It is our guides who make Hike Maui the best. We've always had the top guides in the business, known for their knowledge of Hawaiian botany, geology, culture and history. Our mission is to teach people about Hawai`i, and to do so while having a fun adventure. Anyone can walk you through the woods. When you go with us, it will be the best day of your vacation.

Our full-time guides are often asked by Mainland clients: "Is this a real job?" (Most would like to have their office be the great outdoors!) And, yes it is -- a really great job.

Stephanie

     On the Mainland, Stephanie had numerous interesting and strange wildlife/ biology jobs. Spawning endangered trout and salmon species, for instance (actually putting the eggs and sperm together). Monitoring spotted owls in Oregon. Counting frogs in Idaho. Releasing falcons in Texas. Inventorying and banding song birds. Managing a 200-acre preserve in Idaho for The Nature Conservancy.
     "Originally, I wanted to be a fish biologist," she says. "I was enthralled with fish. Then I got interested in wildlife biology, and, on my first job I learned to identify 130 birds by their songs. I didn't know I could do that! That was a real confidence booster."
     In Hawai`i, she monitored several endemic bird species in two of our national parks. Once here, of course, there was no going back. "I've discovered I can't live in a place where there is no ocean. I have to do my surfing and spear diving now. And, I need to be outside, not in a lab."
Stephanie's Rave Reviews

Roger

     Before settling in Maui in 1986, Roger spent five years as a Montana fly fishing guide. He was also a wildlife biologist hanging out of helicopters counting critters for six years in remote areas of Wyoming and Montana.
     After so many quiet years in paradise (Maui) and in the backwoods (Montana), Roger wanted to live in a big city, so he moved to Kobe, Japan, just in time for the earthquake of 1995. He stayed, teaching English, for five years until he was fluent in Japanese.
     Back on Maui again, he worked in a state program with Maui's endemic birds. He also did nighttime astronomy tours with Japanese tourists. When 9-11 caused Japanese tourism to dwindle in Hawai`i, we wired Roger up on green tea and sent him hiking. His facility with language and science and his love of guiding make him a perfect fit for us.
Roger's Rave Reviews

Alex

     No one can find chameleons in the forest like Alex. It’s normal to see him hiking along with a green Jackson chameleon on his bald head while explaining every plant he encounters. Alex is an entertaining, knowledgeable and high energy guide.
     He lived in Honolulu for 20 years before coming to Maui to raise his daughter, Aya. In Honolulu he did environmental and community planning and he taught college-level technical writing and English composition. For fun, he took a side job as a hiking guide, and that was the job that hooked him.
     On Maui, he lives in a cottage high in a rainforest valley where he cultivates a 1,500-square foot organic garden. His “normal” career has taken a detour for his love of the outdoors. Shirt off and feet bare, Alex looks and acts like a grown Huck Finn. 
Alex's Rave Reviews

Kahi

     Famous for his huge “dive bomb” splash, Kahi claims he’s a guide so he can jump off waterfalls every day. “It’s the adrenaline rush of rushes,” he says. “People ask me what I love about my job. I say: ‘Look around -- this is my job!’ I love it. Visitors seem intrigued that I’m a local boy and I also know geology, botany and history.”
     Kahi was born on Maui in a taxi cab on the way to the hospital. He’s number six of ten kids and he grew up old style Hawaiian. His mom’s house was “24 hours a day full of kids--all the neighborhood kids.” His 360-pound, 6’ 2” grandmother also raised him. “She was one of the best hula dancers on Maui,” he says. “She taught me to fish and surf at age four, to hula at age six and to chant at age 13. My grandparents lived Hawaiian--plantation house, no TV, kukui nut lamps, chanting when someone came to the door, growing lei flowers, singing Hawaiian songs.”
     Kahi is the father of four and is a phenomenal self-taught artist and a professional hula dancer.
Kahi's Rave Reviews

Tony

    On his resume, Tony describes himself as a “good-natured outdoor type.” Amen to that. No one is as easy going, as gracious and as gentlemanly as Tony. Living on Maui since 1981 has infused him with the aloha spirit. His studies of The Islands have given him a profound sense of Hawaii’s history, culture and natural world. He hikes, bikes, snorkels, dives and kayaks, and he needs an outdoor job that reflects all these interests. “I also wanted to be associated with the most reputable company on island,” he says. 
    In addition, Tony has a full-time indoor job--fine dining waiter for the evening shift at one of Wailea’s best restaurants. He has been involved in restaurant work since 1979, and, as a result, is a very good cook.  Tony claims to make the best banana bread on island. It’s true.
Tony's Rave Reviews

Wayne

     Wayne is remarkably upbeat, known for his constant good humor and cheery manner. Ironic and inspiring considering his past. In 1967 his helicopter was shot down in Cambodia. After 10 days in a 4 by 4 bamboo cage, he realized he would die there as a POW, so, he began chewing on the bamboo bars. Took him 23 days, but he escaped and released 14 other guys. After 21 days wandering in the jungle, they found a troop of Marines and got out.
     "I would have made a career of the Army," he says. "But, I didn't want to go back to Vietnam. When I left in March of '68, the morale was going down."
     Instead, he had a 25-year career in the trucking business, in sales and operations, both on the East Coast and in California. He came to Maui in 1988 and worked in the tour business for 13 years, driving 2,748 trips to Hana (yes, he counted). We knew his reputation as a top tour guide, so we got him out of the driver's seat and hiked him back into the jungle.
Wayne's Rave Reviews

