We just enjoyed a beautiful morning with 16 of our friends and family being guided by Griff and his assistant Patrick. A fun paddle with Turtle sightings and interesting narration. When we got in the water we were treated to many fish in crystal clear water. The kids swam amongst turtles and swam through an underwater arch. I cannot state enough the OUTSTANDING service Griff and Patrick provided. They are both very kid friendly and attentive. This is a must for families on Maui!
Our second trip with Griff and awesome as always, big group with kids 7-14 years old. He is a great educator and guide. Kayaked a little, saw a dozen turtles and cool fish. Kids spent an hour daring each other to swim under the arch. Snacks were primo and a great time was had by all. Don’t miss it and stop by Mulligans at Blue Course for lunch on way home, also awesome:)
Had a great time on and in the water on a private kayak/snorkel trip with guide Michelle. She was very knowledgeable and strived to make our time on the water a most enjoyable and memorable one! We loved swimming with the turtles and exploring the reef–most of all I appreciate the mindful and respectful approach Aloha Kayaks practices making it a win win for all! Big Mahalo to Michelle–I look forward to returning for more adventures!!
My mom, brother, and I went on the Olowalu Ocean Experience kayaking trip with Peter. Peter was full of interesting information about Hawaiian history as well as tons of facts about the oceanlife. We spent the first part of the tour kayaking, learning about the area and looking for whales The second half was spent snorkelling. The area we snorkelled in was packed with turtles! When you get back into your kayak we were given snacks of fresh pineapple. My brother and I enjoyed our tour so much we then booked a scuba diving tour with Aloha. We were the only two people in the group and Peter made us feel extrememly at ease even though we both hadn’t scuba’d in over 10 years. We even saw a shark!
Went on the Olowalu kayak and snorkeling adventure. Great experience with lots of turtles, corals, and fish sightings. Our guide Griff was excellent and very attentive to my 11-year old, making sure she was safe at all times and enjoying the trip. Highly recommend them!
Wow. You must do Aloha Kayak Maui Whale & Turtle Watch & Snorkel tour. Did I say it was awesome? The best ever. I have been on many whale watch/snorkel trips on Maui, but nothing compares to doing it on a kayak. Aloha Kayaks Maui owners Griff & Peter were the best too. Friendly, Funny, Professional and definitely knowledgeable. We got information, not just about the whales and turtles, but about the history, geography, and culture of the area. Trip leaves from Olowalu and Makena. Griff changed our trip location because he knew from early morning forecasts that the wind conditions in the Makena area would be better for me as I am prone to seasickness. Not to fear though, everything was perfect. Saw a Mama Whale with her cub so close, and I had a race with a turtle [I won!]. Saw my first black polka dot blow fish too! I just loved this tour and Griff & Peter too! Go for it, you won’t be disappointed. P.S. I never get this excited about things.
We had a great morning with Griff. It turned out that it was just my hubby and I. We didn’t plan on doing the photo package, but since it was just us we decided to. We got some great photos, ones with the two of us in the kayak and swimming with turtles. Those are ones that will always remind us of our magical trip to Maui. We did the Olowalu trip where there were two other kayak trips taking off from the same beach. Griff did a great job of not following the crowd. The 2 groups went off one direction, Griff saw 2 whale sightings and went after the one everyone else didn’t. That was not the only sighting we saw. At one time we were surrounded by 3 separate groups of whales, one was even a young baby and her mama.
We sure chose a great company to spend 3.5 hours with. It was obvious from every contact that we had with the company from the registration to the thank you email we got the afternoon of our trip. We highly recommend them and would use them again if we are fortunate to return to Maui.
Mahalo Peter and Griff!
We had such a good time on the whale watching and snorkeling out of Makena that we went back a couple days later for the same kind of trip out of Olowalu. Thoroughly enjoyed both days! Griff is a wonderful guide – knows what he’s doing and makes the trip fun. Both locations were beautiful, but the snorkeling was more interesting at Olowalu, at least on the day we went. Lots of fish around the reef and a few more turtles. We saw whales on both trips and it was amazing to see them from the kayak. You don’t need to be an expert on the kayak to do this. When the wind kicked up, it took a little extra effort, but it was never hard to stay in control. Highly recommend seeing the ocean and whales this way!
