Wild Orchid Tours

Wild Orchid Tours

Wild Orchid Tours
5
Sightseeing Tours
This location was reported permanently closed
About
Our company specializes in Private Eco tours on the Big Island. We offer our guests ground expeditions in SUV, with up to 7 passengers.Our tours are personal and family oriented, and we are always open to the necessities of our clients.With Wild Orchid Tours you can experience old Hawaii on safe and easy walks, moderate or more vigorous hikes.
Hilo, Hawaii

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.


5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles57 reviews
Excellent
57
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whimsical_sd
San Diego, CA92 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2011 • Couples
My mom, my boyfriend and I went on a cruise to Hawaii. The tours that were offered on the ship were totally not worth it (for the price and the places they would bring you to.) Upon arriving the Hilo port of call, we venture out to the pier and found this tour operated by Lee. He took 3 of us to the customized tours, going to places that normal big tour buses cannot get to. He took us to many places, but just to name a few: He took us to see waterfall, then another waterfall right by the ocean where you would see dramatic waves, also brought us to the volcano crater to see the active volcano... and he brought us deep into the lava tube where most tourists wouldn't venture into (the part where there's no light and he provided us with flashlight), Japanese garden, some vista points on tiny road where locals like to go surf (and we took great pictures here), . He also stopped by the Macadamia nut farm, the Hilo coffee place, big island chocolate company, etc. The tour guide is very knowledgeable and passionate about the island, it's culture and people. Our tour last the whole day and we were got back to the ship just 30 minutes before it departs! It was an excellent private tour and I would highly recommend it to anyone who will be visiting Hilo!
Written June 25, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

CrownandGinger
toronto25 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2011 • Couples
I am a well versed traveller and do my reseachy before going away on holidays and in our opinion, this was by far the best guided tour we have ever been on. Lee (owner of Wild Orchid tours) came highly recommended to me by a co-worker who was on the island several weeks before our visit. She raved about the tour so i had to check it out. We have vacationed to various places in the world and we always preferred the more intimate one on one tours but our tour guide Lee was by far the best we have ever encountered. We will definitely hold everyone else to this standard of guided tours.
He did an absolutely stunning job! He was insightful, had a vast knowledge of the Hawaiian culture and history and he never stopped talking the entire time we were with him. He just knew so much. I am not sure how he does it but he was amazing!!
You could definitely tell he loved what he did.
His SUV was very clean and comfortable and had large windows for viewing. He was prompt and courteous when he picked us up at our B&B. I woud definitely recommend taking a minimum 6 hour tour if not longer. We customized our tour so we added an extra hour so we saw the volcanoe area and part of the Puna coast. We would have loved to have Lee take us around the island for more days but we already had plans for the other days. We stayed in Hilo for 3 days so we discovered the other attractions that we were not able to accomplish while on the tour with Lee.
When we return in the future we will definitely be contacting Lee again for another experience of a lifetime.

I would definitely recommend this tour company to anyone visiting the Big Island. Do not waste your time with the large bus tours. It is not intimate and you'll be lost among all the other travellers.
Like they say...you get what you pay for.
This is not a cheap tour but definitely worth every penny!!!

Until we meet again....

Mahalo Lee and Renata
Written December 5, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kim M
Memphis19 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Booming a day with Lee and Wild Orchid Tours was the highlight of our trip to Hawaii. We traveled to several of the islands and surfed, windsurfed, sportfished, and attending a great luau so to consider this #1 is a huge tribute to Lee. We had. 6 of us from 17-54 and Lee provided something for everyone. He took us to the most beautiful places we saw during our trip! They were special places for locals and not the touristy areas. The morning included a waterfall, a huge sea turtle, visiting Volcano National Park, exploring a rain forest and lava tube, and more. Lee knows his island and we received the education of a lifetime in flora, rock, trees, etc as we drive along. For lunch, we enjoyed true Hawaiian fare at a local coffee plantation where we had a tour of the coffee processing area then tasted the yummy coffees and candies. We later went to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory. Lee taught us the hula in the car until we sadly had to bid him farewell. We will definitely call Lee if we ever return and he'll always be our top recommendation to everyone who visits Hawaii! Mahalo!!
Written July 9, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Lidia S
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2015 • Family
We were in Hawaii in May/June 2015. Part of our 2 weeks in Hawaii was a one week cruse with NCL. We sailed to 4 islands while on this cruise. One of our stops was to Hilo, on the east coast of the Big Island. We had 8 hours available to us when we docked in HIlo. We were interested in seeing black sand beaches, Kilauea volcano and to experience as much of the local life and land as possible in the short time we had there. I would have to say that our 6 hour tour with Wild Orchid Tours was, without question, the best choice we could have made with the limited amount of time we had on the east coast of the Big Island.
Our guide, Lee, was by far the most knowledgeable of all the guides we experienced during our 2 week stay in the Hawaiian Islands including private excursions and those booked through NCL cruise line.
Lee was very friendly, informative and very passionate about the Hawaiian Islands, the land, people and their culture as well as the history and mythology that give their culture such color. He is just down to earth and a very good person with a strong character. He took the extra efforts to make our time with him educational, fun and rewarding. We experienced black sand beaches, Kilauea, lava tubes and a rain forest that took our breath away. He even tool the extra time to make an extra stop at a local ice cream shop to allow our daughter to get macadamia nut ice cream when our regular stop at the macadamia nut factory was very crowded and the wait for ice cream was excessive.
His knowledge allowed us to learn about the land, people and culture far more that we could have learned and experienced on our own. At each of our stops along our journey, he pointed out all the interesting trees, bushes, flowers and was able to tell us a great about them.
One last thing to mention is that this was a private tour, no other tourists, just the four of us and Lee in an SUV tailoring our time as we wanted.
If you are interested in booking a tour seeing Hilo and the east coast of the Big Island, don't look elsewhere...Wild Orchid is the best.
Written June 28, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mark7571
Nolensville, TN8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2013 • Family
We found Wild Orchid through Trip Advisor and set-up our tour with Renata. Lee and Renata are the owners and Lee met us in Hilo in a clean SUV to start our tour at 10am. Lee is an amazing guide and storyteller. It was just the 4 of us and Lee. We started out seeing some cool waterfalls that aren't on any map and he proceeded to take us through a neighborhood with specatcular gardens. We would have never seen the waterfalls or the gardens without Lee with us. Once we got to the VNP, he provided so much backstory to the legend of Pele and the VNP that it came alive to us with his storytelling. His knowledge of the Hilo area is amazing. His passion really comes through when he is explaining things to us. We stopped at Thursten Lava Tube and the visitor center in VNP. Lee provided us much more information than we would have gotten seeing VNP on our own. At one point in the visitor center, we had other people following us because Lee was doing such a great job. He treated us like family and we wil never forget it.
Written June 3, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Karl R
Port Colborne, Canada104 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2011
We were a group of 4 who took the full day island tour with Lee our host. From the moment we were greeted at our cruise ship we knew this was going to be an awesome adventure.
Lee is very passionate about the island, its people, history and diverse flora and fauna.
We recommend good walking shoes and camera for this amazing trip around the big island of Hawaii so as to take in all Lee will offer you. We only had one complaint and that was running out of time due to our cruise ship departure.
Thanks Lee for making our day at Hilo such a memorable one.
Written May 9, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