Randy

     At seventeen, Randy joined the Air Force to see the world. Eventually he was stationed in Hawai'i, and fell in love with the islands. When the Air Force began downsizing, Randy opted for early retirement.
     By the time Randy came to us, he was already a professional guide. He had worked as a downhill bike guide and driven luxury tour vans on the Hana Highway. He sought out Hike Maui, he says, because of its reputation. “It’s the oldest hiking company in the state with the most knowledgeable guides, and it’s like a family. I was always hiking on my days off, so I figured, why not get paid to do what I really like to do?”
     Randy is a true professional. He’s always upbeat, and nothing seems too hard for him. Above all, he likes to share his love of Maui with visitors. “Every day I am reminded of the reasons I live here," he says, "and I enjoy sharing that.”
Randy's Rave Reviews

Kristin

     As an Alaskan, Kristin says: "It took me a while to realize that snapping in the bushes behind me was not large animals, but falling fruit." Still, she sees similarities in both states: "Both are unique places. With both there is no other place like it on Earth. Both have special energy, special people."
    In Alaska she was a veterinarian tech, a dental assistant, a tour guide and a mom. When son Cory was four, she sold everything to move to Maui and then she eventually found Hike Maui. "I have so much fun in this job," she enthuses. "I teach in an outdoor office. I love it when I inspire someone about nature. And, I've got the best coworkers in the world. This is a phenomenal group of people to work with. I feel lucky every day."
     Her clients feel the same way about her. "On a daily basis, someone says I should be on "Survivor" (the TV show). Because I'm jumping around on rocks, being athletic, jumping off waterfalls. And we're in the jungle." But nobody would ever vote Kristin off.
Kristin's Rave Reviews

Renee

     Renee’s email address is “reneesplashes,” and that she does. She has been a swim coach since 1998, and she swims every day -- “almost all my life, every day,” she says. “It clears my head and gives me energy. It makes me feel alive.” She has raced in triathalons and, on the other side of extreme sports, has taught yoga for years.
     She has a Master of Arts degree, specializing in ceramics, painting and art history, but, “even in grad school I struggled with the fact that I’ve never seen a piece of art as beautiful as nature. My art incorporates nature -- sand, lava, clay and other natural materials I gather from Maui.
     “Being able to share the peace and happiness of nature hiking with visitors and to educate them about Hawai’i--that makes my job like my art.” 
Renee's Rave Reviews

Part-Time Guides
     We have several part-time guides who work one to three days a week with us. They balance school, other jobs, raising children or teaching with hiking. Helga and Marko have been with us more than a decade.

Helga

     Helga arrived on Maui in 1979 with $2 in her pocket. She had fallen in love with rainforests in South America when she lived with the Sequoia and Quechuan Indians, so she came to Hawai`i searching for more rainforest life. Immediately, she began homesteading six acres of lowland forest on Maui. There, she kept the jungle back enough to plant nearly 1500 rainforest species from around the world. She also planted 40 species of fruit trees and hundreds of flowering plants. Her extensive knowledge of botany comes from these years of research and personal hard work on the land.
     After 13 years, Helga left her jungle paradise and moved to the old sugar plantation town of Pa`ia where she lives with her young son. She has worked for us since 1994, which makes her our most senior guide.
Helga's Rave Reviews

Ray

     Ray has always loved adventure. In his “small kid days” (island lingo), growing up on O`ahu, he led his buddies into the ridges and valleys of Ko`olau Mountain, bushwhacking, climbing, exploring and camping. This wild man stuff continued when he grew up and joined the Army’s 82nd Airborne as a reconnaissance paratrooper (spending three years jumping out of planes and helicopters).
Then he really grew up: got sensible, got married, had two kids and began working in hotel management. He kept being promoted until he “burned out,” he says, “managing too many people, spending too much time at the hotel and too little time where it really counts--at home.”
     He found the balance he was looking for by guiding visitors for Hike Maui--adventure and service in one job. “I can be outdoors and still deal with customers. I like educating people about our culture and about nature. I like to say I’m saving the world one van-load at a time.”
Ray's Rave Reviews

Marko

     He calls himself "Marko Polo." He's even listed that way in the phone book. Marko is an adventurer and a scientist, and has lived in Hawai`i since 1979. He does service work for the Nature Conservancy and is on the executive board of the local Sierra Club. With a degree in marine biology from UC Berkeley, Marko spent seven years teaching high school biology and environmental science. But the adventurer kept resurfacing to take him across the globe: crewing for a year around Africa on an oil supply vessel, exploring Asia, researching plants in the Amazon. He also worked for seven years as a fire fighter, doing land and sea rescues.
     He was with us full time for years, then needed to go back to his first love -- teaching science to kids. Often accused of being a big kid himself, Marko will leap off any and all rocks and waterfalls. He'll let you come out and play with him on weekends and summers when he returns to us from his school job.
Marko's Rave Reviews

Ute

     "I truly knew I was home when I came here." That's how Ute felt when she arrived on Maui in 1985, drawn here by a dream depicting the place her daughter, Sarah, would be born. She still lives in that jungle area of Maui with no running water and no electricity--"off the grid," as we say. It is a far different life than her upbringing in Germany where she was a dental technician. She left Germany at age 23 and headed for California where for four years she studied to be a master silversmith and goldsmith.
     While in California, she studied with two American Indian tribes, and founded a center for native teaching. On Maui, her interest turned to Hawaiian history and culture, and, being a prolific reader, she reads everything written about them.
     She also learned Hawaiian hula and African dance, and for five years was a certified movement teacher in the public schools, teaching dance through the metaphor of Hawaiian mythology.
Ute's Rave Reviews