Ten-Hour Private Big Island Tour: You Pick the Stops, Green Sand Included

Ten hours, private, and the itinerary is yours to choose. The company is Hawaiian-owned and run, which is unusual on an island where most of the fleet belongs to somebody off it. Cold water, local snacks and an island-style lunch come with the day, and the vehicles are clean and air-conditioned. The list of places you can build the day from is long, and it includes several that fixed-itinerary tours never reach: Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and the Kilauea crater; Punalu'u Black Sand Beach; the Waipio and Pololu valley lookouts; Akaka Falls and Rainbow Falls; South Point; the Green Sand Beach at Papakolea; the Volcano Winery; the Punalu'u Bakery; Kona and Ka'u coffee farms; Hilo town, Banyan Drive and the King Kamehameha statue; the Mauna Kea lookout; the Kona coast beaches; Honaunau, the city of refuge; Two Step; and whichever quiet places the guide knows that are on no list at all. In the park the walking crosses old lava fields and passes steam vents with the heat coming off them, up to the rim of the Kilauea crater. The guides tell the legends of Pele, and explain the part that is easy to forget: this island is still getting bigger every year. The meeting point is the banyan tree in the car park at the Kona Pier. You set the pace. That is the whole argument for booking privately.