Mar 23, 2024
Kayak and snorkel adventure - What a fun experience! I booked this tour over others because of the reviews, and they were not wrong. Griff was an awesome guide. He talked to us about the Hawaiian culture and the importance of learning and showing respect when you visit places. Griff was knowledgeable about marine life and shared the information he’s learned over the years. He was super chill and relaxed. It made us feel relaxed. The kayaking was work, but enjoyable. We saw a couple different whales, and happened upon a pod of dolphins. That was super cool. They swam all around us and flipped in the air. The snorkeling at the end was fun. My kids really enjoyed that. My younger son was a bit hesitant about the snorkeling. Griff helped him out and was patient with him. It made my son’s experience better and he ended up really liking it. We enjoyed our time with Griff. It felt like we were out having fun with a friend, nice conversations and beautiful scenery. Would definitely book again with Aloha Kayaks!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 15, 2024
Intimate experience with whales - amazing guide - My brother and his family went out with Griff in 2021 and highly recommended we book with Griff when I was taking my family to Maui this year. The expectations were high and the morning adventure exceeded our expectations in spades. Despite some potentially challenging weather, Griff called us the night before to modify our launch location to give us a better shot at a great day. And within 15 minutes of paddling we happened upon a baby whale and it's mother. We had an epic morning with many close encounters with whales - at one point we didn't even know where to look as we were surrounded by whales. We were fortunate to be in the right spot, at the right time, to be able to see sooooo many whales - babies, mothers, guardian males, singing males, breaching, fin slappers and so much more.
While we were thankful for the bounty of the whales, what really made the trip was Griff himself. He was an amazing guide - humble, incredibly knowledgable, funny and genuinely a really nice person. He also shared knowledge about the Hawaiian culture and the respect for nature.
If you are looking for an intimate experience in the Hawaiian outdoors, I can't recommend Aloha Kayaks enough. While we were out on the water, we saw another kayak group out there and the guide had music blaring from a speaker on his kayak and he was shouting loudly to his customer. It was a totally different vibe and I was glad we didn't book with them. Griff really wants his customers to have an intimate, respectful experience with the whales. We really appreciated this and throughly enjoyed it. It was the highlight of our trip and one of the best outings our family has experienced.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 9, 2024
Best whale watching experience! - Fantastic whale watching experience. We were blessed with some amazing whale sightings. Griff, our tour guide, was top-notch from beginning to end. He kept us safe and knew exactly where to take us to get the best experience. He gave us all kinds of information about the island and culture of Hawaii and taught us about the whales. We hope to take another tour with Griff during our next visit to Maui!
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Feb 19, 2024
Best Kayak Whale Watch Guide on Maui - Griff is amazing. This tour was fantastic. Griff is happy to share interesting facts about the ocean, the whales, and the islands. The highlight was his use of the Hawaiian language and his obvious, tremendous respect for the culture/history surrounding Hawaii and Maui. He is easy- going yet alert and aware. He was relaxed and made everybody in the group feel comfortable and safe. We got to listen to the whales singing so loudly right below us and then surfacing nearby. No big breaches this day but lots of wonderful sightings and the singing was amazing. Thanks Griff. Mahalo Nui Loa!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 27, 2024
Best Kayak Guide Ever!!! - We have been doing the Whale Watch Tour with Griff for over 15 years, I won't book with anyone else! We have had whales and dolphins so close to us and every trip is a priceless adventure. He has so much knowledge of the Hawaiian culture, language, Maui and whale behavior that you will be much smarter than you were before you started your tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 26, 2024
Watching whales from a Kayak! - We had an incredible kayaking trip this morning with Griff. It was a low effort kayak trip and Griff made it interesting with all the whale and Maui information not to mention getting to see a whale her calf and the escort. It is wonderful to see Maui shore from the ocean too.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 20, 2023
The highlight of our trip - Our kayak tour was absolutely amazing. We saw many whales and turtles. Our guide Griff had so much knowledge to share about humpback whales and the ecology and history of the islands. This tour was the highlight of our trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Apr 1, 2022
Look no further - book with Aloha Kayaks now!! - We had an absolutely fabulous day out on the water with Griff yesterday. This trip was 100% as advertised and then some. Griff made it very clear up front that we were at the tail end (pun ended) of whale watching season and the probabilities of seeing a whale on Mar 31 in the waters of southern Maui were much lower than the Jan-Feb high season (consistent with everything we had read).
Regardless, his love of his vocation and respect for the spectacular surroundings we were in were still worth the price of admission. Having a property on a lake we understand the need to respect and be stewards of our local environment and the need to change our habits to try and reverse years of abuse that ignorance has caused in our lakes and oceans. It was clear that Aloha Kayaks was making it their personal mission to educate and convert all of its customers to joining them in becoming advocates for preserving what we have left of these beautiful environments.
Now back to the experience - if you aren't sure who to book with to give yourself the best chance of seeing a whale on your excursion then look no further. We were treated to a magical experience watching a Mama Humpback teach its yearling how to survive and prepare for the long journey back to Alaska. Sitting 100 yards away and watching the baby practice its tail flips was out of this world. When we got back to shore and saw all the other (much larger) groups returning we discovered that we were one of only 2 (out of at least 5-6) groups that actually got to see the whales. Thank you for an absolutely spectacular day Griff - keep up the great work. Your passion is infectious!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 26, 2022
Fantastic! - Griff was great!! He was very knowledgeable not only about the water and aquatic life but also about the culture and native Hawaiian history. Would highly recommend spending the morning with him. Saw some whales, heard them sing and then swam with turtles!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 18, 2022
Awesome experience! - What a spectacular tour! Definitely the highlight of our trip. Griff was so knowledgeable about Hawaiian culture and the ocean life. We got to learn about whale behavior and see a mom and baby whale up close. It was a moment we’ll remember forever! Then we got to snorkel with turtles and swim around at a beautiful reef. Highly recommend! Only thing to note is that it’s a long tour without food, so recommend eating a big breakfast.
Review provided by Tripadvisor