Oahu GPS Audio Tour Guide Reviews

Our private tour guide that we booked months in advance never showed up to take us on our tour, so we used Shaka Guide. It was a good, inexpensive alternative with lots of information and historic tidbits. I thought there was a little too much, so pick and choose if you don’t want to be overloaded. Also, if you go snorkeling in shark cove, go to the left of the public restroom. The waves are too strong with too many rocks down the right slope, and prepare to have your feet exfoliated by the sharp, rocky “sand”. The recorded guide was right every time for where to turn and what you would see, so the gps was right on as well. The only drawback was the commentary was pretty cheesy sometimes, which must be hard to find the right line between informative and entertaining for all audiences, but not boring. Overall a good experience and alternative to the disappointment of the private tour guide not showing up…I still don't know what happened to them!

I don’t usually leave reviews (or buy apps) but this one is amazing. Our first time to Oahu and we purchased both. Perfect guidance and loved the little tidbits of info, suggestions and humor as we passed areas. (No constant talking though). We were so impressed by the easy to follow directions and I lost track how many times we said we loved OahuGPSAudioTourGuide and what a great purchase it was. We would never have been able to plan out the routes as well on our own. We usually take hop on/off buses in new cities and this was similar with the narration and ability to see all the hot spots (and some secret ones!) in a nice loop without a bunch of backtracking. We did the tours in 3 VERY full days but had we stopped and actually swam at the beaches and did the full tours at Dole etc. it easily could have been a week or more worth of activities. We would have spent $500+ on a couple days of tour buses to see the places we were able to go to on our own with OahuGPSAudioTourGuide plus we could do it in our own time. OahuGPSAudioTourGuide literally guided us from the road in front of our hotel to the destinations and back. Buy it- you won’t regret it.

Discovered this by accident about a month before our trip to Oahu and didn't really know how it would work out. What we did know is we didn't want to spend BIG bucks to tour the island in a bus on a timetable! We made the $10 plunge, along with the minimal tour costs for each tour (Circle and South End)...AND WE LOVED IT...IT WAS AWESOME! It's easy to use, directional, informative, funny, and just out right entertaining! AND, we could do it all within our own timetable...multiples times, if we wanted! When I had a slight "user error" issue, I called them and got a real person who was awesome and walked me through it in no time. During our entire trip we were telling others that they should get this if they really wanted to get to know the island, it's history, culture and some of the hidden adventures. If we go back to other islands, this will be the first thing we'll use! Highly, highly recommended! Great job you guys! Thanks!

We discovered Shaka Guide on a Pre Covid visit to the Big Island in early 2020 and had a great time. We even took the north loop tour twice. In early 2022 during Covid we toured Oahu with Shaka Guide and had another great time. There were Covid closures and reduced hours which we expected. A reminder is bring lots of cash to make purchases easier on the north shore. Our un expected happinesses were the Buddhist Temple, The Kualoa Ranch Tours, Fumis and Romys shrimp stands. There were to many great beaches, crazy. Another highlight was whale watching. I called Customer Service when on Oahu to get some quick clockwise VS counter clockwise tour advice which were answered quickly. We are hoping our next Island will be Maui. If that happens we will be sure to get some Pre trip rental vehicle advice. Next time we go to the big island we might get a 4x4…

Heard about this from a friend, sounded interesting so I got OahuGPSAudioTourGuide for free, then checked out the preview of the tours. So far have only used the East Shore tour but it’s nothing short of excellent! The tour guide has a great voice, gives great and timely directions (and occasional congratulations on your progress, a fun touch), and best of all knows all the best places and recommendations for stopping. I can’t recommend this enough if you have a car - much better and way more comfortable than all those tour company buses. You are in control, you decide when to leave, where to stop or skip, and how long to stay at each point. Looking forward to trying out some of the other Oahu tours and already downloaded the Maui app for when we’re there next week. I will also be telling everyone I know who comes out to Hawaii that they NEED OahuGPSAudioTourGuide.

