Visit an award winning 100% Kona Coffee Farm, with exclusive access, tasting and tour.
Have you ever seen a beach with black sand? Because of constant volcanic activity, you'll find white sands and black sands on the island of Hawaii. Located on the southeastern Ka'u coast, Punaluu Black Sand Beach is one of the most famous black sand beaches in Hawaii. Located between the towns of Pahala and Naalehu in Ka'u, Punaluu Black Sand Beach's jet black shores are an unforgettable sight. Coconut palms fringe the upper edge of sand and you may also discover large Honu, (Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles), basking on the beach.
Start the day at a coffee farm and walk on a black sand beach. Spend the day at Volcanoes National Park for a fulfilling volcanic experience. Walk the abandoned Crater Rim Road to the new caldera overlook. Explore the famous Chain of Craters Road which includes vistas, craters, lava flow walks, ancient petroglyphs, and sea arches. Explore a lava tube, see diverse vegetation, and more. Travel the heart of the island over the famous Saddle Road, with its amazing expanses and a world class sunset.
Drive through Historic town of Hilo.
On sunny days, rainbows appear in the mist of the 80-foot falls, making for some pretty magical views. The broad waterfall — nearly 100 feet in diameter — plunges over a natural lava cave and into the river below. When it rains, (which it often does in Hilo), the engorged Wailuku River makes the falls wider, muddier and louder. On these days, you won’t see the rainbows for which this spot is named, but the sheer volume of water and the accessibility of this spot for all ages make it a fun, quick and easy excursion.
This park offers a quick diversion into an unique volcanic feature, a a lava tube. You can descend on a metal ladder into a skylight in a lava tube that was created by an 1881 flow from Mauna Loa. Learn how a lava tube forms. The park features restrooms and picnic tables. Round Trip Mileage: 0.5 mile
Saddle Road, Hawaii, is considered among the most spectacular roads in the world. This is 55-mile drive of a chance of a lifetime experience. Hawaii’s Route 200 goes through all four of her climates – tropical forests, arid desert, lush grasslands and misty mountaintop fog. Between miles 19 and 23, you’ll see a few places with lava flows and young vegetation and trees. But just after Saddlehouse Road, you’ll see the ridges that show where a 1936 flow slowly came to a stop 2 miles away. Near the road you can see where lava thickened and left the telltale mounds of a slowing flow. Just after mile 23, you’ll come close to a popular local landmark, Pu`u Huluhulu, which is an older Mauna Kea cinder cone, or kīpuka, and it’s surrounded by younger lava flows. At this point, you’re near the peak height for Saddle Road, about 1.25 miles in elevation – 6,632 feet. From here, you’ll continue through the volcanic aftermath of hundreds of thousands of years of history
Zane is an INCREDIBLE tour guide. Passionate, caring, and adaptive. He accommodated all the various needs of our family - two adults, a 13yo, and an 8yo. He was so good he almost summoned lava out of the ground on demand. Truly incredible and highly recommend!
AMAZING tour with Zayn!! he is a geologist and extremely knowledgeable about Hawaii’s history and the land and he was such a fun person to be our tour guide. he was also flexible with our schedule, offered great food recommendations, and was very enthusiastic about showing us the stops along the way so that we got the full experience. Couldn’t have had a better tour!
Zane, our guide, was a wealth of knowledge, not just about the volcanoes, but about all the activities around the island that we could do on different days. As far as volcanoes, he was able to show us geological sights, relate lore and even show us his own videos on the tour bus TV. The restaurants & food were perfect - especially the historic hotel on the volcano's rim! Would do this tour over again and fully recommend to friends and family.
High recommendation for Zane as your guide. The tour was arranged through a travel agent and it was excellent. Took our family of adults. Very fun, educational , and had great experience. It was a long day but Zane made it easy for us to learn and enjoy. Great laughs too. Book it.
This was the most amazing tour day I’ve ever had. Lead by owners Erik and Zane we experienced and explored the Big Island of Hawaii, how the islands were formed, volcanoes and history. Erik is a trained geologist and the breadth of his knowledge is unparalleled. Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to learn!
We’ve been to every place on this tour over the past few years and we expected that we would enjoy this tour. It surpassed our expectations. Having a geologist as your guide and host was fantastic. We learned so much, enjoyed not having to drive and having our entire day totally planned. All we had to do was sit back and enjoy! Lunch and dinner were delightful as were the other guests on the trip. Highly recommend and if offered again we sign up immediately.
Our private tour with Zane was a top highlight of our 10-day trip to Hawai'i. Zane is a wealth of information: utilizing his lifelong career as a world-traveling geologist and his decade living on the big island. He offered unmatched information about the natural surroundings, native culture, and useful tips for tourists during their stay. Zane was prepared for everything: snacks for the kids, spare parkas for when the weather turns, and well-maintained relationships with the locals and park employees to make sure your trip is seamless and enjoyable. I would recommend this tour to a group of any size or age traveling to the Kona area.
