This review is strictly for Cameron, our tour guide. He has set the bar for everyone else. I was…read moreamazed by his legitimate Aloha spirit (harder to come by than professed around the islands). He has the type of personality that I could see as a successful tv host on a discovery or nature channel type show. He offered a wealth of knowledge about the land, flora, fauna, history, and beliefs of Hawai'i. At every point he kept us safe, entertained, and informed. He has made Hawai'i my favorite of the islands. My only complaint about the tour has nothing to do with him, but with scheduling. I really didn't want to go to a hotel gift shop and would have preferred more time to swim or snorkel.

What an amazing experience. We booked a tour to see the lava fields and enjoy a snorkeling…read moreadventure and it was a full day of adventure. Keep in mind there is no snorkeling on this excursion and the area around the Hilton is not safe or appropriate for snorkeling. I am writing the review solely on the lava field excursion part. My wife was very dissapointed that there was no snorkeling as we purchased new snorkeling equipment. Roxy was our tour guide and was probably the most knowledgeable and professional tour guide we have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Roxy was knowledgeable in the history of volcanoes on Hilo and elsewhere, horticulture, bird species, animals, Hawaiian culture, tourist attractions, history of the Hawaiian Islands, tribes and Capt. Cook, beaches, teachings, burial practices and so much more. Roxy told stories of the early days in Hawaii and how it evolved. Also as a noted her driving and safety practices were impeccable. If you are planning to come to Hilo you must make it a point to reach out to Roxy. We spent approximately 8 hours on the tour and it was so enriching although the lack of snorkeling was a dissapointment . Highly recommended Mahalo

We loved our visit to Lavaloha! It was great for kids--interesting, and not too long or too short…read more Plus, there's the chocolate tasting, and you get to support a small business, which is wonderful. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone visiting the Big Island

The tour was beautiful, informative, and delicious. Jess was a brilliant and welcoming guide!read more

The best family!!! OK Farm Tour is more than it sounds…read more We started at the farm store with coffee tasting, a bathroom stop, and signing waivers. Then we jumped in a big van and not only learned about the farm but had two waterfall stops that were the highlight of the trip. It could really have been called a waterfall farm tour. There were two pavilions overlooking two different waterfalls (Rainbow Falls and I think Waiau Stream) both from the private property side so you normally wouldn't get this view. They had bug spray but plan for mosquitoes by the waterfall lookout, cause you know...lots of water = a few mosquitoes haha. We got to taste the best Starfruit, Longan (my favorite and the perfect depth of flavor that I grew up with on the Big Island...no other longan can beat it), raw Mac nuts and 70% chocolate nibs!! We had the best snacks. Also tasted oranges, got to sniff a curry leaf, and see the fresh cloves and mace on spice row. Our tour guide Kent was awesome, maximized our time at the waterfalls, and took some cool group photos. I only thing that would have made it better would have been to pick fruit to take home. I need to come back when the other fruits like lychee are in season but honestly longan is my fav. I've been buying OK Farms fruit from Safeway and love it but nothing like eating fresh at the farm. Also picked up those chocolate nibs at the store, longan to go, Ola moisturizer, shortbread cookies, starfruit, and a few more fabulous things.

The OK Farm tour is a great way to learn about post sugarcane agriculture in Hawaii. Cassie was…read moreour tour guide and was very informative of the OK Farm history teaching us about all the crops growing on the farm. The in season fruit and macnuts were a nice treat as we overlooked the best view of Rainbow Falls!

Must see near Hilo! Super inconspicuous from the road, but very cool spot where you can walk…read morethrough two caves. The entry point is a very steep staircase and the terrain is rugged inside the caves so best to wear closed toe shoes with traction. I'd budget 20-30 minutes to spend here as you can't walk too far into the caves.

Very cool experience to walk through 2 caves…read more Bring a flashlight / headlamp. Your phone flashlight won't be as strong but can work if you have no options. Ideal shoes would be hiking boots but gym shoes will work. There are steep steps going down and then uneven rocks until the cave. The cave is uneven as well. Parking: maybe room for 10 cars, so parking could be difficult. When we went around 1pm on a Saturday, we didn't have a problem. Park and walk across the street to enter. Bathrooms: I did see some. Didn't use them though.