Thanks for an awesome tour experience, brah! 😀 🤙

My family really enjoyed this narrated tour of the North Shore. I had no idea what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised and really amazed how well the tour kept up with where we were on the map. The narration provided great insight to what we were going to see, recommended great stops and gave a historical and cultural perspective that was very interesting. You can start and stop the tour at your leisure so when you pull off to see something…you can stop the tour and pick up right where you left off when you get back in your car. The beach recommendations were fantastic. We stopped at three of them. We visited the North Shore twice during our stay and there was a noticeable difference in traffic on a weekend (Sunday - heavy traffic) and a weekday (Wednesday - very light traffic). Overall this tour is well worth the cost!

Mahalo for the best app ever. We took both tours around Oahu and had the best time. This is my third time on the island, my fiancé’s first. He saw more in a couple of days, than I saw in all my other times. We were both impressed with all of the history of what we were seeing, as well as the music played. Thank goodness I found this, and didn’t pay some tour company $125 a piece for theirs. We loved being on our timetable, and being able to stay places as long as we wanted, or just move on, if it didn’t interest us. We will definitely use the other apps in the future, when visiting other islands. Wonderful job, guys. We recommend that everyone use this. It’s affordable, and very well worth a look. Especially if you are trying to see the whole island in the most affordable way ever. 🌴🤙🌈🏄🏻‍♀️

Kids got got us on a late start, had to change plans last minute. The Tour guide in Maui actually uses OahuGPSAudioTourGuide on the tour bus. Told us to try it.

So a couple days later in Oahu, late for lunch and all our plans are messed up..

Like $10 later and a couple minutes of down load, I went from no plans and crazy kids... To a self guided tour of the island and kids in back of the rental car. A nice relaxing 5 hours around the island. With the Shaka App tour guide using GPS to tell me where to drive, when to turn, what to look for, what we can do when we get there, let's us skip things, and tells us history and stories.

Instead of dragging around kids walking wakiki - I got a relaxing drive and virtual tour with amazing scenery and some great places to visit while the kids did whatever on their phones in the back seat.

Sometimes kids make things hard. But the virtual tour guide saved my day in Oahu by being on demand, flexible, affordable, and helpful.

If you don't get a chance to plan for a trip to Hawaii. A simple rental car and this tour guide app can keep you busy for several days and you'll enjoy it.

OahuGPSAudioTourGuide made a crazy stressful day an easy relaxing 5 hours of sight seeing. Gave us bathroom stops, good food stops, great photos and off the beaten path views.

Use OahuGPSAudioTourGuide if you are vacationing on Oahu, period!! We were so happy with every facet of OahuGPSAudioTourGuide . The music, the history, the fun facts as you drive, and most of all the locations it recommends are just things you won't find in an easy-to-navigate, compact guide anywhere else. We saw some of the most breathtaking views, were tipped off about good local food and roadside stores, and enjoyed hearing the stories the guide tells you in between. With a car charger, you do plenty enough driving to keep your phone charged, and the no data option is absolutely genius. I downloaded it ahead of time and had no problems whatsoever. We did the Circle Tour and edited it a bit to our needs. We then completed it over the course of 2 days because we went during the winter and lost sunlight fast. It could be done in 1 day if you start early in the AM and pay attention to the time, but we had no need to be rushed.

We highly recommend this to any, and everyone. A few years ago when we came to the island we took a bus tour around the island and it was nice, but we were on everyone else’s time. With this tour, you hear the guy guiding you, giving you directions, and it’s so easy and fun. They tell you stories and give you history while you’re driving. They play music for you while you’re driving and you feel like you have your own tour guide in your backseat. The great thing is, you do it on your own time. If you wanna stop at a destination, you can. If you don’t want to stop, you don’t have to. It tells you places to eat, it shows you all the beautiful beaches and the directions it gives you is so precise. I highly, highly recommend this and for the amount you pay, it’s soo worth it. Here’s the major bonus, you don’t have to leave a tip at the end. This has by far been one of the best tours/days we’ve had on the island!

