This is a NPS managed site that protects the ancient fish traps and fish catch ponds. centuries old…read more, all by hand to catch fish that come in on the tides to feed. One Way traps. A marvel to imagine

Great location to visit not too many tourists and the beach is nice. The hike is not the easiest on…read moreunimproved path with a lot of lava rocks and it very exposed to the sun. Need to bring water and wear sturdy shoes. Came during the gov shut down so the parking lot, visitor center, and restrooms were all closed but at the turn around you can fit ~10 cars along the shoulder.

Hikiau Heiau at Kealakekua Bay is a nice state park we went to for snorkeling. I saw a few big…read morecrabs but not a whole lot of other creatures. Once you get in the water at the rocks, the ground becomes a gray sand and it was relaxing swimming there. There are a few areas at Kealakekua Bay to snorkel around.

If you want to connect to the Hawaiian people, this is a great start. See real history and stand…read morewhere the ali'i did!! Amazing and free to boot! Well worth the drive and the small amount of walking involved. This is what you come to Hawai'i for!

Believe everything people are saying about this hike! Beautiful experience, beautiful views, but…read moreit's a challenge getting back up even for a pretty athletic group. We stopped at the gas station to refill on water and snacks beforehand, trust me, you need to! The locals specifically said, we don't hike there, it's too tough to walk uphill, we swim across about 20 yards for an easier trip. My group was not swimming across, so we turned around after about an hour in the water. Downhill is easy (1 hour), uphill was strenuous (1.5 hours). Take plenty of shaded breaks and try to save your water until the end. It's rocky and good gripped shoes are requirement.

Beautiful hike in the big island! This hike has it all, including wildlife, views, nature, and so…read moremuch more. You start on a rocky dirt path that's surrounded by trees and tall grass. After a mile or so it really opens up and you get amazing views of the ocean and surrounding hillsides. It is around here that you can see a lot of mountain goats. Once you reach the bottom, you get to the main attraction, the snorkeling. I found that snorkeling very close to the rocks had a lot more fish. Lots of people go out to the deeper waters, but most of the fish are clustered in the rocky areas that are about 3 feet deep. You can also view the captain cook monument, which has surrounding plaques that describe his legacy. Bring lots of water, the hike back up is all uphill and can be very hot!

We did a Captain Cook snorkeling tour with Sea Quest Hawaii today and were very impressed. Erin,…read morethe phone representative, was friendly, patient, and answered all my questions, which made me choose this company. Captain Natalie and Assistant Anna were fantastic, knowledgeable, funny, and very attentive throughout the trip. Captain Natalie shared interesting stories about Captain Cook and the surrounding lava caves, and she even helped me with my snorkeling gear and inflating the vest. The snorkeling spot near Captain Cook Monument was incredible, and we saw so many fish. They also provided fresh fruit, chips, cookies, and soft drinks. Thanks to Captain Natalie and Anna, all six of us had a great time and would highly recommend this company.

Hands down one of the coolest things I've ever done. We popped over to the Big Island with cousins…read morefor Spring Break and didn't book until a couple days out because of weather. Thankfully, they had space for our entire group for the sunset time (615pm check-in) and we didn't have to wait for the late-late slots. Online booking was easy-peasy (no kama'aina discount, unfortunately). We checked in (parking is street parking and there are several boats leaving from the same area, so it can be a bit of a challenge) pretty easily - there were folks out front directing us where to go for Sea Quest. I decided the $35 for the GoPro rental was a steal compared to trusting my waterproof phone pouch and I have no regrets - you can leave the camera running the whole time and they give you the SD card at the end. It was no trouble to do that once we got there, as I didn't add that when booking. They have a decent gift shop and the keiki in our party bought themselves some stuffed souvenirs. We got fitted for shorty wet suits and prescription masks if needed, and then waited for them to split us into boats and groups. We were accompanied in the water by Wylen (sorry if I butchered the spelling) and Abram, and they had the perfect blend of aloha, humor, and information. Super chill, but you also knew they meant business about Rule Number 1. From there, we boarded the boat, a small zodiac-style craft, for the 5 minute journey to Manta Village. The website made it seem like we could leave things on board, but that really wasn't the case. We left all bags, clothing, towels in a secure room on shore, slippers got collected on the pier, and small things like eyeglasses were stored in a bin on the boat. No trouble, but I wouldn't plan to take anything with you on the boat. Getting into the water was easy, and we had one keiki who was a little apprehensive about everything - they took great care to lower him into the water, and when he wanted to go back to the boat a little early, they accompanied him back to the ladder no problem. There were plenty staff around to help and also identify the mantas by their markings. And there were SO MANY mantas! We had an amazing evening watching them - I lost count and forgot many names, there were so many swimming past. We had 30-40 minutes in the water and we had multiple mantas around us the whole time. I thought the time was plenty - by the time we had about 5 minutes to go, my stomach was ready to be back on land. My only regret is not stretching my triceps beforehand - I was not expecting my arms to be so sore after holding onto the bar around the light board! We paid $135ish plus fees per person (all ages) and it was the highlight of the trip, for sure.

