Maui Kayaks

We booked a trip to kayak out to the reef to snorkel with turtles, but were let down when the tide was too high. We all tried to go out, but ended up coming back because it got dangerous. Unfortunately, the day we decided to go was the ONLY day that the water was like that. We were really disappointed, but the instructor, Ryland, handled the situation PERFECTLY. First off, he was really good at teaching us how to use the kayaks, threw some humor in, and was so knowledgeable about the ocean life and island in Maui. Since we only were out for about 30 minutes, he offered everyone the option of a refund or reschedule. Sadly, we had to get a refund because none of the times worked with our remaining schedule in Maui. However, we did enjoy the 30 minutes we got to spend with this company and instructor! Just get ready for sore arms if you don’t normally kayak!

Best Adventure Tour Ever! My wife and I wanted to see some sea turtles and do a little bit of kayaking. We booked the Turtle Kayak and Snorkel Adventure with Maui Kayaks. We met at Makena Landing Park at 7am in the morning. It was a beautiful warm day with calm and clean water. John Shappell was a tour guide. He was awesome. He knows all of spots to find turtles. We saw 7 different turtle, large and small. There were times we even had multiple turtle swimming around us. It was amazing watching them up close (within 2ft) while snorkeling. John even found an octopus in the reefs. Very cool to play with an octopus if you have not before.
We would definitely do this tour again. It was perfect. Thank you John.

What an amazing way to spend thanksgiving!!! John was our guide and was fun and easy going !!! We had 4 in our group a 15,11 year old and two adults!!! We saw turtles turtles and so many species of tropical fish!!! One of the best snorkeling we have ever done and our last trip was Costa Rica !!!
I would recommend this trip again! Do the longer trip and you will snorkel more !!!

Started off our morning with the «Lahaina Paddle», This is how you should start every day, weather was perfect, water was calm and Ryland our guide was amazing. He was very knowledgable about the area as well as a great kayak guide. Would highly recommend this if you want to kayak but not snorkel.

Really good experience, beautiful scenery and tons of turtles. Ours was the 3-​hour Makena Turtle Town trip which I would recommend.

This tour company was recommended by another kayak company and we were glad that we had booked with Maui Kayaks. We had Greg as our instructor for «Lahaina Paddle tour».
We were so happy and thankful that we had him on our first kayak experience.
He has a great sense of humor. You can tell that he loves what he is doing. Also, he was very knowledgeable about the sea life. We saw four different turtles. He let us hold a sea urchin and a pebble collector urchin. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the sharks.
Overall, would definitely book a different activity when we come back. Thank you Greg! You’re awesome!

Really enjoyed our «Lahaina Paddle» tour with our guide Greg from Belize. We didn’t pay for a private tour, but it was just my wife and I, and the guide. We had a great time, saw many, many sea turtles, saw three Hawaiian Monk Seals (almost close enough to touch), among a load of other sea life. Greg was great, the tour was awesome, and we had a load of fun.

Awesome experience !
I enjoy kayak and snorkeling early in the morning. The tour guide was very experienced and knowledgeable. Totally worth the price.

Perfect!!!
I wish I could remember our tour guides name but he was fantastic. Loved our guide and was one of the best excursions during our vacation. Would totally recommend this company for a kayaking tour.

Wow, where to start!
I booked our «Turtle Town Kayak adventure off Makena a week before we came to Maui for our honeymoon. Having never been to Maui I did not know what to expect from a snorkeling adventure out there. It rained our first day so that was kind of a bummer. The second day was cloudy but at least not raining, when we met at 7:00 am at the landing.
I was not excited to have to be up that early. I also did not receive clear communication about where to meet. We were to meet at «Makena Landing» which sounds simple, and Google Maps brought me to «Makena Landing Park» with no problem, but we sat there and saw nobody until after 7:00 I gave up there and drove up the hill & around the corner, where I saw the trucks with all the kayaks. So I got there a little frazzled.
Ok so we get in the water and paddle out. John Shappell was our awesome guide! This was early March and there were lots of Humpback whales visible in the distance. Suddenly some surfaced near to us. John suggested we paddle out to see them better. As we were paddling, I heard what I thought was my wife humming a tune quietly while we were paddling. Then John stops paddling and asks if we can hear the whale singing! That wasn’t my wife after all! Wow, now the water surrounding our kayak was humming/​ringing with this whale song. I am amazed.
Then mamma whale and her baby surface close to us. Because we don’t have a noisy engine, John says they can be curious sometimes and come closer. These whales do. They dive again and surface this time less than 40 feet from our kayak! Wow how amazing.
We spent most of our time paddling around the bay with the whales. We did finally leave the whales about 9:00 and paddled over to a reef close to the shore where we had snorkel time. I got to swim with the turtles and fish at the reef, and all the while underwater I could hear what sounded like several whales off in the distance.
For me, even though this morning started off rocky, this was by far the highlight of our honeymoon adventure! I can’t recommend it strongly enough! John Shappell knew exactly how to orchestrate our time. Ask for him when you book!

