Highly recommend!! we had so much fun getting to understand the national park and the different…read moreways a volcano erupts, the process and stories behind all of it was worth it. The go into so many details and you can feel the passion with which they explain things. Loved it

From the owner: Our specialty is to entertain, educate, provide safety, excellent customer service and an all…read morearound fantastic time while visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park lava viewing areas. Private parking which turns the normal hiking distance in half. Elderly, handicapped, welcome depending on physical capabilities and the hike chosen. Lavaboy loves you! We care.

Would give less than one star if I could. Why? Well, we were there at 5 am, deposit paid,…read morereservations made a month ago and everything. NO ONE SHOWED! We called Chris who informed us that the owner moved away and that he didn't know about the tour, but would call us back in 5 minutes. 4 days later and no call and no way to get deposit back. DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM! Literally the whole reason we came to the big island was so our 3-year old could see lava.

This is not a true lava walk!!!! They will ask for a $50 deposit and then tell you to call your…read moretour guide Chris the morning of the tour. The phone number was not in service. We called the owner Greg Nottingham and his number was also out of service. Then we called the number on the website and you guessed it, not in service. Only communicates via email as well which is also a red flag. All the reviews on here are planted by these scammers and their website should be taken down. What a disappointment and a sad bunch of people to try and scam people wanting a good experience.

Our 4:30am lava hike was one of the highlights of our trip to the Big Island. We met up at their…read moreoffice close to the Kalapana Gardens at 4am, checked in, signed some papers and got snacks and coffee (included in the tour). It is recommended that you wear long pants (but some did it in shorts) and requires that you have shoes that cover your toes (no water shoes or sandals). I did it in work out legging and sneakers and my boyfriend did it in jeans and hiking boots. We were both fine and neither of our shoes melted though at one point, his feet got really hot bc I made him stand by the lava for so long for a picture. Bring a good amount of water or your camelback and a hoodie bc it was cold in the morning. They provide you with good headlamps and flashlights since you are hiking in the dark. We were in a group of 12 or so and we loaded up in their nice van and drove out to start our hike. They take you as far as you can go on the road (where people would be otherwise renting bikes or walking) so it saves you some walking. From there, it's just up the lava you go. It was nice that the tour guide told us to take a look at the lava rocks and the texture which was glass like. Basically a warning to tell you don't slip and fall bc this stuff might hurt you. As we walked, it sounded like glass shards breaking under us and we walked towards orange glows up the mountain. Eventually we made it while it was still dark and it was crazy you could feel the heat as you got close to the lava. We spent an hour or so taking pictures of and with the lava and relocating to a few other areas with lava as it eventually got light. We hiked back down the same way and ended around 8:30am. Highly recommend this company as they do a good job making everyone feel safe and we completed the hike at a nice pace. They do not allow kids under 12 and it's probably not recommended for anyone over 50. There are parts where you might have to hop down or take a big step up or down and keep your balance. Our group did a good job and most were in their 20's and 30's and maybe one brave solo hiker in her 40's. Super worth it to wake up early and experience this in Hawaii!

The best thing I've done in Hawaii! We went out on their second day with the new (bigger) boat,…read morewhich provides a pretty smooth ride. We did the sunrise tour, which I would highly recommend. You get to the flow while it's still dark and can watch the sunrise out of the ocean which is another awesome aspect. Parts of the flow were breaking away while we were out there causing new patterns of flowing lava, it's just ever changing the entire time you're watching. A bonus was while on the way back, we came upon a pod of bottle nose dolphins and they swam along with us for awhile. No sooner we left those to continue to the dock, we came up on a pod of spinner dolphins. We absolutely recommend this and it is worth every single penny. Looking forward to doing this again next time we're on the island

Fissure 8 is really called Fissure 8 Tours. Melissa is the tour guide and does an amazing job! Very…read moreslow, easy pace and so informative. She does the tour and only takes donations but the time and energy involved would require at least $50 per person. I would not even come to volcano national park without including this tour. You get a front row seat look at all the devastation a lava eruption and flow can do to a community. You will not get this type of experience at the national park. A must see and do!

