The Big Island Farm Bureau created Hawaii AgVentures to match the needs of our visitors with the abilities of our producers to host family farm visits. We offer weekly tours, group excursions, and single car referrals. We seek to minimize our impact on the communities that surround our farms by limiting our group sizes. Some farms are truly off the beaten path, we schedule visits for small groups traveling in a personal mini coach or 14 passenger vans.

See also: Group Excursions | Create Your Own Agventure

Tasting, samples and sales of farm fresh produce and products are available at most farm locations. All tours are brought to you by the Big Island Farm Bureau; your farm hosts are all Farm Bureau members.

Merriman’s Farm Visits & Dinner
Behind the Scene of Hawaii Regional Cuisine~
Departs every Monday thru Thursday at 2:30pm
FOR RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CALL 808-331-8505.
Please read the Tour Policies.

Visit two Big Island Farms and enjoy a four-course dinner at Merriman’s Restaurant in Waimea.

Please join us for Merriman's Farm Visits & Dinner. We take you to some of the Big Island 's finest farms. At each farm, you will have the opportunity to purchase unique products directly from the farmer- trips begin every Monday thru Thursday at 2:30pm at Merriman's Restaurant in Waimea and last four hours. Then we return to the restaurant and serve you a special four-course dinner using the best farm fresh ingredients the island has to offer. From farm to finish, now you have the opportunity to see the hidden Hawaii few people have the chance to experience. We hope you can join us for this unique event!

Reservations Required ~ $155 per person (includes tax and gratuity) FOR RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CALL 808-331-8505 Hawaii Forest & Trail

Farm Participants

Honopua Farm - a beautiful family farm featuring organic vegetables, Waimea lavender and fresh cut flowers. Honopua is also the home of renowned master lei-maker, Marie McDonald, a Smithsonian National Treasure.

Kahua Ranch - See the country through the eyes of a paniolo (cowboy)! Founded in 1928, Kahua is situated on the western slope of the Kohala Mountains, 3000 feet above sea level. The 8,500 acre ranch provides a variety of stunning landscapes and friendly people to escort you through their history and best viewing vantage points.

Farms and menu selection are seasonal and subject to change.

AG-VENTURES SEVEN DAY HAWAII CRUISE VACATION
7-day tours departing from Oahu and Maui

The Big Island Farm Bureau invites you to visit rural America , Hawaiian Style! You will appreciate the beauty of Hawaii during your seven-day Hawaiian cruise upon Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship, the Pride of America. Sail between the jewels of the Pacific, each its own version of paradise. Witness the Big Island 's mesmerizing Kilauea volcano, experience the drama of Pearl Harbor on Oahu and enjoy the brilliantly colored sunsets of the Pacific.

Your vacation will provide you the opportunity to experience and learn about Hawaii ’s diverse agriculture industry. On the islands of Kauai , Maui , and Hawaii , you will meet and visit with farmers and ranchers who are instrumental in supporting Hawaii ’s diversified agriculture industry. Your on-farm hosts will discuss first hand, the cultivation and processing of coffee, sugar, tropical flowers, chocolate, bananas, pineapples, or tropical fruits; and you may visit historical cattle ranches. Each tour provides ample time for questions and answers, sampling, and purchasing products from the farms and ranches. You’ll discover for yourself that each island offers its own unique agriculture experience that you will value and remember for years to come.

Sixteen-person minimum and a twenty four-person maximum per week.
INFORMATION & RESERVATIONS - PLEASE CONTACT US DIRECTLY AT 1 800-660-6011

Hawaii AgVentures offers a variety of excursion throughout the island of Hawaii. Availability and cost of excursions are based on group size and place of departure. Here are some of the group excursions Hawaii AgVentures has to offer. For more information and reservations for these below tours, contact us at 800-660-6011 or contact us via this site.

Chocolate Treats & Tropical Temptations
Join the Big Island Farm Bureau on a narrated journey that combines the people, foods and farms of Hawaii into an experience of diverse culture, extraordinary produce and natural beauty. Step off the beaten path and visit the rural farmlands of Kona “Hawaiian Style.” First you will visit award-winning Kona Joe Coffee, where coffee is “grown like grapes.” You will take a guided field tour and sample fresh gourmet Kona coffee. Head further south, deep into the heart of Kona coffee country to a private organic tropical fruit estate where you will tour the grounds and sample fresh exotic fruits, grown nowhere else in the United States.

