Best Stuff to do at Kualoa Ranch?

[J-Dog]

Hi. We are planning a rookie vacation to Aulani and to Hawaii in general. Looking to do most of the touristy stuff, since this is our first trip, and from what I understand, Kualoa Ranch is a first-timer-must-do.

When I peruse their webiste, however, there are 17 different bookable actitivies available, and looks like a few other things to do as well. Obviously, there is no way that all of that can be done in a single day - so what activites do people recommend doing? And how many can you reasonably expect to get done in a day and feel like you have gotten a "full" experience of the ranch?

I have seen a couple of recommendations for the Raptor ATV tour on here, but other things like the Jurassic Adventure Tour and the Best of Kualoa Tour look interesting, and I'm not totally sure that I understand the differences in all of them.

Any advice? Thanks!

 

[J-Dog]

Also, the Surf and Turf package looks interesting, and says that it's an all-day thing, and only costs $5 per person more than the 2-hour Raptor tour - so seems like a lot more activity for the money.

Does anyone have experience with that tour?

Thanks again.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We did the raptor ATV tour on our first ever Hawaii trip in March of 2022. It was the perfect extra activity. We felt the length was nice, and enjoyed the views. We did the last tour of the day, and it worked well except the gift shop was closed once we got back from the tour.
Have a great time. As someone who had no huge desire to visit Hawaii we had a great time and can’t wait to go back.

 

[Anal Annie]

We were just there in April...I forget what the name of the tour was that we booked (was possibly the "best of") but it included 4 different 90 min tours & lunch. The lunch was a very basic buffet. We were glad we hadn't booked the ATV or boat & beach tours because it absolutely POURED down rain ALLLĹ day. We had to buy ponchos in their store that morning. Our shoes were soaked and our feet pruned. There was a short hike at the end of the jungle tour at the end that led to the top of the mountain and it was a complete mud pit. I got water in my phone while taking pics up there and it shut down and wouldn't turn back on. Wish I had brought my waterproof pouch for it. (It wasn't raining on the Aulani side of the island so didn't think about it.) We eventually dried it out by holding it up to the vents in the car afterwards. The scenery is beautiful but overall it was a one & done for us. (We didn't do the ATV things bcuz I wasn't interested in getting dirty.) We stopped by a couple of diff. breweries on our way back to Aulani.

 

[J-Dog]

We did the raptor ATV tour on our first ever Hawaii trip in March of 2022. It was the perfect extra activity. We felt the length was nice, and enjoyed the views. We did the last tour of the day, and it worked well except the gift shop was closed once we got back from the tour.
Have a great time. As someone who had no huge desire to visit Hawaii we had a great time and can’t wait to go back.

Tanks very much for the report. The ATV tour was our initial plan - glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Question: did you get dirty? My DW and I would love that, but 2 of our group are very *non*-outdoorsy people.

 

[J-Dog]

We were just there in April...I forget what the name of the tour was that we booked (was possibly the "best of") but it included 4 different 90 min tours & lunch. The lunch was a very basic buffet. We were glad we hadn't booked the ATV or boat & beach tours because it absolutely POURED down rain ALLLĹ day. We had to buy ponchos in their store that morning. Our shoes were soaked and our feet pruned. There was a short hike at the end of the jungle tour at the end that led to the top of the mountain and it was a complete mud pit. I got water in my phone while taking pics up there and it shut down and wouldn't turn back on. Wish I had brought my waterproof pouch for it. (It wasn't raining on the Aulani side of the island so didn't think about it.) We eventually dried it out by holding it up to the vents in the car afterwards. The scenery is beautiful but overall it was a one & done for us. (We didn't do the ATV things bcuz I wasn't interested in getting dirty.) We stopped by a couple of diff. breweries on our way back to Aulani.

Thanks for the perspective. The Best of Kualoa package seems interesting since it has so much more included compared to the ATV tour, for roughly the same price.

 

[Great3]

I would do the tour package that is 3-4 different tours with lunch. I find those to be best value, and let others do the driving for you . ATV's may be fun, and for some, it's truly awesome, but I find that I am lazy person and not so interested in having to pay attention and being the driver in control while on vacation. But that's me!!!

You really can't go wrong either way, just depending on what you truly like to do. I think the Movie Tour, Jungle Tour are good and explore different sides of the Ranch. I also done the Boat Tour, and Farm/Tasting tour, as well as Secret Island, which covers the ranch across the main road. I ended liking Secret Island the best, find it the most relaxing. Again, that's just me, and how I do it!!!

