We are in our late 70s and have traveled all over and used many guides. I can easily say that Erik was the best ever. He’s an expert in volcanoes and imparts that knowledge with passion and without being condescending. He listened carefully to what we were interested in and planned our hike accordingly. He was fun to be with because he gave us an understanding of what we were seeing. He also gave us great recommendations for other areas we might want to see on the Big Island. Malia handled the paperwork flawlessly. We’ll definitely use Kilauea Eco-Guides again.

Erik was our guide and was extremely informative. He came prepared with ponchos for all 5 of us when it all of a sudden it started to rain. Definitely got so much more out of the visit to the volcano national park by doing this private tour with Erik than we could have ever just visiting ourselves. Highly recommend booking this tour!

My husband and I had a wonderful day with Michelle as our guide. She shared her wealth of knowledge and is so passionate about the park. We highly recommend taking a private tour with Kilauea EcoGuides! There is no way we could have learned this much by hiking on our own. Loved every minute of it!

Had a great 6 hour tour with Eric. Super knowledgeable (his USGS experience, knowledge of volcanoes, flora (including Latin names) and fauna and Hawaiian culture) and took us on a number of interesting hikes. Also helpful suggestions for the following days.

We traveled to the Big Island for my 30th birthday and I wanted to go hiking at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. After doing days worth of research, we decided to spring for a private hiking tour with Kilauea EcoGuides. I contacted them and got a very friendly response within 24 hours. Our guide, Nate, grew up on the island and was incredibly knowledgable about the island, the National Park, and the Hawaiian Culture. He took the lead on where to take us to hike and what to see based off of our likes and our wants for the day. He was willing to change course at any moment and was happy to talk about off-topic things that we were interested in (like the Hawaiian language and traditional Hawaiian legends and stories in the culture). I already loved the islands, but he helped me appreciate them and see them in a completely new way. While he was sharing these stories and all of this information, we were out in the real world applying our learning throughout each area of the park we traveled to. I am so happy that we worked with Kilauea EcoGuides for this experience. If you are adventurous and want something "off the beaten path" I highly recommend working with this company. It is a small, family owned business that will share their rich Hawaiian culture and beautiful island land with you for as long as you wish. We feel lucky to have had this experience-- and on my birthday none the less! Mahalo Nate and Malia for all of your hard work and an amazing time.

Three of us did a 3 hour private tour with Erik, the owner of this small family business. Erik is a geologist and have lived near the park for years, extremely knowledgeable, patient and friendly. We did a hike down to the caldera then back up to see some other parts of the park, and Erik gave us tons of information about the volcano, the ecosystem in the park and on the island, and we had an awesome time. I would highly recommend visiting the park with Erik!

This was a once in a lifetime experience. Erik was our guide for a three hour tour of the park. My wife injured her foot just the day before the tour. No worries, Erik not only encouraged her to be a part of the tour, he tailored it so that we could drive to all points and see the amazing sights without much walking. Erik is highly knowledgable, warm and friendly. We gained so much knowledge about the islands of Hawaii, volcano eruption, the flora growing in the park, and life in general on the Big Island. I highly, highly recommend this tour with Erik. You are guaranteed a customized tour suitable for you and your group, whether it involves hiking among the lava, or touring within your car. You will absolutely enjoy this experience!!!!

Our guide Erik knows the park extemely well and is very passionate about vulcanos in general and this park in particular. He took us to several places in the park for short hikes with beautiful overviews and showed us everything vulcano and lava, from beginning to end. He also explained the local sacred meaning of the volcano and gave got lots of info of all the plants and animals that live there. Very interesting and fun day!

Our group went out on a six-hour tour with Erik. We only had one day to see the park, and this was certainly the best way to do it! Erik is a wealth of knowledge - not only about Hawaii's natural history but its cultural history as well and operates his tours in a manner which pays respect to both. He showed us many things that we would have been oblivious to had we set out to explore the park on our own and answered the many questions we had. The tour was very reasonably priced and so much more personal than some of the other options out there. I cannot recommend Kilauea EcoGuides enough!

