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GuideAlong (GyPSy Guide)

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GuideAlong (GyPSy Guide) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024) - Tripadvisor

Shaka Guide versus GyPSy Guide: Your Virtual Hawaiian Travel Experience

Shaka Guide vrs Gypsy Guide

As the rest of the world navigates its way around the disruptions of the pandemic, tour companies too have begun adapting to social distancing in one major way: through virtual tours.

Of course, guided tours via apps are not a new thing in the travel industry. These platforms have long encouraged travelers to explore places and cultures at their own pace — and it can do the same for you in your next trip to Hawaii too.

Just think about it: from volcanic mountains to rainforests to pristine beaches, the island of the gods is yours to explore. With a virtual tour guide, you can go wherever you want, and stay at each stop for however long you want.

But first — How does an app tour work anyway?

All you have to do is to download the app on your phone, and drive. These apps trace your location based on your GPS so it can feed you relevant and timely details as you go. So, wherever you may be, you’ll get tidbits of history and fun facts about your current location.

Most of these apps work offline too so you don’t have to worry about cell connectivity and finding a signal. You can simply drive wherever your fancy takes you, all while learning about Hawaii and your specific location from your app.

Now that you know how it works, let's explore your options. There are a handful of travel apps that you can download for your trip, but two stand out from the rest: GyPSy Guide and Shaka Guide.

 Let’s take a look at what each of these apps have to offer.  

Shaka Guide : Overview and Benefits

It’s entertaining, educational, and much like the culture that it’s representing, very easygoing.

  What sets it apart from GyPSy Guide is that it is designed to follow a narrative for your whole trip. So for you to fully enjoy the whole story, you will have to start and end from designated points.

  Why you should choose Shaka Guide:

A great fit for those who prefer structure, the tours at Shaka Guide are done in a specific way.

The narrative is entertaining and educational, with a hint of playfulness and humor.

It has a tour highlights feature. Here, you will be given recommendations of where to eat, where to go, and what activities to do. These tips are straight from the locals so you can explore Hawaii just as they do.

Shaka Guide Tours Include

Each individual tour costs $19.99 or buy all the tours on an island for $29.99. The best way to check out these tours is to visit this page using your smart phone and click the links above. That will download the app. You can then visit any of the tours and listen to selected points to see what the tours will sound like. We recommend that you scroll down and purchase the island package which includes all tours once you are ready.

GyPSy Guide : Overview and Benefits

In essence, it’s having your own personal tour guide in the car with you. You can just drive, enjoy the scenery, and be entertained and educated as you go.

  Why you should choose GyPSy Guide:

GyPSy Guide is professionally done and built-in with dependable driving directions, entertaining anecdotes, and tips straight from the locals.

It gives you an authentic Hawaiian experience, suggesting side trips and stopovers as you go

You can use it offline

It is flexible so you can start your tour whenever and wherever you want

Each app covers an entire island so you only buy one tour

  Check out their Hawaii Bundle for $39.99

Shaka Guide versus GyPSy Guide

Not only do these apps support social distancing protocols, but they also strive to give you an authentic Hawaiian experience — all without the need of having another person with you in the car. They guide you where to go, share interesting stories, and give relevant tips to help you maximize your vacation.

  So far, we’ve outlined key similarities between these two apps:

They can both be accessed offline, using GPS to guide you through popular locations.

They both allow you to explore Hawaii freely. This means that you won’t have to follow a strict itinerary that usually comes with guided tours.

They’re both entertaining and educational, possibly at varying degrees but the motivation is rooted from the same purpose.

  Of course, there are some differences in the execution of these virtual tours too. Here are some ways that they might differ:

Shaka Guide is more structured and a lot more fun while GyPSy Guide gives you more flexibility on your tours  

With GyPSy Guide, you can start and end at any point of your tour. It is designed to give you utmost flexibility so you can go on any or all of its recommended side trips.

