KOS Tours - Review...

[nobbync]

Hello Everyone.

 

I just returned from Hawaii after a 15 day Circle Hawaii Cruise on the Zaandam. I used KOS Tours for a Circle Island and TV/Film locations tour of Oahu and promised a review so here it is...

 

When we booked this cruise I did want to do something different or more private. I have been on those tours where you are hearded around without choices and a ton of other people. There's nothing wrong with these tours and I have enjoyed some as well but we have all been to Hawaii before and we wanted something different. I didn't want to visit the shops or Dole Pineapple Plantation or places like that. I wanted to maximize my time and see the most I can and this tour did just that.

 

Before booking KOS Tours I did a lot of research. I almost booked Carey Limo for their circle island package when I started to hear some good things about a smaller company called KOS Tours. It was intriguing because his tours were in a Hummer and they also did movie/TV show filming locations which interested me. I wrote them an email about a year ago telling them what I was looking for. Ed Kos called me at work in San Diego on Sunday within an hour after I sent the email. We talked for about 15 minutes and I knew this is what I was looking for. He quoted me a price of $600 for up to 4 of us for about a 10 hour tour. He would combine the Circle Island and movie/TV set tours as a private charter so we reserved the day a year in advance which was his longest advanced reservation to date. It turned out it paid off that I booked early as he has 2 Hummers and one the Hummers the tires were slashed just before we arrived. Ed had to cancel one of the tours that day and since I booked so far in advance he did ours with the 1 Hummer he had left. I feel sorry for those that were cancelled but if it was the other way around I would understand this kind of thing happens. I wouldn't be happy but I'd understand.

 

The tour started early at 7 am on Friday October 19. That was our second day in Honolulu. Ed Kos was doing our tour and he was there at the pier as we walked off the ship right on time. After we met he asked us what or if there is anything we really want to see and what our priorites are. I am a big Lost fan so movies and TV (especially Lost) is what he does best but he also knows the island. Even before Lost started filming here many of the Lost sites were places they went anyway. And don't worry if you're not a big Lost fan there are still plenty of places he takes you to. Since I am a big Lost fan he did include many areas he doesn't normally go to for us. My mom and friend Cindy were with me and they aren't Lost fans but we stopped at many places they loved to see as well as all the normal tourist spots. You just tell him what you're interested in and he'll work the tour around that. We also really didn't need to see anything in and around Waikiki and Honolulu so we headed straight past Diamond Head to begin our tour.

 

On the drive we passed by a few houses they used in Lost so he pointed these out. I don't remember all the exact stops but we stopped at Haunama Bay, The Blow Hole, Pali Lookout, Sunset Beach on the North Shore, Koneohe Bay and many more places. We went to filming locations for the movies Godzilla, Pearl Harbor, 50 First Dates, From Here to Eternity (Deborah Kerr passed away just a few days before), Tears of a Sun, Windtalkers, Mighty Joe Young and more. The main part of the film/tv site location was the off road portion of the tour at Kualoa Ranch. The ranch is where many movies and TV shows are filmed. The mountain backdrop is very famous as it's been in many show and movies and it is really beautiful views. The off road area is rough in places but Ed does look at safety first and it was a very nice drive over some rough areas. I took many shots in famous scenes from these movies and many Lost scenes. I won't go into detail of the Lost locations we went to but if you're interested just ask. While we were leaving Kualoa Ranch the WWII gun battery we stopped at had studio trucks that were getting ready to start filming a scene from Lost. The filming was supposed to start early the following week so they were building the sets. We were still allowed to go into the battery that has all the posters and photos from shows and movies filmed at the ranch. They just wanted to make it clear that no cameras were to be pointed towards them working on the sets and I was a good boy.

 

On our North Shore visit he pointed the way for us to walk a little ways on the beach and we'd find the set they use as the base camp in filming. They had a guy that just sits out there and watches the camp and makes sure nobody touches anything as it was all the huts set up on the beach for the Lost Castasways. What a job! This beach is on the North Shore.

 

Speaking of the North Shore waves weren't huge yet but they were still a good size. I'd say they had sets as high as about 8 feet. I wish I could have seen the monster waves but I was happy.

 

As we drove farther down the North Shore we went past the airport where you can catch a glider. My dad and I road these gliders back in the 70's and that was really fun. Near the airport we saw all the studio trucks as they were filming a scene for the upcoming season of Lost. They were eating so we just did a quick drive by and Michael Emerson (Ben) was the only actor I saw. We also went by the camp for "The Others" on the show and it looked like they were getting ready to film there as well.

 

Anyway, enough of the Lost portion because unless you're a fan of the show you won't know what I am talking about.

 

As I said though if you are not a big fan of Lost you can skip most of that and see other things. Most of the movie sites Ed had video that he showed us of photos showing the angle we were at. He took extra care to get us in line with what the camera's were looking at. We were looking over the valley as the Japanese planes flew over in the movie Pearl Harbor. He lined us up where Adam Sandler parked his car trying to get Drew Barrymore to stop and help him. Besides the movie sites he stopped at many lookout points and other areas where we had a choice of how long we stayed. Of course he'd tell us if he thought we were running behind because if we stayed too long we'd have to miss other sites.

 

Overall I loved the tour. Sometimes a tour guide can talk too much while other times they don't talk enough. I can say that Ed let us just watch and observe the views but he gave us enough information to enjoy it. If we asked questions he went into more detail. He basically left it to us if we wanted to know more or just the basics which I really liked.

 

Overall it was the best tour I have ever taken so if you want something different he has a website so just search KOS Hummer Tours and you'll find it. The Hummer was very comfortable sitting in it the entire day. We ate lunch at Kualoa Ranch and he also had water and those energy bars if we needed a snack. It was really a fun day and one I will never forget.

 

Nobby

[LINDA of NJ]

Wow, sounded like a great tour...very interesting. I am also a Lost fan and can appreciate your interest. I will check his website out. Thanks for your review.:D

[Disneyworld]

We did this on our Sept. 29 POAL cruise. We did it precruise. WE did exactly the same thing since we are "lost" fans.

It was one of the highlights of our trip:D

[Aturnee]

Just want to ditto everything said above. We took the KOS Hummer tour on October 11. Richard picked us up at the pier; and it was fun and informative all the way from there to the Ranch and beyond. I just wish I could remember all the references to the scenes but even if you don't know LOST from found ,the scenery is worth the trip. I am a little jealous that they were not filming on our day. BUT when the season starts I am DVR every episode to look for familar places. A couple from France who were getting married that afternoon were also on our tour; they were LOST fans for sure!!!!!

[CC Help Michell]

Since I love the show, I've watched the first few posts here about "what about Kos "Lost" tours?" with interest. Great to see some good feedback -- it goes into my "next time on Oahu" folder! :)

[nobbync]

Great to hear others have enjoyed this tour as well. I will be posting pictures soon from the cruise with many from this tour so I'll let you know when they are up... Here's me and Hurly playing golf! :D

 

 

The second is the base camp of the Lostaways...

 

 

 

Nobby