Following your tour, you will be served a picnic lunch at the farm while enjoying a beautiful, unobstructed view of the sparkling Pacific. As a finale, you will travel up the slopes of Hualalai volcano to the 1300-foot elevation for a chocolate lover’s dream! Experience a guided tour of the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, the only micro-processing factory in the U.S. that processes chocolate from growing the Cacao bean to wrapping the final delectable candy in the wrapper. At each stop you will have an opportunity for questions and answers and to purchase unique items directly from the farms.

Tour requires 12 person minimum and 25 person maximum.

Pele’s Bounty
We begin our tour with a trip to Kalapana Tropicals, Inc. to e njoy this beautiful certified orchid nursery, in business on the Big Island of Hawaii since 1987. Meet owners John and Mindi Clark, true horticulturists who specialize in growing a huge array of orchid varieties for export as live, blooming potted plants. Then you will travel to Volcano National Park , home to the legendary Hawaiian volcano goddess, Pele, where you will have the chance to witness her spectacular beauty. Following, you will travel to Hilo Coffee Mill, featuring and specializing in coffee grown on the eastern slopes of the Big Island. Hilo Coffee Mill will supply you with superb Hawaiian and worldwide coffees at the best possible price. Hilo Coffee Mill keeps the spirit of the family-run coffee plantation alive and prospering. In addition to touring their roasting facilities, you will be treated to fresh roasted coffee sampling and lunch in their recently built facility, located on 24 beautiful acres . We conclude our tour with a final adventure to one of Hilo’s largest cut flower producers, Green Point Nursery. Here you will be guided through a colorful flower farm that specializes in exotic tropical flowers and brightly colored foliages.

Tour requires a 13 person minimum and there is a 25 person maximum.

Mauka to MaKai (Mountain to the Sea)
This AgVenture takes you up the slopes of Mauna Kea to the town of Waimea, home of renown known, Parker Ranch - one of the largest and most historic cattle ranches in the United States. Parker Ranch history includes more than 150 years; the ranch spans some 175,000 acres across the Big Island. This is where the Hawaiian cowboys, called paniolo, got their start some 150 years ago. Ranch managers will provide you with a historical overview and information regarding their current ranching practices. Next we will travel deeper into Kamuela onto Hawaiian Homestead Lands to visit picturesque Honopua Farm, home of the celebrated master lei-maker, Marie McDonald, a Smithsonian National Treasure. Family members will walk you through their beautiful farm, featuring organic vegetables, Waimea Lavender, fresh cut flowers, and of course giving you a peek at their classic car collection. Following Honopua Farm, we take you to enjoy lunch at Merriman’s Restaurant, home of “Hawaiian Regional Cuisine.” We return to sea level at the Kona coast to investigate a state-operated, master permitted ocean science and technology-park, NELHA (Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii), that stimulates economic development and diversification in the state of Hawaii.

Tour requires a 13 person minimum and 25 person maximum.

Taste of Kamuela: a heritage tour
The Big Island Farm Bureau invites you to join us on a farm tour that features some of Kamuela’s finest family farms. First enjoy your morning at the Waimea Homestead Farmers Market where we will board the bus at 9:15 . While traveling, you will visit picturesque Honopua Farm, home of renowned master lei-maker, Marie McDonald, a Smithsonian National Treasure. Following our stop at Honopua Farm, the Beamer Solomon Halau O’ Po’ohala (Hawaiian dance troop) will host you to a Hawaiian lunch buffet and hula (Hawaiian dance) performance, highlighting the traditions of the Waika Ahupua’a (traditional Hawaiian agricultural site). In addition, you will see the country from the eyes of the paniolo (cowboy) at Kahua Ranch where you will learn about their ranching practices and the culture of their community. All proceeds go to support the Big Island Farm Bureau and its’ members. Departs September 17, 2005 .

Tour requires a 50 person minimum