A Big Island Tour
After the tremendous rain storm on Monday I decided to look into a Volcano tour. I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to do all the driving again. I had a choice of a Deluxe Volcano Experience or the Grand Volcano Experience.
The Deluxe Experience was:
- Views of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa
- Visit Rainbow Falls
- See the King Kamehameha Statue in Hilo
- Explore Volcanoes National Park
- Dine at Kilauea Lodge
- Experience the Night Glow at Kilauea Caldera
The Grand Volcano Experience consisted of:
- Kona Coffee Tasting and Tour
- Visit Punalu’u Bake Shop
- Look for turtles at the Black Sand Beach
- Explore Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
- Dine at Kilauea
- Experience the Night Glow at Kilauea Caldera
My Choice
My choice was the Deluxe Tour. I don’t drink coffee and when we stayed at Sea Mountain Resort we had the chance to visit Punalu’u and see the black sand beach. As for sea turtles, it would have been nice to see them but I was pretty sure I could find some at Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. The concierge raved about the gourmet meal at the Kilauea Lodge I selected a steak dinner. Other choices were fish and a vegetarian choice of Eggplant Parmesan.
Wednesday Morning Pick Up
Wednesday morning our Mercedes-Benz mini coach arrived right on time. Our tour guide’s name was Zane like Zane Grey, the author. He said his father was a big western fan. Zane was a geologist by trade and had lived on the Big Island for 10 years so he was very familiar with Kilauea and her “moods”. Even so I don’t think he anticipated the temper tantrum that started right after I left the island. But more on that in another post.
We had a full tour. We had 2 young men from Australia, a couple from India, a family of 5 from the mainland, a handicapped lady and her friend and me. As the only single I got to sit up front in the “shotgun” seat. Our group was spread out over a number of resorts so we had a series of stops before we were on our way.