Shaka Guide, on the other hand, gives you a more detailed itinerary. You’ll be asked to follow a narrative and it even estimates when you might want to take lunch and bathroom breaks.

GyPSy Guide gives you side trip options while Shaka Guide provides tour recommendations

With GyPSy Guide, you can veer off the main route and go on side trips. While Shaka Guide does not offer this much flexibility, it does give you tour highlights that include recommendations of where you can eat and scenic spots that you can visit along the tour.

The narration is more professional with GyPSy Guide while Shaka Guide is less formal and fun.

  Final thoughts —

When it comes to choosing between these two options, it all boils down to your personal preference. If you want more freedom and spontaneity on your trip, then GyPSy Guide may be for you. If, however, you prefer to follow a more ordered itinerary that has a bit more Hawaiian Local flair to it, then Shaka Guide is the perfect virtual companion for your trip. At Hawaiian Planner we have tried them both. And we like each one of them for different reasons. The cost is low enough that we would recommend both in many situations. Use Shaka Guide when you want to do the entire tour from start to finish, use GyPSy Guide the rest of the time when you are navigating around the island and don’t have a specific tour destination in mind.

If we were to recommend only one, we would recommend Shaka Guide . It was a better experience overall on the tours that we went on. At other times, when we weren't on specific tours, it was harder to focus on listening to the tour guide. 

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Which App Should You Choose for the best Aloha Experience?

Shaka Guide vs. Gypsy Guide: Which App Should You Choose?

January 05, 2023

Shaka Guide

OK, we’re sure you’re thinking, “how can Shaka Guide write an article comparing itself to a competitive tour company?” Of course, we’re biased, we love our tours! But, we also understand that you have options when you’re planning how you’d like to spend your time and money. Here, we’ve outlined the similarities and differences between Shaka Guide and GyPSy Guide’s tours as objectively as possible! We obviously stand by our product, and we hope you’ll choose us to guide you on your vacation, but we want you to be informed so that you can make the best decision for your trip. 

First, the similarities

Essentially, both Shaka Guide and GyPSy Guide™ do the same thing. Both apps use GPS to navigate you to popular sites while telling you stories along the way. The GPS will trigger audio points along the tour route, allowing you to have a guided tour experience in the comfort of your own car! Here are some other things we have in common: 

1. The Apps Work Offline

This means you don’t need data, wifi, or service. In some spots we visit - like the Road to Hana - service is spotty. That’s why it’s vital that the apps work offline. 

2. Offline Maps

The tours play offline, but you’ll also have access to island maps that will work even when your service is down. 

3. Freedom to Explore

The nature of both of our companies gives travelers the ability to explore at their own pace. You can stop at the spots you want for as long as you want while still enjoying the benefits of a guided experience! 

4. Pre-selected Starting Points

Each app has designated spots where the tours begin. With this being said, both apps also allow you to join the tour at any point along the route. 

5. History and Stories about the Destination

Both apps offer a guided experience for a fraction of the price. You’ll learn context about the places you're visiting. 

Both apps offer toll-free, customer support phone numbers. We get that our product can be tricky to understand and that it relies heavily on technology. That’s why at Shaka Guide you can send us an email, chat with us via our website, or give us a call —  the same is true for GyPSy Guide™. 

7. Multiple Tours

Each app has multiple tours for Hawaii and the continental United States! This means you can spend more time exploring new places. 

Now, the differences

While the technology and premise are the same, each app has unique characteristics that are important to your overall experience. We understand that every traveler is different, that’s why we want to share these with you. Have a look through the list and see which app sounds like the better fit for your vacation! 

This is a key difference between the apps — Shaka Guide has music woven into the storytelling as you drive along the route, GyPSy Guide™ does not. Here at Shaka Guide, we’ve hand selected licensed music to complement each tour. Why? We want to showcase the beautiful music of local artists and we feel it enhances the audio experience! We think that song is just one of the many ways you can become immersed in the storytelling and connect with the destination you're visiting. 

