questions about tours

[blakethan]

Trying to decide about tours to take! Cant decide between Valley Isle excursions or Roberts for Road to Hana. Also, if you do the Movie Tour with Roberts, is it repetitious to do Hanalei Tour the next day on Kauai? Opinions please!

[Susan-M]

On the Maui Tripadvisor forum, Valley Isle is the one that gets the best reviews

but as with all tours, some drivers are better than others. Charlie seems to be the favourite with Valley Isle.

 

Haven't done the Movie Tour on Kauai, but since it goes to Hanalei, and Hanalei is pretty small, and the drive there and back would be the same, I think it would be repetitious. Which Hanalei tour is it?

 

Waimea Canyon is a highlight on Kauai ... would recommend it instead of duplicating the trip to Hanalei.

[Aussiegirl58]

DH and I did the Road to Hana tour with Valley Isles in May. It was a great day. I would recommend them for the trip and our drivers name was Tim. A great driver with lots of info about what to look out for.

[puddles99]

I'll give another vote to Valley Isle - we had a very nice (albeit long) day on the tour and saw parts of the island that I could have only imagined otherwise. Of course, I haven't taken to the Robert's Tour, so cannot compare.

[Terence Sealey]

is there a tour that goes on the road to hana that isn't 10 or 12 hours long? maybe a tour that only goes half way there...would like to find a tour that is 5 to 6 hours.

[Susan-M]

JoanBB - Bad news ...The Taste of Maui tour is the reason for the warning in the first sticky on this message board.

[Widebay]

We did the "Road to Hana" and loved every bit of it. If you a native guy called Ken as your driver, your in for a great day out, he is a wealth of knowledge.

[cruizluver]

What is the road to Waimea Canyon like--is it pretty high up or a 'winding' road? One of our traveling companions is not fond of mountains and wouldn't go to the canyon if it is pretty high up, so wouldn't want to book this excursion if she would be fearful!! Thanks for any info you can share!!!

[travelgirl87]

Trying to decide about tours to take! Cant decide between Valley Isle excursions or Roberts for Road to Hana.

 

We went with Valley Isle tours for the Road to Hana and I would recommend them. We nixed renting a car because both of us wanted to be free to enjoy the scenery along the drive. One of the big advantages of Valley Isle is that their vans hold only 12 passengers in captain style chairs rather than the up to 20 passengers other companies fit onto their tour buses.

 

In addition to the extra legroom (important on such a long trip), the smaller group also means that there is much less time wasted waiting for one of your fellow passengers to make it back to the bus. Our driver explained there were three types of stops. The first type is for a set duration (e.g. 25 minutes), the next was a "wiki" (fast) stop and was long enough for all of us to get off the bus, stretch our legs, and snap some photos. The final type was "wiki-wiki" which meant a quick hop off the bus to snap a photo and then right back on again. Our group followed directions pretty well. Our lunch stop was at a flower farm -- a bit touristy but a lovely place for a picnic style lunch.

 

The tour went in a loop so we didn't need to backtrack. After the Pools of Ohe'o Gulch, we continued around the southern coast to see Lindbergh's grave and the Tedeschi winery before heading back to the ship. Some folks thought the winery was a bit of a tourist trap but it was a good restroom/leg stretching stop for that part of the tour.

 

Happy travels.

[Mickey Moe]

We went with Valley Isle tours for the Road to Hana and I would recommend them. We nixed renting a car because both of us wanted to be free to enjoy the scenery along the drive. One of the big advantages of Valley Isle is that their vans hold only 12 passengers in captain style chairs rather than the up to 20 passengers other companies fit onto their tour buses.

 

In addition to the extra legroom (important on such a long trip), the smaller group also means that there is much less time wasted waiting for one of your fellow passengers to make it back to the bus. Our driver explained there were three types of stops. The first type is for a set duration (e.g. 25 minutes), the next was a "wiki" (fast) stop and was long enough for all of us to get off the bus, stretch our legs, and snap some photos. The final type was "wiki-wiki" which meant a quick hop off the bus to snap a photo and then right back on again. Our group followed directions pretty well. Our lunch stop was at a flower farm -- a bit touristy but a lovely place for a picnic style lunch.

