No passport required to visit Paradise, Sammye and I will be your tour guides. We’ve enjoyed being guides taking small groups on cruises to the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, etc.  Sammye tells me she loves the British isles, but enjoyed giving tours in Egypt and the Greek isles, the best. I believe I liked giving the European tours the most, until Hawaii.

To tell the truth, I was prejudiced  against Hawaii, and really never wanted to even go as a tourist because of all the negative things I had heard about Honolulu and Waikiki. But one time Sammye and I got an assignment to come here for work and once I set foot on the Big Island of  Hawaii, it was to become a love affair with a PLACE! This love affair is not just because of the beauty surrounding you anywhere on this island, no it is more than that. Hawaii is beautiful; with it’s stunning aqua ocean and thousands of tropical flowers; but that is not all. I fell in love with Hawaii because it is the most wonderful weather on the planet! Wonderful, but not boring.

On the Big Island there are 10 of the world’s 13 climate zones. Most people don’t realize that you can snow ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon all the same day, it is true! That is because the island of Hawaii, ( which is called the Big Island to eliminate confusion between it and the STATE ) is indeed big -- about the size of Connecticut and large enough so that all the other islands in the chain, combined, could fit into it easily. Most tourists do not recognize this and do NOT allow ample time to get a feel for the Big Island, let alone see much of what it has to offer. To illustrate how we are not crowded.  Oahu, where Honolulu and Waikiki are, has 90% of the state's population.

You can just ride along and relax while we take you to visit an active volcano, a lush rainforest with plunging waterfalls and gorgeous ocean views, with crystal clear water and incredible marine life. But we never rush you, and there will be plenty of photo opportunities, so bring plenty of film and batteries, too!  Just say when you want to stop and photograph something and we will stop.  Has this ever happened to you on a tour bus?  NO WAY!!

 What to expect

Since the weather and lava flows change by the minute, there is no guarantee that we can show you everything you want to see. There may or may not be snow on Mauna Kea. There may or may not be flowing lava, but we will show you as much as we can.

If we use our SUV, we can go to a lot of places the tour buses can not go. We can drive out on some lava that few tourists get to see. There is a hot pond that is heated naturally by the active volcano and cooled by sea water flowing in. There is another warm pond that sea turtles love and we can swim with them (don't touch though, it's illegal).

We may be able to snorkel in some tide pools that are full of fish and coral. I have even seen giant starfish and eels. If you are not restricted by cruise ship schedules, I may be able to take you many places for an unforgettable experience at sunset and after dark.

I can show you the point that has the cleanest air in the world. This place is farther from any land mass in the world and because of that the air quality is tested as the standard for the cleanest air on earth.

If you are here from December to March, you may get to see Humpback whales. This is where they go in the winter to have their calves and they teach the young calves to jump out of the water.

I can take you to the most southern point in the United States. That is NOT Key West. It's much farther south than that, it's here on the Big Island.

Remember, you do NOT need a passport to experience Paradise.  As a matter of fact, the area I live in is named Paradise Park.