
Great tour with our guide Will who wasall that you would want with a guide. Informative, funny and competent. This tour covers pretty much the whole island. I would recommend it as a great way of seeing Ing the highlights, if only briefly. Lot of gift shops with cheaper than Wakiki prices. Booking through this app was left than half the price the hotel tour desk wanted to charge me. If you only book one trip do this one. Will the guide was 5 stars. The bus however was a little tired to say the least! Time to buy Will a new bus!
Tour guide (Mala?) was excellent! Knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and fun. He memorized all of our names, provided a ton of information and made the trip meaningful.
Leena was AMAZING! Had a wealth of knowledge and always had a smile awaiting us. Mahalooooooo Leena!!!
My husband and I enjoyed our tour. Love seeing the turtles at turtle Beach also trying and seeing the dull pineapple farm with some nice people on the tour enjoyed it thoroughly.
Great tour of the Island with lots of history. Will was a wonderful guide. The beach stop was a disappointment after riding past numerous gorgeous beaches we were taking to and location that had murky water. I’m sure the beaches change but the contractor should know this the morning of and make other arrangements. This was my second time taking this tour. Once in August 2024 and May of 2026. Both times the drop off beach had murky water. Otherwise the tour and all the stops are worth the trip
It was a Honolulu excursion I feel bad for the driver, but she is not a guide. Her driving skills are perfect. The company viator sign us up was aloha shore excursion. The delivery was poor except the one and the half hour beach stay . The food place was dirty some point of interest we did not stop and did not what it was after we left. All the passengers complained, but there were no alternative. At that time.
Great tour! Guy was super informative and nice! We saw so many things including mountains, beaches, Macadamia nut farm, Dole Plantation, Ana went snorkeling with the turtles! We went over 125 miles around the island!
A fun trip around the Island chauffeured by Papa P.. Very entertaining, Island history, and a few extras like humor and a mini musical concert put on by Papa P. himself.
This can simply be described as the tour from hell. I will say our bus driver ‘Papa P’ did the best he could with the circumstances that didn’t seem to be his fault. Started out being picked up over an hour late due to a marathon taking place that they were ”unaware” of. This blocked access to major stops like diamond head and caused other stops to be cut short due to time. Most of us were excited about snorkeling, when we made it to turtle bay the doors were stuck closed for a solid 15+ minutes which continued to cut into our time. When we arrived back to the bus, the AC was broken. The windows and doors were emergency exits only and were unable to be opened. After much persuasion the bus driver opened up the emergency exit so we could ride back. We were all so fed up we opted to skip the last stop. We didn’t arrive back to our hotel until well after 7pm. My mother and I felt the only place that were prioritized were those that had items for purchase such as gift shops and mac nut farm. I read the owners response to a previous comment on the same bus as me stating we were offered free lunch. That is untrue. This poor planning led to missing out on many things we booked the tour to see. Given the circumstances, We feel everyone deserves a full refund for this event.
Paid for the whole tour and the bus broke down for over 2 hours was stuck and when we got on the road unable to see over half of the places we paid for and expected.
Started with bus being late. They booked tour during a half marathon. We didn't get to all of our destinations. Bus broke down. Door wouldn't open. No air conditioning. The activities we did make were cut short. We really should be refunded our money because of the tour's lack of planning and faulty equipment as well as not providing what was paid for!!! Everyone should receive a refund.
Cousin guy was the best tour guide! Super funny, friendly and very knowledgeable and made the experience very fun!! Would love to do it again :)
The Grand Circle Island Tour was amazing, as well as, our guide "Summer" Oahu is a beautiful place. This is definitely a must do.
Awesome tour...our guide Guy was amazing. So knowledgeable and fun to listen too ..highly recommend! Loved the stops...took many photos
The trip looked amazing on paper. We got picked up at 7 o’clock and by 7:30. We were counting down how much time we had left. A short stop with all of the other buses to look at a blow hole. Stopping at a kind of run down shopping centre to use the bathroom. Visiting fake Buddhist Temple, where the only activity really was to Bang A Gong but you had to lineup for that. The scenery was great. How can it not be? Lunch was fine, but not all it was hyped up to be. Swimming with the turtles meant swimming and turtle Bay, but of course, not seeing any turtles. If I don’t know it was gonna be like I would’ve walked away from my hundred dollars that I paid, actually 200 for my girlfriend and I. Do yourself a favour and rent a car or spend more money and get a private tour.
Entertaining trip with too many commercial stops. A mix of interesting sights and shopping "opportunities." The narration was informative but could have included some quiet time for a rest.
Scenery was great but just went from one ‘retail experience’ to the next - narration went on too long & wished he’d stop talking
Cousin Guy was an awesome tour guide. He was very knowledgeable. Unfortunately the van was quite warm even with the ac on. We had just the right amount of time at each spot.
Cousin guy was a great tour guide! He was prompt at pick up! He was very knowledgeable about all the history of this island! Definitely recommend this tour
Fantastic experience! Our Cousin Guy was so knowledgeable, respectful and just a great guide! He made the whole experience! Mahalo Gus!!!!!