2. Number of Tours 

In total, Shaka Guide has 21 tours in Hawaii and 20 in the continental U.S. GyPSY Guide™ has 14 in Hawaii and 30+ tours across the United States and abroad. The way these tours are displayed is slightly different too. On the Shaka Guide app, you’ll see each tour listed individually as separate tour routes. With GyPSY Guide™, all the tours are along one route, but there are side trips that designate the different road trips the app offers.

3. Fixed versus Flexible Schedule

Yes, both Shaka Guide and GyPSy Guide’s™ tours give you the freedom to explore on your own terms. If there’s a spot you’d like to skip, you can. If you’d like to spend more time at an awesome beach, hike, or historic site, that works too! However, the way these tours are designed is different. 

At Shaka Guide, we’ve created our tours with a clear beginning, middle, and end. We did this so that we can give you timely recommendations —  just like a real tour guide — along the route. We’ve estimated roughly when you might be looking for lunch recommendations, tell you about the nearest bathrooms, and share spots to skip if you're short on time  —  all as a way to give you a curated experience. Basically, less planning on your part. Once you start the tour, we take it from there. 

GyPSy Guide™ tours are a bit more flexible, they’re designed so that you can start/end anywhere or go anywhere along the route. Remember how we mentioned that they have side trips? Their tours are designed as one mega tour with side trips so that everything falls along one major route. 

The choice is really personal preference — some people like the structure of a Shaka Guide Tour while others like the ability to dot around the island and listen to GyPSy Guide’s™ audio along the way. 

4. Tour Directions

The freestyle nature of GyPSy Guide™ tours allow travelers to take the tours in either direction. This is great if you’re looking to plan your day in a specific way. For example, if you have an activity planned on the North Shore of Oahu in the morning and want to have the tour guide you back to Waikiki for the afternoon. 

Because each Shaka Guide tour is told in a narrative way, they have designated start and end points and most tours are not designed to be done in multiple directions. However, we solve that by offering a similar tour in the opposite direction (sold separately). For example on the Road to Hana, you can choose between the Loop tour which travels clockwise starting in Paia or the Reverse tour which travels counterclockwise and starts on the backroad to Hana. Both tours visit the same spots, it’s just based on your preference. 

For the Big Island, we’ve designed our South Island Epic Coastal Journey and North Island Jungle Adventure Loop to be done in multiple directions without having to buy a seperatseparateThese have mostly the same content but the stops are in a different order depending on where you start the tour and which direction you choose. 

5. Price 

Price is another key difference between the apps, below is a side-by-side comparison. 

Hawaii Bundles - Multiple Tours 

Individual Tours

PLEASE NOTE: Shaka Guide has an additional 35 tours that are sold individually. All of the driving tours cost start at $9.99 and walking tours cost $4.99.

Yes, Shaka Guide tours cost more than double GyPSy Guide’s™, but we'll explain why below. 

6. Tour Highlights

This is another key difference between the apps. Shaka Guide apps have tour highlights and GyPSy Guide™ apps do not. The tour highlights feature restaurant recommendations, activity suggestions, scenic spots, hikes, beaches, and snorkel spots along the tour route. None of these are paid recommendations but sincere tips that we hope are helpful. The tour highlights work offline as well, so if you’re in a remote part of the island with no service you can still find local spots to grab lunch or learn about the hike you’re about to embark on. 

Both the Shaka Guide and GyPSy Guide™ apps have excellent reviews, but it’s the number of reviews that differ, here’s the breakdown: 

Number of Reviews by App on App Store + Google Play Store

Please Note: Shaka Guide has 5 apps and GyPSy Guide™ has one. Below is the total number of reviews across all 5 Shaka Guide apps. 