We went on the Ahiu guided lava tour about a month ago during a trip to the big island. We knew…read morethat the active lava areas were not visible from the volcano national park. so we wanted to get up close and personal with the lava. From what we could tell, this was the best, and it didn't disappoint. They take care of all the arrangements on the phone and when you show up they have a backpack, light, snacks, water, gloves, and poncho ready for you. The tour starts at 2 pm, but it's a little drive out to the start of the hike. The guides will help you find a walking stick to help you keep your balance. Now, the hike itself is totally insane, and not for the faint of heart. It's about 3 hours of hiking through the rainforest, where there is ankle deep mud, fallen trees, puddles, and a lot of up/down and switchbacks. I've got to be honest with you, this is a pretty hard hike and not for the faint of heart. We were somewhat ill-prepared, as we only had regular sneakers. I'd definitely recommend real hiking boots. Then it's about another mile on the cooled lava fields to get to an area where the lava is actively coming out. All in all, you arrive at the lava around or just after dusk. The lava itself is one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It is so hot, that once you get within about 10 feet it starts to scorch your face and arms. You can stick your walking stick in the actively flowing lava, and the tip immediately catches on fire! Amazing, just to dip a stick in liquid rock and watch as it cools to a solid. The guide themselves are totally legit. We had 2 guides for a group of about 13, with one leading the way and another bringing up the rear. We spent a fair amount of time talking to one of the guides, Tomas, a native Hawaiian who is pretty much an all around badass. When he isn't guiding tours, hunting boar, surfing, or other stuff with the company, he does mixed martial arts training and fighting. At the time of our tour, he was still undefeated. Big ups to Tomas. The worst part is the hike out. Because you're starting at about 8 pm, and it's another 4 hours of hiking, you don't get back until midnight or so. I can safely say that it was one of the most exhausting experiences I've ever had. Well worth it though. Overall, Ahiu provided us with one of the more amazing moments in my life. I'll always remember it, and I don't say that in many reviews on Yelp. Definitely do it, but bring hiking boots!

The experience of this was truly once in a life time. The front office however is jacked up. First…read morethey called us on the wrong day and said we were late. We had to email them the reservation they sent us in the first place. Then they told us the hike was about 2 hours when it was more than double that one way. I was totally fine with that, but just be honest about it. I would like to give them less stars just for the way the front office handled the whole thing. The tour was a long hike through a rainy jungle. Then you come up to the lava fields and hike to the spot where the current flows are coming up out of the ground. This tour was an absolute must and I was extremely happy that I did it. We were definitely worn out in the end, but it was all worth it. The guides were extremely friendly and polite. You could ask for anything better. I would have given this five stars if it were not for the front office.

When I'm in Hilo, I always love visiting Big Island candies. It's always fun seeing the factory…read moreprocess and seeing the cookies dipped, but what I enjoy most is the complimentary samples. This place is a piece of heaven. Those cookies, brownies and rocky road are things I dream of. I do prefer dark chocolate over milk, but milk chocolate stuff is really yummy too. Who am I kidding if only milk chocolate dipped cookies in front of me I'd totally take them. The packaging is also beautiful, but if you just want cookies for you or to make goodie bags save a little money and get the bagged cookies vs boxed ones. And if you have any product questions, make sure to ask the friendly staff.

Bigger of an operation now compared to back when I was growing up in Hilo. But they have always…read morekept the fact that you can walk in and see the workers hand dipping cookies and whatnot. They've not changed much besides having newer items here and there. They've classic chocolate dipped shortbread cookies are always a winner. Best part about visiting is that you get samples of their products if you just ask kindly! The staff are always so friendly and helpful. I wish they would bring back the Peanut Butter Crunch Bars!

This tour was great and the employees were fantastic. They made everything very easy and we're…read moresuper good to work with. This was our first time to Hilo and we enjoyed every minute of it. The driver was very informative and gave us points of history from the locations of which we stopped. The candy shop stop was the absolute best. We had time to go downtown on our own and had lunch, which was fantastic. We caught the shuttle back at the drop off point and returned to the pier. The whole process was a breeze. Highly recommended !

This was a reasonable priced way to see the few attractions of Hilo. At the end of the tour, the…read morebus drops you off at the farmers market in town which makes it a nice shopping spot you can purchase from locals. You can get on and off on any hoppa bus which come by every 20 minutes. Very convenient. Takes you to a couple of beaches too! Our driver was very informative about the island and Hilo itself. Highly recommend.

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.

Booked a tour with friends and what a great experience to have a small group and to have a quality…read moreexperience. I highly recommend this service! Lee is very knowledgeable and accommodating. He took us to places that were off the beaten path and gave great insight to the wonders of the Big Island. You will do yourself a favor by using Lee instead of one of the big tour companies. Found this site that says it all about these folks! https://www.peek.com/hawaii/big-island/activity/sightseeing-tours/

From the owner: Our company specializes in private eco tours on the Big Island of Hawaii. From the Hamakua Coast,…read moreto the Hilo/Puna area, and to the Volcanoes National Park. We offer variety of excursions to small groups such as : families, couples, friends. Catered to your needs our tours provide separate cars with certified guides for each party.

Everything was amazing the people there were so nice, the cabins were amazing, and the pets are…read morereally sweet too. They have a Tv in the barn and a speaker for music and they play the news for us while serving us food as well. In conclusion the ranch is one of the best ranches you can go to.

Beautiful site, comfortable lodging, WONDERFUL family!! We unexpectedly stayed during the tsunami…read moreand were treated so well, it turned to be an awesome experience