This is the best tour I have been on so far in Hawaii. My wife and I were here on our honeymoon and didn't know what to expect when the concierge person said that it was a full day event and that this tour of the island of Oahu would undoubtedly be the best and most fulfilling.
Well let me tell you, after our experience today we can say wholeheartedly that this was the most packed in day we have ever booked and we loved EVERYTHING.
Our guides name was Charlie and I am sure that there are many informative and terrific tour guides but he was THE BEST. He would continue on to have a calm and collective but consistently excited speaking voice throughout the entire tour and he was welcoming and full of knowledge.
We truly felt like it wasn't just a job for him. He loves what he does and he's so passionate about sharing his own aloha with each and every one of us. He was funny, informative, relatable, and extremely efficient at filling in all the time and always giving us something to appreciate and enjoy along the way.
Here's the thing, we haven't even started talking about THE EVENTS THEMSELVES yet. The day was seriously awesome. We saw so much that it's hard to list out in order everything and be accurate but I will try:
First we started off getting picked up in Waikiki and dropped off at the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor with a some lemon poppyseed bread to hold us over until lunch. We walked around with a full understanding of where to be and when to be there and we had plenty of opportunity to appreciate everything along the way.
From there we set off to the Dole Plantation and enjoyed walking around taking pictures of the various native and non-native fruits and plants of the island. We took a small train and while it was a little cheesy or boring, it was a breath of fresh air and we saw some mongooses running in the grass! (We think that's what they were).
The Dole whip with topping is definitely a must.
We left Dole after some very engaging history about the recent halt of sugarcane in all of Hawaii (just a few months ago this started!) and we saw some truly amazing views and drop offs at stops along the way.
We saw North Shore and got history on the housing, surfing, and competitions. We got out to take plenty of beautiful pictures on the beach and we saw some really epic waves, some starting out as much as a mile from shore, already super tall.
He had us make a stop at a small fruit stand where we bought a bag of assorted fresh fruit that was delicious and also had one too many fried bananas (seriously do not forget cash YOU NEED ONE OF THESE).
We left the stand on our trek to the Polynesian Cultural Center where we would have some really good and unique food! We both got the chicken sandwich with the poi roll made from taro root, and honestly we thought it would just be a filler lunch that was complimentary to the long day, no, it was awesome. Really good food here and a few locals told me they have never had better fresh oysters than when at Pounders restaurant where we went.
The food was good but the canoe ride was informative and fun as well. The sun is beaming down on you so make sure and bring something to cover your neck from sunburns but it was a good time and the history was a mix of knowledge and comedy.
*This has absolutely nothing to do with the tour itself, but I would say that if I had one tiny complaint from the entire day it was that the guides on the canoe are not on microphones so if you are in the very front of the canoe it can be harder to hear them and the history you came to learn about! It's only cause of the drums beating in the background at the various cultural sections that this is made more difficult to hear, so all in all, pay attention cause it's good info but yeah, very tiny criticism*
MOVING ON
You'd seriously think this tour was coming to a close right about now, but now comes to the part of the tour where we drove around the island with some truly breathtaking views and as we come around this pass my wife and I both look at each other at the same time and before the tour guide can even muster a word we both yelled, "Jurassic Park!!!"
We got to see some of the most beautiful mountain ranges on the island and we felt this truly eerie feeling that was so surreal just seeing those mountains and the trees at the base of them. It is so much like seeing Jurassic Park for the first time that it may just freak you out ;)
We stopped at Tropical Farms Macadamia Nuts nearby Kualoa Ranch after seeing some amazing views of the ocean and we bought a bag of cinnamon macadamia nuts, they were so good when we sampled them, we just couldn't leave without it (they are almost gone as I'm writing this in the hotel).
We got to take some pictures here of the mountains during our stop and we had plenty of blue sky and range to see from the shop. It was amazing.
Check Trip Advisor for the full EPIC review. You can thank Yelp for limiting my review. :( read more