Number of reviews as of January 2023

8. Narration

If you’re planning on spending a full day on either tour, the person guiding you is an important part of your trip! You should know a little bit about the different narrators. At Shaka Guide, we have multiple voices for our different tours. These narrators are very playful, upbeat, engaging, educational, and humorous (even if at times they tell corny jokes). In Hawaii, " Uncle Shaka " as he's lovingly known uses pidgin — which is a colloquial language here in Hawaii. Here are some key pidgin words you might want to learn before you visit! 

GyPSy Guide’s™ voice is very different. We’d describe him as playful as well, but a bit more professional and to the point. 

Again, the choice is yours. Some people don’t like the casual nature of our narrator, while others love him!

9. Made Locally, in Hawaii

A core difference between Shaka Guide and GyPSy Guide™ is where the tours are produced. Shaka Guide is a Hawaii-based company. We live here, we love the islands and we love sharing the stories of our home with travelers. 

Recently, we've expanded our tour portfolio to include national parks and scenic drives across the United States. Although our company has now expanded beyond Hawaii we take pride in our local roots and put extra care and aloha in everything we create. 

10. Road to Hana Comparison

We compared the amount of content in terms of audio length for the popular Road to Hana tours. Below is what we found: 

The above table shows that Shaka Guide has twice the amount of audio content compared to the GyPSy Guide™ tour. That means from music to narration, you’ll have more to listen to throughout your Shaka Guide drive. We’ve done this as a way to create an engaging driving experience. Even though this comparison is only highlighting one tour, similar differences in terms of quantity of content are present in other Hawaii tours between the two brands. 

Why does Shaka Guide Cost More? 

So why is Shaka Guide more than double the price of GyPSy Guide™? There are a few reasons we have a higher price point, which we’ll outline below: 

• Double the content: You can see from the graph above, we have almost twice as much audio narration to keep you engaged on your road trip. 
• Tour highlights: We’ve researched these additional spots so that you can make the most of your trip. 
• Curation: Again, we’ve designed our tour to be a curated experience so that there’s less work for you! 
• Music: We feel that the music we’ve licensed for our tours enhances the overall experience. 

In conclusion…

Whichever tour you choose we hope that you have an amazing trip and leave your vacation with a deeper connection to places you visit. Have you taken either the Shaka Guide or GyPSy Guide™ tours? If you have please feel free to send us an email or message us on social media to let us know what you think!  

CLASSIC ROAD TO HANA TOUR

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• 4.9 • 9.3K Ratings
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Enjoy road trips filled with entertaining stories, helpful local advice, and navigation, all narrated by your favorite guide. Autoplays based on location and direction. Upgrade your road trip adventures with our location-based audio tours. It’s just like having a tour guide in your car™. HOW IT WORKS We’ll guide you to the all the best things to see and do, and suggest side-trips and local tips, so you don’t miss a thing. Listen to fun and informative stories about the history, geology, hikes, animals, local peoples and highlights along the routes. Commentary plays automatically as you drive, based on your location and direction. You have the freedom to travel at your own pace. Tour offline with GPS. No need for cell service or WiFi signal while touring. Everything is downloaded to your device for easy, offline use. Visit our website www.GuideAlong.com to see a complete list of tour route maps, sample commentary, more travel tips & suggested itineraries. KEY FEATURES - Autoplays as you drive, based on your location and direction - Works offline with GPS, no cellular service, WiFi signal or data required while touring - Play your own music in background - Listen to commentary before and after you travel Trip Planning Suggested Itineraries Highlights Travel Tips TOURS (we keep adding more tours!) Bundles of tour available and offer great value US HAWAII Maui including Road to Hana Oahu Kauai Big Island, Hawaii Acadia National Park Arches and Canyonlands National Parks Beartooth Highway Big Sur PCH Hwy1 Black Hills, Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park Blue Ridge Parkway Bryce Canyon & Zion National Park Capitol Reef National Park Catskills Scenic Byway Death Valley Glacier National Park including Many Glacier Grand Canyon National Park South Rim Great Smoky Mountains National Park Joshua Tree National Park Kancamagus Scenic Byway Keweenaw - Copper Country Kings Canyon National Park Lake Tahoe Lake Superior North Shore Hwy 61 Las Vegas - Grand Canyon West, Hoover Dam & Red Rock Canyon Mesa Verde National Park Miami, Key West & The Florida Keys Michigan Lakeshore M22 & Sleeping Bear Dunes Olympic National Park Oregon Coast Outer Banks Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado Sedona Sequoia National Park Vermont Scenic Byway 100 Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks Yosemite National Park Zion & Bryce Canyon National Park CANADA Canadian Rockies National Parks Banff, Lake Louise, Moraine Lake & Yoho National Park Icefields Parkway Jasper   Drumheller Waterton National Park and Alberta Southwest Vancouver Whistler Niagara Falls AUSTRALIA Great Ocean Road PRICING Each tour is a one time purchase. No time limits. Use as many times as you like. No monthly subscription. REVIEWS “PERFECT! We would have missed or skipped SO much! DON’T HESITATE and make the purchase ASAP!!” “Personal Tour - Worth more than every $” “This app was amazing for us. We saw so much more than we would have without it.” “Great Value I was leery about purchasing the app. Boy was I wrong.” NOTES Using location service GPS increases battery usage - we highly recommend taking DC car charger versus simply plugging into the vehicle’s USB port

