Those of you who have done a coffee tour: Did you enjoy it? Was the coffee THAT good? Which tour would you recommend?

I've never seen the Hawaii forum this slowwwww...
Let's not lose our momentum just because of all the Kauai hullabaloo (good word, huh?). We'll start with some nice safe Maui and BI questions and then ease our way back over to Kauai and Pearl Harbor. And then, if we all survive, maybe we'll take over some REAL issues like Iraq. Nahhhhh...

Last year we visited Hawaii's newest coffee plantation: Kona Joe
(link: www.konajoe.com
We spent most of the time in the well appointed tasting room overlooking the trellised coffee and beautiful Kona shoreline and experienced much aloha >< while sampling the variety of~o) from our hostess. We took home a 5lb bag and continue to enjoy it in their well-crafted coffee mug. The only other "tour" we have been on was on that "KMart" island which well, has a variety of coffees and, nuff said .
See day 4 of TR:
www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=1&tid=34549308

Thank you, JohnD. I enjoyed reading your whole report again. It sounds like you really hit those candy places! I would like to snorkel while we're at KBR but I am a beginner. Do you advise fins? Is there a place to rent them there?

With regard to candies and ~o), we usually travel near the holidays and are always seeking unique .

At Kahalu`u there is a lot of action close to the shore and you don't have to go far out to experience it, bring an underwater . I don't think you need fins, but definitely recommend water shoes to get through the slick lava rock/gravel entry, being a tenderfoot myself. One of the days we visited Kahalu`u, a woman was selling her own custom made short fins on the beach, when she wasn't swimming. Link states rental snorkeling gear is available: www.letsgo-hawaii.com/beaches/kahaluu.html.
Also suggest reviewing Roxy's previous Big Island/KBR T.R.

About 2 years ago we did the coffee tour. Forgot where I picked up a map, but on one of the afternoons we went to almost every Kona plantation there was. My goal was to see how many different kinds of Kona I could buy. Sure it ended up being a few hundred dollars, but I still have some left and it makes for a great Sunday morning coffee.

Just hop in the car and see how many you can hit.
Duane