Maui is booked before you land. Here is what to book.
Which Molokini boat sails early enough to beat the trade winds. What a seat on the Road to Hana really costs. Whether the summit sunrise earns a three in the morning alarm. Reviews of every tour you can book on Maui.
Four Maui mornings, in the order most people book them.
The crater, the coast road, the summit and the winter whales. What each one costs and how early it really starts.
01The crater morningMaui Snorkeling Adventure to Molokini and Turtle TownMolokini first, Turtle Town on the way back. The boats leave Maalaea around seven because the wind gets up by noon.
02The coast roadSmall-Group Road to Hana Adventure Tour with Pickup & LunchSomeone else drives the 600 curves and the 50-odd one-lane bridges, and you get out at the waterfalls instead of hunting for parking.
03The summit alarmHaleakala Sunrise Spectacular with Local BreakfastAbove the cloud line at 10,000 feet, in a jacket, in Hawaii. Pickups run in the small hours and the park caps who gets in.
04Winter whalesMaui Eco-Raft Tour: Eye-Level Whale or Dolphin Watching – LahainaHumpbacks fill the Auau Channel between December and April. A raft puts you at eye level rather than three decks up.
Molokini, Turtle Town or the whale channel. Pick the boat first.
Nearly every good Maui morning starts at a harbour. Four kinds of day on the water, what it costs to board each one, and which coast it sails from.
Lahaina, Kihei, Wailea, Kaanapali: the drive decides the day.
Maui has one road around each mountain and traffic on both. Pick the shore you sleep on and start with the days that leave from it.
The Road to Hana and Haleakala are day trips, not detours.
Both eat a whole day and both punish improvisation. Hana is 600 curves each way with nowhere to turn around; the summit road climbs to 10,000 feet and the park now takes bookings for sunrise. Ride with someone who drives it weekly.
The Maui days more travellers book than any other.
Every Maui tour we have reviewed →Farm gates, crater boats, the coast road and the summit. The eight that carry the most travellers, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
Maui Pineapple Farm Tour in Haliimaile
At the Maui Pineapple Store in Haliimaile, a local guide takes you by mini coach through working fields and the packing facility. You’ll learn how Maui Gold pineapples grow, taste fruit at several stages, and leave with an airport-ready pineapple. Guides such as Shilo, Colton, Brian, and Rudy have earned especially warm praise.
From · $99
Read our review →
2
Small-Group Road to Hana Adventure Tour with Pickup & Lunch
from $209
3
Maui Eco-Raft Tour: Eye-Level Whale or Dolphin Watching – Lahaina
from $85
4
Maui Snorkeling Adventure to Molokini and Turtle Town
from $159
5
Haleakala Sunrise Spectacular with Local Breakfast
from $254
6
Maui Snorkeling Adventure From Ma’alaea Harbor to Molokini
from $185
7
Turtle Town Snorkel with Photo and Video
from $129
8
Road to Hana Adventure Maui Tour with Lunch
from $276
Above the clouds: sunrise, a downhill bike and 45 minutes over the cliffs.
Everything at the summit →
The crater is 10,023 feet up and roughly 30 degrees colder than the beach you left. Sunrise entry is capped and reserved; the same road makes a long coasting descent, and the helicopters go where no road reaches at all.
Sunrise, or go up for sunset instead
Sunrise slots are reserved and the pickups start around two in the morning. Sunset needs no reservation, costs the same to look at and lets you sleep.
Coasting the summit road
A van carries you and the bike up, then you ride 20-odd miles of switchbacks down through the eucalyptus to sea level. Guided groups brake more than self-guided ones.
West Maui and the Molokai cliffs
The valleys behind Wailuku and the sea cliffs on Molokai are the tallest in the world and there is no trail to either. Doors-off runs cost more and blow harder.
Maui reef, in the two hours before the wind arrives.
The water off Makena and Kaanapali is clear early and milky by afternoon. Boats time it that way on purpose. Turtles work the lava shelf, the crater rim holds butterflyfish by the hundred, and the drop-offs at Lanai are for tanks.
What a day out on Maui actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Maui is not a cheap island, but the gap between a shore snorkel and a private Hana van is bigger than most people expect.
Lei greetings at Kahului, self-guided audio drives, shore snorkel gear and the standing whale boats out of Maalaea.