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Ratings and Reviews

9.3K Ratings

Arches & Canyonland NP

We recently took along the Gypsy audio trip thru both of these parks. We downloaded prior to our visit. There was no cell service or internet at the park. The narrator was always with us. A map was included to follow along, but we chose only to listen to the narrator. We just activated the audio as we came close to the park. The narrator started to tell us about the park, the history and made suggestions for photo op’s. The narrator told us when the pull off’s were coming up and what to expect. This audio trip made our adventure much more exciting. We didn’t miss a thing at the parks. If we chose not to stop, the narrator just knew and continued on the trip. I can’t say enough about these trips. We have used them before in Glasier and Yellowstone. We are presently working on Bryce and Zion. Most of all, my husband found the narrator quite amusing, not annoying. After all, he is with you quite awhile along the trip. We made sure our iPad was being charged as we drove and left it on all day. The narrator would come on and off as we approached areas of interest. We definately recommend and will continue to use when we travel to other areas. Just downloaded Grand Canyon. Gypsy, keep up the good work. Well appreciated.

Hana in Hawaii

First I want to say that we started out early in the morning hoping to beat the crowd. Although we thought most of the tour guidance on the app was good, all of the “have to” locations that the app suggested were completely full when we approached them. We later found that there were some other obtainable waterfalls that we not crowded that were not mentioned. So we ended up driving for hours and only stopped at 2 tourist stands to get banana bread and a treat. Ugggg, it was a really long day of just driving. I wish we had had a “heads up” that all the sights would be full and we would have cut our trip short. Also learning on the app the day of the trip that we needed tickets to the park 24 hours ahead of time was not helpful information. Last but not least, the history of the rulers was repetitive and was not what we wanted to listen to the whole way down the mountain. We thought the guide was giving directions to get down but instead gave an account of the rulers. Although I think this app is a great idea and had some great info going up, it missed some opportunities to see some sites that our guide book had mentioned. On the morning of we chose to forgo the guidebook info and solely use this app. We would use the guidebook next time. As I shared before, without opportunities to park and explore because of the crowdedness, we ended up with a very long day of driving.

You need this app!

We just got back from Maui and if you don’t get this app and keep it open while driving around you’re missing out on a huge part of your trip. First off, the narrator’s voice is so pleasant and soothing that anything he says sounds great. You look forward to him just talking about anything just to keep listening to him talk. The points of interest and tips for parking or other things were fabulous. It is so accurate you’d think he was in the car with you. He says look for a sign and you then see it. The stories of the history of Hawaii were great. I’ve been to Hawaii 6 times but now I have a really good idea of the history from the whaling days to now. How it became a state was also eye opening. Really interesting and easy to listen to and hearing it while driving was great. Road to Hana guided audio us a must. You can’t do it by following a book, sorry Maui Revealed, and I had that with me too. Best money you’ll spend on a driving audio guide. No joke. Just leave app open as you drive around audio will chime in every now and then. It changes a boring drive to a really amazing tour. I’m sure all the drives are great. We did Maui and it was amazing. Enjoy.

