Sailing Canoe Experience

[gregf71]

Hoping for a few details about the Sailing Canoe Experience...

1. How long is the experience?
2. How many sailings are offered each day?
3. What times are the sailings?
4. Are certain times of the day better than others?
5. Are the sailings offered every day?
6. Can reservations be made only that day or can you reserve them a few days ahead of time?
7. If reservations are day of only, should I/we make an effort to get down to Makiki Joe's before they open to grab one?
8. Have you done it? Is it fun?

Mahalo for the info!

 

[Sunclytie]

Hi @gregf71, my family did the Sailing Canoe Experience last March when we were at Aulani. We loved it! Let me try to answer your questions:
1. The sailing was about an hour, and was up the Oahu coastline.
2. I don't know how many sailings there are every day, but I believe they started at 10 AM.
3. The sailings left at the top of the hour.
4. I'm not sure that certain times of day are better than others, it's more about the weather that day. We went in March when it was cloudy and gusty — we didn't get to see any turtles, but when the sail caught the wind, we went really, really fast. It was fun.
5. I believe they are. Mahiki Joe's was very helpful assisting us in making the reservation.
6. We reserved ours a day in advance. No need to hustle down to get day-of spots.

Our skipper was a nice guy from Florida and the first mate (I guess) was a local. It was a great experience and we wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It was myself, my husband, and my then three-year-old daughter.

 

[dachsie]

How much does this cost? it sounds fun!

 

[Sunclytie]

How much does this cost? it sounds fun!

$99 per person, so not cheap unfortunately. You can see more details here: https://www.disneyaulani.com/activities/aulani-beach/
If you have any Moana fans in your house, like we do, it's a really cool experience. My daughter still talks about how she went on a canoe like Moana.

 

[Mommy2Logan]

We did it and really liked our sailors. We liked them so much we went to say hi to them when we went back a few months later. We booked the day prior and we went in the morning. It was great because the waves weren’t huge. Saw some dolphins and turtles. Our 4yo son got to sail the boat. We blew on the conch shell.
When we went in sept the boat was just sitting around a lot, not mainly people out sailing. In April it was out sailing quite a bit.

Our only complaint is that it wasn’t an outrigger but is an actual sailboat but that’s ok, it was still a good time.

 

[cgattis]

When we were there (in June—not this June), we never saw it move in 5 days. $100 EACH was just way more than we were willing to spend especially since—IIRC—the boat would seat 6, so not necessarily just our family for that price.