Great tour with Zane, a retired geologist who is a living encyclopedia of volcano and island science and history. Fun, well organized tour
Our family - 2 kids and 2 teens - had an amazing day with David! He was so knowledgeable and knew the park so well. We are an active family and were able to do a ton of walks/short hikes. The park is simply unbelievable and David really connected us with the history and geology. We felt like we saw so much. Very well taken care of - great lunch, plenty of drinks and snacks. We had a warm, sunny day but there were jackets, etc. in case. Couldn’t recommend more.
We were a family with adult children who did the private tour from cruise port in Hilo. This was wonderful! Zane met us at the port and ushered us around the island, showing us everything he could in our time frame. He was engaging and informative. He took very good care of us, even helping us on something the following day which was very much appreciated. He clearly loves his island and sharing it with others. This tour was a highlight of our Hawaii vacation. If you have a day on the Big Island, and want to learn about it, I highly recommend this tour.
Amazing tour! Zane was awesome and we would tour with him anytime. His knowledge is amazing and he really takes care of his guests. You can’t go wrong with any tour he offers!!
We booked the private tour, so Zane called us a few days ahead of the tour to get to know our family and to talk about our options for the private tour, lunch preferences and overall logistics for the day. We had a multi-generation group (with ages ranging 5 to 75) and Zane planned a day that was fun and accessible for all. We saw waterfalls, the volcano National park, farmers markets and got to enjoy some amazing malasadas! Kilaeua’s eruptions were active during our visit to the crater rim. As a professional geologist, Zane is very knowledgeable on the volcano, but he explained what we were seeing in a way that everyone could understand. He helped each of us with the binoculars so we could see the eruptions. The kids loved exploring the lava tube and the gift shop at the lunch stop was a real hit! Lunch at a sit down restaurant is included in the tour price. We simply could not be happier with how the day turned out. Highly recommend!!
We cannot say enough good things about our experience! We decided to do the private VIP tour instead of the group tour, since we were a little worried about being in a van with other travelers in the world of covid. It was a little more expensive for our family of 4, but the personalization made it well worth the splurge! First, our guide, Zane, was awesome! He customized our trip to make sure it included the things we would find most interesting. It was truly special and educational having a trained geologist lead our trip and teach us about the different kinds of lava flows and answer all the volcano questions from the kids (and mostly me, lol). The tour included a sit-down lunch (compared to most tours that offer a picnic lunch, which could be challenging if it is raining, which it does often!). Zane was also super nice, and gave many suggestions for things to do on the rest of our trip. A truly memorable experience, and highly recommended. Would give 6 starts if we could!
What a wonderful day. Zane picked us up 6:30am sharp (our choice) and we started a journey through the starkness of the volcanic lava fields, to the tropical rain forests and back again. We chose a private tour so we could adjust to things that interested us and could skip those we had seen elsewhere. That worked great. Started early also allowed Zane to get us to locations that get crowded before the crowds were there. Delightful. The most important part of our choice of Hawaii Geo Tours was Zane's experience and knowledge about what we were seeing. I've seen a number of volcanoes but never "knew" about the different types of lava which varied depending on speed of the flow, distance from the start, the temperature at a given time.....you get the picture. Fascinating to see the differences and different properties. We had a wonderful day and got to see a LOT of the Big Island. HIGHTLY recommended. Mahalo Zane.
This was probably the highlight of my trip. It was a full day’s adventure from Kona to Hilo and back. It included the Akaka Falls State State Park and Volcanoes National Park. Our guide Zane was knowledgeable and we had amazing experiences with vistas, lava flows, flora, and volcanoes. Weather cooperated and we had a good view of the caldera from the rim and even saw spurts and splashes of lava.
Of the three tour companies I booked on my trip to the Big Island, Hawaii Geo Tours was the winner, no contest, beating out some more established competitors. Hawaii Geo Tours is owner operated by 2 geologists and certified tour guides, Erik and Zane. If you want someone to explain the geology, flora and fauna , these are the guys. On my tour with Zane we made at least 5 different stops within Volcanoes National Park (highlight is Kilauea Caldera) , plus another 6 or 7 outside the park. I was able to see Waipio Valley, Kahuna Falls, a few epic ocean lookouts with rock arches, explore lava tubes plus catch the beautiful sunset on the drive home. I decided to skip the coffee farm to spend more time in other areas, but you can decide what particular areas you want to visit on a private tour. Also, the price of the tour includes a sit down lunch at a nice restaurant plus all the snacks and drinks you want. Everything is first class, including the clean Mercedes Sprinter vans. Zane takes great pictures and videos and shares then via Dropbox after the tour. Whether you book a private tour with your own group or go with the regular tour, I am sure you will be happy you chose Hawaii Geo Tours, I certainly was.
A must tour experience! Such an incredible day. What is unique about This tour, is how much you learn about the island formation and the flexibility in where he takes you! We traveled with friends and booked the VIP tour…if you can swing it, definitely put Geotours on your itinerary! Erik will not disappoint. You can see that he is passionate about the island and what he does. Mingled well with our group, lots of laughs, great energy and had a BLAST!!!
