06-11-2013, 11:49 AM
Bo's family - These reviews were on yelp for Kalapana Cultural Tours -
Debi H. Patterson, CA
1.0 star rating
2/8/2013
I have a friend who was on the tour when the tour guide lost it! She isn't on Yelp but since she shared with me and I am, I thought it would be best to pass this info on to unsuspecting visitors, especially those who want to use this tour company!
A person with Kalapana Cultural Tours threatened every person and group walking to the end of the road while she was there! He screamed, using foul language and insults. He even said he would beat them all up! They told him that they wouldn't go off the old highway, but he told them again that he would beat them if they went anyway!. They said no, thanks to the tour guide, but called the police. He left before they got there. She said that they did give the police his name.
I will not be using this company when I visit in May!
Pauline S. Finksburg, MD
1.0 star rating
1/2/2013
Seeing the lava was awesome but the guide's meltdown was unnecessary. Initially the guides had some interesting insights into the history and flora of the area. Viewing the lava was spectacular. Things went dramatically down hill from there. We spent an extra forty five minutes at the lava while our guide screamed, cursed, threatened violence, and verbally abused tourists who wondered onto the lava unguided. Unprofessional, untrained, and out of control guides with no wilderness first responder training for a hundred dollars a head and the threat of violence if you go out unguided is not the aloha spirit that usually marks the big island. So the the tour part was lame but seeing the lava was amazing.
And an excerpt of this one on tripadvisor:
juliebu2000
Reviewer
“Could have been so much better”
May 23, 2013
This is probably the best way to see the lava flows up close, but the "tour" really could have been much better. Our tour guide(Jo Jo) clearly was an expert at finding lava flows, but that is where the tour experience ended... (deleting portion of text) Multiple tour groups came to the flow that our guide found. Our guide was clearly annoyed with other groups and with tourists that came out on their own( which I would not recommend)...
Visited May 2013
Debi H. Patterson, CA
1.0 star rating
2/8/2013
I have a friend who was on the tour when the tour guide lost it! She isn't on Yelp but since she shared with me and I am, I thought it would be best to pass this info on to unsuspecting visitors, especially those who want to use this tour company!
A person with Kalapana Cultural Tours threatened every person and group walking to the end of the road while she was there! He screamed, using foul language and insults. He even said he would beat them all up! They told him that they wouldn't go off the old highway, but he told them again that he would beat them if they went anyway!. They said no, thanks to the tour guide, but called the police. He left before they got there. She said that they did give the police his name.
I will not be using this company when I visit in May!
Pauline S. Finksburg, MD
1.0 star rating
1/2/2013
Seeing the lava was awesome but the guide's meltdown was unnecessary. Initially the guides had some interesting insights into the history and flora of the area. Viewing the lava was spectacular. Things went dramatically down hill from there. We spent an extra forty five minutes at the lava while our guide screamed, cursed, threatened violence, and verbally abused tourists who wondered onto the lava unguided. Unprofessional, untrained, and out of control guides with no wilderness first responder training for a hundred dollars a head and the threat of violence if you go out unguided is not the aloha spirit that usually marks the big island. So the the tour part was lame but seeing the lava was amazing.
And an excerpt of this one on tripadvisor:
juliebu2000
Reviewer
“Could have been so much better”
May 23, 2013
This is probably the best way to see the lava flows up close, but the "tour" really could have been much better. Our tour guide(Jo Jo) clearly was an expert at finding lava flows, but that is where the tour experience ended... (deleting portion of text) Multiple tour groups came to the flow that our guide found. Our guide was clearly annoyed with other groups and with tourists that came out on their own( which I would not recommend)...
Visited May 2013
islandgirl