Valley Isle Excursions - "Road to Hana" and "Iao Valley, Upcountry, Haleakala"

We are going on the Pride of America and have booked the Road to Hana with Valley Isle Excursions. They also have another tour we were considering for our second day. It covers Iao Valley, Upcountry, and Haleakala Volcano.

Has anyone done both of these tours? We will not be renting a car. My only concern is that the tours would be too similar in nature? We know the lunch provided will be identical and we are fine with that. :)

Thanks for any input.

We are going on the Pride of America and have booked the Road to Hana with Valley Isle Excursions. They also have another tour we were considering for our second day. It covers Iao Valley, Upcountry, and Haleakala Volcano.

Has anyone done both of these tours? We will not be renting a car. My only concern is that the tours would be too similar in nature? We know the lunch provided will be identical and we are fine with that. :)

Thanks for any input.

We only took their tour for the Road to Hana which was wonderful. The mini vans they use are comfortable and our driver was very knowledgeable. We enjoyed it immensely. We did the Haleakala sunrise tour through NCL and it's a different road you take than the road to Hana. I can't say how similar they would be but to me driving up to Hana was lush with more vegetation; after Hana you had more desert like scenery. Going to Haleakala, the road is serpentine and it's drier with less vegetation because of the altitude but the views are spectacular up there. I can't speak of the other locations. Hope it helps you in your decision making.

We are going on the Pride of America and have booked the Road to Hana with Valley Isle Excursions. They also have another tour we were considering for our second day. It covers Iao Valley, Upcountry, and Haleakala Volcano.

Has anyone done both of these tours? We will not be renting a car. My only concern is that the tours would be too similar in nature? We know the lunch provided will be identical and we are fine with that.

The road to Hana is nothing like the tour you are considering on the second day. We note you will not be renting a car, but we have to point out you can easily do everything mentioned at your own pace and a lot more reasonably if you would consider renting a car for that second day.

Thank you both for your input. Looking forward to our first visit even though it's still months away. :)

Worth nothing that the two days you have proposed doesn’t leave any time for the beach of which Maui has some spectacular ones. As mentioned before, you’ll cover a lot more ground and types of foliage/scenery on the Hana trip so aside from getting so altitude on Haleakala might suggest keeping the Hana tour and using day 2 for some relaxing beach time in Kaanapali or Wailea.

We are going on the Pride of America and have booked the Road to Hana with Valley Isle Excursions. They also have another tour we were considering for our second day. It covers Iao Valley, Upcountry, and Haleakala Volcano.

Has anyone done both of these tours? We will not be renting a car. My only concern is that the tours would be too similar in nature? We know the lunch provided will be identical and we are fine with that. :)

Thanks for any input.

i have done the RTH with Valley Isle Excursions and they did an excellent job in a very comfortable van.

Both tours would involve a lot of “riding”, but they are not similar IMO based on my own driving to both places.

Not that it matters to you, but I do not see how the lunches could be identical. I would think it is two different places/areas. They might stop at the same place for breakfast.

We aren't really beach people, but it certainly is something to consider. :)

I believe that both tours have a "picnic" lunch of chicken/salads etc - all on real dishes so as not to leave any litter.

Thank you to everyone who has responded.

We aren't really beach people, but it certainly is something to consider. :)

I believe that both tours have a "picnic" lunch of chicken/salads etc - all on real dishes so as not to leave any litter.

 

Thank you to everyone who has responded.

Yeah, the lunch might be the same food. On the RTH we stopped at a Tropical Garden for lunch. We did sit at Picnic Tables outside. It was a nice setting near the road. I think about it every time I drive by on the RTH.

We have just gotten back from out NCL cruise and we did both of these tours (sort of). The time we were in Maui, it rained for both days. Our first day Road to Hana tour was cut short due to a rockslide halfway to Hana. We had to turn around and then it was left to the driver to determine where he wanted to take us. We ended up in Lahaina for the afternoon and were back on the ship by 3pm. We had cancelled our sunrise tour (due to the predicted weather) and rebooked the Central Maui & Haleakala Park Tour. We began by heading to Haleakala in the rain and got to the summit. There was not much to see due to the weather. On our way down, we were informed that there was a mudslide, downed trees and flooding at Iao so we could not go there. After our picnic lunch we went to the Maui Tropical Plantation (not named in the tour). All tours there were cancelled due to the rain so we had time to walk around and check out the gift shop before returning to the ship by 3 pm.

The tours did not duplicate sites (except for the picnic lunches). Hopefully, Mother Nature will be on your side so that you have the chance to see all that is advertised.

We have just gotten back from out NCL cruise and we did both of these tours (sort of). The time we were in Maui, it rained for both days. Our first day Road to Hana tour was cut short due to a rockslide halfway to Hana. We had to turn around and then it was left to the driver to determine where he wanted to take us. We ended up in Lahaina for the afternoon and were back on the ship by 3pm. We had cancelled our sunrise tour (due to the predicted weather) and rebooked the Central Maui & Haleakala Park Tour. We began by heading to Haleakala in the rain and got to the summit. There was not much to see due to the weather. On our way down, we were informed that there was a mudslide, downed trees and flooding at Iao so we could not go there. After our picnic lunch we went to the Maui Tropical Plantation (not named in the tour). All tours there were cancelled due to the rain so we had time to walk around and check out the gift shop before returning to the ship by 3 pm.

 

The tours did not duplicate sites (except for the picnic lunches). Hopefully, Mother Nature will be on your side so that you have the chance to see all that is advertised.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm so sorry that you were rained out both days.

Oh, GBNTmom, I am so sorry that happened. But that's the chance you take. We are leaving tomorrow to take our chance. Thanks for the info.

Rainfall was much worse in Kauai with 24” inches in 24 hours with severe flooding...in comparison Maui was luckier than on the Garden Isle.

Not trivializing the Maui problems but it could have been much worse. :(

Rainfall was much worse in Kauai with 24” inches in 24 hours with severe flooding...in comparison Maui was luckier than on the Garden Isle.

 

Not trivializing the Maui problems but it could have been much worse. :(

This year has been bad with the rains so far and generally much cloudier than usual throughout the day.

This year has been bad with the rains so far and generally much cloudier than usual throughout the day.

It has been a rainy year in Hawaii including here on Maui...even in our drier South Maui area. There also seems to be more vog this year resulting in decreased visibility.