Grand Island Tours any recommendations?

Hi,

We are staying at The Beach Villas in Kona for 4 days in Nov.

We were wondering whether to go on one of the Grand Island Bus tours which take about 12 hours or do we hire a car and drive to the volcanos ourself for the day.

We feel we may see and learn more from an organised tour. Could any one recomend a company that is reputable.

Kind regards.

Grand Island Tours any recommendations?

Hi

We holidayed in Kona this year and did two trips with a company ';Hawaii Forest and trail'; which we can thoughly recomend.The first trip was to Mauna Kea Summit and stars,we watched the sunset (very spectaccular) followed by star gazing and viewing through a high powered telescope .The trip provides lunch and hot drinks and is limited to about 8 people .The guides are very informative.The second trip was with the same company to Kileuea volcano agiin just a small group in a minbus (pack up and drinks provided) took us to places the tourist buses dont go and rainforests.A little more expensive than the tourist buses but well worth it.They have a web site which you can pre book .As a treat I spent my birthday with a trip for me and the wife from Kona airport in a Cesna light plane which flew over Kilauea volcano and viewed the lave flows (wife would not go in a helecopter)Hope this is some help

Mary and Chris Dack

Grand Island Tours any recommendations?

the best tour is from Big Island Adventure Tours.... a family run company that also has Evening at the Ranch cowboy BBQ .

They stop at more sites and include Place of Refuge.... which all the others do not cost is about $ 60 per person.....

Hawaii Forest and trail takes 8 persons to the volcano and back not a circle island and costs $165 PER PERSON.

IN either case you will end the day more informed and rested then if you drove... its a 7 hour drive... without stopping and about 300 miles of driving.

Thankyou for your replys, has anyone else got suggestions? Because we only have 4 days, do you think a heli or fixed wing flight will be a better option and we spend more time exploring closer to Kailua Kona? Also we plan on hiring a car but as we have a long flight I am thinking that we get a taxi straight to our accomodation and picking up a car the next day. How much would a taxi cost from kona airport to The Beach Villas Kahalu%26#39;u? Sorry for all the questions, there will probably be more to come!!! :)

Kind regards.

Rent a car at the airport. Taxi%26#39;s are very expensive in the islands.

We%26#39;ve taken the helicopter tour over the volcano and thought it was worth doing; haven%26#39;t done fixed wing. I don%26#39;t find touring the park terribly interesting -- unless you were a geology major or are interested in determining which lava is older, seeing cinder cones, etc. I%26#39;d do the %26#39;copter tour and skip the on-site, especially since you are on island for such a short time. (How did that happen? Only four days on this huge island?)

if you arrive after dark then take the Taxi it will cost $50 one way from the airport... fast and easy It is Very dark here on Alii and can be a hassel after dark.....

then Enterprise rent is 1 mile away and does not charge the airport daily fee which is like $10 a day extra. !!! they will pick you up

Now I would take the fix-wing aroung the island on the very first morning after you arrive....... you can use it as a tour and recon all in one to decide which of the places you saw from the air are of most interest to you.....$290 pp with Big Island Air ( the best)

now you better than any of us will know exactly what to see and where to go....... based on you.

The best Bus as I said is Big Island Asventure tours...they pick up across the street from your condo. the go M-F o700-1900 about 70 pp

hawaiidan, does Big Island Adventure Tours have a website? I googled that and only got some ATV tours. Thanks much. They sound like a nice little outfit.

I am not sure... a lot of business has no web sites... Big Island Air for example,

Look up Evening at the Ranch too run by the same family... they are smaller than all the rest but have the best stops.. like the totaly avoid the commercial Mac nut candy tour in favor of Place of refuge.

they run every day except weekends.

I found them, thanks. Looks like a great evening, hopefully they will offer it when I%26#39;m on the island!

Thanks every one. Getting very excited only a month to go before we get there.

Yes 4 days isn%26#39;t enough time on the Big Island but we really wanted to see the Volcano. We have another 4 days in Waikiki.

I am also having trouble finding the bus tour (Big Island Adventure Tours) if any one can help with a contact no. that would be great. I think we will go with the bus tour around the island plus a snorkle cruise and chill out and go with the flow!!:)

We love to snorkle and if we feel like we have time the night swim with the mantra rays sounds great. Does any one recomend it?

Also a very important point%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; Can I buy a good Champagne at a reasonable price. Any recomendations?

Once again thanks in advance and cant wait to get there and sip that champas on my lanai.

look up '; evening at the ranch ... thye also do a circle island tour that is best.

Yes all the Chams fromFrance and the USA are all available Longs has the best prices.... and moderate selection