Alii Nui Sailing Charters — Local services in Maui

Tim and his crew were amazing!!! We went snorkeling on 3/7 and there was some unusual weather that prevented us from going to Molokini crater. Tim decided to detour to Lanai where we came across spinner dolphins on the way and had a beautiful area to snorkel in with only one other boat around. My wife and I got lucky and were surrounded by about 30 dolphins at one point. To top off the day, on the way back we came across a few groups of humpback whales which we stopped and were able to take pictures and videos. We were lucky enough to have a whale breach just a couple hundred yards away!!! We were planning on doing a whale watch but didn't after having a grand slam experience on our way back from snorkeling.

They have everything you need when snorkeling. They offer a variety of coral safe sunscreens on the boat, so no need to have your own. They had noodles, wetsuit tops and other flotation devices for when snorkeling, all free to use. The bathrooms were stocked with the best smelling soaps and lotions, even dry shampoo/conditioner for after the snorkeling!!

Oh, and they will come pick you up and drop you off for free in nice vans. Not old beaters with no AC. They even offer an upgrade to a limo for their special cruises!

If we go back to Maui we will 100% take another tour of some sort, sunset, dinner etc....with the Ali's Nui as the boat and crew were all the best we have ever sailed with. Not to mention they treat you with a buffet breakfast and lunch, have an open bar with alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks. My wife wasn't feeling great on the way out and they gave her fresh made ginger ale, not store bought, and she felt better within 5 minutes. The photographer on the boat was awesome, had great equipment for you to rent if you don't have any yourself, and took some great videos and pictures with very reasonable prices on them after the trip. They somehow manage to keep making things better as they had an assortment of after sun lotions with aloe or lavender etc... that all smelled amazing. THEN they give you a nearly frozen hand towel soaked in something amazing to cool off with. It was like a spa experience in the middle of the ocean!!!

I can't say enough times how great the crew and the whole experience was. It's not the cheapest and everything I wrote about above is why. No boat I've ever been on for anything comes close to the Ali'i Nui. The meaning of the name is similar to the ruler or King, which is a very fitting name as they are King of every boat I've ever been on.

Now they just need to add deep sea fishing to their list so I can do that with them when we come back next!

I've also added a couple pics of the whale breaching and the dolphins underwater. The one picture there's about 25 dolphins in the shot alone!! The other one is hard to tel but the dolphins were only 15-20 feet away swimming right under me!!! The glare from the sun made it hard in some of the video to see when they were the closest...

What an experience! We decided to book the Adult Only Sunset Cruise for our last night on our honeymoon and the crew at Alli Nui did not disappoint! We used the shuttle service to pick us up from our hotel, which was very convenient and a great perk that comes with ticket purchase. You take your shoes off once you get on board and spend the whole time barefoot. The catamaran had more than enough seating, both tables for everyone at dinner and seating up top during the cruise itself for viewing. You get to meet some pretty awesome other guests on board too and their stories of why they are in Maui. The bathrooms on board weren’t bad, they had separate mens and womens, just don’t flush the toilet paper and place in it the trash! It’s a quick cruise over to the landing spot where they anchor down for dinner. The crew on board was so professional and genuinely enjoyed this job to maintain the catamaran and serve us. Some of the crew even went around asking folks if they wanted pictures taken of them (using our own phones) which was super nice of them to offer. It does get very windy, so prepare as needed! I had my hair down at first and ended up braiding it quick to stop it from flying everywhere. I also recommend sunglasses of course until sunset. One of the workers even went around with a microfiber cloth asking if they wanted their sunglasses cleaned quick to view everything better! They have a specialty drink that I highly recommend and was the only drink I had all night, the Slip 56! (I hope I got that name right 😊 ). The dinner buffet spread was absolutely perfect, check out the menu on their site! There was plenty of food for everyone on board (about ~25 people), we were even able to go up for seconds! We were lucky enough to have the most beautiful sunset that night. The whole cruise was such a blast that I couldn’t believe how fast 2.5 hours went. Highly recommend for couples!! We will be back on our next Maui trip! Thank you Alii Nui for...

Our excursion with the Ali'i Nui was a sort of a mediocre. The staff and crew were nice, friendly, and outgoing and the unlimited drinks and tacos were great. Our group was very small about 20 at most, which was awesome as we were free to move around the boat and had plenty of room. We were taken out in the afternoon group from (1:00-4:00). As we were arriving to the location that they had in mind for our snorkel trip, they noticed one of their smaller private boats was already there who they referred to as their "sister boat". Because they were in the location they originally had in mind they threw the anchor in the middle of the ocean and not near the intended spot that was much calmer and had actual coral reef. Our spot was very cloudy, we didn't see much during our snorkel trip, the water was so choppy, I ended up getting sea sick just from being in the water. Anytime we started to head in the direction of the other group they instructed us to stay back. We were very disappointed in our snorkel trip as we really didn't see anything, we saw more at our beach near our hotel. After we docked, our group debriefed and all of us agreed that maybe the crew was tired as this was their second trip out and they didn't seem to put much effort into making our snorkeling trip a nice experience. My recommendation is to NOT take the afternoon trip and take the excursion that actually tells you where you will snorkel. Our excursion was called Taco's and Turtles. It's the afternoon trip and I'm assuming they stop wherever they feel like, because they didn't seem to put much effort in picking a location that would be desirable for snorkelers. Other than that the boat is nice, the bathrooms are nice, the warm towels, and fresh water shower are a plus when you get back...