Group surf lessons, the zipline courses, farm and chocolate tastings, luau seats and most half-day crater boats.
Full-day Hana vans, summit sunrise pickups, helicopters and the private charters that turn a boat into your boat.
Three things that only happen on Maui.
Reef and rainforest exist all over the Pacific. A crater you snorkel inside, a coast road with 59 one-lane bridges, and a summit above the weather do not.
Molokini Crater
Three miles off the south shore, a crescent of volcanic rim breaks the surface and shelters the water inside it from the open channel. Nothing grows on the rock and nothing runs off it, so visibility inside the arc regularly passes 100 feet. The state protects it, boats moor rather than anchor, and the crossing takes about 45 minutes from Maalaea.
- 1Maui Snorkeling Adventure to Molokini and Turtle Town★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,221 reviews
- 2Maui Snorkeling Adventure From Ma’alaea Harbor to Molokini★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,997 reviews
- 3Maui South Coast and Molokini Crater Adventure from Kihei★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,575 reviews
The Road to Hana
Fifty-two miles of highway that take four hours each way: 600 curves, 59 bridges and most of them one lane wide, with a queue of rental cars behind every stop. The rain forest starts about 20 minutes in and does not let up. Guides know which pullouts hold the waterfalls and which are somebody’s driveway.
- 1Small-Group Road to Hana Adventure Tour with Pickup & Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,637 reviews
- 2Road to Hana Adventure Maui Tour with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,832 reviews
- 3Famous Road to Hana Waterfalls and Lunch by Mercedes Van★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,129 reviews
The Haleakala Summit
The road climbs from sea level to 10,023 feet in 38 miles, which is the fastest paved ascent on earth. At the top the air holds about 70 per cent of the oxygen you are used to and the sunrise comes up through cloud that is below you. The park caps sunrise entry and takes reservations for it.
- 1Haleakala Sunrise Spectacular with Local Breakfast★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,155 reviews
- 2Haleakala 6 Line Zipline Adventure★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 913 reviews
- 3Haleakala Sunrise Best Self-Guided Bike Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 745 reviews
Four Maui bookings that will not wait for you to land.
Plenty of this island can be sorted from a beach chair the day before. These four run on park permits, morning tides and a fixed number of seats, and they are gone first in summer and over the winter holidays.
- 01Haleakala Sunrise Spectacular with Local BreakfastThe park caps sunrise entry and sells reservations in a window that opens 60 days out. Tour seats go the same way.
- 02Maui Snorkeling Adventure to Molokini and Turtle TownThe crater boats leave at first light because the trade winds close it in by early afternoon, so there are only so many morning berths.
- 03Maui Nui Luau at the Sheraton Maui Resort & SpaEach resort runs one seating a night and the good tables sell out weeks ahead in high season.
- 04Road to Hana Luxury Limo-Van Tour with Helicopter FlightSix seats a flight, weather cancellations get rebooked ahead of you, and the doors-off runs go first.
Maui afternoons belong to the wind. Plan the second half inland.
The trade winds build through the middle of the day and the south-shore water goes from glass to chop by about one o’clock. Boats know it, which is why they sail at seven. Give the afternoon to the upcountry farms, a class, a long lunch and something with a roof.
Lahaina and the Kaanapali coast are back on the water.
The old whaling town took the worst of the 2023 fire and the boats now run from Lahaina harbour again. North of it the beach reef starts a few strokes offshore, and the road past Kapalua narrows to one lane against the cliff.
Every West Maui day out →
By shore — where the boat or the van leaves from
By kind of day — water, road, summit or table
Land at Kahului, sleep south, and let the wind set the running order.
KahuluiThe newest Maui tour reviews.
More Maui reviews, just added →
Kahului Airport: Maui Flower Lei Greeting Upon Arrival
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Semi Private Stand Up Paddle Boarding (SUP) Class at Kalama Beach in Kihei
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Private Beginner Paddleboard Lesson with Snorkel in Turtle Town
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Eco Sea Scooter Guided Beach Tour From The Famous Kapalua Bay
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The Best 2.5 Hour Molokini Snorkel Tour & Whale Watch
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Road to Hana Small-Group, Waterfalls, Black Sand Beach & Pickup
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The best half day of your life! Luxury Road to Hana private tour
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