This is by far the perfect adventure for those people who are volcano nuts or those who are crazy…read moreabout rocks and or just history. This landscape is living and will be different for every visitor who comes out to look. It's eerly sad as well knowing that this area was once a flat piece of land with homes and people's lively hoods on it. If you went to Volcano National Park or are planning on going you should go here to complete that adventure or start it. The lava flows in 2018 started at Kilauea crater in VNP and spewed out here. You can see steam rising in vents atop the fissure going back the direction of Kilauea. Things to know - Cost = free, but realize this area is closed off to everyone except those who are residents and or property owners. This means your touring with a resident. The Tour is with the resident and has super good vibes and lots of knowledge on this area. You do occupy her time so I would do a donation for that time. I spent about an hour with her. She accepts venmo, cash etc. What to wear - wear some shoes if you can. The area is filled with fibrous rocks that wouldn't be to comfortable in sandles. Call ahead. This is just to make sure she is available and not occupied with other chores etc and helps her plan for bigger groups. I will not forget this experience.

Great customer service, reminds me of something right out of a movie…read more Really quiet, clean and super close to downtown Hilo with a nice walk into town over the bridge. Open and comfortable, as well the caretakers are really tentative and helpful and full of knowledge of things to do around town, they also offer a tour around parts of the island a few times a week for a reasonable rate. I think it was around $55 when I was there. Overall I give it a perfect score for the amount of aloha and overall atmosphere.

We took a Paradise Island Tour from our Ship in Hilo Harbor to Volcano National Park that also…read moreincluded a city tour and lunch. We had a wonderful day. John, our guide, was a good speaker and very knowledgeable about the area.

`My wife and I were celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary with our children and grand children…read morecruising with NCL Pride of America. We got off in Hilo on the Big Island with no particular plan. We ran into the staff of this company and allowed their pitch. Since there were 9 of us, we accepted their offer and John Milare loaded us into his van and off we went. The beauty of a private van was we pretty much called the shots. First stop was Starbucks for our morning "fix" what other tour would make this stop for you? After our coffee break John took us to the highlight of the Hilo side of the island. John was very engaged and excited to share his knowledge of Hawaii and its history. His being this engaged made the tour very interesting and entertaining. John and this company get two thumbs up He also gave us some snorkeling tips for Kona -- BEST snorkeling ever!!

I highly recommend this as one of the best chocolate tours!…read moreWe took the two hour tour with our family - it was a nice small group of six in total. Mike was not only an expert in all things chocolate, but he is easy to understand, he takes time to teach you and answer any questions and he has a great personality! It was pouring down rain the day we went, yet the tour was still a great success. We started out at the farm and then concluded down at the shop. You get to taste fresh cacao, nibs, cacao tea and kakao brew - of course at the shop are the full chocolate bars. Mike clearly loves what he does and enjoys sharing that love with his customers. The only down side is that after listening to Mike you will be ruined forever on eating any other general retail chocolate. So long Hershey and friends!

(This one is about the farm tour)…read more There are three ways to experience the offerings from Honoka'a. You can buy direct from their website, stop by their retail store or go all in and do the farm tour. While I very much am not a chocolate person, and no, this tour wasn't going to change that, I am a tour person who is far more interested in how things are made/done than the actual finished product. If you're going to do the tour, head to the below link and chose a date/time/number of people. honokaachocolate.com/pages/farm-tours It's worth mentioning that yes, the price is $95 per person which to me is on the high side. We did several other food-based tours during our time on the Big Island and that number is a... big number. The front half of the tour is at the owner's house where the orchard and tasting area are located. It's not hard to find and the provided directions are perfect. You get to see the trees up close and there is a lot of great information shared by Mike about every step of the process including answering whatever questions there are about anything you see along with several tasting samples. After this wraps up, you make a short drive to the retail store in downtown for a brief look at the production equipment and a few more samples before you're cut loose to buy stuff from the store. As I mentioned at the beginning, I'm not a chocolate person and nothing I sampled is going to change that. I did appreciate one of the samples more than I thought I would (Barrel Aged Bourbon Bar) but the rest were just meh, and the Cacao Tea was...not something I ever want to have again. But that's just me. I bought several bars for gifts and to the best of my knowledge all were inhaled and appreciated. Overall, I appreciate the information provided on this tour and getting down into the nitty-gritty of the germination-fermentation-weather-growing process/cycles-harvesting/drying-etc. Very Alton Brown with going all of the way down to a very molecular level of detail. If you're into chocolate as most people are and if you like to understand where the things you eat come from, this is a good one.

