Great Overview of the Many Regions of the Big Island This tour picks up from multiple locations on the west side of the island. The tour was led by Stefan and Chris, who both did a great job of running commentary on this all-day bus tour. Stefan had a lot of pointers about the best restaurants, so I recommend taking the tour early in your stay. Chris had a lot of knowledge about Hawaiian culture and stories.
The tour winds its way counter clockwise around the island mostly along the Hawaii Belt Road/Mamalahoa Hwy.
Stop 1 - Greenwell Farms coffee plantation, where we had breakfast and a quick tour of the facilities.
Stop 2 - Punalu'u Bake Shop, which is famous for their Malasadas doughnuts, first baked in Hawaii by Portuguese plantation workers.
Stop 3 - Punalu'u black sand beach. Quite a beautiful location with many green sea turtles basking or rollicking in the waves.
Stop 3 - Volcano Winery for lunch and a wine and tea tasting. Volcano blends grape with fruit wines and even tea extracts to make pretty original wines. The wines we tried are all quite sweet - even the Pinot Noir using Napa grape juice - but they make for fruity and aromatic dessert wines.
Stop 4 - Volcanoes National Park - includes some time by the steam vents, the lookout above the Kilauea crater (impressively huge), the art gallery/visitor center/Volcano House, and the Nahuku-Thurston Lava Tube.
Stop 5 - Through Hilo along the oceanfront and stopping at Rainbow Falls. Despite being a touristy stop, the falls are beautiful even without the sun-generated rainbows.
Stop 6 - Mauna Kea Recreation Area restroom and snack break along Saddle Rd return to Waikoloa Beach, etc.
Stefan did a great job telling us about the various points of interest along the way, including the history, geography, and Hawaiian traditions of each of the many distinct regions we drove through.
This is an easy-going tour to familiarize newcomers with most of the areas of the Big Island, and can help you make more informed decisions about parts of the island you may want to explore in more depth.