This was my son's choice for a tour in Hilo, and it started off a bit rocky. All of the guests were from our cruise, and there seemed to be some confusion as to whom we should follow. Do we follow Edmond? Is he our guide?
On the bus, it was clear he was our guide. I'll be the first to say he was very informative and knew a lot about Hilo. The bus had a great air conditioner, and we were actually ahead of time returning to our ship.
That being said, the entire tour felt rushed. We paid a price to get back on time - at the first stop, two guests thought Edmond was leaving without them. I'm not sure if he was just moving the bus, but it certainly scared us all into thinking he would have left witout us!
There are some disappointing things that are beyond the tour's reach. For example, it's not their fault that the lava tunnels are still closed or that there isn't much to look at in Volcanoes National Park. Thankfully, the government shut down may have limited the number of rangers at the park, but Edmond certainly knew just about everything. Like I said, he was very knowledgeable.
I really wish the tour could be reconfigured a bit. For our group, we would have much rather we skip the orchid "garden" (which was more of an orchid shop) and spend more at the Asian gardens (where we spent 10 minutes) or the black sand beach (we only had 15-20 minutes). Plus leaving 20-30 minutes for lunch at a popular stop was really tough!
Do I think this is a terrible tour and shouldn't be taken? Not at all! If a bus tour is your preferred excursion, you will love it (just be back on time!).
Our family, which included a preteen and teen, were just a little underwhelmed by it all. We thought we would have a little more time at the stops, but such is life.