Private Tour: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Eco Tour
Description
Explore the worlds most active volcano with one of our professional, award winning guides - get away from the big bus and van tours and get out into the field to visit areas that few visitors get to see while visiting Hawai'i island! No gift shops, no restaurants, no long drives around the island in a van to visit areas you can explore on your own. No gimmicks and no frills - all of our time is spent exploring the amazing active volcanoes of Hawai'i island! We offer only active, education based explorations that focus on topics such as Geology, native flora and fauna, and the amazing Hawaiian culture that still thrives on the volcano today. Our tours are family friendly, easy to book and leave our guests with a deepened understanding of the science and the culture of Kīlauea. See the best of the volcano with several moderate walks throughout the day. Our National Park tours allow guests the convenience of using their own vehicle as opposed to a large bus or van.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Your private tour starts at the historic Volcano House hotel, located inside the National Park. Walk to the steam vents and sulphur banks to feel the heat of the volcano coming out of the ground. Walk thru the native rainforest to the devastation trail. Explore the Chain of Craters road to find volcanic landscapes of the past and rare rock formations.
Explore a 500 year old lava tube with detailed discussion on how lava tubes are formed and the features inside. Walk thru a old growth native forest to get to the tube!
Walk along the historic Halemaumau trail with one of our professional guides for excellent views of the summit caldrea! Along the way enjoy in-depth discussion on native plants, native birds, geology specific to Hawaii and the amazing Hawaiian culture that still thrives on the volcano today.
Explore the steam vents inside the National Park with one of our professional guides and feel the geothermal heat! Great photo opportunities!
Walk thru this unique area with one of our professional guides with in-depth discuss of geochemistry. And learn about the unique adaptations of native plants to resist the volcanic gases! This area is safe to explore due to low concentration of gas.
Hike the most popular trail in the National Park with a professional guide and discuss the 1959 eruption, which included the highest lava fountaining event in recorded history. This hike feels like walking on the moon!
Explore this unique area where the native rainforest was buried in volcanic debris in 1959. Find Peles tears, olivine crystals and other unique rock formations!
Explore the incredible Chain of Craters road with one of our professional guides! With stops like Lua Manu, discuss pit craters and their significance on Kilauea volcano.
The best location to see the active summit eruption when lava is visible! Get an up close look with your professional guides binoculars and/or spotting scopes.
If you prefer, take a quick stop at the Visitors Center for the chance to get some Hawaii Volcanoes National Park or a great local book on the volcano or Hawaiian culture. This is also where we pick up the Junior Ranger programs for our guests with younger children. Your guide will help your child complete the program and get an official Junior Ranger badge at the end of the tour!
Take a easy walk along the coastal areas of the volcano for a great photo of the Holei Sea Arch! Also, discuss native sea birds.
Check out this unique art gallery, and see the original Volcano House Hotel - the oldest hotel in the state!
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- A minimum of 2 person per booking is required
- A maximum of 25 people per booking
- Flexible departure time means that after creating your booking, you will have to contact the local operator to inform them of your preferred departure time. At this time you may also discuss your preferred tour itinerary with them
- Summit eruption viewing dependent on current eruption conditions
Reviews(319)
Very knowledgeable and changed the plan once he realized there was kids on the tour. Great with kids!
We love the private guides because we get to schedule and ad and customize the tour based on what works for us on that day as a family. Everything in the world is dynamic like the weather and the state of the volcanoes and the crowds. We don't like different things and this is why it was awesome to get a very knowledgeable guide that could help us see the things that many others were not seeing yet still see the most important things in a very short period of time. We're impressed that our guide could answer every possible question and really adapted to what we wanted to do that day and it was really a highlight of our week in Hawaii. We posted pictures and experience on my blog.
Jay was awesome guide - former NPS ranger with knowledge, enthusiasm and "dad jokes" galore- we had a limited time on the big island and really wanted to have someone lead us through the highlights of the Park. Jay is very familiar with the Native Hawaiian culture and even did a Welcome chant, which I found very moving and inspiring show of respect for the Native Hawaiian culture. He didn't take up our time with things we could easily do on our own after the tour (e.g., the lava tubes), which we still have time for before heading back to Hilo. We stayed the nite before in Volcano, so did go to the Park the nite before to see if we could catch any action, but nothing - although the beautiful sky and stars were worth the cold and wind of the night! Thanks to Jay! this was a worthwhile expense for our experience.
Jay was the absolute best!! We saw the coolest things in the park and got all the natural and ancient Hawaiian stories behind them. Super knowledgeable and super friendly. Best part of our trip!
I wondered if it was silly to pay to take this private 3-hr tour of VNP, but I am so glad I did. Unlike other national parks that offer stunning beauty to keep one engaged, without the context of this tour to understand what has occurred and what is ongoing with Kilauea, we would have missed so much. John was great: he designed our tour for our athletic abilities and interests (we hiked a loop of rainforest descending into part of the caldera, and then hiked out), all the while weaving in information & theories about the science of the volcano’s eruptions, lessons in Hawaiian history & mythology, information about local plants & animals, and his personal encounters with the park. It made our visit so much more meaningful than if I had tried to read a guidebook or the NPS pamphlet to myself, my husband, and my teenagers. And after the tour, he advised us on how to make the most of the rest of our time there. We all loved it. 100% recommend Kilauea EcoGuides.
Highly recommend the private volcano tour. Our guide Tyson was fantastic. An actual son of he Big Island with a degree in Geology from U of H! Not sure there is a better resume for a tour of the volcano! He was a wealth of information and was very friendly and personable.
We couldn't have asked for a better guide than John. He was knowledgeable, friendly, and passionate about the park. Our group ranged in age from 19 to 85, and every one of us had an amazing experience. If you're considering a tour, this is the way to do it. Highly recommend!
If I could give more than five stars for this tour I would. My friend and I booked this tour and we had Jay as our guide. He was fantastic! This sweetheart of a man took us all around the park and told us so much information and had us laughing and then gasping in wonder at all the beauty we saw. He took us to all the important spots, and pointed out others that we were able to visit the next day when we went on our own. Run, don't walk to book this tour with Jay. You will not regret it. Forget a group tour. We loved learning about all the trees, birds, and flowers in the park. And of course, the volcano! We missed the eruption by one day, but were were lucky to at least see some lava, and we wouldn't have learned so much and gotten the individual attention on a group tour. THANK YOU JAY!
John was THE BEST guide we could ask for. Super knowledgeable and took us to all the best sites for photo ops. Could not have asked for a more memorable experience.
AMAZING tour of the volcano park. Our tour guide was a wealth of knowledge! I highly recommend having your own tour guide. 10/10