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Mahalo. There are so many great stories that tempt you to learn more about Hawaii - and keep coming back!

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• Yellowstone and Grand Teton $19.99
• Road to Hana - Maui $14.99
• Maui - including Road to Hana $19.99
• Going-to-the-Sun Road $11.99
• Kauai - Hawaii $14.99
• Big Island - Hawaii $16.99
• Yellowstone National Park $14.99
• Oahu - Hawaii $14.99
• Zion & Bryce Canyon $14.99
• Black Hills Rushmore Badlands $19.99
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HAWAII, MAUI, OAHU, BIG ISLAND, KAUAI BUNDLE

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• Suggested or custom itineraries
• One-time purchase
• No date limit or expiry
• No data connection required to tour
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HAWAII, BIG ISLAND TOURS

• Location: Hawaii, USA
• Audio Points: 460+
• Valid: No time limit or expiry
• Start: Flexible
• Direction: Both
• Download: ~200Mb

ALL INCLUSIVE TOUR

This complete island tour is designed to be flexible, so you can road trip the way you want. No worrying about where to start or which portion of the island you want to see. Use our suggested itineraries in the app tour plan, or divide the commentary to create your own half, full or multi day sightseeing trips across the island.

Tour Route Map

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Highlights Include

• Volcanoes National Park
• Chain of Craters Road
• Halema'uma'u
• Thurston Lava Tube
• Petroglyphs
• Devastation Trail
• Holei Sea Arch
• Hamakua Coast
• Coffee Coast
• Place of Refuge
• Akaka Falls
• Waipio Valley
• Pololu Valley
• Kealakekua Bay
• Liliuokalani Gardens
• Kamehameha Statue
• Rainbow Falls
• Kohala Coast

What to Expect

The Big Island is exactly that – big! It can be overwhelming to work out what areas to visit together and how much time everything is going to take to see. With so many choices, you will need a plan!

Below, we have divided the island into 4 areas to explore that range from half day to full day. These provide a logical way to explore all of the best things to see and do all over the island. 

Most visitors stay on the Kona side of the island and join the tour by driving on Hwy 19 or 11. Or From Hilo, drive north or south on 19.

Includes: 4 suggested itineraries to explore across the Big Island;

The Big Island’s most famous and popular place to visit is Volcanoes National Park .

Allow a  full day and head to the most active volcano on the planet. From the Kona side of the island, we follow around the bottom of the island along Highway 11 all the way to the Park. We’ll have time to review the volcanic forces at work behind the creation of the Hawaiian Islands, or you may prefer to embrace the Hawaiian legends version as it takes approximately 2.5 hours to arrive.   

You can also tour directly from Hilo on Hwy 11.

Inside the park, the commentary continues on all park roads, from Halema’uma’u down to the ocean and back. There are many amazing formations created by eruptions spread over hundreds and thousands of years. There are 2 driving routes in the Park and expect to spend minimum 2-3 hours exploring.

Please note: after the volcanic events of 2018, the Park is reopening in phases. Best to check for latest status and updates with the NPS link in FAQ below.

For the true adventurers, a full  Island Circle itinerary adds touring to the green or east side of the Island.  From the panoramic views along the Hamakua Coast  and the 442ft   Akaka Falls State Park   to peeks into the lush  Waipio Valley .   Not much has changed since its plantation days, though you won’t see donkeys plodding down to the shore with sugar bags strapped either side anymore.

