We did an early morning private tour with Rob this morning in Volcanoes NP. We met him at 5am at the visitor center in the park. Everything about this experience was seamless. Jodi, Rob's wife and partner, answered all of my questions before booking, allowed me to change my date after booking and then sent me this AMAZING suggestion guide of what to do on the island, where to eat, where to snorkel, etc. We visited a few of the places she suggested and were so happy we did. This was all BEFORE we even started the tour.
We had to get up at 245am to make sure we left our condo in Kona at 3am in time to meet Rob. While driving in the dark we questioned our decision. Rob quickly shuttled us to a closed road where we walked about a mile to an overlook to see the lava lake. Because we left so early we were pretty much the first people there and got a premium viewing spot. Rob brought us flashlights and binoculars and he had a camera with a huge lens to take pics and video of us and the lava. As soon as we got to the spot we knew we made the right choice to get up early and book with VIP.
After we watched the sunrise over the lava lake and clouds part from Mauna Loa, we headed back to the van. Rob, with his extensive knowledge of the park and weather patterns, changed up our route to help us avoid the rain (which was successful). He took us to see lots of different examples of lava flows, lava drains, native vegetation and the Thurston lava tube. In-between each stop he played us a curated set of video shorts, teaching us about previous eruptions and types of lava. His enthusiasm for the park and the volcanoes really came through and heightened our experience.
At the end of the tour he dropped us off at the Volcano House for breakfast. The kalua pork hash was really delicious. He also showed us a hike to do following breakfast that left from behind the restaurant/lodge. The hike took us down to the edge of the forested rim of the crater. We saw endemic birds (Apapane and Amakihi) and worked off some of our breakfast.
If we did not do this tour we would have arrived too late to the park to see the glowing lava lake. We also would have spent our morning in the rain as we would not have known when to go where. We also would have never gotten to see or learn so much in 3 hours. This was the best money we spent on our trip visiting the big island and Kauai!
Oh, and he is a great photographer and takes lots of photos and videos and shares them with you :)