What a fabulous morning! The day was beautiful. The kayaks were perfectly outfitted. And, much to our satisfaction, we were surrounded by singing whales. We snorkeled in deep clear water. The reef in full color, beautiful tropical fish and green sea turtles. Our guide was the best! He is incredibly knowledgable and has a talent for sharing his love of Hawaiian waters.
Had an amazing time today kayaking and snorkeling with Aloha Kayaks today. Peter, our guide, was knowledgeable and friendly. He guided us to a place where sea turtles typically congregate to clean themselves, and sure enough I saw six in one spot while snorkeling. He also took us further out to sea where we saw plenty of whales. The highlight was when we were kayaking right above a whale that was singing underwater. When the whale surfaced he was maybe 40 feet from our kayak. Truly an amazing experience! Obviously the nature here on Maui gets a lot of the credit, but we never would have had this experience had we not taken this excursion with Aloha kayaks.
Our family of four, including two young children, booked a private tour with Aloha Kayaks and we had an absolutely marvelous time! We booked by telephone and received an email confirmation with good instructions on what to bring and how to get to the location. (Be sure to read their instructions in case your GPS doesn’t guide you all the way).
Our guide was Michelle and she was friendly, well-informed, and very professional. Check-in was easy and after a thorough orientation, Michelle brought our double kayaks down to the beach for us and helped us launch into the water. We were lucky to have great weather conditions and spotted various groups of humpback whales out on the water: breaching, spouting, diving and even swimming towards us! Our guide was patient with our novice abilities and kept us entertained with lots of facts and stories. When we were satisfied with our whale watching, she led us closer to shore where we visited “Turtle Town”. Large sea turtles could be observed resting on the reef and swimming leisurely while dozens of eager tourists ogled them by paddleboard or snorkel. Michelle anchored our kayaks and made certain that we could get off and on our kayaks safely for our snorkeling adventure. We also received complementary water bottles and snacks too!
Overall, the location, organization, and guide all deserve top marks. We hope to re-visit this tour on our next Maui trip!
Highly, highly recommend Aloha Kayaks Maui – if you are going to snorkel on Maui, this is the way to do it! This was our 3rd trip out with Aloha Kayaks Maui and it was equally fantastic to the 1st 2 times. Griff was our guide and, as with previous trips, he lead a great trip – although we opted to do the same tour (Makena) as in past years, Griff made sure to provide us with new information and took us to locations that were new to us. It was just my husband and I with Griff and the tour felt personalized to our experience and interests. Griff is a very knowledgeable and engaging guide, providing excellent information and showing us incredible ocean life – so many sea turtles, beautiful coral, gorgeous fish! We always come away from these trips feeling more acquainted with the island and the waters here.
The excursion was the highlight of a week’s stay on Maui. The amount of sea life we saw, which included several sea turtles, was awesome. Our guide was the best. We snorkeled in two locations. We did not want to get off the water. It was that good. For an extra fee the guide even took photos with an underwater camera. They offer a repeat discount. We can’t wait to go back!
What an experience! Kayaking amongst whales with just the two of us and a friendly and knowledgeable tour guide at our own pace was an experience we won’t soon forget! Would definitely recommend doing a private tour if possible so you can set the pace and have one on one time with the tour guides.
We have gone out with Aloha Kayaks every year for about five years. All of the guides are great, and we have always had a memorable experience. Sometimes we see a hundred spinner dolphins, sometimes turtles, and other times it’s all about the whales. However, Makena is becoming quite popular as a launching area, so the water can get crowded in high season. Also, the snorkeling wasn’t great during this trip due to low viz, so we decided to change things up by booking a private tour with Griff for our party of three, and it was definitely worth paying a little more.
First of all, we launched a little later, which meant that other groups were already well out to sea and returned to shore long before us. For about 90 minutes, we had the water almost to ourselves, so no bunching up around the whales. Second, since we were all experienced paddlers, we were able to cover a lot of distance to find some active whales. The private tour is also custom–as long as your own group can agree (!), you can make the trip be whatever you want it to be. We had the excellent luck to encounter a lone male who sang so loudly that we could easily hear his song from atop the kayaks. He would sing for about 15 minutes, surface three times, and then dive to sing some more. We decided to skip the snorkeling and hang out for an hour listening and watching this one male in silence. Griff was both knowledgeable and accommodating–he seemed as excited as we were about our soloist and totally OK with paddling when we wanted to move, answering questions, or hanging out quietly in one place if we found something amazing.
