Hike with the experts
into the magic of nature...
OUR GUIDES | RAVE REVIEWS
It is our guides who make Hike Maui the best.
Always the top guides in the business, they are renowned for their knowledge
of Hawaiian botany, geology, culture and history. Their 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 have a great guide, it is a day to remember.
Often described in the press as “walking encyclopedias,” Hike Maui guides receive extensive training, both book learning and on the trails. Most also have life guard certification and Wilderness First Responder (advanced First Aid / rescue training).
Let them take you on a safe and amazing adventure.
Click on the photos below to meet the guides
She came to Hike Maui seeking an office job, but, we realized immediately that Akiko would be a great guide. She’s athletic, adventuresome, engaging, articulate and fun. She readily jumps off rope swings and plunges into waterfalls - an outdoorsy local girl who grew up on the Big Island dancing hula and paddling a canoe.
Akiko tried out the Mainland for a few years, going to school in Austin, Texas, to get an associate degree in aviation science. There she became a flight attendant and a pilot. And, she introduced her culture to Austin by starting an outrigger canoe club. But, finally she returned to her roots, bringing husband Harry and daughter Maile with her. With Maile in school, mom could start work again, though she insists, “I don’t feel like hiking is work at all. I love meeting visitors and sharing my aloha.”
His Hawaiian friends call him ‘Ula ‘Ula, which means“red” (Chris’ golden red hair is your clue). He hikes with an infectious spirit--jumping off every waterfall, double flipping from rope swings, all the while educating you about his duo loves (ocean and land).
He’s a long way from New York, but, he says: “I’m an island guy -- from Manhattan to Maui.” What brought him to Maui? “Common sense,” he insists. “I wanted mountains and oceans. I have everything I need here.”
Chris has been vice principal of a Jesuit high school, a ski instructor in Vail, the activity director of a luxury hotel in Lana’i, and a Hawaiian canoe guide.
His biggest adventure was surviving 13 days lost in five-foot deep snow and blizzard conditions at 10,000 feet near Yosemite in 2002. His rescue made the news, and made him happy to head back to Hawai’i --”where I’m home to stay.”
Helga arrived on Maui in 1979 with $2 in her pocket. She had fallen in love with rain forests in South America when she lived with the Sequoia and Quechuan Indians, so she came to Hawai`i searching for more rain forest life. Immediately, she began homesteading six acres of lowland forest on Maui. There, she kept the jungle back enough to plant nearly 1500 rain forest 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.
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 self-taught artist and a professional hula dancer.
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 where 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 co-workers 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.
He calls himself "Marko Polo." Marko is an adventurer and a scientist, and has lived in Hawai`i since 1979. He does service work for the Nature Conservancy and was 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.
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 always upbeat, always quick, generally has a corny joke to tell, and loves to inspire visitors. “Every day I am reminded of the reasons I live here," he says, "and I enjoy sharing that.”
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.”
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, coached swimming and 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.”
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 night-time 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.
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."
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.
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.
©2009 Hike Maui - All Rights Reserved
home | hikes | guides | our story | press | FAQ | store | directions | contact
Maui Guide | Maui Hiking | Adventures In Maui | Maui Waterfall Adventures | Things to do in Maui | Maui Hiking guides
Maui Hawaii Activities | Hiking to Maui Waterfalls | Maui Hawaii Activities | Discount Maui Hiking | Discount Maui Activities
Discount Maui Adventures | Discount Maui Tours | Maui Kayaking and Snorkeling | Maui Waterfall Hikes | Haleakala Hiking
Things to Do in Maui | Maui Discount Activities | Hiking in Maui | Hawaiian culture | Hawaiian history | Jungles of Maui | The Real Hawaii
Member of Better Business Bureau | Trip Advisor