We were 2 couples on this trip. The tour guide picked us up from our airbnb that is in a condo building attached to a golf course resort. We were on the road for about 12 hours. We left at 7:20 am, and by 1pm, we have seen the major attractions already. Our tour guide Sean was knowledgeable and friendly.
Pros:
- Tour guide picked us up from our stay and dropped us off at the end of the tour. This was very convenient as we didn't have to worry about our rental car unlike other tour we have taken.
- Water was provided throughout the tour
- Sean's knowledgable about the island and respectful about the culture
- We saw major spots across the whole day
- Breakfast stop had a great spam musubi and poke saved me from going hungry
- The banana bread was awesome.
- The Pineapple rind we craved more.
- The black sand beach was amazing and totally picturesque.
- The organic farm was a great experience. Coconut water and papaya we had were very fresh and delicious.
Cons:
- We waited for 15 minutes pass the meet up time until the pick up showed up
- Sean talked a LOT. We could have used some quiet time in the morning to catch a bit of sleep since we started the tour at 7am.
- Breakfast served was poor to say the least. Rice wasn't cooked, egg I'm not sure if it's real egg, I only ate the 2 slices of raw tomato.
- Sandwich (lunch) wasn't great either. It was very plain and just bread and lunch meat.
- It felt that we did too much too quickly. I would have loved to focus on few things (the big waterfall, the black sand beach, the organic farm, and the banana bread stand), especially spending good 2 hours+ at the beach instead of rushing through the lunch and the beach in 1hr.
- the drive back from Hana was crazy. Because the roads were increasingly getting worse, it became a real life roller coaster. We were going up and down the hill, and I felt my heart jump. Because I was sitting at the end of the bus, my back was constantly been jerked with the seat and the way Sean drove. He seem to take pleasure on giving us heart attack and it was no longer funny after few of these.
- I don't think the bee sanctuary stop was necessary, as I didn't gain much positive experience and rather get back a bit earlier.
Overall: it's worth the money, and mostly good experience. Avoid sitting in the back if you can, or speak up when your tour guide drive a bit crazy. Have alternative option for food if you don't want to eat bad food and don't want to go hungry all day.