I purchased both the North Shore and the Circle Island tours in Oahu and 2 of the Hana Tours and the Haleakala tour in Maui. In would have given them 5 stars just on customer service, I had some questions and send them an email before we came to Hawaii and I was impressed by how Andrew replied to all my emails and how helpful he was. So 5 stars before I even used OahuGPSAudioTourGuide . Now that I actually did the tours I would give them 10 stars if it was available. This was our second time in Hawaii last time we used Gipsy Guide, it was ok but Shaka blew them out of the water. “Eddie” as we call it took us to places that you don't read about on blogs or find in Pinterest, there were a couple of places we went to that we were the only tourists, in some we were the only ones there. There was a lookout point at Haleakala (this is our second time there) that Eddie told us to stop at, again we were the only car in the parking lot, and this was the best look out in history, the view were breathtaking, and the pictures.. WOW, It was awesome! We keep saying, Hey, Eddie would go LOL.
Thank you Shaka Guide 🤙🏻🤙🏻

OahuGPSAudioTourGuide was amazing!! I bought the Oahu Island Circle tour on a whim after renting a car in Waikiki. The directions were clear and easy to follow and the stories were informative and delightful. The narrator had a wonderful personality. What I would say, however ... is that I wasn’t really clear on how to “start” OahuGPSAudioTourGuide to get t the narrating. We basically drove until we actually got on the route (H1 West) and then all of a sudden the guided part of OahuGPSAudioTourGuide started right up!! It was seamless once you get n the tour path ... but until then ... it seemed like we were kind of on our own. We got OahuGPSAudioTourGuide literally as we were walking down to the rental ... so really didn’t put too much thought into reading directions.

Once we “got it” - we LOVED the thoughtful, easy directions, and will use Shaka guides in the future when touring Hawaii. BTW - this saved us hundreds as compared to getting a private tour!!! We rented a convertible Mustang and had a blast with OahuGPSAudioTourGuide.

I’ve never left a review before, but since OahuGPSAudioTourGuide made our first trip to Oahu so much better than it would have been without it, I felt guilty not sharing the praise publicly.

Pros:
1. absolutely great app design, with one small nit-picky exception I’ll share below.
2. The most comprehensive list of sites, activities and everything you’d ever want to do or see on the island that I could find online anywhere.
3. Really cool GPS based guidance and narration, with cool historical facts, island music, and a few jokes mixed in here and there to liven up the day a little.
4. The price is a great value for what you get!

Cons:
1. Well, there really weren’t any major issues, but if I were to offer one suggestion to improve the experience, it would be to better integrate food stops into the tour and/or make it easier to find and navigate to your comprehensive food guide that’s kind of hidden in a link in the FAQ page. Even better yet, just pick one or two great options and build them in as stops on the route. We spent 15-30 minutes parked on the sid wig the road trying to find your food guide and then figure out when and where to stop to eat lunch on each route. When the whole family is hangry, it can be a vacation killer.

With that said, this really is just a minor complaint and overall, I gave it 5 stars and couldn’t recommend an app more strongly!

We love the tours - have done them for several years across all islands. They are fun, informative, and easy to follow! Our now 10yo enjoys it, and even the 6yo listens to it! Lots of great pointers and interesting information - but not so much as to be overwhelming.

We’ve never had an issue until this last tour downloaded, but then seemed stuck “processing”. The issue may have been spotty cellular coverage when I was getting it setup, who knows. Of course this was 10mins before we wanted to take it and I tried calling support. It was Saturday, when they are closed - so I hung up…to my surprise they called me back 2mins later and helped me! Outside of business hours on a weekend! The tour worked great - we loved it (as we did the many others we took from Shaka on different islands). What an awesome company and a great product!! If you are still thinking - get it!! (Also I tried a couple competitors and we like Shaka best).

Shaka OAHU was a great guide. This was my 7th trip to Oahu in the last 12 months, but since my wife was coming along this time, we decided to grab OahuGPSAudioTourGuide to learn more about the island. The tour was great (very similar to what I did myself previously using the rental car map books), but the narration and GPS guidance was really worth the extra few dollars I spent on OahuGPSAudioTourGuide .

Haven't been here many times, I knew most of the "big ticket" items to see, but OahuGPSAudioTourGuide took us to a couple "off-the-path" places that we really loved (like the waterfall off Pali in the Southern Island tour).

The only complain I had was that there are parts where there are "blanks" (no narration and no music). Would be great if they had a simple "Hawaiian music" loop that plays when you are between tour spots for a little driving music. Since it uses my iPhone while driving, I couldn't play my own music, either. Otherwise, a great app and I hope they make a few more, maybe some walking tours through Waikiki or Honolulu?