The tour was good. Leena was very good at explaining everything. I he bat part was the stop by the beach where we saw some sea turtles. The only downside are the stops in a few shops. They will want you to buy and buy stuff they you don’t need.
This was an incredible tour with a very sweet guide named Papa P. He went above and beyond to make this a fantastic day for everyone on the tour, and to give us a great feeling of aloha. I would absolutely go on another tour with Papa P and this company again. My 11 year-old daughter is still raving about what a fun day this was!
The views he took us too were great! He went out of his way to show us stuff that wasn’t on the tour initially. He knew a lot about Hawaii and the history of the places we went too. He also told us an awesome personal story that involved the history of Hawaii. PAPA P is the MAN!!
Uncle Johnny made this tour amazing! Blessing our tour with conch ceremony was really great ! Truly outstanding service!
We had a blast on this tour. Cousin Jhonny made the hole experience an amazing one. If you get the opportunity to experience this tour I recommend you ask for cousin Jhonny. You wont regret it.
First off, the company was late to pick us up. We stood in front of the Ross store for about 20-30 minutes before being told what vehicle was our transportation. Very unorganized procedure. The small style bus was dirty and uncomfortable for the 10 hour tour. Save yourself a headache and go with a bigger company for this day long tour. I would not recommend this tour with this company to my worst enemies. This tour was the worst for all the money spent on it..
We had a wonderful 6 days on Oahu. The Hilton Hawaiian Village was worth every dollar. The tour was a great introduction to the island and our guide Greg was fantastic. The visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center is a not to be missed visit. The only negative on the whole trip was being scammed by the Pearl Factory. Cheap pearls and over-priced jewelry. Stay away from these people.
We did the Grand Island Tour with Tours Around Paradise LLC NUI Tours. It was simply amazing!!! Jack & Bobby were the best!! You can’t get a better tour guide than Jack and Bobby got us to every destination safely! The experience as a whole was worth it! We did snorkeling, loved how Jack gave us such good tips for the best experience! We stopped at local eateries & shops, saw breathtaking views, historic sites and even saw giant sea turtles!! It was the best!! Highly recommend
If you've never been to Oahu, I would recommend this tour. I would add a Pearl Harbor trip as well. We booked this trip through the Pearl Harbor website which you could add this tour to it as well. My wife and I had done this tour 24 years ago the first time we visited and took our teenagers, 15 and 18, with us this time. Our son, 18, loves history, so Pearl Harbor was his favorite. My 15 year old daughter didn't care for much of this tour besides a shopping spot and some of the beaches. The tour we took was about 6 hours which included lunch. There were a few stops we didn't get to make that were listed. One was Hanauma Bay, which I would recommend a visit, because we took our tour on a Tuesday, which is the one day of the week when they are closed. We skipped a couple of other spots because of the rain that day. We still had a pretty full day though. Dole pineapple plantation is kinda neat. Pineapples for purchase there are extremely good. We got the pineapple soft serve there which is amazing. The amount of time you are allowed there doesn't give you a lot of time to do some things. There is a pineapple maze, which takes about an hour to do and the pineapple express little train they have that takes you through the grounds. Halona blowhole is a beautiful spot as well. We also stopped at a macadamia nut farm where you can try samples and purchase your own; just as you can do at the Dole pineapple plantation. We stopped at Pounder's restaurant for lunch. Not sure if the tour company gets anything from the places we stopped for bringing their tours there, but we enjoyed everywhere we stopped. Most stops we were able to shop for souvenirs or buy some local food for snacks along the way. Some of the tours say don't bring a bag. We ended up bringing one and were told we could leave it on the bus. You can't bring bags into Pearl Harbor, they do have a place to store your bag for $5, but if there is a line, you may not want to mess with that. Waimea Falls, Waimea Bay and Sunset beach. Clumping all of these in one group since they are so close in proximity to each other. Waimea Falls is in Waimea Valley which is a botanical garden. The Falls are about a 15 minute walk from the entrance on a paved walking path like at a zoo or something. The botanical gardens are beautiful. Plants and flowers are everywhere. If you love taking pictures of things like that, the walk to the falls will obviously take a bit longer. The falls are very pretty as well. If you have the opportunity to swim in them, I would recommend it. They provide life jackets as they are required to swim. The water was pretty chilly, but feels great on a hot day. They do have lockers to rent and a restroom nearby. You could also pay to ride a golf cart from the entrance to the falls and back. I think it was about $10 a person roundtrip or $15 one way. I didn't think it was worth it, so we walked. Waimea Bay is spectacular. We went there on our own on a different day and spent the evening there until after sunset. There is a cliff you can climb up and jump off of as well that is about 25-30 feet. There are lifeguards there as well. Again, if you've never been to Oahu, this tour helps you get a broad view of what there is to see and do. I definitely would recommend it. Teens need to just keep an open mind and enjoy the views and experiences.
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