So if you’ve got a group or family with similar interests and comparable appetites for paddling/exercise, consider taking it to the next level on a private tour with Aloha.
My husband and I did a private tour with Peter this morning and had a great time. Two days ago we sadly lost our dog unexpectedly while she was with the sitter. This obviously has put a huge damper on our trip. We didn’t enjoy ourselves very much the first few days, and the tour this morning was just what we needed to distract ourselves. It’s put me in a much better mood today, so hopefully the trip won’t be a complete bust.
Anyway, the tour was great. Peter was incredibly knowledgeable about Hawaiian culture and the local marine life. We learned so much about humpback whales especially. Speaking of which, we saw several! Peter said he hadn’t seen any yet this season (although many others had) and made sure our expectations weren’t too high. We saw two different whales on three different occasions. So cool!
Then we spent the last half hour snorkeling near Po’olenalena beach. We saw about four sea turtles, an eel and many different types of fish. I appreciated Peter’s thorough explanation of all the various fish we were seeing.
I highly recommend the private tour. I’ve done a few group tours in Hawaii and Australia and they were not nearly as enjoyable as this. It was nice not to be bumping into a bunch of other people while snorkeling, and we actually got to hear our guide and ask plenty of questions.
We’ll definitely book with Aloha Kayaks again!
Really can’t recommend these guys highly enough. We’ve been to Maui each of the last two years, and used them for kayaking/snorkeling tours both years. Although we had very different conditions each time — two different guides, different weather, different animals spotted (once just fish, once whales, sea turtles, and even a dolphin) — both experiences were fantastic thanks to their friendly, knowledgeable, laid back style. They teach about the island, the sea and the history of Maui and Hawaii, make you feel safe at all times, and ensure you have a great time. Try them, you won’t be sorry.
This was by far the best kayak trip we have experienced. We paddled out shortly after sunrise to see a mother whale and her calf surfacing. It was beautiful! Then, it just got better. More whales appeared as if on cue. The large animals are so graceful, and seeing them atop a sea kayak is something we’ll never forget. On our way back, we stopped for a snorkel and saw multiple sea turtles as surgeon fish cleaned their shells. Our guide Jaime was incredible, welcoming and eager to teach our small group about the beauty of the wildlife we were witnessing. If you love the outdoors, enjoy snorkeling and are willing to put in some paddle power, this is a trip you won’t want to miss.
We really enjoyed seeing the whales from the kayaks as opposed to a motorized boat. You could hear the whales from a long distance as they exhaled through their blow holes. We also saw lots of whales breaching the surface and their tails as they dove down again. During the snorkeling part of the trip we saw a couple of sea turtles, which was also a neat experience. Our guide was great and very knowledgeable. We would definitely recommend this tour.
When you are planning activities for your vacation from thousands of miles away, it’s hard to know which companies are going to be as good as their advertising. I spent time doing a lot of research and even then you have to just hope for the best, right? Well, I am not one that posts reviews often, but I had to make sure that I did for Aloha Kayaks Maui. It was the most fun, beautiful, and memorable experience of our trip! Our family of 4 had never kayaked before, and our guide Michelle made us feel safe and comfortable. Kayaking was a blast, and the snorkeling near Makena Beach was incredible. The sea turtles are so peaceful and majestic – we could have just watched them all day, not to mention all the beautiful fish! We actually had our outing scheduled for a previous day, but Griff, the tour guide that day didn’t feel that there was optimal conditions for kayaking. While we were of course a little disappointed, we were mostly grateful for his integrity to ensure that our experience would be a great one. We are still squealing about how amazing this morning was with Michelle and Aloha Kayaks Maui and they will be the first group we contact when we come back to Maui! Mahalo!! We are so very grateful!!! : )
I’ve taken a lot of kayak and paddle board tours on Maui, but these guys are the best! Their guides are so knowledgeable and engaging. We saw so much whale action and I’ll never forget it- it was incredible! Not to mention snorkeling with the turtles- our guide got some really rad pictures of us with the turtles. You also learn a lot about everything you see. It was an awesome experience from beginning to end.
It doesn’t matter if you are coming to Maui for the first time or if you live here, this tour is worth coming on. Plus you get to eat a pineapple at the end 🙂 thanks for the awesome time, Aloha Kayaks Maui!