Absolutely a must visit to see, feel and understand Hawaiian history…read more It was sad that the volunteers were not even faintly familiar with anything. Names, events and even basic royal history questions were not answered...only empty smiles with oh- there is so much history here...sadly they didn't know hardly any of it. I even asked about the hula group that teaches there, again no idea. They need to train the volunteers to actually know something about the place where they are volunteering.

Hulihe'e Palace is a beautiful piece of Hawaii history museum that sits in downtown Kailua-Kona…read more This palace was built in 1838 for Hawaiian royalty stayed here, in 1973 it was place on the national register of historic places, it was originally built out of lava rocks, the lava rocks fance today still secure the palace. The museum has lot's of priceless artifacts like furiture photos quilts and other cultural Items. I was sad because it was close on the day we dock there, a good reason to come back to Kona.

Excellent experience! 10/10…read more Highly recommended! Bring layers! It gets pretty cold. Jackets are supplied but that may not be enough with the wind.

Read great reviews about this tour company and decided to try it for myself. I did have a great…read moreexperience with them. You would receive email reminders about the tour. I also received a call the day before the tour and the lady answered all my questions. Addison was our guide. Our pick up point was Kona Crossroads Shopping Center. After this, we picked up the rest of the group at Queens' Marketplace. All in all, there were 14 people in the Mercedes Sprinter van (excluding Addison). The van was clean and customized with an area at one side that served as a mini overhead bin. We went to Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station. At its grounds, there was an opportunity to hike a little and see silversword plants (I did not see them though or maybe just did not know how to identify them). We had our early dinner there at about 4-4:30pm which was included in the tour. The veggie lasagna and brownie were good. Since this was about 9200 feet above sea level, I noticed that I easily got short of breath and lightheaded (which is not unexpected). The company provided warm Arctic style hooded parkas and one-time use gloves that kept us warm. We then proceeded to the observatories. A segment of the road up the observatories was not paved and it can be a little bumpy. By the time we got up the summit, the sun was indeed about to set. My lightheadedness and headache improved a little and I was able to enjoy the majestic view of the colorful sky and the clouds. A couple in our tour got engaged at the summit! After the sunset, we went to a lower elevation where we had the stargazing. We had warm beverage (choice of coffee, cocoa, apple cider) that was perfect for the very cold temperature. Learned about stars, planets, and had some astronomy review! Addison oriented us and showed us the stars. Using a Celestron telescope, we saw a few celestial bodies including binary stars, ring nebula (though it was very small to me), Saturn, and our moon. My acute mountain sickness was not too bad (and it got better with the descent) and I still enjoyed the experience. Bring your water bottle and don't forget to hydrate up there.

Going to Mauna Kea was a must-do on our trip to the Big Island. We planned for our visit to line up…read moreperfectly with sunset. The visitor center is cool. Lots of good info. There's quite a bit of parking. It was super busy for a Sunday evening. We were in an all-wheel drive vehicle (Ford Edge) and the ranger gave us the green light to go up, even though all of the signs say 4-wheel drive only. They said they can no longer turn all wheel drive vehicles away. He recommended we stop every so often on the way down to let our brakes cool. The road is rough. Not paved. It's basically gravel and dirt the whole way. We only made it a mile of the 8 before turning around. The sun was so bright in our eyes we weren't able to see the road at some points and there is definitely some steep terrain going up. Our vehicle was already needing to have the gas all the way just to make it up. The thought of going down 8 miles of that sounded quite anxiety-inducing. So, we got back to the visitor center in time to hike the trail up the mountain across the road and catch the sunset. It's spectacular. The altitude change is no joke. I could feel how much harder it is to breathe with just a few steps into the hike. Be careful! The views are stunning though. So pretty. Definitely an experience worth checking out.

