The views from inside Volcanoes National Park are the ONLY reason this tour got 2 stars. Our tour guide, Zane, talked about millionaires and billionaires and how much everything cost for the majority of the first hour. He loved mentioning his girlfriend, who he knows on the island, how much things cost inside the van and pointing out where wealthy people live and go on the island.
My family booked this tour because we wanted to learn about Big Island. I will admit, this was my mistake, because we weren’t interested in a geological tour. We wanted to learn about big island culture and history.
However, all that being said.. My parents could not hear much from the back of the bus, and after we asked Zane the first time.. he checked in with us to see if we could hear better. We could for a little while, but after about 20-30 minutes we couldn’t hear very well. We asked him 3 more times during the course of the day to speak louder or adjust the mic and there was no difference and he never checked in with us again.
Things got a little better once we were in Volcanoes National Park. He spoke more about the history of the volcanoes, how they were formed, the different types of lava flow and the craters. But as I said before, my parents couldn’t hear much from the back. So when my mom asked a question about the differences in lava and why they looked different, she was met with a snarky attitude of “well don’t you remember the video?” Which wasn’t the last time during the day that we were met with snarky behavior or an attempt to be funny that just missed the mark.
Not long after that, my mom slipped on some loose rocks out on the lava formations where he took us. The fall wasn’t bad, and she bruises easily so it looks worse than it is. But instead of being met with concern by our tour guide, like anyone would expect, Zane told her in a sarcastic tone that she couldn’t walk back by herself. He didn’t check in with her until after he got back to the van, a bit later. A very nice woman on our tour helped escort her back until I could reach her. Once Zane made it the van, one of the first things he said was “oh that’s not bad,” as I’m trying to clean up blood from where she fell. Luckily the woman who helped my mom back had bandaids, because Zane and Hawaii Geo Tours have no sort of first aid. He said they had to stop during Covid, but we’re past that now. Carry bandaids (even if you can’t administer first aid), just do better and be prepared.
The rest of the tour had some pretty and cool views. We walked through a lava tube, stopped in Hilo for a farmers market and to see Banyan trees.
Overall, I would skip this tour, save your money and a headache from hearing a bunch of “I did this, my girlfriend does that and this cost $xxxxx.” There were also a couple points in the tour where it felt like he was digging on the Hawaiian people. And after having an amazing tour in Maui with someone who’s connected to Hawaiian culture, I felt offended on behalf of the Hawaiian people with the way he spoke a few times.