I am really torn writing this review because I still feel that this could have been an excellent tour, but we were drawn a bad card from the start.
To begin, the day of our tour there was awful weather. It was rainy and very windy. From the second we pulled into the parking lot; I had a bad feeling that our tour wasn't going to be anything like what is advertised. I fully understand that the tour company can't control the weather, so I'm not faulting them for that, but they could have postponed our tour for a different day or offered a refund from the get-go.
The second we pulled into the parking lot we were instructed to pay the parking meter, but we opted to check-in first to make sure the tour was still on. The person at the front desk instructed us NOT to pay the meter as he didn't think we'd be going on the tour. When we told our guide that we were told not to pay he consistently told us that that was false, and we needed to pay the meter. Within 5 minutes of arrival, we already were in an argument with our guide and he wouldn't take someone else's word for what is was worth.
Regardless of the bad weather, we were told we'd still be doing the Road to Hana in the rain, and about 30 minutes before the helicopter was scheduled to take off, we'd find out if we were flying. Let me tell you, the Road to Hana in pouring rain is not fun at all. No one wants to get into a waterfall to swim when it's overflowing with rainwater and filled with mud. We consistently slipped around in the mud trying to make the most of the day. Our guide, Scott, was also quite aggressive that we had to get the perfect picture and pretty much forced us to go get pictures in the rain. At every turn, he asked for someone’s camera even when no one wanted a photo. We all reluctantly kept giving our cameras over because we felt bad, but he just couldn't take no for an answer!
There was one point at the black sand beach where he said we needed our camera for pictures of the cave. My husband and I both politely declined saying it wasn't necessary and we didn't want pictures. Scott then proceeded to ask us three more times saying we really need to bring out camera. I'm all for a tour guide trying to be helpful, but some people travel differently than others and don't need a million pictures of every little thing. It was difficult to enjoy the day because what seemed like every 5 minutes we were being badgered for photos.
Low and behold, we got to Hana, the sun did come out for 30 minutes, we had a mediocre lunch of chicken and fish wraps, and we were told the helicopter wouldn't be flying due to the bad conditions. So instead of our tour ending at 12:30, we not had to drive +2 hours back on the Road to Hana. We didn't arrive back from the tour until closer to 3pm.
The tour company did offer a half off refund or the ability to reschedule the helicopter tour for a different day. We opted to fly two days later, but it did require us to drive back to Blue Hawaiian helicopters again which added another hour of our vacation in the car.
All in all, the rain ruined a lot of our day, but Temptation Tours could have offered us to reschedule for the get go since we were only halfway through our stay on Maui. I really wish this review could have been different, but I want to ensure I tell a truthful account for what really happened.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Jan 2020
Aloha Sara,
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on your Hana Sky-Trek with us. We take all feedback quite seriously, and we truly appreciate you taking the time to write a review.
From reading your review, it does seem like the weather and conditions just weren't on your side to make your Hana Sky-Trek a perfect tour. We are sad to hear that the waterfalls on this particular trip to Hana didn’t wow you. As naturally-occurring features, the waterfalls on the Road to Hana vary season to season, and often times from day to day in their size and power -- mainly influenced by the amount of rainfall to the area during a particular time. As the weather in Maui is variable on a daily basis, the helicopter flight is also influenced within a 30 minute time period to decide if conditions are safe to fly.
We’re also disappointed to hear that you didn’t enjoy your picnic lunch, which has also been very positively reviewed recently. We perform regular checks on the lunches to ensure their quality and have our Tour Guides report back any potential issues. We source a lot of our food locally and meals are prepared fresh, on a daily basis for each tour. You mention only your chicken and Ono fish wraps -- we hope that the fresh vegetable pasta salad, chilled Maui Gold pineapple, and macadamia nut brownies were more to your liking.
Temptation Tours is proud of our team of Hawai'i Certified Tour Guides. They are well received and Scott, in particular, is one of our top guides that quite often gets praised for his humor, his knowledge of the island AND for his awesome photography skills.
We hope your helicopter flight was enjoyable.
Temptation Tours thanks you again for your review, and please don’t hesitate to contact us directly if we can assist you further. We do hope you’ll consider joining us again the next time you visit Maui and hope your travels home were safe and without incident.
All the best,
Dave and Kathy Campbell
Owners
Temptation Tours