Volcano National Park Adventure From Kona

Seen a lot of sights Volcanic related. However, I deduct a star because we never ended up going to Rainbow Falls, which is one of the things that reviews in the past have said they were delighted about on this excursion. That’s actually why I booked it. That was one of the main things I wanted to see was a waterfall. We want to see no Waterfalls! Keep this in mind in case you’re looking forward to seeing waterfalls because he will not see it on this excursion! Also the guide was nice enough, but he didn’t describe the lunch very well. When he took our order, he asked who wanted Kahlúa pork. Everyone thought he meant the traditional Kahlúa pork plate with rice and Mac salad. Most people ended up ordering that due to that when the meals a ride it was just a tiny bit of Kahlúa Pork placed on a flatbread that was as dried as a cardboard! My husband and I both couldn’t eat it. It was awful! We definitely felt we didn’t get our moneys worth for this meal! We want the rest of the excursion feeling hungry! This was the most disappointing thing, after the fact that we did not see any waterfalls on this excursion!

Grant was great. Very informative, really enjoyed the day. Reached out the day before with updated time and was on time the day of tour,

Such an amqzing experience to see the volcanoes. It is a long day and worth it! Our guide Dave was amazing. He was so knowledgeable and a cool guy to hangout with for 12 hours. It was an incredible experience!

Went on a tour with this company a few days after Hurricane Lala, so many sites were either altered or closed. However, our guide Grant made sure we had the best time. We rode around the top perimeter of the island and was able to see Rainbow Falls, stop in Hilo for specialized gifts and candies, have a wonderful lunch, and go into Kilauea to see the crater and hike the crater rim. Grant is an absolute blast! He entertained us with many stories of Hawaiian history and lore, having lived there for the past 50 years. We covered a large part of the island and drove back on the saddle. I would highly recommend this tour and tour company!

I just finished this tour and I am so happy I signed up for this trip. What a great tour of the Big Island! First of all, communication with Eric the day was perfect - plans had to change to due the impending storm and early closures. I can’t say enough about our guide Dave - he was a great driver and an excellent tour guide - very friendly and knowledgeable. Big Island Candies is a nice, local stop. Volcano National Park is always a great destination to visit. Lunch at Volcano House and the view was absolutely amazing. (A decent lunch and admission was included in the price.) Spending time at the Black Sand Beach and the coffee farm were nice stops to end the trip. I highly recommend and I would do this trip again on a future visit to the Big Island.

Our tour guide David was outstanding. He was very knowledgeable and friendly. His experience, knowledge, and insight on where to stop along the tour to get great photo opportunities added to our tour experience. The van was very comfortable and provided a smooth and enjoyable ride. Even though it is a long tour, 11 hours, it went by quickly and was very enjoyable. The lunch at the Rim of the Volcano restaurant was very good. My wife and boys had the cheese burger & fries and all said it was very good. I had the flatbread pulled pork pizza and it was also very good. Our entire family enjoyed the tour and all highly recommend it to all.

Our guide was great, fun, informative, knowledgeable! He was attentive & helpful. Gave us good information on expectations to make the experience worthwhile! Great overall!

We traveled with Geo tours & our guide was Grant! Highly recommend he was not only knowledgeable but enthusiastic as well. Lots of fun! 5 stars

The tour guide is super nice and shared many stories to us, not just the history but also names of the plants. That’s really impressive.

Definitely go see this spectacular national park. We did it over two days. Be sure to wear sturdy footwear and take water. Kilawaeu wasn’t spewing forth lava but there was lots of steam coming out so looked impressive. We also did the crater walk. It was easy and really scenic. Get there early because it gets hot and there’s no cover on the crater and the parking gets full quickly. The lava tube was also interesting. We also drive the 19 miles down to the ocean. Stop and see the petroglyphs ( stone carvings) , either going or coming, very interesting. The whole volcanic landscape is awe inspiring. At the roads end you can see the sea arch. It was worth the drive. But remember , you then have to drive all the way back. The park was about an hours drive from Hilo. Stop in at the small village of Volcano for something to eat at either the brewery or the garden centre. A great place to visit.

