Day Trip Oahu To Maui: Sips, Sites And Bites

This was a wonderful experience, we learned a lot! The views were amazing. Our tour guide made the trip even better

The tour guide is wonderful. His information and knowledge are incredible.

Note: departure at Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport restrooms are downstairs, inside accessible by elevator. One has to get to the airport on your own to Hawaiian Airlines for a.quick flight. I must state that Hawaiian Airlines provided excellent service for the handicap. Once at the airport Polynesia Adventures tour takes over and arranges everything. Once at the Kahulu Airport make your way to the designated stop where you will transfer at Safeway supermarket to your tour bus. Restroom outside at airport.. After a long drive up the mountain of Haleakala National Park to the Haleakala Volcano to see the2.5 mile crater from last eruption of 1790. Bus can only go as far as the visitor's center, a lookout and restroom break. Able body tourist can hike up to the summit. They are building wind turbines there. Cool temperatures and very windy. Twice the wind almost blew my wheelchair over the cliff. Then off to Iao Valley State Park tropical rainforest to hike through the Iao Ethnobotanic Garden. Loved it and its emphasis on Hawaiian crop production ancient farming technics. From there one walks across the bridge but the uphill climb is for able bodied only. View the roaring river. At Makawao our included lunch at Hali'maile General Store restaurant, a former merchandise store now a busy popular restaurant Official entrance upfront has many steps. Handicap entrance is on the parking lot side.Good service, I believe my server was the owner. I ate fish. You have to request salt and pepper. Nonalcoholic drinks included. Afterwards we toured the glassblowing demonstration and art gallery across the street. Loved it. Next door is the Hali'imaile Distillery for a tour and tasting with a small souvenir shoppe. This organic farm makes Pineapple vodka. Afterwards we visited the Maui Tropical Plantation in Wailuku. Love this place. Tropical orchards, fruit and vegetable market, gift shop with restaurant and shop in the back . Beautiful landscaped with electic art works of wood or metal. Restrooms way in the backyard. Wish we spent more time here. Wheelchair accessible. Then homeward bound to your hotel or to Kahulu Airport.

Great experience! I learned about some of the culture and watched a beautiful (and cold) sunrise. We couldn't imagine being cold in Hawaii, and it happened.

All of the stops were great….all of the history was great…seeing the culture and hearing the culture was fabulous…I recommend highly.. Arnold

Mel is wonderful and so funny. Thank you. He has a lot of knowledge about thr island and its history. I would book a tour again.

Our tour guide Salesi was very knowledgeable and friendly and gave us a great service. the air-conditioning need to be reset to a confortable temperature. was top cold.

Carley was an excellent guide. She is knowledgeable and attentive to her guests. View of crater was just awesome.

Carly was terrific!!!!! She was a deeply involved with the fires that occurred. In Maui and was a very caring person.

First of all our flight confirmation no was messed up. Polynesian Adventure told us we should check in round trip. But these confirmation number did not work. Mind you they gave us two different confirmation numbers and none gave us our return boarding passes and none worked. We had to look for help. After arriving in Maui the Polynesian representative called us and scolded us for not calling them when we arrived. She was very rude. She treated me like a kid. There were no instructions whatsoever to call them. The tour itself was terrible. Many of the supposed stop we were going to go were abandoned. For example, on the trip to Mokawao town where we were supposed to spend an hour there but instead we just passed thru it. The amount we paid to this tour at $529 person feels like a rip off. The only saving grace was our driver.

Sales tour The Road To Hana was very interesting and informative. Felt very grateful that I took this tour. Thank you Salese

Kanela was a great guide and very knowledgeable. Obviously loves his island and showed us the best of it. Nothing was an effort to engage and create a great experience of Maui. Provided options for continuing experiencing more of Maui. Great tour and value. Thoroughly recommend.

Awful! That’s all I can say. We booked on Saturday night. They immediately took the money out of our bank account. I get a call the next morning there a no flights available to Maui on the Wednesday we chose and the tour is only offered on Wednesday. We could change it to the following Wednesday but our vacation would be over by then. Tried to get a refund but there are no refunds. So we are out nearly $1,000. That is insane! I could understand no refund if we were the ones to cancel but the company cancelled not us. Also, don’t take the money out until the trip is confirmed! What a joke! DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR!

Took the bus up Haleakala with our driver Mitch! He was so nice and fun, I trusted him driving me up there! He shared many informations with us, made jokes and was very safe at driving! The experience was great, I just wish we could stay at Haleakala a bit longer or that we could reach the summit (bus stops at 9000 ft and summit is at 10000). You would have time to hike up the summit when the bus drop you off though! Thanks again to Mitch for this great moment! Also, don’t do like me : bring cash to tips your driver! I completly forgot to bring some and I felt bad not tipping our driver!

