Maui (Kahului) Tour ideas?

[2Xayear]

We have a Sunrise trip planned to the crater in Maui for our second morning in Maui but wanted to do a whale watching trip for our first day in Kahului. Is the Pacific Whale Foundation the tour of choice? Would you think there is any difference between a 1:30 pm or a 3:00 tour?

OR does anyone have a MUST DO tour we should do instead? :)

I would not be averse to some form of a flightseeing trip but my wife likes the idea of seeing whales. :confused:

[robntawn]

We have a Sunrise trip planned to the crater in Maui for our second morning in Maui but wanted to do a whale watching trip for our first day in Kahului. Is the Pacific Whale Foundation the tour of choice? Would you think there is any difference between a 1:30 pm or a 3:00 tour?

OR does anyone have a MUST DO tour we should do instead? :)

I would not be averse to some form of a flightseeing trip but my wife likes the idea of seeing whales. :confused:

 

We go to Maui annually on a land based vacation, and PWF is the best whale watching organization on Maui. They are informative, respectful of the environment, and reasonable in cost. As far as when the best time to go, the earlier the better. The winds really start to pick up in the afternoon, and the seas can become quite choppy. January is an excellent time to see whales...Enjoy!

 

The sunrise Haleakala trip is a lot of fun. We like to ride our bikes down the volcano...is that the one you're doing? Our favorite vendor for that trip is Maui Downhill, but they're all comparable.

 

Another fun trip is the road to Hana. It would be real easy to get a rental car at the Kahului airport (Thrifty and Dollar are cheapest) and drive to Oheo Gulch. It is an 8-hour round trip, but the scenery is phenomenal. It is imperative that you get a CD from the Shell station on Dairy Road prior to going...they have a mile0by-mile commentary that makes the trip quite enjoyable.

[2Xayear]

Thanks for the info!!

We are not doing doing the bike down from the crater but that does sound good. I have done that in Skagway...train up and bike back. Very nice!!

 

Do you think it advisable to book with PWF online or just do it from shore in Maui?

[indianagirl]

:) My Husband and I were there last Jan and did a Whale watching cruise with the Pacific Whale Foundation they are awsome we went on my 40th birthday and it was the best the whales were incredable and even saw a mother and her calf you will love it. We also have done the sunrise on the crater and rode the bikes down the volcano also incredible and the colors of the sunrise well there really are no words to decscribe it. We did alot of hiking to some beautiful waterfalls at the state park it was a few miles but well worth it. Well enjoy your trip.

[beachchick]

2Xayear: DO NOT wait to book until you get there or you may very well find yourselves out of luck. It's possible that you could call and book when you get there, or even just show up and hope to get a ticket, but I would not risk it.

 

Hawaii is incredibly popular as a winter vacation getaway. (Well, actually it's incredibly popular year round, but you do have tons of snow birds coming to get warm between December and March.) Whale watching is a very popular activity and thousands of land visitors are on the islands every day, so the excursion/activity companies are not the least bit dependent on cruise pax for business. In fact, with the ship's excursions also pre-booking, it might be even harder to book last-minute on days that ships are there.

 

If you want to do the PWF whale watching trip, book it now. robntawn is absolutely right about going earlier in the day too.

 

beachchick

[2Xayear]

Took your advice and booked it this morning. Thanks for the help!!

 

Bob

[susiesan]

2Xayear:

 

If you want to do the PWF whale watching trip, book it now. robntawn is absolutely right about going earlier in the day too.

 

beachchick

 

We will be in Maui on May 30 from POAm, too late for whale watching. I see PWF also does Molokini Crater snorkel trips. Because they leave so early in the morning, as do all of the Molokini trips, is the only way do do this activity the first day by booking the excursion with NCL instead of on your own? According to the schedule, the ship docks at 8:00 am and the snorkel trips leave 7:30-8:00. Would I have time to pick up the rental car and drive over to the other side to catch one off these trips? I only can find one, Blue Water Rafting, that goes late morning.

[beachchick]

No, there's no way you'll be able to get to a morning snorkel trip your first Maui day. And unless NCL has arranged to either charter a boat or have their pax arrive late (not going to happen), they will not offer an early snorkel trip on your first day.

 

If you want a big party boat with all the goodies (full meals, bar, water slide, etc.), then you should book a morning excursion for your second day. If the big party deal is unimportant to you, look into Maui Dive Shop's 10 am trip for your first day. If the ship is on time and you get off ASAP and get your rental car, then you should be able to get to Kihei by 9:30 am for check in. It's a great trip. Small boat (24 pax), good crew, short ride to Molokini, long water time (including a stop at one of the turtle towns, conditions permitting), snacks and non-alcohol beverages, good gear if you don't have your own (we do). It's also less expensive than the big boats.

 

If you do an advanced search on this forum only for "maui dive shop," you should get a bunch of threads that include more details.

 

beachchick

[Browezilla]

Hi,

 

Take a look at my new thread called "Molokini a must do?". What I'm finding is that unless you really just want to go there for the sail/ride, then it seems that other locations are better choices so that you save some money/time. Time is what I was most concerned about when I posed the question.

[susiesan]

No, there's no way you'll be able to get to a morning snorkel trip your first Maui day. And unless NCL has arranged to either charter a boat or have their pax arrive late (not going to happen), they will not offer an early snorkel trip on your first day.

beachchick

 

I pulled up my reservation on NCL's web site to see what came up if I tried to book their Molokini snorkel tour. It's only offered the second day at 8:30 am.

Any off the Haleakala bike tours have to be done the second day too so I'll check Maui Dive Shop's offerings. Or perhaps we'll just drive around and snorkel from beaches. So much to do, so little time!!

[beachchick]

Hi,

 

Take a look at my new thread called "Molokini a must do?". What I'm finding is that unless you really just want to go there for the sail/ride, then it seems that other locations are better choices so that you save some money/time. Time is what I was most concerned about when I posed the question.

 

That's a fair question. Some of the larger party boats especially don't have all that much water time and the ride from Ma'alaea is fairly time-consuming. There are a couple of boats that depart from Lahaina, which is an even longer boat ride. This is one of the reason MDS appeals to us. Besides being there basically "between" times of the early morning and afternoon party boats (so it's not crowded), the ride from Kihei is substantially shorter. Plus, the emphasis is actually on the snorkeling and not other stuff (like BBQ/bar) and they don't do a 15 minute pitch as to why you should buy the video they'll be making of your excursion, etc.

 

We have always had about 90 minutes of water time with their late morning excursion to Molokini. For us that's plenty. Their price is about 1/2 that of the morning party boats too.

 

It is not the absolute best snorkeling in the islands, but it can be very good when the water conditions are right. We've had equally good snorkels going on our own to various locations. Our big goal is to take the Fair Wind to Kealakekua Bay on the BI next trip. That is definitely a snorkel that will be worth the time and money (Four Wind is not pretty $$$).

 

beachchick