Volcanoes National Park was one of the highlights of our trip. The park is incredibly clean and well maintained, which made it really enjoyable to explore. Everywhere you go, there are amazing views, from vast lava fields to scenic overlooks that don’t even feel real. One thing I’d definitely recommend is giving yourself plenty of time. The park is much bigger than we expected, and there’s a lot to see if you want to do it right. We could have easily spent another half day exploring more areas. We just missed an eruption by a few days, which was a little disappointing, but even without it, the experience was still absolutely worth it. There’s something really special about being there and seeing the landscape up close. If you’re visiting the Big Island, this is a must-do, just make sure you don’t rush it.

David was an amazing guide. David was a wealth of knowledge. He made the tour feel like a field trip with a geologist.

Excellent way to see a lot of the Island and Volcano National Park from Kona without all the driving. David Human, our tour guide was fantastic and incredibly knowledgable. We learned a lot more than you could learn on your own or a self guided Tour. Really great day.

Our guide David was extremely knowledgable and personable. We learned a lot about Hawaii, not just information about the stops on the tour.

The sites we visited were wonderful and worth seeing if you visit the Big Island of Hawaii. Our tour was 11 hours so it was a long day. Being a group tour and having a driver made traveling easier but time was limited at each site and sometimes rushed which should be considered. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and helpful.

What a great trip with wonderful weather and a great traveling group. Our driver, Dave, was knowledgeable and made a point to converse with everyone in the group. This trip far exceeded our expectations. Highly recommend!

It was amazing; our tour guide Dave was very knowledgeable and an excellent driver. He provided so much interesting information.

We had a great experience in volcanoes national park. The volcano erupted the day before and we got to see the after effects. Dave was so excited about seeing the tephra and reticulite and his enthusiasm made us realize how fortunate we were to see this event. Really enjoyed being able to spend time at the Volcano House and having a nice sit down lunch overlooking the crater was amazing. Dave adapted well to road closures and finding new ways to see the park. If you’re looking for an in depth coffee farm tour, you should book that separately.

David was a wonderful tour guide! Loved the coffee tasting at the Coffee Farm. The Punalu'u black beach and Volcano National Park were amazing! With the fog and rain at the rim when we first arrived, David took us through the park to a beautiful spot on the coast and then brought us back to the rim once the weather cleared. We also got to walk through a lava tube and wrapped up at Rainbow Falls. Overall, just an outstanding day! I highly recommend this tour!

If you’re looking to spend time at the volcano this isn’t your for you. Our guide told us about Kīlauea, then we ate and were given 15 minutes to look in gift shop and more at the volcano. We actually drove back there ourselves and spent several hours looking at several different lookouts, with much better view than we got on the tour. We purchased a drive app that gave us a better tour. We spent more time at just about every where else we went. My main reason for this tour was the volcano. Disappointed in this tour

We had a fantastic day. David was very knowledgeable and kind. We learned a lot about the island’s history and geology. The sites were beautiful—we especially loved the sea arches and lava tube. We would highly recommend this tour!

David picked us up at the time he texted me the night before. We stopped at a coffee farm, a black sand beach, we went to the volcano and had lunch in the volcano restaurant You had several choices for lunch, the food was very good. We had time in the gift shop then on to see more lava, more volcano landscapes and even when into a lava tube. The van was clean and air worked very good. Through out day David explained so many things to us. We asked questions along the way and he answered them all in great detail. Wonderful day, it was close to 11 hours for pick up to drop off. It was a long day, but we seen so much. The price you pay is well worth it. He had a cooler of drinks, snacks and raincoats for us. Highly recommend!

Great day! It really is a full day out so be prepared ! We will see SO many things in the island ! They really do take you all over ! The only thing is that I wish we had a little more time on the beach for example so people could swim if they wanted to, but that’s more personal preference. However, the tour was so good ! Really didn’t expect it to have so much packed into one day!

David Human did an outstanding job being our tour guide yesterday. He was so knowledgeable and personable. We saw and heard things was were so unknown to us. Loved seeing the black sands plus seeing turtles on the beach. Our coffee tour was fun. Lunch with fellow passengers was enjoyable and food was good. My child had a life long dream of seeing volcano, which we did. Thank you so much for an extremely enjoyable day. Would highly recommend to our friends and family.

Based on the description, we expected more in depth geology description. It was a nice tour, friendly and knowledgeable guide, but we specifically selected it looking for more depth on volcano science, and getting to spots we wouldn't reach by driving ourselves. I felt sorry for the guide because his voice was hoarse (volcanic glass...) at the same time, it was hard hearing him.