Did Haleakala sunrise in Maui. Good communication. Prompt pickup and drop off. Good driver with narration. Beautiful views on a clear nice day. Nice bfast on way down. Enjoyed the trip.

Amazing experience at sunrise in the creator. Ou tour guide Wayne was so knowledgeable, kind, and funny. We learned so much about Maui, The Hawaiian culture and history, all plants and animals, and possibilities for the future.

Our tour to Haleakala with Polynesian Adventures was incredible! Our guide was so knowledgeable, kind, and helpful throughout the day! I would definitely recommend this compant!

We did the Haleakala sunset tour with Michael Reed. We're very satisfied with our experience, thankful we had a very competent, confident and knowledgeable about the tour and more. Since it was a sunset tour, he even shared with us his knowledge of the stars that night and the silver sword flowers we saw. This is highly recommended. The sunsetting was an awesome sight.

I have booked with this company multiple times over the years. Always on point! Clean vehicles and never over packed with people. Always on time. If you happen to get MICHAEL as your tour guide on MAUI , you’re going to have a great experience!! Super knowledgeable, great driver and points out a ton of stuff that is interesting. Even takes his time to make sure we all got our pictures taken. Really nice professional guy. A great representation of a company I have used repeatedly without an issue.

amazing experience with- Kama! Wealth of knowledge, interesting stories, very helpful to my disabled mother

This was a beautiful view from almost 10,000 feet up. Starting with the night sky and ending with the sunrise beyond the edge of the “crater”. Preston was our tour guide and did a great job pointing things out and told stories from Maui’s history. We were one of the first buses to the top so we had an excellent view! It was chilly so make sure you bring warm weather gear! They do NOT have hot beverages and the visitor centers/shops are closed because of COVID. A hot beverage would’ve been a nice touch, you might want to take your own! Also, figure out how to use night view on your camera/phone before you go. We took pictures on the camera and phone and the phone actually captured the colors better than the camera. Breakfast was great on the way down!

Great trip and worth the extra money to have Poly Adventure take you up as you can nap on the bus (in great shape with plenty of room). We went up with 6 (2 adults and 4 kids at 19, 16, 15 and 14). Got picked up at 2:40am and went up with 2 other small groups for a total of 12 people. Preston was our driver and really more of a tour guide. Very kind, pleasant and knowledgeable of the area and crater. Had a lunch on the way down and got back to our place by 11am. My only way to improve this, would be if the tour company could provide just a small snack (maybe granola bars) with warm coffee and hot cocoa as you get to the top. As it is cold up there (30 degrees colder then what you leave at the bottom). All of the kids and us, really enjoyed this trip.

It doesn’t get any better than being at 10,000ft at the edge of a volcano at the break of dawn on a clear night under the Geminid meteor shower! If you’re in Maui, don’t miss this. It felt like visiting Mars. Our guide, Preston, was knowledgeable and personable and made us all feel more like visitors to a shine of the natural world than tourists. 5 stars to Preston and 5 stars to the experience of a lifetime.

We took the Haleakala Sunrise Tour (Breakfast Included) M3 - The driver was on time and very knowledgable of the area. He answered all of our questions. The tour was amazing. I feel we could have left like 30 minutes later from the hotel as it was dark for an hour before we started seeing sunlight. In any event, it was totally worth it. We did some star gazing before and the sunrise from the volcano above the clouds was a wonderful experience. The place for the breakfast was absolutely beautiful and the food was tasty.

We were picked up, taken to and from the airport, purchased airport tickets, then had a pleasant day at Maui even though the weather was not good. This was the first time we had an excursion flying from one location to another and it worked out perfectly.