travelmonkey2788
Los Angeles7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2010
My wife and I Sheryl, went on a cruise to visit the Hawaiian Islands. Upon our stop at port in Hilo we were overwhelmed with tour options. Left and right we were bombarded with tour guides suggesting their trips... my wife and I ignored them, mostly because of their pushy attitude and terrible sales pitches. As we walked the line we came across a gentleman who was standing next to his tour truck, he was tall, mature looking and spoke with a directing energy. He gave us an idea of his tour and we felt comfortable enough to join him.

What a great decision that was!

We drove across Hamakua Coast, visited waterfalls, confectionary and brewery shops, drove to the volcano park and ended our tour after 5 hours of incredible laughter, pleasure and sincere insight of the island, it's people and the incredible spirit of Aloha.

One thing we found appealing was that Lee, our guide, was a trained actor and artist himself. His ability to entertain was a stand up show in which we didn't expect--- after all, he was sitting down!!

I valued this experience over all the attractions we had from every island. I highly recommend and will return to re-experience with Wild Orchid Tours!
Written March 30, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dawn C
San Jose, CA1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2012 • Couples
I was lucky enough to take a tour of the Hilo area with Lee and Renata, of "Wild Orchid Tours" recently. As a concierge for luxury travelers to Hawaii, I had recommended Wild Orchid Tours to many of my clients, and always heard great things. On my recent trip to the islands, I had to experience this tour.
Lee and Renata both were nice enough to be our joint tour guides and together, they offered a tour of the Hilo area, complete with history of the area, information about the culture, the diverse nationalities that make up the population, botanical details of the flora and fauna that make up this side of the Big Island, as well as showing us some areas that are known only to locals. I cannot say enough about the passion and knowledge that both Lee and Renata expressed the day of the tour...they know so much about this beautiful island and their enthusiasm for it is so infectious!
I learned so much about the Big Island and especially Hilo on this tour and am so very proud to know that my clients are in great hands with Wild Orchid Tours.
On a side note, I use a wheelchair exclusively, and Lee was able to gear my tour of the island to areas that I was able to access. I never felt I was missing anything, and that is a tribute to Lee and his sensitivity to my needs as well as his knowledge of the area (and what areas would be best for me to visit).
I highly recommend "Wild Orchid" tours for anyone visiting the Big Island and wish to gain an appreciation for the Hilo side.
Written September 11, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ScottFerrisNY22
New York City, NY1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2012 • Family
We had 2 seniors and kids and us doing a Big Island tour. This is hands down the best tour experience ever for 3 reasons: 1. Lee's knowledge of Big Island was second to none as far as I can see, 2. Lee has tremendous passion for his profession, like none I've seen before in any tour guide, 3. He's very reliable. The customized tour was the biggest draw for us.
Written July 16, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Beverly D
Lee's Summit, MO3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2011
My mother, daughter and I visited in October 2011 and booked the 6 hour private guided tour of the Volcanoe's National Park and surrounding areas. We were picked up by Lee, our tour guide at our hotel in Hilo. He had a spacious, comfortable SUV, so we had plenty of space. He showed us some of the local points of interest in Hilo, including parks, the statue of the King, a local surfing area, waterfalls, and plant life, a neighborhood which had the most beautiful landscaping I've ever seen, and then a sweet stop at Big Island Chocolates! We then visited more waterfalls, and headed to Volcanoe's National Park. Lee was very educated about Hawaii, it's culture and it's people. We saw the visitor's center, and did some easy walking trails and tours. He was able to answer every question we asked. We then toured the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Plantation and Store. The greatest part of the tour was that we didn't have to do the driving, we could actually enjoy looking at what he was showing us. It was a great tour, and we would definitely book one of their others!
Written December 15, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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