I would never recommend this tour to anyone. Day got off to a rough start as our driver could not find the bus depot at the hotel (even though this is where we were told to gather). After we boarded 45 minutes later, we stopped at two other hotels and squeezed 15 people into the van. Our first tour stop was a completely random roadside souvenir shop, which was clearly a tourist trap as many vans were parked there and there was absolutely nothing special about this location. We lingered there, not buying more than chips, and then spent another hour in the van to get to the temple. The driver never seemed to have any understanding of how long we should spent at any location, nor why we were there. In fact, he told us he didn't really know what we were doing and (multiple times) didn't want to come to work that day. After the temple, he took our orders for a shrimp lunch, but couldn't seem to get them straight. A process that should have taken 5 minutes took 30, and when we arrived at the shrimp restaurant, it was packed and our orders still weren't ready for 30 minutes. Plus, we had to scramble to give him cash, since he didn't realize we were supposed to pay on our own and needed to be paid back. The shrimp was good, but the location was filthy: overflowing garbage everywhere and bins in the bathrooms with feces-soiled toilet paper, as you could not flush anything. After eating, we were told we didn't have time left to do much else and our guide proposed that we skip snorkeling and try the Dole Plantation instead. When we arrived, we didn't have time to do the full tour before it closed. The guide had no idea what time it closed, nor what time our tour should have ended. He clearly hadn't even read the description on the website.
We truly spent most of the gorgeous Hawaiian day traveling around in a poorly-air conditioned van, squeezed in with other travelers, watching sites go by, and learning very little about anything we were seeing. We did very little. I will list what we were promised and what we did:
- Diamondhead - NO
- Kahala, Hawaii's Beverly Hills - NO
- Hanauma Bay -NO
- Halona Blowhole - NO
- Byodo-In Temple -YES
- Tropical Farms (Free coffee and macadamia nut samples) - NO
- Fumis Shrimp Truck (other food options available) - YES, and no other options available
- Big wave surf Sunset Beach (drive by) - NOT SURE?
- Snorkling at Secret Turtle Beach (snorkel gear included) - NO
- Historic Haleiwa Town - NO
- Dole Plantation - YES but missed tour because we were too late
It's very clear why I give this one star. If this company adds to this review that I "must be confused and must have been with another tour company," please ignore. Another scammy move by them.
This was not so much a waste of our money (though it was), but moreso, a complete waste of a beautiful day on Hawaii. Choose another tour, or even better, rent a car and download a sightseeing app so you can take your time experiencing Hawaii instead of being literally trapped in a van.