Our lead guide, Greg, was terrific: very friendly, knowledgeable, and relaxed. With great people skills he got us all equipped, provided quick tutorials of kayaking maneuvers, and we set out at a easy pace. Despite our group’s small size (3) we were accompanied by another very personable guide, Ryland, who was completing his training (although he’s already been heavily credentialed as a guide in the northwest).
We saw turtles on the way out, then sat and watched a small pod of whales at a 45 yard distance — which was AWESOME. When we put in snorkeling on our return, we immediately saw 3 – 4 turtles and an impressive variety of fishes and corals. Our mission was definitely accomplished! Heartily recommend.

I can’t say enough about my family’s fantastic experience on the
Tour! Our guide was James and he was very knowledgable, funny and has a true appreciation for our Ocean and sea life. We were in good hands the moment our tour began and the snorkeling experience was TOP NOTCH!!! Its only our second day on the Island and I feel like this might be the highlight of our trip… thanks for everything James!

It’s 7:15 a.m., «Canoe Beach» at the south end of Ka’anapali Beach, and we’ve just met our guide James from Maui Kayaks. We were expecting a long row to Black Rock, an hour or so of snorkeling there, and then a long row back. We were also expecting a crowd of up to seven other couples. Instead, James says he’s going to take us to his special spot, just a short row in the opposite direction, and by the way, we’re the only two signed up for this mornings kayak/​snorkel safari. Wow!
After a bit of clear and concise instruction, James has us rowing for about 15 minutes until we anchor off a fairly nondescript stretch of rocky shoreline. Suddenly, we’re in the water, and after a bit of instruction about how to feel comfortable and secure, we’re scanning the underwater terrain for reef life. Right away we spot many different kinds of fish and coral. Suddenly, there he is: a huge male sea turtle just cruising along under the water. Before long, we spot many more, some swimming along slowly, some sleeping on the bottom, and a few looking around on the surface. Some pay a bit of attention to us but most don’t seem to notice. In all, we saw nearly 20 mostly very large sea turtles. Another highlight was a huge spiny starfish. And, of course, there were many other reef fish of every shape and color as well as healthy coral of many different colors. James commented that healthy coral and healthy fish to hand in hand.
James was a great guide. He chose the perfect destination and then spent the whole time in the water with us looking for interesting things to point out. We were lucky in that respect because, with a larger group, he would have had to sit on his kayak and play lifeguard. Overall, this was a five-​star experience, perfect from beginning to end.

This tour was totally worth the price you pay. My boyfriend and I decided to do the Makena Turtle Town Adventure and it was pretty freaking awesome. We had John as a guide and he brought the experience to a new new degree of greatness. John was very knowledgeable about the area and the best places to snorkel and find exotic fish and turtles. We saw 6 turtles and one baby turtle on our snorkel adventure. John has been doing this for 10 years, and he makes every trip very personable as he actually scopes out the best snorkel spot of the day considering conditions. He also does a great job telling you info about the fishes and turtles in addition to informing you of the history behind Maui’s vast landscape.
It was great to both kayak and snorkel. John made it easy for everyone in showing us how to get in and out of our kayaks, both when we hop aboard and when we anchor and go into the water. It’s way harder than you think it would be. I got a face full of sand water when entering the kayak.
I’m pretty scared of the ocean, and you’ll be snorkeling far off shore, but this tour made me forget about my worries because of all the awesome things I was able to see when I was snorkeling. Plus, he gives you life vest (and you have the option of not wearing them) if you are not a strong swimmer.
A must do in Maui, plus Makena Landing is beautiful.