If you have never tried spelunking or want to hike an authentic lava tube aka not Thurston or just…read morewant a guided vs chance it experience at Kumana Caves then Kilauea Caverns of Fire is your stop. Ensure you have very good closed toe shoes with some tread, do not wear flip flops, it is not cold down there so a t-shirt is fine, the ceiling does drip water, so if that makes you cold, wrap a light jacket around your waist if needed later you can wear it. It is a little slippery down there so be aware. The lava tube in total is 41 miles (it would take 3-4 days to hike all of it out to the ocean) you will hike just a small portion of it about 0.75 miles which is still a hoot and a half. This was Pele's personal lava tube if you are into Hawaiian history, some elders were buried down here, so lava tubes are considered sacred by the locals, do. It desecrate them. I did not see any skull or bones down there! No bugs down there, no other creatures, one small frog near tube entrance. The cavern is located a little off the beaten path, here are some directions: -If you head towards Hilo Airport (Hwy 11) towards Volcano Village. -Look for mile markers on right side of road, you will pass mile marker 10, -Half way up before mile marker 11 is Kurtistown Assy of God Church, -Make a left turn directly across from Kurtistown church onto Kuauli Rd -Continue down road to dead end, turn Right onto Old Volcano Trail -That road will ever left, follow road and pass mile marker 5 -Turn right on Ale Rd (aka F Rd) you will be on a dirt road from here -Further up turn on 7 Rd, 3rd driveway up is sign for Kilauea Caverns of Fire, you made it! Steve is in the house there along with Cinnamon the dog Cost is $80 per person for ~3hr adventure tour down the guided lava tube. You will be provided a hard hat, turn knob on back of hat clockwise to tighten. Some gloves and an all important flashlight. If your in a group the more flashlights the better, makes for better pictures. This will be your last restroom break before you head down the tube so check if you need to go. The tube entrance is a short 5 min hike through the jungle backyard to the dramatic entrance, walk down the leader to the tube mouth entrance. This is where the adventure begins, you need to walk over lava rock which has fallen in, some are sturdy, others will rock, there is no set path so carefully shift your weight from foot to foot ensuring your strides are not too wide apart so you can right size yourself if you need to. Once you are past the rocks about 100 yards, some of it is down hill, other section is uphill, you have gloves, later the floor does level out and ceiling is high so you can walk normally for the majority of the tube. You will walk about 0.75 mile and then walk back the same path. You will see how molten lava as it cooled formed the walls of the lava tube, many different rock formations (stalactites they hang down from ceiling and stalagmites they go up from floor), what looks Ike soda straws, lava bubbles, shark tooth on ceiling, ledges, and many different mineral content in walls. Since lava is predominately iron with some magnesium and sulphur gases you will see all sorts of lava rock colors (yellow, orange, green, purple, etc). You will get a nice work out with the walk and Steve the guide is very knowledgeable about the history of the tube, lava flow and some Hawaiian history, he has been down the tube 100 times and walks with ease. He will guide you where to be careful, some ceilings are low and you will have to bend down mid way (not crouching) for about 1 min. The family and I really enjoyed the experience, Steve our guide was personable, the family and I felt safe with him, and highly recommend this tour for all spelunking aficionados and those who want an adventure. Walking on the rocks is a little tricky, so good shoes and take your time shifting your weight from foot to foot, only proceed when you know you have a good foot hold, you could bring down a water bottle as a few gulps on the way back are needed and refreshing. There is a water dispenser back at the office. 5 stars

Before you read this- go book your tour! Steve and Monica were wonderful! We had a bit of a…read morescheduling issue in coming out to see them and they were more than accommodating so that we could explore the caverns! Also, they have hard hats for you which, even if you try really hard, you will need! Monica took us into the tubes and was an excellent guide, she showed us all the different kinds of lavas and was so patient when we wanted pictures and even snapped a few of us herself! This was such a cool experience, so happy we got to do this!

Used Lava hikes for our tour along with Aloha lava tours, Jerry was a great guide and his knowledge…read moreot the lava field was very good, we had a great time. thanks Joe and tish