Up the volcano at dawn, into the crater by boat.
Which Molokini boat goes out early enough to beat the wind. Whether the Hana road is worth a twelve-hour day with a driver. What a Haleakala sunrise costs once the park reservation is somebody else’s problem. Reviews of every tour you can book on Maui.
Four days a first week on Maui is built around.
The drive, the sunrise, a morning in the pineapple fields and a night on the lawn at a luau. Each one priced, with what the people who went say.
01The Hana marathonSmall-Group Road to Hana Adventure Tour with Pickup & LunchFifty-odd bridges, most of them one lane, and the waterfalls between them, with someone else watching the bends. Lunch and pickup included.
02Summit before sunriseHaleakala Sunrise Spectacular with Local BreakfastBreakfast after the sun comes up over the crater rim. The van carries the park permit, so there is no reservation scramble.
03The easy morningMaui Pineapple Farm Tour in HaliimaileA working pineapple farm on the slopes above Haliimaile, and a fruit to take home at the end of it.
04Luau on night oneMaui Nui Luau at the Sheraton Maui Resort & SpaA resort lawn on Kaanapali Beach, an imu-cooked dinner and a fire knife dance after dark.
Molokini, Turtle Town or the whale channel: choose your Maui boat.
Most Maui mornings are spent on a deck. Four kinds of trip, what each one costs to board, and the season it belongs to.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · Maui Snorkeling Adventure to Molokini and Turtle Town · from $159
Molokini craterA sunken volcano rim with visibility past a hundred feet on a calm morning.
Turtle TownGreen sea turtles grazing the reef off Makena, close to shore.
Whale channelDecember to April in the channel between Maui, Lanai and Molokai.
Sunset sailsA catamaran off Kaanapali or Maalaea as the light goes orange.
All 101 Maui snorkel trips →
Maui’s most popular days out.
All Maui reviews, ranked →The trips more visitors take than anything else on the island, from the Hana road to the Molokini boats.
1
Small-Group Road to Hana Adventure Tour with Pickup & Lunch
Spend 8 to 11 hours on Maui’s Road to Hana in an air-conditioned vehicle with a guide and a group of no more than 15. Stops may include Ho’okipa Beach, Pua’a Ka’a, Wai’anapanapa’s black sand shore, Ke‘anae, and Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread. Breakfast and lunch are included, but some roadside stops are optional or made on request.
From · $209
Read our review →
2
Maui Pineapple Farm Tour in Haliimaile
from $99
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
Hana by the coast road, Haleakala by the switchbacks.
East Maui is two long days. The Hana Highway winds through rainforest and over one-lane bridges to black sand at Waianapanapa. Haleakala climbs to ten thousand feet, where sunrise is cold enough for a borrowed parka. These three carry the most travellers.
West side, south side, the long road east, or a boat to Lanai.
Kaanapali and Kapalua for calm resort water, Kihei and Wailea for the Molokini boats, Hana for the rainforest, the summit for the sky. Plus the two islands across the channel.
Maui water in the morning, upcountry Maui after lunch.
Most days the trades build from late morning, the channel chops up and the snorkel boats head home. That is when the slopes earn their turn: lavender and pineapple farms in Kula and Haliimaile, a zipline over a gulch, a cacao tasting in the shade.
Three Maui things you will not find on the other islands.
Every Hawaiian island has beaches. Only this one has a summit crater you drive into, the densest winter crowd of humpbacks in the islands, and pineapple still growing on the volcano’s flank.
Haleakala Crater
The summit sits a little over ten thousand feet up, and the crater below it is big enough to swallow Manhattan. Sunrise draws the crowds, so the park caps private cars with a reservation system; the tour vans hold their own permits. Bring a real jacket. It is often near freezing up there before dawn.
- 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
The Humpback Channel
Thousands of humpbacks swim down from Alaska each winter to calve in the shallow water between Maui, Lanai and Molokai. The sanctuary season runs roughly December to April, and in January and February the breaches come so often that boats cut their engines and just drift.
- 1Maui Eco-Raft Tour: Eye-Level Whale or Dolphin Watching – Lahaina★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,482 reviews
- 2Whale Watching Tour Aboard the Quicksilver★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,461 reviews
- 3Ultimate Whale Watch from Lahaina★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,162 reviews
Pineapple and Cacao Farms
The old plantation country above Haliimaile still grows pineapple, and the guided walk ends with one in your hands. Over on the west side the Ku’ia estate grows cacao in rows under the mountains and turns it into chocolate on site.
- 1Maui Pineapple Farm Tour in Haliimaile★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,855 reviews
- 2Maui Ku’ia Estate Guided Cacao Farm Tour and Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,103 reviews
- 3Road to Hana Adventure with Farm to Table Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 877 reviews
Four Maui bookings to lock in before the flight.
Most of the island can be arranged the evening before from a lanai chair. These four run on park permits, whale calendars and seat maps that fill weeks out.
- 01Haleakala Sunrise Spectacular with Local BreakfastPrivate cars need a park sunrise reservation, released up to sixty days out and gone in minutes. A permitted tour carries its own.
- 02Whale Watching Tour Aboard the QuicksilverHumpbacks are here from about December to April. Peak-season departures in January and February sell out first.
- 03Maui Snorkeling Adventure to Molokini and Turtle TownThe crater is calmest before the trade winds rise, so the early boats are the ones worth having, and they fill first.
- 04Maui Nui Luau at the Sheraton Maui Resort & SpaResort luaus seat a fixed number each night, and the rows nearest the stage are sold as their own tier.
Maui prices, from a whale watch to a helicopter.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Hawaii is not cheap, but a good Maui morning can still come in under the price of a resort lunch.
Whale watches from Maalaea, a butterfly farm, beach photo sessions and an airport lei greeting.
Turtle Town snorkels, surf lessons, farm tours and the two-hour Molokini express boats.
Hana by van with lunch, Haleakala sunrise, helicopters, luaus and the full-day snorkel sails.
Kaanapali, Molokini, Hana, the summit: how a first Maui week runs.
Road to Hana
Haleakala
Upcountry
LanaiBy shore - Maui and across the channel
By kind of day - reef, road, sky or lawn
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