My guide, Peter, has an excellent knowledge of the island, the sea, the reefs, and the sport. He took me on a stand up paddle board, and with a few pointers, I was up and paddling. We paddled toward a reef where there were several sea turtles and other sea life. WHICH. WAS. AMAZING. His professionalism is unparalleled, yet he is super approachable and grounded with a great sense of humor. If you’re looking for a kayak or SUP tour company that will give the best attention to the guests, spend a little more time touring, and make sure you’re having the time of your life, book with these guys.
We had a fantastic tour this morning with Griff, our excellent guide. We all met at Makena Landing where Griff explained to us the mornings schedule and also how it’s important to preserve the fragile ocean ecosystem. He made sure we all got into the water safely and answered all of our questions. He’s an EXCELLENT tour guide.
It was a beautiful day for kayaking and snorkeling and we had an amazing time. This was my second trip back with Aloha Kayaks Maui and we will definitely be back again. Thank you for everything and we will be recommending you to all of our friends.
We took the Deluxe Makena Turtle Snorkel Tour and we were the only two that booked that day, so we had the tour guide, Griff, all to ourselves. In a word, it was amazing!! Griff was way cool, very knowledgeable about the history of Hawaii, the sea life and the ocean itself. We saw some amazing things – an 8-foot Manta Ray, breaching the water just about 25 yards away! We joined a pod of about a dozen dolphins and paddled with them for about 45 minutes. Then, we went snorkeling and saw many sea turtles. The trip was stunningly beautiful and quite spiritual. I would DEFINITELY use this company again. I can’t say enough about it – one of my favorite memories of Maui.
What a fantastic morning!!! Beautiful, magnificent, competent, confident, safe, secure, pleasant personalities….. As you can tell a simply terrific experience. Whales! turtles!! Beautiful fish – Mother Nature at her best- with wonderful guide full of information. Highly highly recommend to visitors to Maui!
Wow haven’t been kayaking in a while forgot how it felt to be in open water ,our tour guide was Jason his stories were great well not stories more like history of the island it was great that he taught us things about Hawaii that we didn’t know , we were in Makena Beach if you want to see turtles definitely the place to go and I would also recommend you go to Jason you will definitely have a good time
Our family took the trip out of Makena and had a great time with our guide Patrick. Will use them again on our return to Maui. Highest recommendation.
Great tour of Olowalu Beach. I took my wife and kids and had a blast. The guide was very informative and had great stories about the island and its history. Definitely would do this tour again.
I never typically write reviews but this experience is worth writing about. The guides were phenomenal! I have a daughter who had never done snorkeling before and the guides took their time to help her to ensure her enjoyment. It also made the experience great for my wife and I.
I definitely recommend this company!
A perfect day out on the water with Peter including whales, turtles, and great storytelling! Fun, safe and engaging, I only hope we’ll be back soon.
Snorkeling is now my new favorite water activity because of Aloha Kayaks Maui!
I registered for the Olowalu Beach kayak/snorkel tour through the AKM website. I was impressed with how organized and easy the process was. We arrived early the day-of to meet our tour guide. My husband and I were the only people who signed up for the Olowalu Beach 7:15 a.m. tour that day. So our group was just the two of us and the guide — what a pleasant surprise!
All throughout the tour, our tour guide Griff did a great job explaining everything we needed to know — how to maneuver the kayak, what we were seeing in the water, Maui’s history. He was very knowledgeable, and we learned more about Hawaii from him than anyone else we met during our trip!
He knew of a location in which sea turtles frequented, so we kayaked out to that area, anchored the boats, and we snorkeled there. I was a little bummed that the turtles stayed near the ocean floor during our snorkeling, but of course they have a mind of their own. Griff joked that, “I think she’s addicted.” I had a great time snorkeling!
We enjoyed the AKM tour so much that we rented snorkel equipment later during our trip to go snorkeling again near our hotel.
Thanks to AKM for helping me discover my love of snorkeling! This was a big highlight of our trip, and it was such a fun and exciting way to spend the morning. I would recommend AKM to anyone in Maui looking for an unforgettable ocean experience.
Aloha Kayaks saved our day! We had booked a trip with a different company that never showed up, and when Peter saw us wandering around looking lost, he let my boyfriend and I tag along with their group! I really think it worked out for the best, because the whole experience was wonderful. The guides were friendly and informative, telling us history of the island, the Hawaiian language, and information on different types of sea life. We even got to see dolphins!
