Lahaina Kayaks

Ryland is the man! We had so many great experiences on our trip and this was bo different. Possibly the best. We were on Maui on Thanksgiving and booked a tour on Thanksgiving. We were the only people on the tour so we got spoiled. Ryland is very funny and a great guide. He knows the area very well. We were very fortunate to see two monk seals. To see an endangered species was enough to make the experiece a memory of a lifetime but it did not stop there. One seal actually followed my wife and sons kayak and popped their head out. Awesome. We saw a lot of sea turtles as well. Ryland then took us to a spot where there are reef sharks. It looked like we were out of luck but right when we were about to give up bam we saw the fin out of the water. Maybe 4 or 5 foot long reef shark. The shark dove and went in for a kill. Will be back for sure. My only tip is to have a camera ready at all times.

First time on a kayak and Greg was great :) We went on the Lahaina Kayak only tour.
They provide a paddling lesson and allow practice time before you actually start wandering around. We were lucky and saw two monk seals sleeping on the beach. Try coming during whale season and you might have more to see.

I have only done some novice kayaking back home in Washington state and briefly in Costa Rica so when the opportunity came about during my trip to Maui I was like yeah let’s do it!
We arrived around 8am and Ryland our guide had our kayak on the beach ready to go and already loaded up with the snorkel gear. Since I wasn’t the one to make the reservation I wasn’t exactly prepared to snorkel but I will get to that later.
After getting all of the kayaks out into the water our guide made sure we all had everything set up and gave us a brief overview of what we where looking for (whales!) and what direction we needed to head in.
I’m a bit of a scary cat but I felt very comfortable with the amount of information I was getting and the way we where being communicated with. Plus we wanted to see some whales! Honestly I didn’t think we would see any or if we did we wouldn’t get up close. Boy I was wrong!
Luckily everyone in our group was down for an adventure because once we located the area we need to get to, everyone started paddling like their lives depended on it. Before we knew it we saw just a few hundred yards out a glorious spout from a mama and her calf! Ryland was great about explaining some of the habits of this beautiful animals and told us what the game plan was to approach respectfully and safely.
Eventually we ended up getting about 30 – 50 yards away from the duo and I was in utter awe of what happened next. As we paddled around to the side area of them mama probably decided she was done hanging out with us and the two started heading back out to the open sea and she rose out of the water with such grace I couldn’t breath! From there she proceeded to breach another six or so times! Amazing! We could hear people from the beach cheering it was so beautiful.
From there we decided it was time to snorkel. As I mentioned earlier I wasn’t prepared but luckily I had my bathing suit in the car and the group was kind enough to agree to go back to shore and park the kayaks so that we could swim out to the reef. Ryland also explained that because of the wind it would be hard to make sure our kayaks would stay put in the water even with the anchors.
Once we got to the reef our guide stayed near by but not to close in his kayak us as we spent a while swimming around over several different schools of fish and I was swimming next to a turtle! All in all this was a great experience and it was very personal and the guide was attentive to what the group wanted to do. I still have nearly a week left for my trip and I am highly considering going back out with this company.

Very unhelpful staff. We showed up, rented our equipment, and went out on the water to start exploring. No more than ten minutes in and another guy from the same shop goes by leading a tour and yells at us about it being too dangerous for tourists to go alone and that we should of paid up for the guided tour. The area they drop you in is fairly small and boxed in due to the waves and reef and the only way out is the way this guy is yelling at us to avoid. So now we have a 2 hour rental in a space not much bigger than a football field. We decide to head back in and talk with the first guy about our options. They refuse to give us a refund or put us in the water somewhere better and basically tell us we should of known better. They knew this was a bad place for novice kayakers to go solo but made no mention of it until after they had taken our money. Don’t risk going here.

Convenient location right on the beach in Lahaina, with parking, lunch spots and convenience stores nearby. Staff was helpful, spent quite a bit of time orienting us to the waterfront, providing lots of helpful suggestions for getting out beyond the breakers to calmer water and lots of aquatic life. The equipment was in good condition; we felt safe and comfortable throughout the experience. Their pricing structure was clear and straightforward. We would certainly rent from Lahaina Kayaks again.