This day long adventure was excellent. Being able to go on a private tour allowed us to make tweaks to the itinerary the day of the adventure: we opted not to get coffee and were able to adjust the schedule to fit in 13 distinct stops in a little under 12 hours. Exploring two different lava tubes, purchasing apple bananas at a farmer's market in Hilo, walking along a black sand beach, hiking through a lava field, and much more was done. None of it felt rushed. Our guide Zane knows more interesting spots and facts about both geology and Volcanoes National Park than we could ever possibly fit into a day, and he brought his camera along so we basically didn't need to take photos ourselves. I highly recommend this trip.
Zane was awesome. He customized our tour with the things we wanted to do and he is very knowledgeable. We'll worth the time and money.
We did a private tour with Zane in July with pickup in Volcano and spending the entire day in the national park (we had lots of days to spend elsewhere). It was excellent, and I would highly recommend. The tour company is owner-operated, meaning they take their quality and service very seriously. Zane is very knowledgeable about the park. He timed our experience per the weather, knowing that we would be better off heading down to the coast first and then returning after the skies had cleared. He's very fleet of foot and managed to keep it very interesting for my 18 year old adventurous boy. My daughter and husband were right behind him, and I was happy to keep up. The ability to tailor and respond to the family is excellent. I'm sure he'd keep it at a low challenge level for any group as required. As a bonus, if was wonderful that he could take photos of all of us from all vantage points! It was exactly what we were hoping for!
Eric is incredibly knowledgeable about the geology of the Hawaiian islands. He is also very nice and great with kids. My kids learned a ton in one trip with Eric. I would give him 6 stars if I could!
The best private tour we have taken in Hawaii! A MUST for seeing Volcano National Park! Erik is a geologist who provides an exceptional tour and caters to your family’s interests. The day was filled with personalized activities with amazing and in-depth information. We could not have asked for a better experience!
Zane was an amazing guide and we learned so much about the history and geology of the island. A must- do tour if you only have one day to visit the volcanoes!! From the comfortable, spacious van to the beautiful lunch location overlooking the caldera to the cool cave tour at the end of the day, Zane kept our teenagers interested and engaged. And he shared a lot of his island favorites so we can check them out during the rest of our trip. Not only did we catch all the highlights as we drove around to the volcanoes side, Zane stopped at a lot of great little known spots so we could see sea caves, tree wells, ‘cake batter’ lava, and sea turtles up close!!
What an amazing experience! A full 11 hours of touring not just Volcanos National Park, but also a beautiful coffee farm, a black sand beach, Hilo and Rainbow Falls. The tour of the park was great, and Zane was so knowledgeable and had great information and stories about current and historic volcanic activity on the island. We didn't realize pictures came with the tour as well, so that was a great bonus having Zane help us capture memories of the places we went as well as our traveling group. Zane was so accommodating for our big group with lots of young (6-12 yrs) kids and also worked with us on how to include all members of our 17-person group, including those who could not ride in the van with us. Zane had drinks and snacks for all of us prepared and the included picnic lunch with food from a local Thai restaurant was also fantastic. I would HIGHLY recommend taking this tour if you want to see and learn a lot about the Big Island in one trip.
I was able to book this private tour for my aunt and uncle for their only day at the Big Island after Zane and Erik made the schedule work. I was immediately very thankful that they were able to work with us. My aunt and uncle both called me to tell me what a great time they had exploring the island and how awesome Erik was. They made sure to customize the tour to their preferences and Erik was absolutely wonderful. Can't thank them enough and now I can't wait to experience it myself on our next Hawaii trip.
This tour was the icing on the cake of our trip and made our time on the Big Island truly special. Zane was so knowledgeable about everything on the island, some things you wouldn't even be able to google! His geological knowledge was especially interesting as it explained so many of the phenomenon of how the island came to be. We really wanted to see certain spots on the island and Zane was super flexible in structuring his tour and took us to so many special spots from lookouts to good food (shoutout Tex drive in malasadas) to volcanic steam vents. Everywhere we went Zane would help us all get out of the van safely and gave us ample time to explore each spot. Zane was also an excellent driver and got us around the island stress free. This tour is a must-do if you visit the Big Island!
The lava tubes are absolutely amazing! This was one of my favorite things while on the island. I highly recommend this tour, you will not regret it. Totally worth every penny!!!
Best tour I have ever been on in Hawaii. Tour guides were super knowledgeable and friendly!! Saw beautiful views and learned so many things about the beautiful Island!
We couldn’t have made a better choice!!! Definitely the guides know their stuff, from history of the island and its people to the geological topics that kept me entertained throughout the trip. We just about went around the island in vip style, the guys were well known everywhere they took us as well as knew their way. Will recommend it to a few friends that are planning to visit the island, it’s a must in your itinerary and couldn’t have made a better choice in tour guide services.
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