The area we snorkeled at was BEAUTIFUL! The water was clear as could be; we got to see so many colorful fish, eels, and even turtles. The fresh pineapple after we got out of the water was the perfect treat to get the taste of salt out of our mouths.
We highly recommend this company to anyone looking for an awesome morning adventure! Thanks again guys for the awesome experience
We had an amazing trip with Griff this morning! We have been coming to Maui for many years, and this was our first time on a Kayak whale watch. Now we want to make it part of every future trip we go on! We joined a group tour and there was only one other boat plus the guide, so it was really nice to have such a small group. We couldn’t ask for a more perfect, sunny and calm day. We estimated seeing at least 20 distinct whales, and many of them multiple times. Some were pretty close to our boats, which was incredible. Griff was an excellent guide- we learned a ton about Hawaiian history, the geography of the islands, and about the animals that inhabit it. The snorkeling was also wonderful! It was super clear, and there were tons of turtles. We couldn’t recommend the experience or the company more.
Best decision we ever made. Our guide was Griff and he was friendly and knowledgable. We helped us both in and out of our kayaks, knew all the different types of fish we were seeing and gave us some background in Hawaiian Culture. It was more than just kayaking. Since the ocean and its wild life are unpredictable you can’t really going into it expecting to see anything. However, we got lucky. About 15-30 minutes into our trip we ran into a pod of dolphins. We spent 10-15 minutes jut floating as they swam around us. From there we kept kayaking and anchored where we saw more fish and sea turtles.
Long story short, if you are looking for something fun, exciting and unpredictable – book with Aloha Kayaks MAUI. You won’t be disappointed.
I’m a really cheap person so someone like me would usually pay for the $75 kayak tours instead of $85 (aloha kayaks), and if I’m going to pay $10 more i do a lot of research to see if it’s worth it, and it’s worth!! My experience with aloha kayaks was SOOOO awesome even though I got seasick and threw up the delicious pineapples i ate (that says a lot about how awesome the experience was). We had Jamie as a tour guide and he was really knowledgeable, considerate, and caring. He brought us to mind blowing places that were away from those loud boats. A sea turtle actually approached me and touched me, it was terrifying (but cool). I actually don’t know how to tread water and it was my first time snorkeling so jamie was very good at making sure i was feeling alright. For people who are horrified at the thought of floating around in the ocean, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. If we had a guide that didn’t pay attention to the newbies and whether they were okay, an hour in I probably would’ve jumped off the kayak, try to swim back to shore and drown on the way there. I was feeling really sick, but Jamie was a good sport and asked if everyone else was okay with going back to shore and luckily, I wasn’t the only one feeling awful so he brought us back early. From my research, you run the risk of getting cheaper gear and a not so attentive guide on the cheaper tours. So for first timers, aloha kayaks is a great option to gain your confidence for being in the ocean, and I’m sure experienced kayakers will have fun too!
We saw whales, sea turtles and a great variety of fish. My daughters were new to sea kayaking and had a fantastic time. Jason, our guide, had the right balance of safety, fun and local history.
We booked our trip from the website in the US and had a great experience. Weather looked like it might be an issue and the team called the night before and offered to switch locations for departure. While it was rainy and windy elsewhere we had a near perfect day.
Had two trips with Michelle last week. Michelle is great – lots of information, quick with the camera, scouts out the turtles and whales while being very respectful of their environment. I am disabled and can’t row so we chose her as a guide for just our kayak with only Rob rowing in our boat. Between the two of them, it was possible for me to have an exciting adventure. Recommending this company!!
This was the highlight of our trip to Maui. Griff was amazing and patient with first time kayakers and snorkelers. He took us to secluded spots away from the bigger boats where it was just our small group. The turtles were about 2-3 feet away from us. He was also knowledgeable about the whale movements and we were fortunate enough to that close encounters with the whale kind. 2 humpbacks went gliding past under our kayaks.
He also told us a lot about the history and beliefs of the native Hawaiian people and what whales and turtles meant to them.
After all that kayaking and snorkeling, the fresh pineapple was a welcome snack while you are still in the ocean.
They are a small company but it looks like they really care about the tourists and first timers. I will be recommending them to my friends who want to kayak and snorkel in Maui.