Maui Gold Pineapple Tour

Yes, you read that correctly...the Maui Gold Pineapple Plantation is the only remaining pineapple facility in the US. All the other companies have moved operations overseas for cheaper labor. Sad but true. You learn lots of interesting info on this tour - although at about $65 it is pretty expensive. You do get a pineapple to take w/ you in a shipping box...though you could buy a Maui Gold for about $3 at Costco in Maui. All and all, though, I would recommend this tour if you are at all interested. Side note: the processing plant is running Tuesday/Thursday, whereas the workers are out in the fields picking the fruit on Monday/Wednesday. Thus, if you are interested in seeing one activity vs. the other, you should plan your visit accordingly. I would have liked to see the plant in action but went on a Monday so it was all quiet. Lastly, the tours are no longer in the Kapalua area but rather near Paia (central part of the island about 10 minutes from airport).

This is a really "cute" tour, but don't go if you have a bad back or neck. The ride was extremely bumpy and I asked to be let out on the side of the road and picked back up on the return. I insisted my husband continue with the tour and he enjoyed going to watch the workers harvest pineapples and then they picked pineapples. The tour group returned to where I was located and we had fresh cut pineapple. It was delicious. I'd say the tour is worth the admission if you are physically able to withstand the very bumpy ride.

As I told my family, this was the only time we will ever eat pineapple standing in the field, picked and cut right in front of us. The best, juiciest pineapple we've ever had. According to our tour guide, Maui Pineapple is the only pineapple factory in the U.S. We toured the factory and then drove in a bus through sugar cane fields to the pineapple fields. It is a very rough, bumpy road through the fields so if you are prone to motion sickness this may not be the trip for you. The delicious pineapple and the free pineapple, boxed up to take home, are worth it! I learned a lot, too.

We loved this tour! You want to go on a Tuesday or Thursday because you get to see them working in the plant, which was very interesting. The tour guide, Stephen, was fantastic. We learned a lot about pineapple, especially on Maui. Being able to sample the different stages of pineapples and could eat as much as we wanted.YUMMY!! Highly recommend it.

We LOVED the tour and our very cheery and knowledgeable guide Steve! He told us everything about pineapple, how it's grown and harvested, and he also told us a lot about sugar cane as we passed through the extensive sugar-cane fields on the way to the pineapple fields. He gave us lots of history, botany, economics, etc. all in a very interesting and understandable way. It's amazing to stand in a pineapple field, taste different types (acid/sugar balance), and have the choice to either pick your own or have Steve pick one that you like. Eating just-picked pineapple (with the juice running down your hand), right there in the field, is a unique and delicious experience. We got to eat all the pineapple we wanted (don't count on wanting much lunch afterward!). Seeing the harvesting process and the plant (not operating that day, it was the plant's "off" day) were quite interesting, too. Just one heads-up: wear shoes that you can wash the red dust off of (it was windy and the dust stuck to my sunscreened legs and face, but there were plenty of paper towels to wash up with in the bathroom at the Hali'imaile General Store restaurant, where the tour returns and you can have lunch). Also the ride out to the field, over dirt roads, is a bit bumpy--but the bus is comfortable and the scenery gorgeous! WELL WORTH IT!!

Went on the pineapple tour after it was recommended by my grandmother who had visited the year before me. What a great suggestion! I loved the information we got along the way, and of course loved the fresh picked pineapple. Its an experience you will not get anywhere else! You watch them pick the pineapple and cut it up for a taste. I learned so much about my favorite fruit and my mouth and stomach were very happy afterwards!

We decided on the pineapple tours and made the drive from Kapalua to the central part of Maui. The tours have moved from the Kapalua area. The tour guide was great. He was entertaining and filled with knowledge about more than just the company's pineapple business. We went on a Tuesday so we saw the pineapple packaging plant in full operation (I think it only runs Tuesday & Thursday). It was great being able to see from start to finish how we get our pineapple. The small bus out to the field was comfortable and the guide explained the area and Maui to us. Being in the field was great. He explained lots about how pineapples are raised and then picked a bunch of them. We ate pineapple until we couldn't stomach any more. It was a great tour. I would recommend it for anyone who is curious about pineapples, agriculture and such. It probably isn't a good trip for someone who doesn't like being on a dirt road near agriculture fields.

This was just fun, with a lot of knowledge, on pineapples in Maui, which are the BEST pineapple you will ever taste, and this is the only working pineapple farm/company, in the United States. Great tour guide, tour the factory, lots of facts, and you get to eat as much pineapple, picked right in the field (during the bus tour of the pineapple fields), as you can stuff yourself with. We highly recommend this tour...fun little way to spend a couple hours, you wil learn a lot and everyone (even kids) leave with your own Maui Gold Pinapple.

Mom, (age 90) and I had a terrific adventure with this company. We loved learning about the industry and it's history on Maui and laughed a lot as we picked our own pinapple! great fun!

