Shaka Guide App for IPhone?

Has anyone rented a car on any of the islands and used these apps? They have really good reviews both on ITunes and on the internet.

I’d like to hear some input from someone that has used them.

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Has anyone rented a car on any of the islands and used these apps? They have really good reviews both on ITunes and on the internet.

I’d like to hear some input from someone that has used them.

 

 

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I don't have any experience with these apps other than downloading them onto my Android phone and purchasing the following tours:

• Oahu Circle Island
  
• Road to Hana
  
• Volcanoes National Park
  

Once downloaded, you can listen to the tour audio at any of the many points of the tour. MDW commented that he's slightly annoying because he's so bubbly/upbeat :D

We'll be in Hawaii late April, early May so we'll see how it goes then. They seemed like a good option and hopefully, they live up to the reviews.

I don't have any experience with these apps other than downloading them onto my Android phone and purchasing the following tours:

 

• 
   
  
• Oahu Circle Island
   
  
• Road to Hana
   
  
• Volcanoes National Park
   
  

 

Once downloaded, you can listen to the tour audio at any of the many points of the tour. MDW commented that he's slightly annoying because he's so bubbly/upbeat :D

 

 

 

We'll be in Hawaii late April, early May so we'll see how it goes then. They seemed like a good option and hopefully, they live up to the reviews.

Thank you for your reply.

I downloaded them too as we leave the 28th and I figured all those good reviews can’t be wrong.

I’ll post my own review when we get back.

We’ll be doing Oahu circle tour and the one in Kauai for Waimea Canyon. My husband didn’t want to drive the road to Hana so we hired a tour.

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Thank you for your reply.

I downloaded them too as we leave the 28th and I figured all those good reviews can’t be wrong.

I’ll post my own review when we get back.

We’ll be doing Oahu circle tour and the one in Kauai for Waimea Canyon. My husband didn’t want to drive the road to Hana so we hired a tour.

 

 

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I'd definitely be interested in your experience with the Oahu circle tour -- we are thinking of pausing the tour at the Polynesian Cultural Center and picking it back up after that. Not sure how well that will work.

The Hana one was great- only downside was that it tells you not to keep going around (and therefore doesn’t have info on the backside drive). It’s perfectly safe to drive it and would enjoy their commentary.

Biggest issue we had was downloading it last minute outside Paia- download in advance because the cell service is spotty when you’re in the heat of battle.

Great app though.

The Hana one was great- only downside was that it tells you not to keep going around (and therefore doesn’t have info on the backside drive). It’s perfectly safe to drive it and would enjoy their commentary.

 

Biggest issue we had was downloading it last minute outside Paia- download in advance because the cell service is spotty when you’re in the heat of battle.

 

Great app though.

Perhaps they added additional options than when you used it -- I have 3 different tour options to purchase:

- "classic" (from Lahaina to Hana and back again, with different commentary each way)

- "loop" (takes you on the backside drive to Lahaina which has unpaved roads, my rental car company nixed this one)

- "reverse" (guessing if you want to do the classic in reverse for some reason)

We used it on the Road to Hana. It was cute. We got to see things we would have missed on our own. The music & the stories were nice.

We are doing the Circle Oahu later this week. Will report back on it!

We are doing the Circle Oahu later this week. Will report back on it!

Looking forward to your review!:)

Carolyn

We are doing the Circle Oahu later this week. Will report back on it!

I cant wait to hear your review. I have mine downloaded and ready to use the 1st. [emoji16]

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I'm also looking forward to reviews. I have downloaded the app but not yet purchased any tours. It would be great to know if they are worth buying. I also have downloaded Kauai and will probably get Maui if reviews are good. We're going in April so we have time.

Our experience was with the Gypsy app, we payed $39 for all four islands and gave us Imformation and driving tours of the islands. We were very happy with it.

Following. We are planning on using Shaka on 3 islands in April.

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We used Shaka for 4 different tours, all of which were excellent.

We did the Oahu circle tour and it was very informative. Unfortunately we weren't able to complete it because of spending 3 hours zip lining but I love the history and local stories that the narrator gives you. We also used the Haleakela tour, Waimea canyon tour, and the volcano national Park tour. The volcano one was our favorite because of the unmarked stop at the park. If you get a chance definitely do this one and stop at Devils throat!!

