Evening Volcano Explorer from Hilo

This was a great trip - well worth it. Our guide was excellent, she made the trip for us. The places we visited first before going up to the viewing platform for the Volcano were amazing - the lava tubes, the garden that is forming on the cooled lava which had previously flowed down to the ocean, the steam rising on a field with orchids growing. We also were taken to a Winery and given a tasting of their very different wines with a BBQ type meal and a glass of wine of our choice to follow, which was excellent. We were also shown round the Winery, then it was off to view the Volcano from a platform. On arrival, it was foggy but as we were due to leave it cleared and we were able to see the fire arising from the Volcano and spitting up molten lava. It was some distance away and the only thing I would change is, it would be great to be a bit closer and see the lava flowing.

Jessica was amazing, informative and humorous. This trip was very informative. We appreciate the snacks, the thoughtfulness of the wet towels, the dinner as well as seeing a live volcano. I even had a orchid to Pele and apparently it worked as the volcano spurted while we were watching! We had a small and friendly group. It was 6 hours but the day went fast, yet they got us back in time knowing we had to drive back to Kona.

The tour was amazing! Our guide, Campbell, was knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor! He tailored the tour to us and never rushed us. The volcano crater at night was unbelievable! Highly recommend this tour!

Fabulous. I have made similar trips before and this was the first time we actually saw the glow and some lava activity. Visit to the Volcano winery was a wonderful wine tasting and dinner experience.

Great experience. Our guide, Levi, was wonderful. While traveling from place to place, he shared so much information about Hawaiian history and folklore. I was very impressed because he is not a native Hawaiian. He was an excellent driver a day very pleasant to be with. I really enjoyed the meal at the winery. I would have liked to spend more time at the museum. Definitely worth going back.

This trip was all that it is billed to be. The tour guilde was excellent. Kyle really knew his stuff, and his attention to detail was amazing. He was constantly checking to see if anyone needed anything and that we were having good time. No question was to trivival for him to answer, and if he didn't know the answer he was very quick to say so, and try and find out. The wine tour and tasting was super. The highlight of course was the volcano and laval tube. The view was fantastic. I would recommend that if you are trying to take pictures, you bring a long lens, and a mono pod. it was hard to get a steady shot due to the distance the volcano was from us. Even so the view was great. The tour was right on time from start to finish. Enough can not be said for the our guide. If you get the chance ask for Kyle. you will in no way be disappointed. You can see that even though he comes across as a easy going go with the flow type of guy, he is very preparded and is very good at what he does.

Great trip! We enjoyed all the stops...could have used a little more time at some. Really appreciated the guide's extensive knowledge and his willingness to spend some extra time at the volcano.

The day trip booked via Viator did not start off well, they failed to notify us that Kaphokine Adventures had changed location, so we went to the location Viator had told us to go to and found an empty storefront, after asking at several adjoining shops we found a lady who knew where they had relocated to, by this time we were running late, thankfully the new location was only a short drive away. The actual trip up to the volcano with stops along the way was very enjoyable, the young man university student who was our guide was very knowledgeable. He was able to give us information on any and all questions that were asked by the occupants of his bus/van. He had a good sense of humour and a lot of info on local plants and legends that he passed on to us making for an enjoyable trip. FD

Our guide Jessica was great and she did everything possible to make the tour enjoyable. However, the information that we got when booking the tour was wrong and insufficient. We had multiple problems with this tour. First, we called them to let them know that 4 of us 6 in total were vegetarian and they said that this will be taken care of for our dinner at the winery. When we arrived at the winery, they told us that no special requests were made and they do not keep much food on the premises. Vegetarians had a choice of corn, coleslaw, pasta salad and, the owner was able to find some cream cheese dip with crackers. This is far from what I would call diner. Second, we had trouble finding the starting point of the tour. Apparently the the company moved to a new address and there was no way for us to know about it. Luckily the people at the old address knew where the new one was, otherwise we would not have been able to find the place since the tour company did not pick up the phone. Third, the tour description says that the tour includes: Next stop is the Lava Viewing Area in Kalapana, where your vehicle drives over the lava flows that overran the highway. Look for any current volcanic activity available before heading to the Painted Church. Now decommissioned, it was the first home in Hawaii to Saint Damien before he famously found his calling amongst the lepers of Molokai. This Church was so important to determined local villagers that it was moved, not once but twice, to evade the advancing molten lava flows. This part of the tour did not happen. Finally, the tour description suggested bringing a light rain jacket no further description. Considering that the tour starts at 1:30pm, we were all wearing warm weather clothes and brought a light jacket each. When we asked the people at the tour starting gift shop if we needed to bring anything with us, they only said get a light jacket. Halfway throughout the tour, our tour guide told us that it gets quite chilly at the dinner location and the volcano lake/Jagger museum. To feel comfortable, one would need a long pants and a decent fall jacket, not a light rain one. Luckily the tour guide had some extra jackets. The lack of information and miscommunication were unacceptable. We got lucky that it did not rain on the day of the tour, otherwise we would have been freezing by the time we had to see the highlight of the tour lava lake/Jagger museum.

A great afternoon and evening with informative commentary. Unfortunately the weather wasn''t kind to us but the van was equipped with raincoats and umbrellas so we were well looked after. We were also given drinks and snacks as we travelled. Dinner at the winery was delicious but the wine tasting was so quick that you had no time to appreciate the wines and make a choice. The evening was topped off with a great view of the glow probably made better by the fact that the power was out.