To be honest, we were a bit lazy in our research prior to arriving to Maui so we ended booking some excursions through our hotel - this One Day Road to Hana Tour was one of them.
We had a party of 3 and booked pretty last minute; as such, the bus tours were already fully booked but the tour company ended up offering to provide us a private tour for the same price! - Obviously we accepted!
Car
We were in a jeep (not sure what the model was, kinda like a Toyota Ray 4) but the 2 sitting in the back felt a little cramped. It was a 4 door but not the kind we expected. (We had rented 4 door Jeep Wrangler so expected the tour company to provide the same - our mistake). Since this was going to be a 10-12 hr day a more comfortable car would have made the experience a little more fun. Regardless, the car was not an issue and would not stop me from recommending this tour.
Food
No complaints. Breakfast and lunch were provided as part of the tour package. For breakfast we each ordered different items on the menu, french toast, eggs and bacon, and a fruit platter - nothing out of the ordinary but it was all good. Lunch was a simple sandwich, soda, and chips - basically, a picnic by the beach, which was perfect. The views were so beautiful I would not have done it any other way. They even provided a table cloth so it was a "fancy" picnic.
Tour Itself
Pros
The tour itself was great. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and provided information regarding the history of Hawaii, the people, and it's culture.
Cons
So here's where things get a little icky...
1) Our tour guide explained the "Aloha Spirit" to us; fate, loyalty, giving, receiving, etc., which was great until he linked it to his tip. This was basically repeated throughout the tour. It became clear that he expected $30 from each of us. Additionally, he talked about how some times "lower class" people tip less. $30 is not a lot but I don't like being "pressured" to tip and believe that a tip should reflect the service received and NOT the tipper's class. Additionally, the hotel had told us people regularly tip $5-$10, so this raised another red flag.
2) We paid for his snacks. As mentioned, while in Hawaii we took several day tours and not once did we pay for our tour guide's snack. He didn't even ask, he just ate and then we got charged for it.
3) He got in a minor argument with another driver and some words were exchanged. If that was the end of it this would not be a con; however, it was not. At every stop he would talk to the local vendors to discuss what had happened. Honestly, we don't care about the local drama. Just keep it together until the end of the tour and go get a beer with your friends to vent - makes absolutely no sense to drag us into this.
I think the tour guide makes the tour, especially for a day trip like this. Although he provided a lot of great knowledge (which was great) there were a lot of minor cons that impacted the tour. It didn't overshadow the tour but clearly it made an negative impact.
When we returned we talked to our hotel, who called the tour company, who called us within 30 mins to apologize. The lady that called was so apologetic and mortified by our experience - honestly, we still had fun and learned a lot about the Hawaiian culture/history. Most importantly, this didn't take away from the Aloha Spirit we experienced while in Hawaii. There were cons but I would still recommend this tour to my friends, I'd probably recommend a different driver but this company and the tour package was great.