Overall they were well worth the cost, especially if you like to drive and tour at your own pace.

fsupharm77, can you tell me about how long the Haleakela tour took? And where you started from? We're trying to figure out if we have time for it our second day on Maui, where we will need to be back in Kahului by about 4 pm to turn in our car and get to the ship by 5 pm.

fsupharm77, can you tell me about how long the Haleakela tour took? And where you started from? We're trying to figure out if we have time for it our second day on Maui, where we will need to be back in Kahului by about 4 pm to turn in our car and get to the ship by 5 pm.

Once you download the apps it allows you to preview the tours prior to purchase. The Haleakala tour starts at Kahului and takes 2 hours for the drive. But they suggest 3-5 hours for stops and hikes.

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fsupharm77, can you tell me about how long the Haleakela tour took? And where you started from? We're trying to figure out if we have time for it our second day on Maui, where we will need to be back in Kahului by about 4 pm to turn in our car and get to the ship by 5 pm.

We did it on the first day and spent about 5 hours total on it. As Sanger said it starts in Kahuli. Not sure who you are renting through but Avis took forever to come with a shuttle, me and my friend walked from airport after waiting 20 minutes and never saw the shuttle pass by on the way.

Thank you, fsupharm77. We will be starting from Kahului so we should have plenty of time if the car rental doesn't take too long. We haven't rented one yet as we're still collecting information. I guess they all bring on occasional complaints. There isn't a brand that hasn't gotten a bad review at one time or another. Thanks again.

We used the Shaka tours on iPhone for Oahu circle island, Haleakala, and Volcanos NP. Great directions, interesting stories, and points you’d miss on your own. Can pause and restart as you like or if you deviate for other stops. Can’t beat for the price of the tours.

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We attempted to use in in Kauai. It was great while it lasted! Gps knows exactly where you are. Points out all interesting spots. Problem was that the usb port in our rental car did not work! Our phone battery died! Make sure usb port is working before you drive off and you will enjoy the app.

Used it on road to Hana yesterday. It always thought we were about 2-3 miles ahead of where we were. I’ll chock it up to having virtually no cell reception for most of it. Overall very helpful.

Used it on road to Hana yesterday. It always thought we were about 2-3 miles ahead of where we were. I’ll chock it up to having virtually no cell reception for most of it. Overall very helpful.

Did you have GPS turned on? I'd hope that GPS reception is OK there. Finding where you are at via cell phone signal isn't very accurate and would explain why it had trouble determining where you were at.

GPS was on and fine but without the cell service it wasn’t sure of quite where we were. It was describing things that were a good 2-3 miles in front of us. Have a Verizon iPhone 8.

We did not end up using the circle Oahu tour or even the Oahu app for that matter.

We did use the one for Kauai for Waimea Canyon and later the North Shore. We really enjoyed the stories, songs and directions. Only once did we not have enough of an advance warning for a turn. Maybe we were going too fast.

My only complaint was the app doesn’t start until you get to the 1st designated point. So if you start at the cruise port be aware you have to put the 1st point into the GPS to get it to work.

Overall I recommend the app.

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We did not end up using the circle Oahu tour or even the Oahu app for that matter.

We did use the one for Kauai for Waimea Canyon and later the North Shore. We really enjoyed the stories, songs and directions. Only once did we not have enough of an advance warning for a turn. Maybe we were going too fast.

My only complaint was the app doesn’t start until you get to the 1st designated point. So if you start at the cruise port be aware you have to put the 1st point into the GPS to get it to work.

Overall I recommend the app.

 

 

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Thanks for the follow up. Sounds like they are still a good value for the money.

I'm presuming it wasn't a big issue to turn around for the missed turn. I kind of figured that we'd need to go to the first point for the tour to start, but this should not be a problem for us.

We currently have the 3 tours planned: Oahu Circle Island, Road to Hana, and Volcanoes National Park. But I realize that we'll need to be flexible -- we may be too tired to do everything that is planned. :)