This is a great way to see the Big Island. It does include more van time than another tour I had done two years ago so if you get motion sick, this may not be a good option for you - or at least prepare for it in advance (minus one star for that). The guide was great, knowledgeable and kind. He made a point to remember each person’s name and include each person in the events. We stopped at several different places and were able to see many examples of lava in the lava fields. Even with drive time,I still recommend this tour because you really do get to see more of the island.

David was amazing!!!!He provided lots of interesting information. It was a long day but everyone in my family all absolutely loved it. You see a tons of things that you would otherwise miss and someone else does all the driving. Totally recommend

Had a great time David did an excellent job. He was very informative and had a lot of interesting facts. I highly recommend this tour

Great way to learn all about the Big Island and its volcanos! David was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions.

Relax and enjoy the ride. Convenient pick up at our hotel. Dan is very personable and a wealth of information. We visited a coffee farm and enjoyed yummy product samples. Then visited a beautiful black sand beach with very cute napping sea turtles. At Volcano Park, we explored a lava tube and had great lunch at the Rim restaurant where we could view the vents inside the crater. At the end of the day, we visited Rainbow Falls before heading back. GREAT TOUR!

This was by far the best thing we have done on the island so far. Zane was knowledgeable, very friendly! He made the island life, geology and climate come to life with his detailed knowledge! We had a small group, which was nice. Plan to spend time in the van driving. Nothing here is close by. As we approached the park, the eruption began-Zane got us there before everyone else and it was AMAZING! This would have been a great experience with or without the eruption!

Really awesome experience! Erik is really knowledgeable and caring, and I would really recommend this tour to anyone visiting big island.

My wife and I took the tour and had a great time! The tour van—which was in excellent condition and had big windows—arrived on time. The tour was well-organized and had a great set of stops. David gave great explanations of everything we were seeing. We had plenty of time at each stop and never felt rushed. We enjoyed our lunch at The Rim restaurant at the Volcano House Hotel in Volcanoes National Park (overlooking the Kīlauea crater). David had earlier given us a number of choices off the menu which he called into the restaurant so our food was ready shortly after we sat down. The cost of the lunch is included in the tour fee. We were lucky that there was visible activity at Kīlauea while we were there. Even during the current period of activity (since 12/2024), not nearly every day has flowing lava like we saw today. The view would still have been pretty great even without that though.

Very nice area to visit. Walkway is flat surface and allowed for use of ADA scooter. Clean restrooms were a plus. There are three paths that allow for leisurely strolling.

We had a wonderful experience thanks to our tour guide David. Plan for an all day excursion. Some hills and uneven terrain. Mostly mobility accessible with assistance.

Loved the tour. David the tour guide was absolutely amazing and I really enjoyed the whole commentary while driving, his courteous demeanor, wonderfully care taking. My only gripe is with how crammed the van is. I got the last seat (since I was the last pickup), and was in the back row in a 4 seat above the wheel well. That was pretty annoying. Other than that, all was good. David again, was excellent!

Our tour guide, Dave, provided an organized and informative adventure deepening my understanding of how geography affects the history of Hawai'i

Tour was excellent. David was fantastic and very personable. David is very knowledgeable and had great recommendations at several of our stops. We had a fantastic day.

Tour guide Dave was a great driver, knowledgeable and well prepared. He even had first aid for an insect bite. A+

Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and friendly. He answered all of questions and engaged us in the experience. The tour guide went above and beyond our expectations.

This tour stopped at quite a few places along the southern and south-eastern parts of the island as well as allowing you to experience Saddle Pass and views of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. We went through multiple ecosystems and learned more than I could possibly remember about the geology of the island and the Hawaiian islands in general. The trade off is not having time to hike through Volcanoes National Park if you want to do that, but we preferred a chance to witness the diversity we did and not having to drive. We stopped for a good meal that had a vegan option for me (green salad), which our kosher friends were able to eat as well. The coffee we sampled at the Heavenly Hawaiian Kona Coffee farm was fabulous! Our driver David and the people at the coffee farm were kind and extremely knowledgeable. Geo Tours was organized and kind enough to pick us up at the apartment we were renting. All in all a great day!

Dave was an awesome tour guide. Very knowledgeable, patient hearing us cats, and a very nice man! Great job!!!! Would do it again for sure!!