 

The tour went in a loop so we didn't need to backtrack. After the Pools of Ohe'o Gulch, we continued around the southern coast to see Lindbergh's grave and the Tedeschi winery before heading back to the ship. Some folks thought the winery was a bit of a tourist trap but it was a good restroom/leg stretching stop for that part of the tour.

 

Happy travels.

 

What time was your departure and arrival to the ship?

[travelgirl87]

What time was your departure and arrival to the ship?

 

We were scheduled to meet at 8:05 am on the pier (from POA) but ship docking was a little later than expected and so it wasn't until closer to 8:15 that we were all there and ready to go.

 

I can't remember the exact time of return. I think it was around 4:30 pm or so but the days have turned into a blur. The POA was staying overnight that evening so there was no rush.

 

Valley Isle only offered the tour to POA passengers on our first day there just so they wouldn't run into any problems with the ship schedule should our tour be delayed in returning. While they seem to rarely run into trouble, they don't want to risk having a traffic accident (or construction or anything else that would close a road) on the highway cause cruisers to miss their ship departure. There really aren't too many choices of roads to take on that part of Maui and most are one lane in each direction.

[GeezerCouple]

What is the road to Waimea Canyon like--is it pretty high up or a 'winding' road? One of our traveling companions is not fond of mountains and wouldn't go to the canyon if it is pretty high up, so wouldn't want to book this excursion if she would be fearful!! Thanks for any info you can share!!!

 

I think there is a second route, without some of the - how shall I put this - "height drama"?

But it takes longer, and the regular tours don't take that route.

 

But I doubt it would avoid all of the "difficult" spots.

Just peering INTO the canyon for the view could be tricky for someone with difficulty with heights.

 

I'll check more if you are interested. We are going to do a private tour. (That way, we can do it "our speed", rather than have a big bus zooming along scary roads. One view of part of the road to the volcano on Maui showed NO side-rail, and a serious drop-off. That was sobering.)

 

Presumably, if you were driving, you could check on maps, and also use some imaging, or just google, to get a sense of the road.

 

GeezerCouple

[cruizluver]

When are you going on your tour? We aren't going until Dec. so if you take this tour before then, sure would appreciate more info. We also were looking at a private tour, not a bus, but wouldn't want to book it and start out and have to leave one passenger out half way up the trail (we actually had to do that once--left her off as she couldn't handle the height--we did stop and pick her up again on the way down!!)

We are renting a car on the big Island and plan to drive to the Volcano National Park--my husband and I did that the last time we were in Hawaii and I don't remember having to drive on too many treacherous roads--is it a pretty difficult drive? Thanks for any info you can share!!!

[GeezerCouple]

When are you going on your tour? We aren't going until Dec. so if you take this tour before then, sure would appreciate more info. We also were looking at a private tour, not a bus, but wouldn't want to book it and start out and have to leave one passenger out half way up the trail (we actually had to do that once--left her off as she couldn't handle the height--we did stop and pick her up again on the way down!!)

We are renting a car on the big Island and plan to drive to the Volcano National Park--my husband and I did that the last time we were in Hawaii and I don't remember having to drive on too many treacherous roads--is it a pretty difficult drive? Thanks for any info you can share!!!

 

Which cruise date are you on? (Did you sign up for the Meet & Greet forum?)

We are going early December. Maybe same dates?? :)

 

[And I did NOT want to be like that person who had to be left behind due to heights, or even risk it! :o Er, nice of you to pick her up on the way back :eek:]

 

I don't think VNP has the same issues as the Canyon on Kauai, but... time will tell...

 

GeezerCouple

[cruizluver]

We are on the Star Princess leaving on Dec. 5, and yes, we did sign up for the meet and greet. Any other ideas of what tours would be fun in Kauai? The last time my husband and I went, we did the helicopter ride and it was awesome, but don't really want to do that one again. Haven't read too many favorable reports of the river rafting. Maybe we'll just have to hit a beach for the day??!!!