Maui Kayak Adventures

Maui Kayak Adventures - Offering the Best in Kayak Tour Guides
Local Expert's Rating:
4 / 5
The Bottom Line:

Maui Kayak Adventures is a fantastic kayaking tour outfit that operates at several locations on the islands. They specialize in snorkeling and whale-watching tours, offering guests a way to get up close with Hawaii's gorgeous sea life in an eco and animal-friendly manner. 

- The HawaiianIslands.com Local Expert Team

Why stand on a crowded motorboat when you can enjoy leaning back and exploring the waters of Maui up close and on your terms via a kayak? Kayaks offer incredible flexibility when it comes to exploring a segment of coastline and under the tutelage of an informed guide, you can be sure to see the best attributes the area has to offer. This is why you might choose a tour from an experienced outfit like Maui Kayak Adventures. 

Maui Kayak Adventures has its home base on the southern side of Maalaea Bay, but you aren’t apt to see it. Rather, when you book your tour, you will be given a departing location and time and will be expected to meet there. What location you will be given will depend upon the nature of your tours, such as if you are choosing a kayak tour that emphasizes whale watching or one that emphasizes snorkeling. Unfortunately, they do not offer a group shuttle at this time (some tour outfits will have a shuttle bus that will pick guests up at their resort or other location) so you will have to find transportation to the launch site on your own. 

While the kayak tours Maui Kayak Adventures offers are fantastic, where they really excel is with their staff. Every single one of their kayak tour guides is a Certified Marine Naturalist (a program requiring hands-on training and independent study) and all have their own unique advanced specialties, such as having free diving certifications, SCUBA open water certifications, search and rescue certifications, wilderness first responders, and much more. When you kayak with this group, you can rest assured that you are kayaking with some seriously advanced and knowledgeable guides well-equipped to answer any and all questions you might have and lead you safely and enjoyably through Maui’s coastal waters.

These experienced guides combined with Maui Kayak Adventures’ responsive office crew are undoubtedly a big reason why if you search the company’s over 300 Google Reviews, you won’t find one review under four stars. This group truly goes far and beyond to ensure guests get the most out of their kayaking experience. 

The following is a quick look at the most popular tours Maui Kayak Adventures offers:

Snorkeling Makena Turtle Town
This tour launches from Makena Landing and guests will kayak to the area that is known as Turtle Town among locals thanks to its waters teeming with green sea turtles. The turtles love this area because of how many plants and smaller sea life frequent the gorgeous coral reefs here. It’s a fantastic place to kayak and snorkel and a good choice for those who want to really get up close with marine life in an eco-friendly manner. 

Whale Watching Tour
This one is a seasonal-only tour but is perhaps their most popular kayak tour of all. That’s because with kayaks, you can get really close to these whales and the Maui Kayak Adventures guides are experts at getting you to where the whales are playing safely and ensuring all (including the whales) enjoy the experience in an environmentally and animal-friendly way. 

Insider Tips:
-While Maui Kayak Adventures does provide light snacks (water and fig bars), this is an exercise-intensive activity and so you should come with a full belly or bring some additional snacks. 
-If you are booking for four or more individuals and have more specific things you want to do and see during your kayak adventure, you might consider choosing to do a private kayak tour over the group one. The private kayak tours for four persons are more are just under double the price of a large group tour, but they can feel more intimate and enable you to work with the guide to more specifically craft what you want.