We had decided to tour the island of Oahu, and were looking at various tour companies. The prices were at least $89 and upward of $120+ per person. Instead we rented a car for the day in Waikiki, set out on our own and followed the Oahu Circle Tour. It was more than we hoped for. The guide was informative and fun. We saw things I’d never seen before on island. And we loved the historical information. The music was wonderful. We sang a lot of the songs, people in our car were 18-75 years old, and we all loved it. In fact we were sad when it was over. We all feel like we made a friend with the narrator.

Of note, we avoided the Polynesian Cultural Center (not my cup of tea), and it was still a full day, from 8am-6pm. We did a detour at KoHana Rum Distillery for a tasting and that should be included, because it was amazing. The distillery talks about history of the area, the importance of sugar cane to the Hawaii, and the types of rum. Plus they gave us samples of chocolate, sugar cane juice, honey, and of course rum. Just a recommendation.

We could not have been happier with OahuGPSAudioTourGuide. We did the grand circle island tour and the level of detail was fantastic. The highlights were amazing, stop recommendations were great, and the technology behind the GPS enabling was seamless. We had the option to listen to lovely Hawaiian music in the background while we drove and it would fade out and our guide would come back on and provide information. The audible directions provided were clear and perfectly timed.

We started at Ko Olina and could not see everything in one day there was so much to see! You definitely can’t stop everywhere so pick and choose. Lots of food options so you won’t need a big dinner if you stop at all the food recommendations. If you really want to see as much as you can and you plan to stop a lot and get out and explore, start early and think about doing this in two days.

Would definitely do this again and explore other tours. Highly recommend!!!

This is one of the coolest apps my wife and I have ever used! We spent 5 days on Oahu (our first trip to Hawaii), and we were able to explore so much of this island with our Jeep rental thanks to OahuGPSAudioTourGuide. It is incredibly well designed, with OahuGPSAudioTourGuide linking to our phone's GPS to both navigate our routes and provide fascinating information about each site seen as well as history of the island and Hawaiian culture. OahuGPSAudioTourGuide senses when you enter a designated area and automatically starts narrating and/or providing directions. It is incredibly well-timed -- on more than one occasion the guide would say something like "turn right and head uphill, but watch out for cyclists" and almost on cue a biker would immediately turn the corner in front of us. Clearly OahuGPSAudioTourGuide creators are intensely familiar with the areas covered in their tours. We saw and learned so much touring the island with OahuGPSAudioTourGuide (that we never would have discovered on our own) and highly recommend it for any new travelers to the island!

Just listen to Shaka (even if it is a hand signal), he'll tell you where to go!! We loved the large circle tour and we'll likely get the south tour tomorrow before we go to the airport.

We're on the main island for a wedding that was on the north shore in Laie. Since we wanted to hit the dole plantation on the way back, it made sense to buy the tour for $5. While at the wedding, it was pretty fun sharing all the cool information that Shaka had told us up to that point. We met back with our group at Waimea and told them that we had visited the ceremonial grounds where human sacrafices had taken place, others finally asked, "where are you getting this information?" (Shaka!).

I have the same complaint of the odd no sound spots, but the views certainly compensate for the silence. Also, it may have just been the USB connectivity in the car, but the last 1 or 2 seconds of the directions seemed to cut out, which at some points, included critical driving directions. Fortunately, we didn't get lost, and the map is easy to follow in case you somehow miss a turn.

After a couple days at the resort we wanted to explore the island. Rented a cat and downloaded Oahu full circle. OahuGPSAudioTourGuide synced up with car audio easily and automatically via usb cord and Apple play. App gps picked up our location and gave great directions to the tour starting point.
We left OahuGPSAudioTourGuide running the entire time with via a power cord via usb and Apple play running all day the phone stayed charged and the tour guide with his island trivia interspersed perfectly with silence and island music and fantastic gps and audio directions.
I can not recommend this highly enough. My entire family listened intently most of the time and we got to pick and choose what we wanted to do along the way spending as much or as little time as we wanted along the way. Definitely do OahuGPSAudioTourGuide and tour. Mahalo from first time Texas visitor!!