This might be long..but read ALL of it! The wife and I were gifted a trip to Maui by our children for Christmas. We had never been to Hawaii and as usual it falls to me to be THE ARRANGER!! After looking thru various websites and polling my friends it was obvious that the Road to Hana was required. Everyone said..amazing but very tough to drive. I decided that I would arrange a tour for the wife and I and what we have learned is that a private tour is almost always better than a group tour. After looking thru various sites and reading reviews I chose Experience Maui Tour as our provider. From the get go I was sure I had hit a home run. Both the company owner and our tour guide reached out to us the evening before to lock in the time and location of the start of the tour start. Wouldn't you know it, they were only too happy to pick us up where we were staying in the Kapala Ridge Villas. Eric was our guide and on the dot he was there. He quickly showed us the cooler, ice, drinks, and snacks he had. Within 5 minutes I could tell it was going to be a great day. We spent a few minutes getting to know each other. Erics' story is a great one and probably very similar to many people on Maui. He came to visit for 2 weeks and did not leave the island for over 2 years. Eric was able to avoid the more "tourist trap" sights and put us on wonderful beaches, vistas, tasty eats, and conversations. The road is quite narrow in many spots with lots of blind corners and one lane areas. Locals drive fast and boldly and visitors go slow and timidly. Eric was just perfect. We felt very safe. He was able to tailor our trip to the physical limitations that were present and did so with a very gentle take all the time you want it is your day vibe. Just driving along the coast he helped us spot whales within a few minutes of meeting up. His general knowledge of the area is outstanding and his personality shows he knows how to deal with all types of people. By the end of our tour we were sad that we would be leaving Eric but secure in the knowledge we had met a new friend. He reached out to us after and encouraged us to use him if we needed anything. The best excursionI have ever been on and I know we will return to Maui in the future andI will most likely have him do a similar tour with us again.