Kona Tasting Tours — Attraction in Hawaii

DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR IF YOU ARE A VEGETARIAN!! They will not feed you an equatable meal as the rest of the group! I was told that as a vegetarian I would be accommodated, just that there was no substitution for the fish during the fish and chips portion of the tour. However, instead of being accommodated with similar options as my fellow guests, I feel like instead I was just omitted from being fed. During the clam chowder meal, I was given bar fruit garnishes. For the spam/musubi roll, I was told I could peel the spam off and eat the rice (ew!). Then for the “famous pizza” portion of the tour, I was given sautéed pizza toppings. Lastly, during the fish and chips portion, I was told I would get “extra chips” just to find out the whole table was given food to share family style, making it impossible for me to take a larger portion of fries given the table did not know I was told that would be my meal. At this point we had been on the tour for almost 3 hours and I was starving. When I realized I would not be fed during our last meal, I ordered myself some food since the heat/hunger was starting to take its toll, at which point I was told by the tour guide that I should get it to go in order to not hold up the group. This was super embarrassing for me and completely made our group feel put on the spot and uncomfortable, AND it made the other guests uncomfortable with me not being fed (it was talked about at the table at the last meal). The only reason I didn’t say something from the very beginning is I didn’t want to ruin the experience for the whole group - the experience I feel I did NOT get. I think in the future they should state that vegetarians should not attend this tour. For $149, I should have received a equatable item at every location. The tour was great, but the experience for me was a huge disappointment. Also, when I reached out to let the company know about my disappointment, Kai, the tour guide, was rude and implied I was being unreasonable because I wouldn’t “pick” the meat out of my food. I have included a picture of my first “course” as everyone else was served their famous...

This is such a delightful tour. This is by far the best food and drink tour we’ve taken. My wife and I had an amazing time. This tour is so worth it. A must do!! Our guides were informative and very knowledgeable about the culture in Hawaii, Kona in particular. This tour is well paced with plenty of bathroom breaks. We had food tastings at seven (7) different restaurants. The food was delicious at each stop. We also stopped at the local farmer’s market and tasted the local fruit. I had never heard of a Rambutan. It’s a strange looking red fruit with a spiney outer shell. Once you open it up the center is like a grape that’s been skinned only much larger. The meat of it is soft and sweet. I must confess that I like Rambutans and look forward to eating more. Each food stop location is steeped in Hawaiian history that our guides shared with us. If you’re looking for something outside of the usual city or self guided tour this one’s for you. An note to all ‘foodies’ - the food is all locally sourced and wonderfully prepared. Do not pass on this one. The gelato at the end of the tour is worth it all by itself. Aloha and...

I’ll break it down for everyone…

$37.83 worth of food/drink per person (pulled the numbers from the restaurants, compared to portion and rounded up to be extra “fair”)

In Short. The advertising makes it look like you’ll have a couple decent drinks and solid tastes of food. Got Poke and Pago juice at one spot. Half a chunk of gas station Musabi in front of a church, half a slice of a pizza (medium pizza split 10 ways), a free sample of gelato (maybe $2 worth), we literally got a free sample of bread from a gift store that tried to sell us stuff.

Could’ve at least ended with a cigarette like a real screwing.

(“The tour guides were very nice people and you leave them out of your review”- my girlfriend)

She was right, but don’t tell me to google a question. If I’m paying $160 you can at least google my questions. They were truly nice people, but I say that as a skeptic because I’m curious as to their cut in this scheme.

Coolest part of the tour was a homeless person lit a bag on fire and then tried to throw it in a gas station trash can and we were kinda hoping to see how it played out but the gas station clerk went...