While a good amount of ocean tours operate out of Lahaina or Ma’alaea Harbor, a few of the come right to you! This photo is a shot of the sailboat Gemini approaching the beach in Ka’anapali just in front of the Westin Maui Resort. For those staying in Ka’anapali, having these vessels come right to your door is a big plus rather than having to drive to the harbor, finding and paying for parking, and then waiting for your boat to exit out into the ocean (which can be an event in itself).

The Teralani is another boat you’ll see often, and one that we did back in 2006. It was great because we were able to hang out at Whalers Village a while after check-in for the tour and after the cruise was over, we went back for ice cream at Ha’agan Dazs.

Only the smaller ships are able to pick up passengers along the beach, so those tours are usually limited to cocktail cruises and snorkel or scuba adventures. The bigger whale watch tours and dinner cruises all have larger ships and those are out of the harbors mentioned above.

Have a favorite tour company of your own, or have experiences with any of the ones mentioned here? Share your stories with us.

Mahalo.

If you’d like to see more photos, you can check out our Sunday Photos category here at the blog, featuring a new photo every week. Our website also features daily photos on the Today’s Photos page, and if you’re Flickr fans like us, you can check out our Ka’anapali Dreamin’ collection.

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