We didn't know anything about growing pineapple and found the tour guide Steve to be very knowledgeable about the process of growing and harvesting the Maui Gold Pineapple. We thought this tour Great and Steve did a fantastic job answering all of our questions.

We decided to go on this tour because my son is very interested in pineapples. He had researched on the internet how to grow one from the crown and currently has two in soil and two more rooting. So we had to see how they are grown commercially. The tour is a bit pricey, but what the hell. Everything in Hawaii is expensive. The three of us and another couple were the only ones on the tour, which was great because a lot of attractions in Maui are too crowded. It was almost a private tour. The tour guide, Steve, is very personable and knowledgeable. We learned quite a bit. FIrst we walked through the plant and saw how the pineapples are cleaned, sorted, boxed, etc. Then we were given our pineapples boxed, ready for the airport. (By the way, these pineapples would have cost at least 30 dollars for the three we received had we bought them at the airport.) We boarded the bus and went to the fields where the pineapples were being harvested (they harvest Mon. and Wed. and process Tues. and Thurs.) We got to feast on pineapples in the field. I loved that we tried three different levels of ripeness: greenish, yellow green, and completely yellow. You could REALLY taste the differences in flavor! I learned that they don't ripen after picking and that even if they are greenish on the outside, they are ripe on the inside. The yellow ones are overly ripe! Lastly, I liked that this new company seems environmentally conscious. They try to reduce wastage and are recycling their cleaning water

We went as a family and had lots of fun. We were in a small tour group that seemed much better that what we heard about the Dole tour which seemed much more industrialized. The tour guide was very nice and I learned quite a bit about pineapple. I scoff at people now trying to pick out a ripe pineapple a wrong way at the grocery store. We had heard about people stealing from company which was cause for a little hesitation but we did not see any. Overall it was a great experience seeing pineapple plants from first planting to seeing the machines used to pick them learning the whole way. It was a great expericence and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

This pineapple tour lets others see the Maui Gold process from the fields all the way to the shipping. Tourists ride comfortably on a bus to the fields where they are allowed to walk around and get multiple chances to try the different stages of pineapples. Hand wipes were provided for the stickiness. The guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. You are allowed to bring cameras on the tour. Price was $65 per person. Might suggest carrying sunglasses, not only for the sun, but also protection as occasional wind can blow dirt/sand from the fields. Each person is given a pineapple at the end of the tour.

I've been on the tour each of the last 2 years and really love it. This year the tours are out of Haliimaile and include a tour of the packaging plant. It was really neat to see the pineapple make it's way through washing, waxing and packaging. Plus we received a box to get our pineapple home through the airport. Stephen is a great guide and so understandable,knowledgeable and pleasant. He did tell us that the old tours, out of Kapalua, ended in November 2010 because they stopped growing pineapple there. He did say some locals were going into those fields to steal, but the new fields in Haliimaile are actively farmed so there is no poaching there. The fields are very flat, so there are no dropoffs to worry anyone. I would highly recommend this to anyone!

Was uneasy signing the release you must sign before the tour which releases the tour from all liability including their own negligence. I wondered what could possibly go wrong that such language was needed for a simple tour in pineapple fields. Then, on the way into the pineapple fields, a left rear tire blew out with such force and sound it felt like rocks fell onto the bus. Then ,during the tour , illegal picking of pineapples was going on by locals. Our guide, unnecessarily, drove up behind one truck to take a picture of the license plate. Later one of the two illegal pickers , that had his license plate photographed, came up to the tour bus and stood there while we were outside tasting pinapples. He was looking for a confrontation. This made some in the tour very uneasy. There were other "poachers" in the fields while we were there. Where was SECURITY??? How hard is it to make a gate that cannot be easily bypassed??? Then the trip back, with a blown tire, on roads with sharp corners with a drop of hundreds of feet into the bay was quite scary. Had the tire not blown and the Poachers not been present , this trip would have been really great. Because of the poachers I would not recommend this tour until this issue is dealt with... here is an easy recommendation...make a gate that cannot easily bypassed and hire a security guard to report poachers.... its just not a fun time on vacation to PAY to be put into a situation such as this.... AND inspect the tires before taking pa

This is an excellent tour. Stephen was our guide and he was extremely knowledgeable about the history of agriculture on the island and about the pineapple farms that we toured. The pineapple that you get to pick yourself up in the fields is absolutely delicious; I like pineapple but I'm not a huge fan but this stuff was awesome! I can't emphasize enough how much a great guide like Stephen added to the overall experience of this tour.

Go on this tour to pick and taste (and take home!) delicious Hawaiian pineapples which can no longer be bought in the mainland. Worldwide competition has caused this to be the last pineapple producing area in Hawaii. Pineapple production has had such a major impact on Hawaiian culture that you should see the fields before they are gone. All the freshly picked pineapple you can eat while in the fields with a friendly, knowledgeable tour guide. Added bonus is the drive to the fields around Maui's NW coast.