Wow! What an amazing day! It was our first time visiting a live volcano and, after some Trip Advisor research, we chose Kilauea EcoGuides. The website and online booking process was smooth and friendly. They sent us a number of pre-tour follow-up emails to ask our preferences but, as we had never visited a volcano before, we left the guiding to them. We chose the 3-hour tour. Erik was our guide and he met us promptly at the Volcano House at 1pm. He knowledge of Kilauea, volcanic geology and Hawaiian culture, flora and fauna was amazing. He’s a self-confessed rock nerd which was great for us! Much of the tour is walking so you can up and personal with the surroundings. We toured the crater rim, steam vents and sulphur field before driving to a number of lava fields where we headed off the beaten track and saw some lava tubes, rare rocks and amazing volcanic and rainforest landscapes. Whilst the tour is 3-hours, we walked about 5 kilometers at an easy pace and generally flat gradient. The tour finished promptly at 4pm and Erik, as a local Volcano Village resident, offered us some local recommendations (which we used and loved!) as well as offering our daughter an opportunity to chat online about geology as she’s studying volcanoes at school! For 2 people who had never visited a volcano before, we thoroughly enjoyed the tour and certainly recommend it.

We booked the six hour tour with Erik. While a $170/person may seem expensive for a family, it really felt like a great value! Erik took us all around the the park - usually we were alone in the park - never more than about 20 other people around at most of the stops. He did a great job of weaving science, rocks, flowers, and the Hawaiian culture all together into one well woven picture. It was an excellent day, one that I would highly recommend. While he is a geologist he did a great job of explaining things in easy to understand terms. He hops in your car as you drive from site to site, so it really ends up feeling more like a friend guiding you around his home, than a paid guide. Volcano is typically cool in temperature - but don't forget the sunscreen - I got burnt arms today!

I don't typically write reviews, but felt that this tour and our tour guide Eric deserved to be recognized. We've toured many National Parks and this was the most interesting and comprehensive tour we've ever taken. It would have taken us several days to see the various areas of the park, including Kilauea's summit, that Eric showed and explained to us in great detail. He is a trained geologist, but shares his extensive scientific knowledge in a way an average park visitor can enjoy (you don't need to be a science geek!). Kilauea EcoGuides tours may cost a little more than other companies (I'm not 100% sure about that), but taking a personal tour is definitely the way to go to fully experience Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Remember, this park is HUGE… approximately 500 square miles… so use your time wisely and book a Kilauea EcoGuides tour to maximize your visit to this amazing place. There's so much more to see than just the famous Kilauea Caldera (although that it's really impressive and a highlight of the tour)… including great hiking, giant chasms and wonderful photo opportunities you will never forget.

Ask the self-designated travel agent for our family trip to Hawaii, I discovered that finding group activities appropriate for age eight to eighty is no easy feat. However this tour more than fit the bill. Our guide was kind, knowledgeable and fascinating. My dad, a plant physiologist who has a billion college degrees was appreciative of our guides knowledge of plant life. My teenage daughters were appreciative of the great photo ops. My eight-year-old son was deeply fascinated by the cool crystal volcanic hair things our guide had pointed out to him -particularly as we would have walked right by them without ever noticing. I very much appreciated our guides accommodating attitude, the ease with which I could book the tour and the very reasonable cost of the event. Thanks for some great memories!

We did a tour with Erik and he provided us with a steady pahoehoe of knowledge on the geology and cultural history of Hawaii’s volcanoes. With effortless grace, he made the park come alive. When our three-hour adventure came to a close, our twelve-year-old daughter asked ‘it’s over already?’ Definitely recommended to book well in advance, he’s a popular guy.

If you go to Hawaii Volcano National Park go with Erik! He was so wonderful to work with. It felt as if we were being taken around by not only a local and an expert on the area, but also a friend. Erik has such a warm personality he makes learning about the volcano so fun and exciting. We took a group of 50 people and he made organizing it so easy. If you do anything on the big island go hang out with Erik at Volcano National Park.