WOWWWWW!! I had to wait until I got home to type on a computer, because there's just so much to share. First of all, we had David as our tour guide, and he was awesome. Kept the energy up and shared lots of stories. This is a great way to see Kona. It's totally worth it, because the amount of energy it would take to look up all the routes, drive for hours, and arrange the entry tickets, is exhausting in itself. So, to have someone do it for you . . . amazing! Let's start at the beginning.
David picked us up from the lobby of our hotel. I think if you had an Airbnb you would probably have had to meet somewhere, so this is where it paid off to have a hotel. Lots of awesome stops - they are mentioned in the details, so I won't go to each one here. David let us know where the restrooms were and how they were from 1 to 5 - very helpful. There's no food allowed inside the van, but we were given an amazing HOT lunch that we ate at the Black Sand Beach, lots of water, and we also had a snack stop. And Hawaiin chocolates! Our tour guide also happens to be a trained photographer, so he took some amazing photos of my friend and I with my digital camera. At the caldera for the volcano, David had binoculars, so that was super helpful to see it up close.
It's a long day (~11 hours like everyone has said) so I wouldn't do it the first day you get here, if you have to adjust to the time zone. We were running out of time so we did this the day before we flew out. I would recommend doing it on day 2 or 3 and then finishing your trip relaxing at the beach and seeing places that were not on the tour.
BOOK Early so that you can get in (at least 3 weeks prior); you can always cancel if plans change, but these tours fill up early.
Great tour guide, great tour, great day. Worth every penny! Mahalo!