Hannibal was our guide and he was fantastic! He narrated non-stop with info and personal stories…read moreand we loved it! We thought the time at the visitor's center was way too short and we didn't get to see everything (not Hannibal's fault). The description about the excursion for the sandwiches at lunch, along with Hannibal's telling us about them, told us that they were the best sandwiches on the island and big enough to share. In actuality, it was $20 for a sandwich, chips and water and it was one of the worst sandwiches I've eaten! White bread, with cheap ham and slathered with mustard and mayo. It was all there was to eat and very disappointing. Aside from lunch, it was a wonderful excursion and Hannibal was wonderful!

Thank you to Rusty, who gave a wonderful tour of the Kilauea Volcano. She was very knowledgeable…read moreand informative about Hilo, National Volcano Park, and the life and culture of the Hawaiians in the area. As a solo traveller, I knew I was in good hands.

Don't do it. You can't do the tour and for some reason their website is still accepting payments…read moreeven though the tours aren't happening. In April of 2022, I sent friends who were on their honeymoon on the Big Island here because my husband and I did the tour in Feb of 2021 and I really liked it. Well, the tours are closed and the website does not specify that at all so the payment was taken via website and my friends showed up only to be told that the tours are All cancelled. They did mail her a refund several weeks later. If I notice that their website indicates there are no tours and stops accepting payments, I'll take this review down because I really like the people who ran this business, so I'm not sure why they have to leave their website up but this is just a warning to anyone looking for more info.

Love the waipio lookout. Wish we have more time to explore the whole valley. It's hard to find…read moreparking. Have to park on the side street and u need four wheeler to go down steep road. Anyways can't wait to go back already

I have booked with Warren many years ago and was very happy with our tour. However I have been…read moretrying to reach him for several months to book again but no response to any emails. He did respond at the beginning of the year and told me to just go on website and book when ready. Phone is now disconnected . Now all the websites are down. Looks like he is out of business. So sad to see that. I am really not sure how to mark stars. I am marking 5 based on prior tour but zero based on no response.

Native Guide Hawaii is one of those businesses in Hawaii that you must take advantage of. Warren…read moreCosta owner and guide is the best in the business. I have sent clients to him now for 2 years now and they always come back raving about his tours. My wife and I recently went on tour with him and no joke he knows this island like nobodys business. When on the Big Island and you have a full day to spend checking out the volcano or rainforest or bird watching Warren and Native Guide Hawaii is your man!!! Can't say enough good things about his tours and it's personal not one of those Roberts or other tours so you get to do what you want to do!! Not what someone else wants to do. It's your vacation it wouldn't be worth a trip to Hawaii Island without taking a tour with Warren. $300.00 per couple max of 6 and he includes lunch. Nathan Bowers Travel Agent/Owner

Take a scenic drive to an amazing working cacao farm where you can learn all about the art of…read moregrowing cacao. Chocolate lovers of all kinds will appreciate this event. Serene setting, knowledgeable hostess (host) We were greeted by the "security "dog named Darwin and knew this was the adventure for us. Travel with curiosity, be ready to have a Chocolate experience.

My family planned a trip to Hawaii a bit of of nowhere. Honestly, I was happy to just tag along and…read moredo whatever except I insisted I MUST visit a cacao farm. As the area where cacao can grow is incredibly small, I knew this might be my only chance, and I am nothing if not a dedicated chocolate fanatic. I also love gardening and growing my own food, so suffice to say this was right up my alley. I had previously tried (and adored) Manoa Chocolate, so I had to check if they offer a farm tour and happily, they do! I roped my mom and two sisters into the adventure, and we booked the Farm Tour and Hawaiian Craft Chocolate Tasting. There is also a shorter experience with just the tasting, but I was so glad we did the full tour. From the first moment we arrived I knew it would be magical. We got there a bit early in a huge van as some of my family was dropping us off to go on their own adventures. Wrenn was so welcoming to everyone and suggested those not staying take a little walk and explore the farm, even suggesting they take some star fruit to go! And then the tasting area! It is a large open space with a bar and tables around the edges, thankfully covered for shade, but the view of the farm and then out to the ocean was absolutely swoon worthy. We each had our own spot set up with plates, glasses, napkin, notepad and pen for notes, and tasting information. You can tell they know what they are doing as they've thought of anything you could possibly need. We started out with a tasting of about half the bars. Wrenn and Jude were kind and patient and really helped us learn how to find the different notes in the different varieties. It was such fun conversing with my family and the other guests, comparing the flavors we each discovered. We then did a little mini tour of the farm and learned how cacao trees grow, seeing them from sapling to full grown, and leaning of many different varieties, even some that are grown more for their fresh pulp than for the actual cacao beans. Speaking of which, we got to try some of that pulp! Ah! It was a true dream come true as this is not something you can just grab at the grocery store, and it was very yummy and tropical. Not only that, but once we got back to the tasting area for the second round, we got to try cacao juice (also tropical and delicious!). We also learned how cacao is processed and met loads of cacao-crazy geckos. We then tried the remainder of the chocolate as well as two different (and wonderful) teas. At the end we were welcome to ask for a second tasting of any chocolate bars we particularly loved and shop the goodies they have available. Besides the chocolate bars and tea, there was vanilla, honey, soap, jam, and maybe a couple other goodies. Truly, this was an experience like no other and one of the highlights of my trip to Hawaii. If you are even remotely a fan of chocolate or interested in farming, it is not to be missed.

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

Amazing!!! My family and I did the chocolate tour and they were so knowledgeable and caring about…read morewhat they do. I'd recommend anyone to take the time and go out. I'm not a big chocolate person, but I've learned so much from them and appreciate the work that goes into making tasty chocolate!

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.

Lovely, peaceful trails at this park. In this visit we only had time for the nature trail which was…read morewell maintained and had a number of interpretive signs describing the various trees and shrubs. Also near the nature trail is the arboretum of native plants with additional interpretive signs, be sure to visit both areas. If you have more time, do the jeep trail to gulch trail as a loop.

This place is pretty confusing and also empty so we were afraid to explore too much. We checked out…read morethe garden but it seemed a bit under maintained and dead. Seems pretty easy to get lost and no reception so come prepared. Plenty of parking but for some reason gave kind of eerie vibes.

We picked up this tour at the cruise terminal, where Kamaki, the most Hawaiian looking person I've…read moreever seen (turns out he is only a tiny fraction Hawaiian) and his assistant, Alex, were recruiting passengers to fill up a 24 seat tour van. My background is in geology, and I was super impressed with his ability to explain how what we were seeing came about. He was equally versed in botany, zoology and history. Every now and again, he would sing, and he did that quite well too. We hit all of the major sights in what was about six hours of touring. With all that he knew, I was compelled to ask about his educational background. His response: "I have a PHD in surfing." The tour was great! By the way, it seems that the local port authorities allow one tour van in at a time, and when it fills up, another arrives. We spoke to others, and all the tours hit the same sights in smaller groups and lower price that the cruise lines excursion department. Kamaki has his own company, so you can preaarange a private tour with him as your guide.