Spectacular Haleakala Sunrise Tour with Park Admission & Breakfast at Mill House
Overall Rating
4.52
If you can see it the sunrise is awesome
Reviewed by: Steve712, 2023/03/25Cloud cover prevented us seeing the full sunrise experience. We made the best of it. Our guide was great and had to deal with a lot of passengers. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do your research on this tour. It is cold. Dress for it. Many on our tour who did not and they were miserable. It is going to be cold. Was 34 degrees with winds gusting to 40MPH. Very cold. Breakfast stop was a cluster and we had to leave most of our food to stick to schedule. Not good.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Friends |
| Activity Date: | 2023/03/10 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
Haleakala was Amazing, Tour Guides Were Awful
Reviewed by: Jeff, 2019/11/13We selected this trip because we were unable to secure tickets to drive ourselves up to the summit for sunrise. We expected to be picked up early so we weren't surprised by the 2:40am pickup time. We were also prepared for the cold so no problem there. The biggest problem is that from the time we woke up to the time we were eventually released from our hostage situation, our guide did not stop talking. The problem wasn't even the talking - it was the fact that what he was saying was the dumbest minutiae that added no value to the trip, including saying one of the more ridiculous claims that Haleakala (approx. 10k feet high) is taller than Mt. Everest (approx. 29k feet high) because Haleakala has over 20k feet of it's height below the water which makes it over 30k feet. Our guide (as well as another guide from the same company we eventually met up with at the summit) also continually said "Haleakala is the world's second tallest mountain in the world after the mountain on the big island of Hawaii." "The world's second tallest mountain in the world." At that point I was so frustrated listening to these people talk that I was likely to be annoyed by anything but for two people to say "world's tallest in the world" over half a dozen times cut me to the core like fingernails on a chalkboard. Breakfast also offered 3 options with no substitutions at a golf course in the middle of the island. I would have been paying more attention but thankfully I had headphones to try to escape the idiocy being spewed by our guide on the way back down the mountain.
The views from the summit were amazing but the temperatures were frigid and the wind chill probably dropped the overall temperature another 10 degrees so be prepared. I would absolutely recommend the experience of going to the summit but do anything in your power to avoid doing it with this company.
Haleakala Summit - 5/5 stars
This Tour - 1/5 stars
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2019/11/10 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
Weather did not cooperate. Hazy, rainy at top.
Reviewed by: Bernice , 2018/07/18If I had it to do over again I would have driven myself. Not worth the expense. Buses can not go all the way to the top because they can’t park up there. The breakfast was nothing special.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Friends |
| Activity Date: | 2018/07/15 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
Great experience but guide was frustrating
Reviewed by: Katy, 2017/08/30We are delighted we got to have this experience. The view was breathtaking, honestly. That said, the driver/guide was nice but pretty frustrating. The tour picked you up around 3am, and the driver promptly announced he preferred to chat the whole way to the crater and turned the mike volume way up. Every person on that bus tried to sleep (it was 3am!) but he liked the sound of his own voice, and we heard his opinions on topics ranging from cyclists to what the beetles are doing now. He was nice, but frustrated every person and didn't seem to care ("haha, oh hope I didn't stop anyone from sleeping!") aside from that, I would have given a great review.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Friends |
| Activity Date: | 2017/08/27 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
Average tour
Reviewed by: Mary Lou , 2017/07/11Our tour bus driver, Nettie, was personable and knowledgeable but this tour didn't really measure up to info as presented in your ad: "We'll make an approximate one-hour stop at the "House of the Sun" visitor's center. Includes breakfast at one of Maui's premier restaurants after descending Haleakalā."
The "sunrise" that morning was dismal and I realize this is beyond your control. However, I was expecting the visitor center stop to be a more formal educational experience with a park ranger or naturalist; it was just a stop where Nettie took pictures of those on the bus. Breakfast was mediocre at best and the "premier" restaurant was actually a golf course dining area with a cafeteria feel. They actually weren't ready for us when we came down the mountain so Nettie drove to a "scenic stop" to waste some time. She actually did all she could to make us comfortable but I felt this tour was not worth the expense. Please include in your add that participants should bring chewing gum or ginger or will be able to purchase these things along with coffee or other beverages at a stop before the drive up to the summit.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2017/06/29 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
Unfortunately no sunrise
Reviewed by: Lianne & Ron, 2017/06/03The tour on itself was nice, but no sunrise for us and that was a pity, but it's nature and with it you can't play.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2017/05/14 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
Good tour. Terrible pick up!
Reviewed by: Toby, 2016/04/19First off our tour guide and driver Peaches was excellent. The view from Haleakala didn't disappoint and the breakfast provided was tasty with a good range of choices. That being said the pick up was a complete nightmare. We waited for 60 minutes from 2:30am ( our scheduled pick up) until 3:30 am awaiting a pick up. We did not receive any word from the tour operator of the late running of the pick up service. The instructions on the ticket told us to call in if the pick up was 10 mins late, which we did. Guess what both the numbers on the ticket went straight to out of office voicemail, even the one labeled emergency! Thinking we had been swindled, we began google searching the tour company to see if others had been treated similarly. This search turned up a completely separate number for Polynesian adventure tours MAUI, as opposed to the main office number printed on the tickets. Ringing this number we finally got through to a gentleman able to help us and call the driver. We were told ( at this point 30mins past our pick up) that the driver had run into delays with late passengers, our pick up would be in 10mins. 20mkns later no one had shown up, we range back and were told they would be there any second, 10mins later in the cold, we were picked up. Zero stars for initial communication and pick up. 5 stars for the tour guide and sunrise experience itself. 3 stars overall.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2016/04/16 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
Haleakala Sunrise
Reviewed by: Sunrise, 2015/09/08We had such a wonderful time! The food not so great.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2015/09/06 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
It would of been great if the clouds did not get in the way.
Reviewed by: Spencer, 2014/05/04Overall the experience was pretty good. You start off by waking up very early in the morning. They do serve you breakfast (a muffin and coffee). After that you make a long drive on a curvy road to the top of the volcano. Once there, it is FREEZING cold. What they don't tell you that you need to bring a very heavy coat. The day we went was pretty cloudy, so when the sun finally came up, it was too cloudy to see. After the sunrise, they treat you to a very delicious breakfast. The only recommendation I would have is to check what the cloud cover is going to be before you book this event.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Activity Date: | 2014/05/01 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
Spectacular Haleakala Sunrise Tour
Reviewed by: Jill Scully, 2013/11/25I have never experienced such a bad tour guide. He was really creepy; uninformative; totally lacking enthusiasm and just didn't keep us informed of the procedures or what was happening. Very disappointing.
| Rating: | |
|---|---|
| Attended as: | Families |
| Activity Date: | 2013/11/22 |
|
Was this comment helpful?
[Yes]
|
|
