Our Oahu Grand Circle Island Tour driver was Simon. He did a marvelous job driving our group of 30 with a sense of humor and stories relating to points of interest on the island. Beginning the tour, however, is an interesting perspective. To board your shuttle or chartered bus(to a particular event or destination) everyone meets at the pick-up/drop off point on Koa under the green awning (the closest street because of our hotel's location) Literally, there are hundreds of others waiting and up to about a half dozen shuttles, buses or trollies(more or less) pulling up to pick up passengers on this street. Confusion begins when you're not sure which is your designated ride. With engines running, drivers are yelling out names as the crowd is asking "What did he say?" That's when one takes the initiative to run to each bus and see if your name is on that roster. If this helps to what you may experience when you get to Koa, be forewarned... just be cool and patient and walk up to the driver and ask if your name is on his list to board. Sometimes there is more than one bus for a particular destination(loading other passengers from other hotels before you) meant for the same time and you just have to wait for the next one that has your name. Patience really is a virtue!...especially in Honolulu where life is slow and easy!
Experiences to remember from this tour: Enjoyed the' intense' wind at Nuuanu Pali Lookout, having garlic shrimp lunch at Kualoa Ranch (site of Jurassic Park), sampling coffee and macadamia nuts at the Macadamia Nut Factory, visiting the Dole Plantation and tasting their famous pineapple ice-cream, and in awe of the Byodo-In Temple with its koi lakes and gong that we had the pleasure of 'gonging'!
It was a long day with stops that served as bathroom breaks and souvenir buying.
Simon made our trip a learning venture with insights of history of the area, funny stories, answering questions that would come up, teaching us Hawaiian words and just talking about life in Hawaii. And, always available to take our pictures! Hope you're fortunate to have Simon as your driver too.
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Aug 2022
Aloha Sally,
Wow, excellent review. I appreciate your detailed information that I can share with our operations team. Also, I'll share your compliments with Simon's manager.
Mahalo and enjoy the rest of what Hawaii has to offer,