Hawaii Free Tours — Local services in Honolulu

I spent 3 hours this morning on the Off the Beaten Path food tour by Hawaii Free Tours with a lovely family from San Fransisco and tour guide TJ. I was so pleased with every aspect of this tour. TJ was personable and knowledgeable. I appreciated his candid observations about both the native Hawaiian history and culture as well as frank discussion about the real but often unknown knowledge about how Hawaii became a state. The food was all outstanding. We had 4-5 different samples of poke, sashimi, and other raw seafood. We tried at least 6 types of native fruit, including durian (Which I thought was less than pleasant!). We sampled flavors that were uniquely Hawaiian and treats from several other locations from all over Asia and the Azores. There was more than enough food and I was able to bring home an entire meal for my wife as well. Finally, it was clear that TJ is well know and liked throughout the Chinatown market crowd. He was consistently greeted by kids, vendors, and older folks with smiles all around. It was beautiful how clearly he was part of the community he took us through. That personal connection is more moving and powerful than the most knowledgeable tour guide and TJ had great knowledge as well. I enjoyed today's tour so much, I have signed up for the free walking tour tomorrow. Thanks for a special experience.

This tour is worth the vary reasonable price I paid. In fact, it...

This review is long overdue. We went on the off the beaten path tour of Chinatown with Victor during our summer vacation. Our family included grandparents and my 2 teens (12yo daughter and 14yo son). We went on this tour at the beginning of our vacation to get some great recommendations on area vendors and food. It was lots of great food, and we had leftovers to take home. Those leftovers didn’t last long! Victor was kind enough to bring a cooler for us to use for the food. We sampled many familiar foods and some new foods as well: lumpia, sushi (great high quality fish), roasted duck/pork, and even fertilized duck egg. Victor was very good about offering up foods and taking requests. You don’t have to eat anything you don’t feel comfortable with. It was great tour into Old Chinatown and history of Honolulu through food. Everyone in the family enjoyed the tour and felt it was one of the favorite things we did while on vacation (even more than swimming with sharks and surfing)! I recommend this tour to anyone who loves food adventure and loves to eat. You will not be disappointed! The walking was not difficult and even helpful to burn off some calories to see some of the sights...

My partner and I did the free walking tour with Peter and then a couple of days later did the Da Local's food tour with Elless. Both of them were so informational and we definitely made friends along the way. We were a part of one other group during both tours and it really made a great environment for everyone to chat and even some debates about the history took place in a really inspiring way. Peter encouraged us to question him and he had a great time questioning us back. Someone in the other group was a scientist and Peter wanted to know (us too!) about some science stuff. Elless, who is one of the owners of the company, is the perfect person to lead you on Da Local's food tour. We also found out he's an entrepreneur with many other side hustles (think rare plant enthusiast and watch collector). He was so awesome that we had to get drinks with him later on in the week. If you're looking to immerse yourself in the culture both with the history and the food and not be a part of a classic tourist trap, than I highly recommend this company. Mahalo...