If there’s one thing you think of when you think of Hawaii…it just might be pineapple.

Surprisingly, pineapple isn’t native to Hawaii, but thanks to Dole, the two have become inextricably linked.

You’ve probably heard about the Dole Plantation on Oahu (it’s mostly just a tourist trap these days), but I’ve got something better for you. How about a real, working pineapple farm that grows most of the pineapple that’s actually consumed in Hawaii??

The Maui Gold Pineapple Company (locally owned and operated) is a 1,350 acre pineapple farming operation located on the slopes of Haleakala at Hali’imaile. And you can tour it!

This is not a cheesy, touristy experience. It’s a real working farm tour.

The Maui Pineapple Tour is probably my top “off the beaten path” thing to do on Maui.

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Maui Pineapple Tour Details

Here are the details:

The tour lasts about 1.5 hours and is offered multiple times a day but I recommend booking the first tour of the day (9:30 AM) for the coolest temperatures.

There are about a dozen or so people on the small air conditioned bus that takes you out into the pineapple fields. You get on and off the bus at different points, but there’s not much walking and you’ll be able to leave your bags/water on the bus.

Call ahead before you book your tour to pick the best day. Last time I did the tour they were only picking pineapple on Monday-Thursday and that’s definitely something you’ll want to see if possible.

The tour includes a peak into the packing facility and everyone goes home with their own Maui Gold pineapple!

The tour costs $75/adult and $65/child.

For an extra $15 you can also add on a tour of the Hali’imaile Distillery that uses Maui Gold pineapples to make its spirits. Kids of all ages can go on the tour (12 and under are free), but have to be 21+ to go into the tasting room.

And I would definitely pair this whole experience with lunch at the Hali’imaile General Store across the street. It’s one of my favorite restaurants on Maui.

***Want to save major $$$ on your trip to Hawaii? I get asked ALL the time how I’m able to travel so often to Hawaii and stay at really nice resorts. Well, my favorite travel hack is cashing in points to score free airfare and free nights at some of Hawaii’s most high end resorts. Read my full guide on the exact system I use to max out credit card rewards here. Seriously, it’s going to save you soooo much money.

A few of my favorite moments from the tour: Hearing the history of pineapple in Hawaii, watching them pick pineapple, eating as much pineapple as we wanted straight from the field, planting a pineapple starter, seeing nene birds, and making a stop to see some of the best views of the island.

Fun Fact: Hummingbirds are illegal in Hawaii! Since hummingbirds are such major pollinators, they can really change the characteristics of pineapple and experts have worked for years to get the Maui Gold variety just perfect so since it’s an island, they can just prohibit them from being brought in. If you ever eat a pineapple and it has little black dots, that means it’s been pollinated by a hummingbird!

You can book the Maui Pineapple Tour here.

* I mentioned pairing the tour with lunch at the Haliimaile General Store, but if you’re looking to make a day out of it, here’s a few other things in the area:

Shopping in Paia Town
Drive up Olinda Road through the Upcountry
Twin Falls past Haiku
See the turtles at Ho’okipa Beach or Kuau Beach
Shopping and art galleries in Makawao

P.S. One of the reasons I’m able to travel to Hawaii so often is because I get free flights with my Southwest credit card AND I can fly someone with me for free with my Companion Pass.

I have this Southwest Premier Rapid Rewards Visa card through Chase. The current sign up offer is 50,000 points. Depending on where you live and fly from, that’s at least one completely FREE ticket to Hawaii and it could be two depending on the time of year (or more if you catch a crazy sale).

But the real pro travel hack is getting the Southwest Companion Pass.

If you acquire a certain amount of annual points with Southwest (either through flying or credit card spend), you get a companion pass where you can bring someone with you on every flight you take FOR FREE for the entire year. I can’t tell you how many thousands of dollars I save using this every year.

What makes this doable is that the sign up bonuses from Southwest credit cards goes towards the point requirement.

By far the quickest way to qualify for the companion pass is by signing up for a personal AND business card through Southwest.

**Besides being a business owner, if you’re self-employed, a freelancer or contractor, a gig economy worker, if you own rental properties, etc…you qualify for a business card.

And you’ll be most of the way towards qualifying for a Companion Pass PLUS you’ll have 110K points to book flights to Hawaii. That’s enough points to book 3-4 flights to Hawaii! AND you can take someone with you for FREE.

P.P.S. Here’s one more really important thing you need to know before your Hawaii trip…

You’ve got your airfare, hotel, rental car and your big activities booked, so you should be good to go, right? Wrong!

Travel is BOOMING in Hawaii and a lot of state and national parks have instituted reservation systems at some of the island’s most popular spots to help manage the crowds and make things a little more sustainable.

That means that there are now over half a dozen sites (beaches, trailheads, etc.) that require advance reservations. And some sell out well before you arrive on the island so you really need to have some sort of a plan.

I recently saw somebody in a Hawaii travel group post in a panic that they didn’t know they had to make reservations for things in advance…they thought they could just show up and “go with the flow.” I was tempted to say, well, “as long as the flow doesn’t take you somewhere that requires reservations, you can!” ; )

But I don’t want YOU to be that person, so I’ve pulled together a list of all the places you need to reserve entry in advance (plus all the details on booking windows, price, links, etc.) and a handful of popular tourist hotspots that book out really far in advance too.
Get that info >> HERE