Big Island Adventure Bundle: 5 Epic Audio Driving Tours

Posted By : Janine_B
This was the best investment I made as part of my trip planning to the big island. It allowed us opportunities to see many places on the island that we would have passed without the guide. The stories shared on the tour is also something you don’t get from many guided tours. I can’t wait to try some of the other state tours.
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Posted On : 2024-04-29 13:15:13

Posted By : Steph C
We enjoyed the tours on Kauai, Maui, Oahu, and the Big Island. We did not drink the twisted dangerous roads on Maui. Very much enjoyed both driving and walking tours. Highly recommend a big money saver over bus tours.
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Posted On : 2024-04-25 16:00:08

Posted By : David-from-CT
I wrote this review for the Kauai bundle, but it stands true for the Big Island bundle as well.

First up, the concept is great and when it worked it was fantastic. Loads of useful information, interesting stories - just what you'd hope for from a first rate guide on a private tour. The Shaka Tours narrator is a little hokey (which took a little getting used to) and it was a relief when we figured out how to turn off the background music. There's only so much ukulele music you can take. I have nothing but praise for the information and tales provided.

BUT using the apps was a fingers in the eyes, frustrating experience.

1 - Mostly the tours run only one way. So annoying. I feel that this is the makers cheaping out. The content would be the same, it just needs running as a pair of apps. (Manually running the buttons was awful because many steps are a leading on to the next stop so it gets confusing really quickly.)

2 - Where you have crossing or looping tours the app gets confused and will flip you between legs. Wildly confusing as right becomes left and as you are 'trusting' the app you can quickly be baffled. On day one we learned to run Google maps on our other phone so we knew when we'd been sent wrong. The method of previewing the route is awful. Hard to get into, and zooms in and out depending on your activity state.

3 - The turn instructions are really dicey. They rely purely on GPS location (it would seem) so you get something like 'Turn right here" - which if you are on a 50 mph road in busy traffic may not be safe or practical. And keep in mind it will at times flip left with right as it seems to lose track of your direction. And joining the tours (we used 8 in our two week vacation) never worked once. Both these issues would be easily solved by just adding a little more information - it knows where you are - so, saying "Turn right just ahead by the mailbox (or whatever)" or join the tour at a fixed place - "Start the tour outside Safeway (or whatever)" would be so much easier.

So, it it worth it. Yes. Would we buy it again. Yes - we bought one as a trial, then the rest of the bundle for a week on Kauai, then bought the Big Island bundle for our second week.
Could it be better - oh, boy, it sure could. Bring your patience.
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Posted On : 2024-04-11 15:18:56

Posted By : Carolyn_H
I was really excited to try this way of touring as it was economical and offered some flexibility. I would not recommend this option for solo travellers or if you are travelling with someone who can’t manage your cell phone by reading the map or instructions. Our first day was completely a write off unfortunately. We went to the starting point followed the instructions and was travelling through downtown Kona and skipped a couple of stops recommended to take pictures but when we made our first stop and got back on the road the app led us off track and in fact somehow we got to the end of tour after losing a couple of hours going in a circle. We tried again to pick it up from another point but it still had us confused. I was traveling with my daughter and she was not able to figure it out and since she couldn’t drive we had to abandoned the app and never used it beyond the first day sadly.
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Posted On : 2024-04-06 00:44:22

Posted By : Jessica_H
Really positive experience with the app.
Only negative is that we had a couple issues with the South Island Epic Coastal Journey and thought it was a bit too long, but the Volcano National Park Driving Tour worked just fine.
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Posted On : 2024-03-16 02:12:02

Posted By : Lori_B
This is honestly such a fantastic experience! Very much worth the nominal fee for all they curate for you. Rather than drive around aimlessly, the narrator provides historical information and tells you the must-stop-and-see items and those you could just drive by. Of the five tours, we did three and they were all done so well. It was just my husband and I and we loved the flexibility of pausing when we wanted and going at our own pace.
We commented several times that we would take the time to leave a good review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! You won’t be disappointed!
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Posted On : 2024-03-03 13:46:34

Posted By : kennedylois1
My phone didn't want to work well with the app. Couldn't get it to work with the vehicle. Didn't know where to turn until past the place to turn. May try again with the new phone.
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Posted On : 2024-02-22 12:49:33

Posted By : Trippin213
I have used the Shaka guide on Kauai and on the Big Island. I like that you get a little history, they never expire so you can keep them and use them when you go back and that take you to places you may miss if you are trying to explore on your own. You can jump on anywhere and go clockwise or counter clockwise and skip any stops that you are not interested in seeing. You can also pause and pick up at a later date or time. I highly recommend this driving tour.
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Posted On : 2024-02-22 12:14:23

Posted By : 280jacquelynh
App is awesome when the timing is correct. We bought the bundle of 5 and seemed to have started a 10-12 hour tour when our intent was the 4-6 hour. Development should create it as a choose your own adventure style and put in your hours available and starting point then direction, and provide the stop options so it can be selected in advance. We have the bundle of 5 and they overlap so we didn’t have the most productive use of 12+ hours and missed many stops. These updates Would take it to the next level. Definitely worth the money but the bundle is confusing.
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Posted On : 2024-02-08 12:58:02

Posted By : Ramon_J
The Shaka tours are fantastic!
Very easy to use, synced my phone to the car and we were all set!
The narrator on the program was great, very interesting with a lot of information, stories and great advice.
The turn by turn instructions made getting from one location to another location very easy and the on screen map showed you where you were at and where the next attraction was going to be.
Using the phone GPS the program knew exactly where you were at, and you could jump into the tour at any location and everything would sync up perfectly.
I highly recommend these tours to anyone visiting Hawaii, great to use if your other plans get rained out!
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Posted On : 2024-02-06 22:54:03