Maui Food Tour
You are probably aware that Maui is a ‘melting pot’ of various cultures. No one has a ‘corner’ on ethnicity here and we all share the island together. Various cultures came to the island at different times in history. Certainly the Hawaiians were here first followed by the English and eventually people from China, Portugal, Japan, Korea, the US, from all over the orient, Mexico, and literally from all over the world. When they came, of course they brought their own culture and in particular the special foods they were used to in the old country. These Maui Food Tours take you to the old stores, restaurants and back alley ways in Old Wailuku and Kahului Towns to seek out these special foods, to taste them and to understand a bit about their traditions. You won’t be visiting the most elegant and lavish of eateries but you will be visiting the ‘real deal’. You’ll get a chance to see what the ‘locals’ eat and get a bit of a peek into the cultures of the islands that we promise you would have never been able to seek out on your own.
Hunting Tours
Obviously this is not a tour for everyone, but if hunting is in your blood you’ll get a chance to experience a hunt ‘Hawaiian style’. The mountains of Maui are full to the brim with wild game animals that are not particularly a friend to the environment. Wild deer and goats strip the land of grasses, break into backyard gardens and trample the fertile Maui soils. Much more damaging are the wild boar who specialize in tearing up the countryside. Their tusks are the perfect tool for slicing up the grasslands in search of grubs and in a matter of ten short minutes they could demolish your gardens and landscape and run you over in the process if you happen to get in their way. The hunting tours we offer on Maui set out to ‘take’ any of these species. The goat and dear are taken with a rifle on one of the back-county ranch lands but the wild boar are an altogether different proposition. These are found far up in the valleys and gorges and are found with the help of hunting dogs who sniff them out and then corner them when they are tired of running. The Hawaiian hunting technique is to then take the pig with a knife. In many cases the areas where they are found are in close quarters with brush, trees and bushes and maneuverability would be dangerous with a riffle. Hence the use of the knife. These tours generally just take private parties of perhaps one or two and make for the experience of a lifetime. It is extremely rare when you will come back without a catch.
Rappel Down a Waterfall
When was the last time you rappelled down a jungle waterfall? Probably never, right! That is the beauty of this trip. You can have no experience at all on one day, knowing nothing about ropes or clips or whatever, and then after one half day in the Maui jungle you can share photos with your friends showing you rappelling down the middle of a waterfall. This is a fairly new activity on Maui but it has the ‘buzz’. If you are looking for something truly different, and something you can write home about, try rappelling down a waterfall on Maui.
Fly into Saint Damien’s Famous Leper Colony on Molokai
Not many people have what it takes to become a ‘Saint’. It takes making something miraculous happen. Father Damien of Molokai was canonized with sainthood at the Vatican on October 11th, 2009 for the miraculous life of selflessness and giving he bestowed upon the unfortunate lepers who were banished to the isolated Kalaupapa peninsula on the island of Molokai. He spent a total of sixteen years in this remote, but breathtakingly beautiful location, struggling to make life better for the hundreds of patients who lived in this settlement with this incurable disease. He did everything in his power to improve their lives from bringing in running water and sanitation and creating a hospital and a rectory. This astonishing story can be shared to those very few who fly into the peninsula from Maui and spend the day touring this incredibly beautiful location. These approximately six hour tours will fly you on an air tour from Kahului or Kapalua to visit the remarkable sea cliffs of Molokai before landing on Kalaupapa. This is a tour that will remain dear in your heart for the rest of your life.
Shoot some Sporting Clays
On the mountain high above the resort of Wailea on Maui is an extinct cinder cone looking like one of the craters of the moon. This turned out to be the perfect location to construct a sporting clay course because of its isolation and its naturally formed protective rimmed walls. You will be provided with all the rifles, bullets, gear and instruction you will need to shoot these moving targets from a series of stations set throughout the crater. Each station is different and designed to mimic the flight of various types of game birds as they bolt from hiding into flight. If you’ve not participated in an event such as this before you will see your skills improve with each progressive station you navigate. You will be picked up in Wailea and then driven through a series of locked and gated roads before reaching your sporting clay location.
Hike into the amazing Crater of Haleakala
Haleakala Crater is the crown jewel of Maui. Located at the top of this 10,000′ mountain it is as though the top of the mountain was just replaced with a lunar moonscape. There is an enormous crater found here that is 3000′ deep and has a circumference of 21 miles. The only permitted access into this area is by hiking and you will see no vehicles roads or man made structures in view with the exception of three small overnight cabins created for hikers on a multi-day visit. This will be your opportunity to hike through an area that is unique to the planet. As soon as you descend on the hiking path beneath the rim of the crater you will become aware of the extreme silence and beauty of an area that relatively few have visited. These hikes are approximately 6 hours in length with about 4 hours of hiking time. Although you don’t have to be an experienced hiker you do have to be able to walk up and downhill for a considerable distance.