James was our guide and his sense of humor helped eased our anxiety about going into the waters. We had a party of 4 that didnt know how to swim but he made sure every safety measure and precautions were taken to make sure we didnt get flipped over by the waves. He took us to 2 locations for snorkeling but my motion sickness pills wore off so I requested to go back to land. Overall great experience, great instructor, and great fun!

Ask for John!!! He’s he best guide we have had to date. Our friends went on a tour with John a couple of days earlier and he was highly recommended. He was so attentive at taking photos of myself and my husband especially around the turtles when snorkeling. He was very knowledgable and shared so much information about the wildlife and the island. He also had a lunch picnic prepared for our group after where he gave us plenty of restaurant tips and hot spots on the island. We can’t wait to see the pictures he took of us!

Great Trip with John Shappell!
My two teenage children and I took a trip this morning with John and had a great time. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, very patient, fun and very knowledgeable about marine life and kayaking. He guided our group of six kayakers to some great spots and also got in the water with us to show us turtles, fish, coral and even found an octopus! He took about 500 pictures of our group and will send to us via dropbox for a reasonable fee. I would highly recommend Maui Kayaks and would also ask for John if possible. They may have other very good guides, but I would rate John five stars.

During this Maui trip, I decided to try things that I never tried before. What better way to kill two birds with one stone, kayaking and snorkeling. John was our guide and he was awesome. You kayak in teams of two. My group was 3 so someone had to kayak alone. I boldly volunteered although I was shaking in my beach shoes. It turned out to be great. I thought it was going to be very difficult but now I can say it was a breeze.
Snorkeling was great as well. John did an awesome job giving us an explanation of how to use the equipment and what to expect. Very detailed in his explanation. We were ready for any surprise that could come up. The hardest part was getting use to breathing from my mouth because it’s so natural to want to breath from your nose. We followed a school of spinner dolphins. Yippee! And got to see a couple large turtles and more fish than I could count.
Then to top it off, John had the best picnic lunch ready for us once we returned to shore and cleaned up in the restroom. Final note of encouragement. If you never tried this, the view from the shore can be intimidating before you start. Don’t let the waves crashing up make you think you cant handle it. You may want to chicken out. But the ocean is much calmer once you get out. John is an expert in making sure you get out and return to shore safely. I am soooo glad I did!

We did the Olowalu whale watching/​snorkel trip. John was a great guide. We went longer than expected, total bonus, and since there were just two couples on our trip we all agreed to do paddle with the whales for the whole trip.
Nothing compares to having a mother and calf humpback nudging each other just in front of your kayak. Or seeing these beautiful giants come up just in front of your kayak as if coming right at you only to see him calmly turn on a dime and go the other way — only yards from you.
Oh ya, there were lovely sea turtles breathing next to us as well.
If you are here this time of year — end of January/​February — do not miss this opportunity. Sure whale watching boat trips are tons of fun, but NOTHING compares to kayaking on the ocean like this. Thanks John!

We had a really good time doing this — it is a good workout and you get a solid reward for all your paddling. We did the 5-​hour Eco Adventure. We were able to see several whales at VERY close range — scary and AWESOME! We also saw a couple of sea turtles while snorkeling which was really neat.
I have to say though, based on the description where it says «Five Caves» and «Skylight Cave» …well, I was hoping to kayak through some caves. But when I asked our guide about this he explained that these are actually underwater caves that only experienced divers can get in to. Ok?
One other thing was, for being an «intermediate» skill level tour, there sure was a whole lot of up front talking about how to get in and out of your kayak, how to put your flippers on, etc. Plus he was really insistant on helping us push off and land which will be strange if you usually do that yourself (not to mention slooooow).
The lunch was better than I expected — still cold sandwiches and fruit, but he took the time to buy quality, hawaiian made ingredients and he set it up so you can put your own sandwich together. He also cut up tomato and pineapple right there on the beach!
I would definitely recommend this activity — there is no match for being 20 feet away from a whale in a kayak!