Good Luck on whatever you decide doing.

Great3

 

[Micca]

We did the ATV tour, it was one of the highlights of the trip. And none of us were especially interested in Jurassic Park movies, it was just fun driving around the trails and taking in the view.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

My kids have enjoyed the ATV tour and the horseback tour.

Ebikes are also fun if everyone is old enough.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Tanks very much for the report. The ATV tour was our initial plan - glad to hear you enjoyed it.

Question: did you get dirty? My DW and I would love that, but 2 of our group are very *non*-outdoorsy people.

We did get a little dusty, but nothing too bad. If you go when it is more rainy you could get more muddy. It probably is not bad, but you might not want to plan anything fancy for right after without a shower first.

 

[J-Dog]

I would do the tour package that is 3-4 different tours with lunch. I find those to be best value, and let others do the driving for you . ATV's may be fun, and for some, it's truly awesome, but I find that I am lazy person and not so interested in having to pay attention and being the driver in control while on vacation. But that's me!!!

You really can't go wrong either way, just depending on what you truly like to do. I think the Movie Tour, Jungle Tour are good and explore different sides of the Ranch. I also done the Boat Tour, and Farm/Tasting tour, as well as Secret Island, which covers the ranch across the main road. I ended liking Secret Island the best, find it the most relaxing. Again, that's just me, and how I do it!!!

Good Luck on whatever you decide doing.

Great3

Thanks so much for the excellent advice! I totally understand your perspective - we can ride ATVs at home, but the other guided tours are probably more unique.

 

[J-Dog]

We did the ATV tour, it was one of the highlights of the trip. And none of us were especially interested in Jurassic Park movies, it was just fun driving around the trails and taking in the view.

My kids have enjoyed the ATV tour and the horseback tour.

Thanks to both of you! Maybe the ATV ride is worth doing. Now how do we decide....

 

[J-Dog]

We did get a little dusty, but nothing too bad. If you go when it is more rainy you could get more muddy. It probably is not bad, but you might not want to plan anything fancy for right after without a shower first.

Great! Thanks! Sounds like they could handle that.

So, now I'm back to square one - all the packages sound like they are worth doing.

 

[Great3]

Great! Thanks! Sounds like they could handle that.

So, now I'm back to square one - all the packages sound like they are worth doing.

Lol, do it all!!! That way you don’t have to choose!

Great3

 

[J-Dog]

Lol, do it all!!! That way you don’t have to choose!

Great3

Lol! Yeah, that would make an easy decision, but not sure we will have enough time for that.

 

[FrannyFrogs]

We did the ATV and enjoyed it. I think just visiting the property and doing any of the tours would have been great. It's beautiful there! Don't overthink it, whatever one you pick will be fun!

 

[Paul Stupin]

The ATV raptor tour is fantastic. Driving your own little vehicle (you don’t get dirty at all) through such lush and beautiful scenery is a totally memorable experience. You do it with a bunch of other ATVs, in a conga line formation, following the guide and stopping at various points of interest along the way.

I don’t think you need to do multiple tours because there’s a lot of overlap between the various tours, and at least to me the ranch across the street doesn’t look any different. Also, two hours is a good long time, and you see a huge chunk of the ranch and the scenery. We loved it, but at the end you’ll be ready to explore other parts of the island as your day continues.

 

[Micca]

If you go when it is more rainy you could get more muddy

We had the opportunity to deal with the mud! It had been raining shortly before our tour so that affected a part of the tour, then we dealt with the dust. Depending on what you have planned for after the tour, wouldn't hurt to bring a change of clothes if you can.

 

[laocoholic]

DW and I did the surf and turf. Missed out on the atv ride as it got booked up. The first was the farm tour which was surprisingly enjoyable. Movie site tour was so beautiful but seem to run out of time at the end. Didn't get to fully immerse in the last movie prop site. Also there was lots of live cattle and had to watch your step. The best of all was the secret island. The boat ride across the pond was amazing. Docked at the 50 first dates site. Then we took a group row boat to the middle of the ocean and swam on the sand bar!

Highly recommend the surf and turf. The buffet was included in the price and better than expected.

 

[llachance]

We did the best of this past May and it was a lot of fun for my husband and I. Saw the ATVs scooting around and they looked like they were having fun too. I am not a horseback rider so I wouldn't have even considered it Have fun with whatever you choose.