Oahu: All Day Circle Island Tour with Snorkeling

Very informative and got a lot in in one day

We did the All Day Circle Island Tour with Snorkeling and went in with high expectations for our first trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately, what we experienced didn’t match what was advertised in the itinerary, and a few stops simply didn’t happen as promised. We did end up getting extra time in the water for the snorkeling stop since we were running ahead of schedule, but the location itself left a lot to be desired. The water was so murky we could barely see anything below the surface, and the cove was packed, easily 100+ people crammed into a tiny space. Between the visibility and the crowds, it didn’t feel like the experience the tour promised. The biggest problem was Rob himself, who spent the entire trip talking about himself rather than sharing anything useful about the places we were visiting. He also went off on weird, strange political tangents that had nothing to do with the tour. On top of that, he constantly talked down the locations we stopped at, complaining about them being touristy money grabs, while steering us toward other specific spots he clearly wanted us to spend money at instead. It felt manipulative, like he was undermining other businesses to push us toward the ones he preferred. He also made several inappropriate jokes, including ones about kissing his wife and an ex-partner who had been incarcerated, despite there being children on the bus. He frequently yelled into his microphone too, which caused the bus speakers to squeal loudly and repeatedly, and brought up tipping multiple times throughout the day, describing it as “the nice thing to do,” which came across as a guilt trip rather than a genuine mention. The bus itself added to the frustration. The air conditioning unit at the back was leaking water onto my family for a good portion of the ride, and at one point the vehicle had a mechanical issue and stopped working entirely, delaying the day further. Between the mismatched itinerary, the murky and overcrowded snorkeling spot, and Rob’s behavior throughout, this ended up being one of the worst tour experiences we’ve had. After reading other reviews since, it’s clear that the murky water and Rob’s behavior are a recurring trend with this tour, not a one off. I wish we’d read through the reviews properly before booking. In hindsight, it would have cost less as a family to just hire a car and drive the island ourselves.

This very affordable tour gives you a well-rounded (pun intended) look at most of the Island's highlights. If you have limited time on Oahu, it's a must. Otherwise, use it to find places worthy of a longer visit. Our guide did a great job of describing the attributes of each of the many stops. Some of the pickup stops in the morning can be very busy, so be sure to have the name of your tour company handy.

We enjoyed our tour with Henry. He was friendly and funny through out the tour. Although we have visited Hawaii before. We loved the tour of Oahu once again. Henry was also knowledgeable of the area and gave us some good information as we did the tour. He interacted with all of the guests. I would highly recommend this tour if you want to see the island. Thank you Henry!

Rude, unprofessional experience. Did not take us to the beach as advertised for some unknown reason. Driver mentioned that weather is bad and gave us the option to go shopping or the beach, everyone selected the beach then he proceeded to say that he is the leader of this bus and it is his decision not ours, took us to no where, left us there for an hour and half and took the bus and left. There was nothing to do, no shopping to do, and definetly no beach.

Do not book with Island Circle tours. I was assigned a seat at the very back of the bus with basically no window- for a 10 hour bus tour where the majority of the time is meant to be spent on the bus, looking out the window. The other couple that was put on the back of the bus with me bailed at the first stop. Because what is the point of a bus tour if you have to lean/ crane your neck to see out the window of the person in front of you. For 10 hours, at that. I decided to not continue on the tour at the third stop. Upon contacting the company for a refund, the employee I spoke with acknowledged that it is a terrible seat and he would not seat people back there if it was up to him. Ultimately, I was told the manager is very strict on refunds and I would not receive even a partial refund. They are so greedy and should not be booking this tour so full that people have to sit in the back with no view. I took the issue up with Viator and received a ~40% refund. Absolutely not worth the money spent, and then having to get an expensive uber back so as not to waste my whole day.

Amazing island tour with great stops throughout! Chief Rob was knowledgeable, lighthearted, and made the whole day so enjoyable and fun. Highly recommend this experience!

Take a portable phone charger that you can charge your phone with because you’ll want to take a ton of pictures and videos. The places you stamp are great, the food is great, the info you get from the guide is amazing. Almost too much to take it all in.

The tour itself was very enjoyable. We saw so much and were able to rent a car afterwards and revisit some places we saw on this tour. Food was some of the best we had on the island. However, our tour guide Rob definitely took away from enjoying this. He was extremely opinionated about matters that had nothing to do with the tour and expected a response from you. He went on all day about himself rather than the things we were seeing. If we’d have had another tour guide this would easily have been a 5 star experience.

Booked the tour. Got confirmation email stating where to meet the bus. Waited at the stop and got a phone call saying we were at the wrong place. However we were at the stop states in our email. The driver did pick us up. However, he was ALOT! He mostly talked about himself all day. He talked about gun control and wanted you to agree. And insisted you agree. This tour advertised snorkeling. However he said you could but wouldn’t recommend due to dirty water. When one couple wanted to, he insisted that due to the “winter” no one did. I found him to be rude. We did enjoy the tour around the island but he put a big damper on the experience. So if Rob is your driver, be warned. And the bus isn’t in the best shape. AC leaked down our back, the bus stopped running a few times, and the ceiling was coming down in a few places.