Unique place to explore, experience your lung and enjoy the view of sunset above the cloud. Make…read moresure you have 4wd or AWD car with LO gears option and a full tank of gas. Everybody has to stop at the visitor center (9200 ft) for 30 minutes acclimate time and Pitstop. After that you can continue the drive up to the top after a small talk and car check with the ranger. There is a bout 4.5 miles of rough terrain and the rest 4 miles is smooth sailing. Total time about 30 minutes. The view is breathtaking. The air is really thin so you have to take more breath you can stay to enjoy the sunset above the cloud and that is all the difference, but you cannot linger till the sky is dark. Everybody has to leave 15 minutes after sunset. Recommended to stop at the visitor center in the way down, stay longer and see the Milky Way by your naked eyes. Remember to keep warm.

This review is for the Twilight Volcanoes and Stargazing Tour, with tour guide Drew…read more My partner and I had never been to the Big Island before, so we chose a tour that would essentially bring us around the island and visit some of the major "must-see" locations. We also happen to love astronomy, which made the stargazing tour an easy choice for us. It was also extremely important that we selected an experience that offered *small* tour groups and was locally owned and operated. Drew was an absolutely fantastic and entertaining host. His enthusiasm and knowledge shines through the way he spoke non-stop from the moment he picks you up. On this tour, we visited Bay View Coffee Farm, Punalu'u Bake Shop, Punalu'u Black Sand Beach, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, and stargazed near Mauna Kea. This was a LONG tour, but was filled with so much fun that time flew by. Although we missed Kīlauea's most recent fountaining episode (51) by a few days, Drew still made time for us to catch the lava glow which was super cool and a highlight of the tour. Our weather was not super favorable with thick, overcast skies; and my partner and I actually gave up on our hopes of stargazing. But Drew is so observant of the weather that when a window to view the night sky opened up, he did so. He provided thick coats to those that needed them and spent some time pointing out different stars and constellations. By this time in the evening, it was really cold and we didn't mind our limited stargazing time. We truly enjoyed our experience, as well as Drew's expertise and respect in regards to Hawai'i's culture and history. We highly recommend that you take a Wasabi Tour early in your trip (like first day if you can), and then you can tailor the rest of your Big Island afterward.

Our family of 6 decided to tour the big island in Hawai'i also called Hawai'i. After checking out…read moresome touring companies we decided on Wasabi Tours. We did a 2 day package encompassing the islands most beautiful waterfalls, nature reserves, botanical gardens, volcanoes, beaches coffee farms on old town Hilo. On our first day with Jason our driver and guide picked us up on time and with a smile. He shared his knowledge along the way wearing a microphone in the van so everyone could hear comfortably. At the attractions he was with us giving us history of all the waterfalls. Whiles driving he told us about the sites inbetween. At lunch time he provided us a delicious meal from a local restaurant. Day 2 with our driver Derek was in another new van that was also comfortable and roomy. Derek took us to a working coffee plantation to see, smell and walk through the farm. At Kīlauea volcano national park where we got to see upclose and personal the caldera in all its majesty. All the time telling the history and recent activity of the volcano. We saw and walked on a beautiful black sand beach with segregated sea turtle nesting area where we saw a turtle swimming ashore and resting at waters edge before digging a hole in the black sand to lay her eggs in preparation for the next generation of turtle, we walked down and into a 30 meter lava tube and got to visualize the path of a whole lotta molten rock traveling through centuries before. Culminating the day's trip by stopping on a mountain top in almost complete darkness, the moon was in a waxing crescent and producing very little nighttime light. We bundled up to stay warm in the 50 degree Fahrenheit temperature to stargaze. It was refreshing in the cold air, outside the van huddled in a group while Derek pointed out, planets, stars, constellations and galaxies as we stood in awe of the majesty above us. Wasabi Tours, Jason and Derek were on-time, safe, informative and most of all fun to spend our time with. I highly recommend taking a Wasabi tour to REALLY see the big island. Thank you all!