Volcano Adventure: Hilo Sightseeing W/ Optional Helicopter Tour

Dexter was a gracious tour guide even though it rained buckets during the tour. He made sure we visited every promised stop and even added a stop at the Boiling Pots park. The weather was terrible outside, but warm and friendly inside the tour van.

Albert was Excellent guide Tour was great

Overall the experience was disappointingly below average. The admin side of the booking was good and the email info was clear and we got the inter island flights there and back without issue. The issue was with the tour itself. A large factor of this was bad luck. We had heavy rain and some fog during the day and the helicopter flight was cancelled, but this portion was refunded quickly and this was the decision of the pilot which was fair enough. We then just joined the tour as normal which took us straight to the volcano park by bus. The bus itself was ok but the roof was leaking and the floor collapsing a bit in places, presumably with rot. The volcano is the main reason we booked this tour and it was very disappointing and the tour guide Dexter didn't help. Yes it was raining and the visibility was poor at times, but he said it's like this 90% of the time and shrugged his shoulders. We couldn't see much from the first view point so he cut it short and took us to the temporary visitor centre shop. It then cleared up a bit so I asked if we would stop by the view point on the way past it or take a short walk to another viewing area from the visitor centre but he said there was either no time or no point so on our way we went to the other stops. The other stops were interesting but the guide felt the need to say the same info on local spots 3 times over. I can only assume he forgot he said it the first time or thought no one was listening. It was just a bit annoying and unusual. We then got back to the airport 3 hours before our flight and 1 hour before the tour was advertised to finish, so I don't know why we couldn't have taken another 10 mins at the volcano view to actually see the volcano, the whole point of the tour. We spent more time at the overpriced candy and cookie store, which was novel and had the cleanest toilets in Hilo (as stated by the tour guide 3 or 4 times), but that's not what I've paid $1000 to come and see. I always tip in America and especially extra for a really good service. But this tour was so lacklustre I couldn't bring myself to hand over any cash for such a lacklustre effort. I feel bad as he was a lovely man but I feel a tour guide should make an effort to make the tour memorable, not just drive a bus on a predetermined route and not make an effort to adjust if things don't go to plan. Overall I think we were unlucky with the weather and the tour guide who didn't know what to do with it, despite stating several times the weather is always like that. There were some memorable sights like the lava tube and the waterfalls, and I get the cost is for the flights which were well organised and it was cool seeing the islands from the sky. But was it worth $1000? It could have been but not on our occasion. Hopefully we can see an active volcano another time, maybe in Sicily which sounds like a better active volcano to see. Reading more into other reviews it does seem the volcano is a minor attraction on this tour, despite being advertised as the main feature of the tour. The tour the next day on another island was cancelled due to flooding which is a shame, but after our first tour experience we were glad as we spend 1/4 of the refund (which again was sorted quickly) on swimming with dolphins and turtles which was a 1000x better.

Awesome! Saw multiple waterfalls and the volcano! Stopped at a few shops and had a nice lunch! Dexter was super knowledgeable!!

We ended up having a private tour as the other party had to cancel. Dexter was a great tour guide, kind, knowledgeable and overall a pleasure to be around. We saw all party of Hilo and ended with the a helicopter ride. It was amazing .

We had a great time. Went to waterfalls, garden, macadamia nut plant. Great guide (Albert)

Albert was wonderful!!! He was on time, very informative and just a great guy. We enjoyed the travel experience we had with him. Thanks Albert

I went with the Mississippi Lions All State Band and it was an exceptionally pleasant experience.

Tour guide was exceptional her knowledge of the island and its history were fantastic. She went to great lengths to ensure everyone felt special and had a world class tour experience

We did the Hawai'i Island Volcano Adventure Tour (from Hilo), and this truly was a good value-for-money tour. Our guide/driver Dexter was on time, pleasant, very informative, and was around even during most of the "explore on your own" segments to share more information on the site and to help take great family photos. The sites covered were quite breathtaking. I was glad that even the sites just listed as drive bys became brief stops with time to explore. I would highly recommend this tour for first time visitors to Hilo on Hawaii Island.

Disappointed we couldn’t go because of the cloud cover buy the tour with Dexter was excellent lovely gentleman very knowledgeable.

We had a great time with our guide Albert.

Albert was awesome. Informative, interesting, caring and fun.

Albert is fun and informative. Aperfect combination of a tour guide. The entire time we spent in the bus Albert was pointing out things telling stories and informing us on the history of the island of Hawaii.