Plan for time in and around  Hilo  with its Liliuokalani Gardens, and follow the Hilo loop tour route for nearby  waterfalls and lava tube caves. 

Don’t try to include Volcanoes National Park to this day, there is just too much to see and do and you’ll run out of daylight hours.

Driving from Kona to Hawi is an amazing journey with beaches, a surprisingly arid coast at times, views to Maui, black sand beaches from cliff viewpoints and driving over an old volcanic mountain makes for an excellent 1/2 day or longer of sightseeing. Follow the tour as it drives a loop itinerary that gives us a fantastic sample of old Hawaii, modern Hawaii, awesome beaches and huge ranches.

Relax at the end of the road at the  Pololu Valley lookout,  and spot the black sand beach way below.  On the return drive, as we climb over the Kohala Mountain, you’ll discover Hawaii’s wild wild west and the Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboys) around the rural and ranching areas of Waimea  before connecting back to the coast.

Pack your swimsuit and snorkeling gear for another  half day itinerary , this time driving south of Kona.

Kailua-Kona is the active hub of the western side of Hawaii and features energetic shopping and dining choices, mixed with historic landmarks and fun beaches like Magic Sands . Follow the road that heads south along the coast to tour through this vibrant area.

But then, we’ll quickly transition to areas of incredible Hawaiian cultural importance and sites that have been preserved for prosperity. Bring your snorkel gear for some excellent places to get close to fish and turtles too, especially at 2 Step .

We might enjoy a jolt of world famous Kona coffee right from a plantation before we connect with some of Hawaii’s significant cultural sites, the sanctuary at the Place of Refuge   and at  Kealakekua Bay . Then we’ll use Hwy 11 to circle back to Kailua-Kona.

Suggested Start Location

Kohala, Kailua Kona or Hilo – join anywhere along the route.

Suggested Time

Volcanoes National Park – Full Day

Island Circle – Full Day

Kohala North Loop  – 1/2 Day

Kona Coffee Coast – 1/2 Day

Driving Distance

The island is very large!  There’s more than 350 miles of driving to explore.

WHAT IS THE BIG ISLAND KNOWN FOR?

The Island of Hawaii, often simply referred to as the Big Island due to its size, is famous for its incredible natural attractions, including massive volcanoes, black-sand beaches and lush valleys.

WHAT IS THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT THE BIG ISLAND?

There really isn’t a ‘bad’ time to visit the Big Island , with relatively consistently warm temperatures year round. There’s really only two seasons in Hawaii: summer from May to October and winter from November to April. The off-peak, shoulder seasons of April to May and September to mid-December are when you’ll find the best value.

HOW MANY DAYS DO YOU NEED ON THE BIG ISLAND?

If you really want to enjoy even a fraction of what it has to offer, you should plan on staying on the Big Island for at least four days , and ideally one week. You’ll want a full day in Volcanoes National Park and to drive the Island Circle, plus half days exploring the Kohala North Loop and Kona Coffee Coast.

HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED TO VISIT VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK?

Ideally you’ll want to spend a full day visiting Volcanoes National Park . Most visitors spend 2-3 hours minimum inside the park and you will most likely run out of daylight before you get to see everything on another part of the island. 

HOW MANY VOLCANOES ARE IN VOLCANOS NATIONAL PARK?

Volcanoes National Park is home to two active volcanoes : Mauna Loa, which last erupted in 2022, and Kilauea which saw its last eruption in 2023. 

WHERE CAN I SEE LAVA ON BIG ISLAND?

Volcanoes are unpredictable, and this can change at any time. Please visit the National Park Service for the current status.

Trip Planning

Waipio valley access closure.

As of 25 February 2022, the County of Hawaii has closed the Waipio Valley Road to all visitors until further notice, including pedestrians, due to rockfall and landslide risks. Hiking trails in Waipio Valley are also closed, and the best way for visitors to currently see Waipio Valley is from the Waipio Valley Overlook .

Big Island Trip Planner

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