07/22/2026
New review on Trip Advisor:
Maureen K
5 contributions
Pono is an absolute legend!
Jul 2026
Our family of 5 had an unforgettable experience exploring the Road to Hana with Pono. His breadth of knowledge on Hawaiian history, lore, legend, flora, fauna, geology, music, and food was nothing short of dazzling. His tour was an absolute highlight of our 17-day trip to the Hawaiian islands.
Prior to our trip, Pono reached out to us about special requests and preferences, and to get to know a little bit about each of us. Based on our responses, he was able to gear parts of the tour to our particular interests. We pretty much left the tour stops up to Pono, but his adding in details that appealed to us personally kept us all attentive and engaged throughout the entire 10-hour day. That alone was a tremendous feat!
Since we were staying in Kapalua, we agreed to meet Pono closer to start of the Road to Hana. He met us with beautiful leis he had made from flowers he had grown on his organic farm. Pono performed a traditional Hawaiian chant to greet us and open the tour. He also told a couple of groan-worthy jokes (we quickly learned he's quite the quipper) that put our kids at ease, then we embarked in his comfortable and well-maintained Honda Pilot.
Pono was able to interweave stories of Maui and the road to Hana with music -- some funny, some beautiful, some to help illustrate his points. All of our senses were engaged as we observed beautiful landscape and listened to the history of this enchanting island. He helped us see beyond the beautiful waterfalls and beaches to the heart of the island itself. One thing became clear - "tour guide" isn't a job for Pono . He has a passion for Hawaii and wants others to experience it and share in it. He even brought several delicious fruits from his own farm and shared them with us as a snack a couple of hours into the tour!
Pono's 40 years on the island has led to him being "adopted" by a couple of different Hawaiian families, and it really shows. We stopped at a roadside stand where Pono knew the "Auntie" in charge. He talked with her and introduced her to us, then she did an impromptu hula. At another location, we visited a church that had just finished Mass. Pono knew and greeted the various local people at the church. The priest gave our family a special blessing, which really stood out as an unexpected highlight of the tour. We could not believe that we were lucky enough to have such a personal experience with the land and people of Maui.
When we made it to Hana, we explored black sand beaches and the legendary town itself. During all of the driving, Pono made sure to engage with each of our children and discuss their interests -- fishing, geography, even the pros and cons of his Honda Pilot. We learned so much in the best way possible -- by experiencing it. With that, we, too, developed a love for the island.
When Pono dropped us back off at our car, he did another traditional Hawaiian chant, and gave us a goody bag of parting gifts. We got in our car and looked at each other. We actually needed some time to digest everything we had just experienced. Throughout the remainder of our trip, "Uncle Pono" became a topic for our family. Whether we compared the quality of other fruit to that which he had provided, recounted his stories, or queued up "Huli Huli Chicken" on Spotify, we made Pono a metaphorical fixture for the rest of our vacation.
Oh -- and as if that weren't enough, he took about 300 pictures of our family as we explored the Road to Hana, and provided them to us on a Google Drive so we can reflect on our memories forever.
I have no doubt that Pono's tours are all customized to the needs of his individual clients. That is what makes it worth every penny. In fact, we like to think we've adopted Pono into the Kirk Family.
Written July 22, 2026