Was very interesting and learned a lot about volcanoes on Hawaii. Albert was our driver and did a great job. He explained a lot about what we were seeing.

Robin was a fantastic, very knowledgeable and brilliant narrator. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this excursion!

Robin is very informative and funny. Enjoyed the tour. Glad he was our tour guide. God Bless have a great day

We had an amazing experience touring Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and a macadamia nut farm with Albert. He is extremely knowledgeable, engaging, and clearly passionate about Hawaiʻi’s history, culture, and geology. He explained the volcanoes in a way that was easy to understand and very interesting, and he made the macadamia nut farm visit fun and memorable. Albert was friendly, professional, and never rushed the experience. He answered all our questions and made the tour feel personal rather than scripted. This was one of the highlights of our trip to Hawaiʻi, and we highly recommend booking with Albert.

While we had a very wet day…But Dexter shared a lot of information about the Island and made the trip enjoyable!

An amazing (if very long) day. It is amazing just how much you can see and do in one day. Both the helicopter pilot (Ryan) and the ground based guide (Dexter) were so knowledgeable. We learnt so much about The Big Island and its flora and fauna as well as all of the volcanic activity. Dexter even brought fruit grown in his own garden for us to try. This was perhaps the best one day tour I’ve ever done in my life. There is always a weather risk - the island has fabulous tropical RAIN forests - so called for a reason. The island has the highest rainfall in the whole of the USA. That said, mostly the showers come and go so it shouldn’t put you off but you should be aware.

Volcano Express From Hilo Gabriel with Volcano express was the best. Plenty of time at each step. Several detours that were great. Highly recommended.

Albert took us on a cross island tour of the big island. The tour of Volcano National Park was great . Albert gave us a lot of interesting information.

NCL tour from Hilo to Kilauea Volcano. Driver and tour guide Gabriel was very informative and made it fun. Made sure we could hear him despite poor quality of bus speakers

Robin is very good easy going tour guide. Knowledgeable and pleasant. Very flexible and has good local knowledge for advice.

Albert is super nice and very professional! He explains the local culture and stories and was very funny. His driving is safe and professional as well.

We had such an amazing experience with Polynesian Adventure Tours on the Volcano & Hilo tour! 🌋🌴 Our guide, Steve, was outstanding—funny, knowledgeable, and full of aloha spirit. We’ve done a few island tours before and they’ve all been wonderful, but Steve truly made this one extra special. He went above and beyond—taking photos for us, serenading us on the ukulele, and handling an unexpected situation with calmness and urgency that made everyone feel safe. He was especially kind and caring with our kids, and you can tell he takes real pride in what he does. The Island is breathtaking, and thanks to Steve’s guidance and stories, we left with not only amazing memories but also a deeper appreciation for Hawaiʻi. Highly recommend this tour—it was unforgettable!

Gabriel was a wonderful and knowledgeable guide. He explained things thoroughly, answered our questions and has a delightful sense of humor. Highly recommend!!!

We took the helicopter ride. Everyone from the ground crew to the pilot were very nice, professional, organized. The ride was almost one hour long and the views were amazing, things that you could not see from the ground, waterfalls, the vegetation, the cost lines, the craters. The weather helped, it was clear the views were crystal clear and then we had a brief drizzle and boom! the most amazing rainbows around the helicopter. Just unexpected and unforgettable. Then we continue the rest of the day on the ground in a small group in an A/C bus. Dexter was the pilot. He went the extra mile to make people feel comfortable, he’s knowledgeable, informative, funny. We went to see the impressive Kilauea caldera, a lava tube, the Akaka waterfall. Then, Dexter took us to a local candy/cookies store, I told myself I’m not buying anything there, when we got there I couldn’t resist and I ended buying a bunch of stuff, good by diet!!!

Gabriel from Regional Cruise Lines was excellent, humorous, and informative. We toured Kilauea, the steam vents, and on the way we stopped at the Hawaiian Candy Factory.

NCL-Volcano National Park tour with Gabrielle. Loved the tour & Gabrielle's personality and tour commentary. Only recommendations I have are: #1. slightly longer time at each stop ( by the time ppl on the back of bus got off at least 5 minutes would have passed) 2. bring a cooler of bottled water for guests. Not everyone has there own water bottle that the carry with them every where and the 1 gift shop (volcano house) was sort of slow with checking out ppl.

The sightseeing was amazing! My first trip to Hawaii and it’s one off my bucket list. The main thing I wanted to see was the volcano’s, so amazing. The tour guide was amazing.Thank you Gabriel.

