My Profile
Feb172011
Tour/Activity
Kona Submarine Adventure and Island Breeze Luau
Kona, Hawaii
My Rating

Atlantis sub trip was very good, saw some amazing coral reef fish and dived over 2 wrecks which was very spooky! Also visitted the fish nursery where locals are trying to restock some of the more beautiful of the reef fish - Yellow Tang were everywhere! Very informative guide.
The Island Breeze Luau was also quite good. The food was excellent, but drinks expensive after your free Mohito. If its a cultural experience you're after, the Celebration of The Kings at the Fairmont Orchid is a much better and more exciting show. Overall, a good combi-tour.
Feb152011
Tour/Activity
Mauna Kea Summit and Stars Small Group Adventure Tour
Kona, Hawaii
My Rating

I'll split this tour in half to give a fair review. The first half was very interesting. We stopped at 6000 feet for a cowboy stew at a "ghost town" farm. The ride up to the summit was beautiful with a few stops to get you acclimatised to the high altitude. The final push to the top is over a VERY bumpy road, so make sure you are fully hydrated or the altitude will give you a thumping headache! (Water is provided, do drink it!) The view from the top? Magnificent. You really do feel like you're on top of the world. Very, very cold but the parkas provided do a good job. Wear long trousers and wooly socks! 5 star rating for this bit.
The second half of the tour was back down at the Visitors centre at aboput 7000 feet. This is the star show, and although our guide was very passionate and informative on his subject, it was a little frustrating as 12 people stood around in the cold waiting for their 15 seconds to look through the one telescope at whatever it was he was pointing out. We ended up standing for around 2 hours during this bit - in a dusty carpark so nowhere to sit down. Could be better with either seating provided or with multiple telescopes so not so much "doing nothing" time.
Feb132011
Tour/Activity
Kilauea Volcano Small Group Adventure Tour
Kona, Hawaii
My Rating

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! An excellent tour with an excellent guide (Matt) who had a terrific knowledge of geology, volcanology and also ancient Hawaiian legends. Several stops and side-tours during the day meant we not only saw the magnificent caldera at Kilauea, but explored a seldon visitted lava tube, had lunch on the beautiful cliffs on the coast, hiked over lava fields and tasted fruits and berries right off the bush - after making the necessary offering to the Goddess Pele of course! Finished the day off with a drive through tour of Hilo. The commentary was a wonderful mix of fact and cultural stories, all very interesting. A wonderful day and a tour we would do again if we went back to Hawaii. 5 stars to our guide Matt who really made this a special day.
Feb112011
Tour/Activity
Hawaii Big Island Airport Roundtrip Transfer with Optional Lei Greeting
Kona, Hawaii
My Rating

Don't bother, get a taxi. We weren't met by anyone, I had to go and find assisatance which was initially refused until I found our names on her list (of about 40). She then threw the lei on us with little feeling. We stood for 90 minutes waiting for the shuttle and got into our Hotel at 11pm after arriving at Kona at 8, having stopped 3 times at other resorts to drop off other passengers. Its not a personal service, and almost ruined the start of our holiday. Turns out a taxi would have been cheaper too, and lei greeting done at resort anyway. Sorry, can'treceommendthis one, £134 wasted which could have paid for the whale watching we booked locally.


