Volcano tour a must - beware of the non-existent 'inclusions'
We booked this tour in Australia months in advance for our party of 6. On the day, the tour was put back an hour as the other group of 4 were flying over from Honolulu and the plane did not land until an hour after the tour start time. That didn’t really matter as they gave us early morning notice.
The tour bus was very comfortable and spacious and the driver/guide Cindy was lovely; friendly and happy. She got a bit bogged down with some of her stories. Tour started with a visit to a fish market, which was interesting and we had 5 minutes to get something to eat if we couldn’t wait for lunch. Then off to a chocolate factory (not the best we have had), then to a macadamia factory. The coconut ice cream was not very nice but the coffee one was absolutely disgusting (threw it out). We missed out on the orchid farm and the botanical gardens because of the late start.
Then we headed off to the National Park and to the volcano, stopping to see the Rainbow falls and a lava tube on the way. A lovely drive and nice walks around the edge of the volcano before getting to the main volcano about 30 minutes before the sunset, positioning ourselves for a fantastic view of the volcano. It was lovely to see the sprays of lava trying to pop up out of the volcano and as it got darker, the colour and brightness increased. It was a lovely experience and a beautiful sight.
The downside of the tour was that there were no snacks, didn’t even get a bottle of water and we didn’t stop for lunch. If we had known, we would have taken something with us. For the price we paid, it was not good value, but having said that, we enjoyed the day, thanks to Cindy and the other family on the tour.