The scenery and views were amazing. The tour guide Gabriel was awesome and very knowledgeable of the Hawaiian and volcano history. However, we were not given enough time to see everything and visit the store. This was by no way any fault of the tour guide. Even though going to the candy store was nice I would’ve rather skipped it to have more time at the Volcano National Park. I feel they should lengthen the time of the trip by at least 30 minutes to and hour if they are going to go to the candy store.

We went on the volcanoe , rainbow falls tour with Big C Tours. Donna was our guide and was very informative and interesting. Great personality and would use this company again for the ease of booking and finding them off the cruise ship.

Spent the day touring Hilo, our guide was very knowledgeable about the local area, we saw everything from active volcanos, waterfalls, national parks, rainforests, an awesome candie store, even the local supermarket and endless gift shops were thrown in. We were well fed on the day trip also.

The trip was amazing and we enjoyed ourselves. Gabriel was very educated on the volcano House tour. It was truly amazing to see and smell the smoke of the volcano. I also enjoyed the art gallery. Where I enjoyed looking at the art, jewelry, and being around some positive worker. Everything was so nice.

Gabriel was an outstanding tour guide. His driving was superb, and his informative discussion was extremely well received, but best of all were his jokes. I got them all even though the other bus participants were slow on the pick up! Great trip with Gabriel.

Dexter was an excellent guide, full of knowledge and wisdom as a life long resident of the Big Island. He was so very kind, taking photos for our family and allowing us to explore with his narration made our time together unforgettable! We greatly appreciated how easily we were able to see so many of the best sites in the ease and comfort of the climate controlled van. Lunch provided was great too! Definitely do this tour!

Aloha! The time has come; I have to write my first review. I want to thank Polynesian Adventure Tours and the guide Henry for letting it happen even though I was the only participant there. Henry is a super nice guide and originally from Hilo. He knows the island very well and has many exciting stories to tell. I learned a lot about Hawaii's history and the Volcano National Park is very impressive. I can highly recommend this tour.

It was an amazing experience, Albert our tour guide was phenomenal, extremely knowledgeable about the volcanos, the island and its traditions. The destinations on the tour were gorgeous.

Albert did a great job. Very informative, with information on the island and volcanos. It was interesting. Enjoyed the volcano experience. Albert did a great job with NCL POA VNP.

Polynesian Adventure tours provided an excellent shore excursion in Hilo from our Silversea cruise where we visited the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Rainforest Zoo. Arthur did an excellent job as both driver and tour guide. He showed a keen interest in safety and took great care of all of us. We especially appreciated his help and patience for those with mobility challenges. We saw a lot on the tour with several stops inside the national park and really enjoyed the rainforest zoo, too! Thank you, Arthur!

Albert was very knowledgeable and I loved the info he shared. The falls and the gardens were beautiful too. I could have done without the candy shop

Gabriel gave us a great tour and provided education information of the Island of Hawaii. His tips were very helpful because the park was very busy. We got to see a volcano eruption and lava flow. Overall a nice tour.

Arrives in Hilo on the Pride of America. Tour was provided by Gabriel. He was professional, knowledgeable and most of all super friendly. Highly recommend this tour and this driver.

I have done this tour twice and really enjoyed it both times. If you ever wondered what a volcano eruption can do, take this tour. It is well worth the time and cost to see the vast and massive amount of lava that reformed a big area if the big island.

As you go through the reviews, you will see many of the 5 star reviews have a tour guide named Dexter. Dexter was our tour guide and in my opinion THE GUY to give this tour. He's lived here all his life and know so many minute details about the places we visited, the history, and much of it because he experienced it! He is a great guy just to talk to during the stops, and our Hawaii vacation was greatly enhanced by being lucky enough to have him as our tour guide and get to know him. One note to future tours - make sure to take cash for tips because you will not stop anyplace close to ATMs and these tour guides greatly appreciate tips.

Gabriel did a great job! Great sights and stops. Volcano was active and it was amazing! Great for all ages. We enjoyed VNP with NCL.

Took the Hilo Highlights tour with Gabriel while on a cruise stop with the Viking Neptune. This was a nice overview with some good stops for the short time available. Gabriel shared interesting information about the area.

We so enjoyed a wonderful day of touring Volcano National Park, Nahuku-Thurston Lava Tube, Black Sand Beach, Rainbow Falls, Akaka Falls State Park, and Liliuokalani Japanese Gardens. Our tour guide was a local resident, and he was excellent. The day was relaxing, informative, and entertaining!