excursions/must dos in maui and kauai?

Ladeda123

Hi. I would love to know from those who have been to kauai and maui some of the amazing things you did there. We would love to do some adventure excursions as well as see the beautifull waterfalls etc...

Thanks

JoanE2012

We were in Maui a couple of months ago.  We did the sunrise at Haleakala and then did a self guided bike ride down (there's only a couple of companies that let you ride down on your own).  We loved going at our own pace and not with a group.  It was well worth the 1:30am wake up call.  Tip - Bring warm clothing!  We brought gloves, scarf, hat and layered on a couple of long sleeve shirts and fleeces (in addition to the wind breakers the bike company provides) and we were still cold....it felt like being in a blizzard without the snow and you are outside for a solid hour before the sun rises.

We also did the Road to Hana.  We left from the Kaanapali area around 6am, had breakfast in Paia, then headed out.  We skipped the boxed lunch and instead ate at a food truck in Hana (delicious!).  We did bring water and snacks.  I highly recommend downloading the GyPSy app.....it tells you about stops as you get to them thanks to the built in GPS.  There are so many stops you can do, so if you plan on doing it in one day, I recommend you read up on the various stops to determine which ones are important to you (we really liked the Black Sand Beach and 7 Sacred Pools).  I always hear mixed reviews on the road conditions on the other side, so we opted not to drive all the way around (I heard it isn't even pretty on the other side) and instead were able to stop at a couple of our B-list stops on the way home. 

We also did the Old Lahaina Luau.  It came highly recommended and did not disappoint!  Tip - It often sells out.....we booked about 2 or 3 months ahead of time.  The earlier you make your reservation, the closer you sit (though I really don't think there is a bad seat).  Good luck!

daria24

Kauai-

Hike the first two miles of the Naapali Coast-it's relatively easy, I think at least. I would have loved to keep going but you need a permit and it takes two days.

-a boat/snorkeling tour of the Naapali coast. It's jaw dropping. It if you are very active, a kayak tour

-about 75% of Kauai is inaccessible, so a helicopter tour would be amazing.

-Waimea Canyon, but just a warning, the weather is a crapshoot. It can be 100% clear driving in and then you hit a wall of fog.

-Kauai has the only navigable river in Hawaii, so if you enjoy kayaking, do a river tour.

Maui
-The Road to Hana. We also left Kaanapali at 6am and had the road all to ourselves. We went all the way around, the road was fine and we were in a low riding sedan. It was 1000x better than turning around. We used Maui Revealed to find stops.

-Haleakala-we went for Sunset and hiked the Slidinh Sands trail for about two hours. It's one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had, we were all alone and it's a place like nowhere else on earth. There is a horseback tour of the entire trail, I would love to do that someday.

-rent snorkeling equipment for the week and bring it wherever you go, it's only about $30pp. There is so much great snorkeling right off of the beaches in West and South Maui.

-We also did the Old Lahaina Luau-we only called about three days in advance and got put on the wait list. Apparently most people get in from the eait list, but you might want to call two weeks in advance just to be on th safe side.

delujm0

In Kauai we took a boat trip (included snorkeling and lunch) to the Na'Pali coast with Captain Andy's and also did a zipline course through the rainforest with Kauai Backcountry Adventures.  Both were super fun!  The boat ride got a little rough after lunch, so if you get seasick easily you might want to avoid it.

OliveOilsMom

In addition to what the others have said, I also recommend the tubing adventure with Kauai Backcountry Adventures!  It was so awesome!  We are going on a "budget" trip to Hawaii - we leave Saturday (!), so we will not be doing any other paid adventures except for the tubing one.  H & I loved it so much the first time, we are doing it again!

JoanE2012

OliveOilsMom said:

In addition to what the others have said, I also recommend the tubing adventure with Kauai Backcountry Adventures!  It was so awesome!  We are going on a "budget" trip to Hawaii - we leave Saturday (!), so we will not be doing any other paid adventures except for the tubing one.  H & I loved it so much the first time, we are doing it again!

@OliveOilsMom - I'm so jealous!!  Enjoy!