One day, Tortimer shows up at your dock. Talk to him, then the next day, Kapp'n will be there in a boat to take you to the island. When you are there, you can go on tours, which are like mini-games where you win island medals, which you can use to buy things in the island shop.
Going on a Tour
Talk to Leilani, the kappa woman in the orange dress at the top left to go on a tour. She will show you a list of tours that you can go on. Once you choose the tour, sit down in one of the four chairs below the tour desk. If you are playing with other players, they can sit in the other chairs to go on the tour with you.
Getting Fruit, Bugs, and Fish from Tours
You can get fruit, bugs, and fish during tours that you can keep after the tour and send back to your town using the box near Leilani. However, you can only keep items after the tour if those items weren't the objective of the tour. For example, if you are on a bug-catching tour, you won't be able to keep the bugs that you catch during that tour.
The fruits available during island tours are bananas, mangoes, lychees, lemons, coconuts, and durians. You CANNOT find persimmons during island tours. They show up in the fruit maze tour, but you can't keep the fruits from that tour. Persimmons can only be purchased from the department store.
Tours
The following are the tours that you can go on, with explanations of each.
Hide and Seek
In the hide and seek tour, four villagers (not your own, but those who live on the island) will hide behind buildings and trees. You have to find all four to win. The number of medals you get depends on how quickly you found everyone.
Flower Planting
The objective of the flower planting tour is to go around the island and take the flowers that you find, then plant them in the square near Tortimer. The tour ends when you have filled up the square with flowers. The number of medals you get depends on how quickly you filled up the square. In more difficult versions of this tour, you need to plant flowers of a specific color, and specific species.
Balloon Popping
In this tour, there are no trees on the island, and you are automatically equipped with a slingshot. The map in the touch screen shows you where there are balloons floating through the sky. There is also a wind indicator in the touch screen that tells you which direction the balloons will be moving in. Run to the areas with the balloons and stand near the shadow of a balloon. Stand just to the side of the shadow so that the balloon will be moving toward you. Then use the slingshot to pop the balloon. Rabbit balloons are worth more points. The number of medals you get depends on how many balloons you popped.
Shell Finding
In this tour, you are automatically equipped with a wetsuit. Go walk into the ocean to swim. Tap A to swim forward. Look for bubbles and shadows in the water. Dive by pressing Y when you are near a shadow. While underwater, tap A to swim toward the shadow. When you are on the shadow, tap A to catch it. If you found a shell, it counts toward your points. If you found something other than a shell, such as a seahorse or urchin, it does not count toward your total. You have to get at least 3 shells.
Borrowing Tour
In this tour, your inventory has a list in it. Open your inventory and read the list. It is a list of furniture that you need to find in the cottages around the island. Go to the cottages and try to find the furniture from the list. Press Y to pick up the furniture. You can keep it in your inventory. If the furniture matches an item in the list, there will be a check mark next to it in the list. When you have found all of the furniture in the list, talk to Tortimer to end the tour.
Bug-Catching Tours
There are several types of bug-catching tours. One of the tours just asks you to catch as many insects as possible, of any type. Other tours will ask you to catch specific types of insects. Be sure to catch the correct types.
Fishing Tours
There are several types of fishing tours. One of the tours just asks you to catch as many fish as possible, of any type. Other tours will ask you to catch specific types of fish. Be sure to catch the correct types.
Deep Sea Creature Catching Tours
There are several types of tours for catching deep sea creatures. One of the tours just asks you to catch as many deep sea creatures as possible, of any type. Other tours will ask you to catch specific types of deep sea creatures. Be sure to catch the correct types.
Fossil Finding Tour
In this tour, there are two houses in the top left. The left house contains fossils. The right house is empty. Check on the fossils in the house to find out what they are. Then go around the island digging up fossils with the shovel. When you find the fossils that match the types in the house, go into the empty house on the right and put the fossils in the same positions as you found them in the house on the left. Then the tour will end and you will get medals based on how quickly you completed the fossil display.
Item Matching Tour
This is a memory game where there are pairs of items and you have to match the pairs. Items are buried in the ground. You are equipped with a shovel. You have to dig up an item from a crack in the ground, then find the matching item in another crack in the ground. If the next item you find doesn't match what you dug up first, you will automatically bury it again. Match all of the items to end the tour.
Fruit Maze Tour
A maze will be set up on the island, made of bushes. Tortimer will ask you to find a specific number of a specific type of fruit. Harder versions of this tour require you to find multiple types of fruit. Go through the maze and look for that type of fruit. Only pick up the type that you need! You aren't allowed to take any type except what Tortimer asked for. Once you have the exact number of the exact type of fruit that Tortimer asked for, and no other fruits, talk to Tortimer to end the tour. Tip: Don't run too close to the bushes because they will slow you down.
Hammer Time
You are equipped with a hammer. You have to chase around a remote-controlled Cornimer toy and hit it with your hammer as many times as you can before the time runs out.
Gem-Finding Tour
There will be many rocks around the area. You have to use your shovel to break as many rocks as possible to find as many gems as possible. One type of gem will be worth three points, and the rest are worth one. Some rocks are normal rocks, so you might want to mark them (e.g. dig a hole in front) so you don't try to break it again.