I am reviewing the morning Sunrise Tour of Haleakala; our tour guide was Neddy on 2/2/20. Our pick up from the hotel was a lovely man who was from Okinawa and now lives in Maui. He gave great insight to the areas of the island from where guests were picked up and a brief history of his time on the Island. We enjoyed these transfers. Neddy began the trip on a sour note. I am 5 1/2 months pregnant and she basically scared me to death talking about how she's a speed-racer and is the fastest person to get us up the mountain. 10,000 feet in 40 minutes. She kept drilling down that we would feel sick and that she's the fastest driver and #1 on the mountain. At that point, I was very scared of how safely we'd get up the mountain. We (fortunately) ended up being stuck behind two cars so we had to drive more slowly. I was not sick at all on the trip up Haleakala. Nothing is provided on the drive to the summit, you have to buy your own water and snacks at the market at pick up. My husband and I were not adequately prepared for how cold the temperatures would be at the summit. This is not the fault of the Tour. I had been comparing this with another one, and the other company provided winter coats. I booked the wrong one. (Note: all companies should provide winter coats, because who brings those to Hawaii?) Thinking we'd have a winter coat provided, I only wore a sweatshirt. That being said, a sweatshirt at 10,000 feet elevation in 30 degree weather is not enough for anyone, especially being pregnant. I lost all feeling in my finger tips and forearms and began to exhibit signs of hypothermia. I was able to sit in the Visitor's Center until sunrise, but there is not adequate heat in there. If you do ANY tour to Haleakala, be sure to bring a winter coat and gloves to truly enjoy the experience. Back on the van, when I asked if she could turn up the heat, she commented that since I am from the East Coast that I should be used to this weather. Sure, but not without a coat for 2 hours exposure to 30 degree weather in the dark. I have never lost feeling like that in my extremities and did not regain feeling in my fingers until around lunch-time. The entire drive to/from the summit, my group was reprimanded. We were told repeatedly about something that happened in 2017 where the mountain was "ruined" and how we were not to step off a path or take anything from the mountain. There were no children in our group, where perhaps this warning would be more pertinent. Repeatedly, Neddy told us to not take anything, to not touch anything, and continued to only speak of the high fines we would have to pay at the main island. There was no historical context or discussion on the drive to the summit, only warnings of what would happen if we touched something and that if we did, we'd get her in trouble as well. Once we saw the sunrise and began our descent to the next visitor's center, Neddy continued to drill down for us to not touch the Silversword plants "or else we'd receive a $700 fine." I feel like most people who go on this tour have an appreciation of nature and conservation. When we arrived at the second visitor's center she continued to point out the double-paned glass and that park rangers were "watching us" to see if we touched any plants. NONE OF US WANT TO TOUCH THE PLANTS! At this point I was completely freezing, frustrated that I was being treated like a child, and just wanted to go home. The location for breakfast was beautiful and the food was fine. We departed promptly from breakfast back to our hotels. It was disheartening to see other tours on the summit where the guides were interacting with them (Neddy stayed in the van until the sunrise) and were pointing out areas of interest, etc. We received no education or historical background of the volcano. In a whole, this was not a great experience although the sunrise was beautiful, I could not enjoy it being so cold and Neddy just made the experience awful. Suggestion: Book with a tour that provides winter coats and bring gloves. And don't go with Neddy. If those two things were changed, I think we would have enjoyed ourselves more.

Got picked from hotel on time, proceeded to airport to be met by rep who had all our boarding passes. Had a great flight on landing we’re met by our transportation to a meet up point. Our driver/guide for was exceptional and very knowledgeable, had an amazing day seen lots of sights. Was a terrific day up the point of being dropped back to our hotel. The driver for this was not very good at all. Sped all the way and didn’t really listen to where the people wanted to dropped, drove past our hotel so we got off at the drop off point and walked back. An excellent day apart from the last point

My teens and I loved this trip. The scenery was beautiful and the kids could hike around the parks safely, but I didn't have to. Our driver was pleasant and informative throughout our ride. Even with July 4th traffic, he was able to get us where we needed to go. I didn't have to do any of the prep work and scheduling, Polynesian Adventures took care of everything and had representatives along the way to make sure we reached our destinations. A beautiful island and worth the money.

The parts of the tour we experienced were great, and the Iao Valley is beautiful. Our tour guide was very congenial and funny. Mike aka Ralph was a great guy!! However, my discontent lies with the lack of organization considering our day trip included coordinated travel. So my advice is to not rely on their airfare coordination. Here’s why: First off, they wouldn’t be able to access our hotel so we offered to meet them at the Honolulu airport. There was email correspondence confirming we would me the coordinator at the airport at 5am. We found her, but apparently her office counterpart said we were a no-show at our hotel and to not expect us. Great. Arriving in Maui was seamless, besides another couple who didn’t get picked up from their hotel because, again, poor coordination. We waited at the airport for about an hour to get it sorted. We were the only guests who flew in FYI, but all of us were now sitting at the airport. All was going well until lunch, which was at an Italian restaurant. Lunch didn’t happen until 1pm and was to only last one hour. It lasted two because half the group took forever. Not a problem until the office reps told the driver we have to call them immediately because they’re afraid we will miss our flight back. We had to call them during our tour while at Iao Valley. My husband barely got to see the valley. In summary, they told us that we’d have to be picked up early to not miss our 7:30PM flight because they can’t move our departure flight. Further, their reasoning for this out of the blue issue is that they didn’t account for construction traffic near the Kahului airport. It’s been going on daily for how long, but no...totally didn’t consider that when booking our flight. Sooooo the rest of the tour group got to sit on the bus for almost an hour while we waited for another bus to come pick us up and take us to the airport 3hrs before our flight. Yup. True story. Everyone was super excited about that. And that’s the story about how our $500 per person day trip turned into a half trip and planning consultation. We booked this tour so we wouldn’t have to deal with coordination, but ended up dealing with it anyway. Would have just been better off (and cheaper) booking our own flights and renting a car.

