Maui private tour in May

[tyson]

We are a group of 6 (possibly eight) adults looking for a private sightseeing tour on Maui during our Radiance OTS cruise in May.  I'm looking for suggestions of tour companies you have used and would recommend.  Thanks for any help you can provide!

[princeton123211]

4 minutes ago, tyson said:

We are a group of 6 (possibly eight) adults looking for a private sightseeing tour on Maui during our Radiance OTS cruise in May.  I'm looking for suggestions of tour companies you have used and would recommend.

What are you looking to see-- Hana, beaches, Lahaina? Are you on Maui for the day-- if so between what times? Or overnight? Will help make some recommendations.

 

I also ask because there are some things on Maui that people ask for tours of that you can more easily and much more enjoyably do on your own. 

[tyson]

We will be on Maui from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m.  We are interested in Hana and/or beaches.  Would also be interested in the west side.  We would prefer to have a guided tour for a more relaxing time but would consider renting a vehicle and trying to see things on our own.  

[princeton123211]

32 minutes ago, tyson said:

We are interested in Hana and/or beaches.  Would also be interested in the west side.

Hana will take you most of the day-- it will take a bit longer as part of a tour rather than driving yourself BUT taking a tour will free up the driver to see things rather than concentrating on the road in front of them. Most of the private guide tours are in minivans that seat up to 6 so if it's 8 it might force you to go with some of the bigger operators with mini busses. We did a private tour the first time we went around to Hana and its about $1100 for the day. The next time we were on Maui we rented a minivan through Avis and it cost about $160 with gas. You can also take non private tours for quite a bit less than the private ones but you will be on larger mini busses. 

 

Overall I think it's more relaxed to drive it yourself and there are smartphone guides like Shaka that you can download to hear about all the interesting things along the way. Would recommend driving all the way around so you see most of the island as the changes are amazing but you can easily spend 7-8 hours with short stops driving around to Hana and back.  

 

If you don't do Hana you can easily Uber to the Kaanapali beaches from Lahaina (which I'm assuming is where you are anchoring vs NCL which docks near the airport on the other side of the island. A guide there would be a bit of a waste because the attraction is the beach. 

[tyson]

Thanks for your input, princeton123211!