We had a great time on this tour! Erik was our guide and has a degree in geology so he was really able to speak to the different aspects of the island and the volcanoes. You can tell he is passionate about sharing his knowledge. We covered a lot of land on this tour and appreciated the comfort of the passenger van used. It was so surreal to be driving through miles of old lava flows. Kilauea was showing signs of another eruption coming so we pivoted to get closer. Unfortunately it didn’t end up erupting until a couple days later, but still an incredible experience. Black Sand Beach and seeing the sea turtles was also a sight to behold!

If you are going to be stopping here on a cruise ship and you are in port for a lengthy amount of time, this tour should be considered. We were overnighting in Port so that gave us the needed 11 hours plus to be able to participate in this Day of exploration from Kona. The meeting point is a courtyard hotel, which is .2 miles from our tender drop off so it was very convenient. Erik was actually a little early and we were waiting for him so our day started out promptly. We picked up 10 other people at two other stops nearby so a total of 14 people and then we were on our way. Our first stop was about a half hour up to the heavenly Hawaiian coffee Company- it was a fantastic coffee tasting, and the views were incredible as well as we learned about how they grow and harvest the coffee beans Our next stop was Punalu'u black sand beach- Sea turtles included. Incredible ocean views- we stayed about 15 mins or so. Enough for water and a snack We were then header to Volcano National Park - Erik had actually made a reservation at the Volcanos restaurant at the visitor center and I am so glad he did! We actually had a real sitdown lunch, I had a chicken sandwich that had coleslaw and some pickled vegetables and my husband had a Hawaiian pizza, the food was very good and service was excellent. A bonus is the amazing view of the volcano right from the lunch table. A lot of tours serve cold bento boxes and we saw people on the ship tours sitting around benches in the parking lot so I’m glad we had a sit down meal at the restaurant With the volcano as active as it is right now, the group all voted to make the 1 mile hike so we could get as close to the volcano as possible. It was incredible being able to see all the gases spewing from the volcano at this point. We didn't actually get to see interruption, but there have been almost 30 of them over the past weeks so it's very active. We then went to the next parking area, which allows you to walk through one of the lava tubes- steep uneven steps so make sure to read the mobility notes. Lastly, we made a quick stop at rainbow Falls in Hilo before our 2 Hour drive back over to the other side of the island to Kona to reboard the ship. One of the best things about the trip is that Erik is a geologist so he provided an incredible course on everything rock that you would ever want to know. He also follows all of the stats on the volcano so he was able to show us so many charts and data points to know what is happening inside the volcano, it was really an incredible day If you find yourself staying on the island or if you are stopping here with a long cruise stop, would highly recommend you check this one out Cost was about $250 per person.

Our guide Zane was very knowledgeable. We happened to have a smaller group (5) and Kiliauia was erupting ! Our guide allowed us to slightly change the agenda to spend more time at Volcano National Park. It was incredible!!

This tour was AMAZING! It covers more than half of the island and the sites were fantastic. Aside from that, our tour guide Dave, made the experience unforgettable. He was the best guide we could have had and made the day so fun. This was our favorite day out of our 5 days on Hawaii. This tour is a must! If you are lucky enough to have Dave as your tour guide, you will understand the rave reviews. Thank you so much!!

We had a great time on this tour! Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable, sharing fascinating insights about the history, geology, and culture of the Big Island. From the stunning black sand beach to the intriguing lava tube, we covered a lot of ground and got to see a wide variety of landscapes and landmarks. The itinerary was well thought out, and we seemed to spend a decent amount of time at each stop. However, the overall pace felt a bit rushed at times—there were moments where I would’ve appreciated just a little longer to soak things in. One area that could use improvement is the lunch options. As a vegetarian, the only choice available was a salad, which was quite limiting for a full-day tour. It would be great to see a few more inclusive meal options in the future. Overall, it was a memorable experience and a great way to explore the island. With a few small adjustments, it could be even better!

Zane is amazing! We were on a tour arranged by our Resort. We were educated about volcanos, the landscape,and so much more.The amount of knowledge Zane has is unbelievable. He was never dry or boring and his love for geology was apparent which made it so much more enjoyable. Thank you Zane. I highly recommend this company!

Bucket list item to see a live volcano checked off! I was able to witness one of the most majestic things I'll ever see, Kīlauea erupting into thousand foot columns of fire and lava! And all thanks to Zane who accurately predicted the timing of the event! He knows his stuff! I couldn't recommend him highly enough!