<p>Judy the tour guide was great. Very efficient and informative. Very enjoyable trip,</p>

<p>I love Maui and this is my favorite island of Hawaii.. the day tour was excellent !! tour guide was very good</p>

<p>This was the most amazing trip. It covered all areas of Maui. Was picked up on time and dropped off. Our tour guide knew everything about Maui (being a local) the bus was comfortable. I would thoroughly recommend this tour for anyone wanting to see these highlights of Maui.</p>

<p>The tour covered a lot of ground in Mauai. The road to Haleakalo was very long and windy, which should have been mentioned for those that get travel sickness. The lunch stop although the food was delicious, other options nearby could be mentioned as an alternative to a full expensive meal, with added in gratuities to the bill. The stop to Old Lahaina we wish had of been longer as this was a very pretty town with great shops.</p>

<p>The waterfall is a real let down after the excitement of flying over the volcano and seeing the flowing lava. The helicopter ride was cool and worth doing overall.</p>

<p>Half of the trip waste by lunch and sending some people back to their hotel. The 9 hours trip only 4 hours were worthy.</p>

<p>Highly recommend this tour. Our tour guide Judy was great, she was very knowledgeable. Maui is different from Waikiki, not as hectic, at a much slower pace. Beautiful surroundings.</p>

<p>Fantastic day. Cheryl our tour guide and driver was excellent.<br/> Sue</p>

<p>A wonderful well paced day. I was impressed with the efficiency, friendliness and detail that went into this day.</p>

<p>It was a boring trip ever we have made. To start with the bus to pick us up from the hotel was about 50 minutes late for scheduled time. Transfer to HNL airport was fine. Bus driver was informative and humorous. At airport the guy whio received was very old and should have rested at home with great grand kids rather than doing PR jobs. Very slow in walking and talking, atypical example of great grandpa.On arrival at Maui airport received by a lady who was not very friendly or informative. Brought us outside the airport to wait for the transport. We have to wait for about more than hour and half to get to the Van, without any proper explanation. The Van driver was stubborn and repeatedly turning down the requests by van passengers to turn down the thermostat of airconditioning. Most of the people were wearing shorts and Ts and were not tolerating the airconditioning. Made several requests to turn down the AC but doing for 10-15 minutes and then bringing back to full AC. The itenerary of the trip was also not very fun. We were hoping for a round of going to world famous Maui beaches but it was not included in the trip. Essentially we did not have fun or entertain ourselves. It was a boring iteneray ever we had. Itwas awaste of our money and time. We would never recommend this itenerary to anybody.</p>

<p>I have been coming to Hawaii every year for 24 years. This tour was the absolute worst tour I have ever been on. Ron our guide had a lot of knowledge but was so boring it was all we could do to stay awake. The bus was full when he picked us up at the airport, and the seat I had to sit in all day had the tire hump in the floor. It was extremely uncomfortable. I would never recommend this trip and will never book with your company again. After we left the tour everyone that we spoke with had the same opinion we had. Maybe Ron needs to retire!!!</p>

<p>A very long days travel from Oahu to Maui with an early morning start. A lot of time is spent traveling on the bus between points when we did arrive in Maui. Haleakala Crater was good, be sure to bring a Jacket/Sweater as it is pretty cold up there compared to being at sea level. Our guide/bus driver was informative but could have been a bit more enthusiastic. Would recommend only if you have nothing better to do.</p>

<p>Very well organized and stunning views. Trip was a little too long to stay in the bus.</p>

<p>Long day but fantastic. Randy our guide made our day fun and added a special touch with his added duty of photographer. We have some lovely photos to remember this magic day.</p>

<p>Enjoyed the trip with only a small group, a good way to see another island when time is short.</p>

<p>This was an excellent tour in a small mini-bus. The scenery is fantastic - from the crater of Haleakala at over 10,000 feet to the lush Iao valley. The driver/guide was excellent. We had plenty of time in Lahaina by ourselves and a big plus was that the guide stopped at an overlook where we could see whales spouting in the channel and the sun setting into the ocean.</p>

<p>Great day. Lots of great views. Excellent guide. Lots of history and stories.</p>

<p>A very enjoyale day, the driver was very polite and exceptionally knowledgeable and was very easy to understand/..</p>

<p>Our tour guide was quite knowledgeable yet very depressing to listen to, with frequent references to death and destruction. Not quite what we were looking for.</p>

<p>it rained and not much to see! shld have given us the Hana adventure..for the price! the driver drove fast along as it hurrying to finish and pack up n go home!</p>