Recommendations needed for Maui and Hilo

[cruise&travelgirl]

Hi! We are leaving on a cruise to Hawaii next week and so far the only excursion we have planned and booked is a Pearl Harbor excursion (this is a must-see for my husband). We are interested in visiting Volanco National Park and perhaps having a beach day with a bit of snorkeling in Maui. This will be our first trip to Hawaii so unsure of what it's like when we get off the ship at each island. Are there generally tours that you can just book with a local company when you arrive in port? The one excursion we have booked is directly with Princess but I don't want to pay that much for all our day trips! Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

Just read down the board- lots of info on each port. A key point- where you are coming ashore on Maui. I think Lahaina. So if Lahaina, there is a huge thread below on going to Kaanapali beach, a very good beach near Lahaina.

[Susan-M]

Is renting a car and exploring on your own something that you would be interested in? It's very easy to drive in Hawaii, and very economical to tour on your own - but you'll want to do a bit of advance planning for that. e.g. make the car rental arrangements in advance, and do some research on what to do for your day there or take a guidebook with you.

[cruise&travelgirl]

Just read down the board- lots of info on each port. A key point- where you are coming ashore on Maui. I think Lahaina. So if Lahaina, there is a huge thread below on going to Kaanapali beach, a very good beach near Lahaina.

 

Thank you... I will have a look at the thread on Kaanapali beach. Yes, it will be Lahaina and that is the beach we were thinking of visiting. :)

[cruise&travelgirl]

Is renting a car and exploring on your own something that you would be interested in? It's very easy to drive in Hawaii, and very economical to tour on your own - but you'll want to do a bit of advance planning for that. e.g. make the car rental arrangements in advance, and do some research on what to do for your day there or take a guidebook with you.

 

Thanks, I think it sounds like a great idea, but I'm afraid I don't have the time to plan everything on my own at this point (we're leaving on Monday and pretty busy before then). I should have done more research on renting a car and traveling on our own earlier. I've always been a bit nervous to do our ow thing and usually stick to cruise line tours, but it sounds like the Hawaiian islands are so easy to get around that I should have planned better for this!

[Viv0828]

When u land in lahaina and tender ashore, you can walk to the back of the wharf center and catch the bus into kaanapali. The fare is $2.00 each and the bus leaves on the half hour. Take the bus to whaler's village and walk through it to kaanapali beach. There are restaurants and showers. The return bus leaves on the hour. Have fun!

[MommaBear55]

I am on Maui in Kaanapali right now. The winds have changed to winter winds, so the surf is up and the snorkeling is iffy due to low visibility. You could do a boat tour independently off the docks. There are few whale sightings.

[cruise&travelgirl]

When u land in lahaina and tender ashore, you can walk to the back of the wharf center and catch the bus into kaanapali. The fare is $2.00 each and the bus leaves on the half hour. Take the bus to whaler's village and walk through it to kaanapali beach. There are restaurants and showers. The return bus leaves on the hour. Have fun!

 

Thank you! I'm thinking this is the way we'll go! I had initially booked a beach day excursion through Princess but it was about $60pp so I decided to cancel and do this a bit more independently! :)

[cruise&travelgirl]

I am on Maui in Kaanapali right now. The winds have changed to winter winds, so the surf is up and the snorkeling is iffy due to low visibility. You could do a boat tour independently off the docks. There are few whale sightings.

 

Thanks, we may just leave our snorkeling gear at home. It takes up so much room in the suitcase anyway. I would love to see some whales though but I was thinking it was out of season!

[CruiserBruce]

I am on Maui in Kaanapali right now. The winds have changed to winter winds, so the surf is up and the snorkeling is iffy due to low visibility. You could do a boat tour independently off the docks. There are few whale sightings.

 

That can change within a couple of days. Just returned from 10 days on Oahu and Maui. Snorkeling was doable probably all but 2 or 3 days. Have been in Hawaii virtually all months of the year, and snorkeled in every month we have been there.

 

Yes, there were reports of whales off Lahaina, and Pacific Whale Foundation was starting whale watching trips on or about Nov 15, earliest ever.

Edited November 14, 2013 by CruiserBruce

[cruise&travelgirl]

That can change within a couple of days. Just returned from 10 days on Oahu and Maui. Snorkeling was doable probably all but 2 or 3 days. Have been in Hawaii virtually all months of the year, and snorkeled in every month we have been there.

 

Yes, there were reports of whales off Lahaina, and Pacific Whale Foundation was starting whale watching trips on or about Nov 15, earliest ever.

 

Thanks for the info! Well, maybe we should keep some room in the luggage for our snorkeling gear then!

I am keeping my fingers crossed for some whale sightings. :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

Last year we were on the holiday sailing of the Golden Princess. We were on Maui on Christmas Day and with a little research, I discovered that the Whalers Village would be open. We grabbed a taxi (it was $16 each way plus tip then) as we took the bus a couple of years before to get up to the Cannery Mall (our teen wanted to see the jodo near there) and the bus was very crowded. But much cheaper than a taxi.

 

We walked along the beach and it looked very nice.

 

When we were back on the ship, there were plenty of whales we could see from the aft deck. Very close to the ship. But that was in December, which is during whale season.

[Astro Flyer]

I agree with CruiserBruce that snorkeling varies daily all year round. Surf is bigger during the winter but on Maui the tradewinds are not as steady during the wintertime. That's not just my observation but of the best weatherman on Maui...Glenn James (http://www.hawaiiweathertoday.com/maui.php). Currently there's a high surf warning so snorkeling wouldn't be good today. The only good Ka'anapali snorkeling spot is the lava point Black Rock.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Astro Flyer