Shaka Guide GPS Audio Tours Reviews

I have used other similar tour guides but the design and maps and mini commercials made me think Shaka looked like the best tour guide apps. So on a recent trip to 3 Hawaiian islands I bought the tour bundle. And if I were rating just the tour audio it would be 5 stars. The guide is entertaining and the background music that accompanies the spoken audio is excellent! Now for the negative… ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours kept restarting and I would have to go find my tour again! I think part of the problem was I was running google maps simultaneously and when I stopped that the restarts were less frequent but would still happen often when I paused the trip. It also bugged me that ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours is laid out so the store is the main landing page when it should be the trips. It should be easy to get to a trip and restart it once I have purchased one, not feel like I have to click past ads for the trip I have already purchased and then have to click through the trip intro buttons again and again! Ugh! My last critique is that at some point my phone got trapped in in browse mode and there was no way I could find to click the button to go back to trip mode so all I could do was click the audio points manually. Overall I found the tours great but ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours itself was a disappointing experience!

I really like the idea of this kind of guide, but in the end I have mixed feelings about Shaka. We listened to all of the Volcano NP tour and part of the south coast tour. Here’s what I liked and what I didn’t.

The good: music selections and stories about the gods and legends were both highlights. Because the guide is keyed to gps, you do see things you might otherwise have missed. The turn by turn directions work great for some tricky intersections

The less good: for my taste, these guides are short on information. The Volcanoes guide was better in this regard than the south coast guide, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that these guides were pitched at too general an audience to really tell you very much. Vanishingly little history, not much Hawaiian cultural information beyond the mythology I mentioned above, and light on science and natural history. I get the sense that in an effort to make the guides accessible to all audiences, they’ve reduced the content to just the slimmest basics. Maybe if you’re traveling with small kids this is a bonus, but I found most of the entries too light on information to be very interesting. I bought the whole big island package, but after listening to one and a half tours I think I’ve had my fill. I like the (printed) Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed *much* better. But of course you can’t read that while you’re driving!

We purchased the Road to Hana app. It worked fine for the first portion of our trip that day and followed the route as described. But each time we stopped, the GPS signal had to be reconnected and after about 1/3 of the way there was no connection. We then had to try to follow ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours manually and it was extremely frustrating. We missed stops and sights because of the problem and never saw some of the described landmarks. Do not attempt to use ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours if you are driving solo, it will require a passenger to manage ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours . We are better than average tech users and it just didn’t work as described. (And yes we had downloaded ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours ahead of time as instructed) There was no way to contact support as there was no cell reception on most of the road. Better directions could have been provided about food options in Paia at the beginning of the trip. In our opinion, the choice of going left at the fork in Hana was the wrong choice. We had to find our way on our own that going to the right takes you to the business district where you’ll find the farmers market and some good food truck options for food. Driving the road to Hana is difficult enough itself without the frustration we experienced with ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours.

The guide itself is very informative and entertaining. I recommended highly with one thought for improvement. I am on Kauai for two weeks and doing a lot of traveling back-and-forth. I am staying both in Poipu for a week and in Princeville for a week. The Kawaii app is broken down Into four different trips. This is fine if you’re taking four separate days and following each separate trip. What I have found is that because I’m traveling from Poipu sometimes to Lihue And sometimes further to the north such as going to Kapaa we’re going the other way towards Waimea. I have not been able to take full advantage of each specific trip. What would be great to have an entire island package so that no matter where I go I am getting the interesting info that is available on ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours. As it stands, I have to pick one of the four tours and hopefully get something from it. I will eventually be using the Waimea tour as well as the North Shore tour specifically. With all the driving, I have been doing mostly what I end up listening to is beautiful Hawaiian music, which is a nice addition. I feel this could be so much more useful, interactive, and beneficial if I didn’t have to pick a specific route each time I’m in the car.

ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours is great! We did a tour of the Big Island. We didn’t go to all of the places because of time and rental car agreements as well as physical ability, but we saw plenty of amazing things. It recommended good spots to eat and shop, took us to cool towns and locations, explained the history of the spots. The navigation was very clear and there are A TON of spots on the tour… I would suggest going early though if you want some more fun. You can also go multiple times and get directions to a specific spot if you need to eat something or if you want to take a break. The Big Island had a lot of hiking spots, but there are still plenty of things that people with wheelchairs can do. You can see Rainbow Falls without a hike and there is a paved ramp. Not all of the spots are accessible though (some of the caves for example). It did show us a lot of cool spots that we wouldn’t have seen if we had just driven on our own. There was so much information and so much fun! And again, the tour doesn’t expire and you can find directions to specific spots, so if you need to stop and go again another day to check out other spots you can! Definitely worth the money!

I want to preface this by saying I never ever write app reviews. My husband and I just traveled to Kauai for his birthday. Even though it’s a small island I was so overwhelmed with finding the best places to explore. There was so much to do and I didn’t want to miss out on the best spots for us to experience. ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours was a life saver! We were really impressed with the GPS audio tour of each side of the island. It is so nice to do the tours on your own time and stay as long as you want. That wouldn’t be possible if you were doing a group tour and I would have no idea what would be a good stop if I planned it on my own. One day we had surf lessons but they were rescheduled because of weather, not to worry because we could hop in the car on a whim and start a tour instead. The day was not wasted! We loved learning about the culture and found it very helpful for what was worth a stop and what we could pass on. My only suggestion would be to incorporate a travel user interface for apple car play that acts more like google maps or Apple Maps. We found it hard to tell exactly where to turn at some spots distance wise. We had to keep zooming out to see upcoming turns because the audio instructions were just a tad early. We are excited to try ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours with some national parks!

We got the full Maui collection of audio tours— we hadn’t done a lot of planning ahead of time (except make a few state park reservations and find 1-2 activities for our week-long trip). The guided tours were 100% worth every penny. We got driving directions, helpful stop hints, history lessons, cultural and language lessons, and island-vibe musical interludes between waypoints. The guide was pleasant, informative, didn’t over comment or gloss over. We used three of the tours and bits of the others. If I may make one suggestion, it is to have the west coast tour be able to run backwards, so that part 1 of the story comes before part 2, and points of interest on the left or right are given correctly as we drive south. Honestly, this was not an issue, though. Having this built-in guide is one reason we will be back.

This was totally worth every penny! It works great for being off line! The stories are very interesting and the stops are really cool and totally my favorite thing so far on our vacation. The only thing I suggest is start really early!!! Like 5am if your coming from Lahaina. There’s so so so much to do. There’s a cave that is a must. It goes all the way through so don’t skip that one. I went twice because I didn’t know it went all the way through and was a bit nervous so hurried out but went again and it was awesome. Needs flash lights
Most food is closed by 5 So if you find a place to eat then stop! The drive back at night isn’t bad so don’t worry about running out of light. It’s kinda fun actually. Just be careful and enjoy. Take your time and take several deep breath’s to take it all in! I am tempted to go again!!!

ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours was a fantastic guide along our road to Hana trip. Since there’s no cell service for most the the trip, it was great to have a guide pointing things out along the way that a first timer may miss even with lots of prep and research. Loved how it kept us safe and legal - telling us where and when it was ok to stop for attractions and when we needed to just drive by. Also appreciated the heads up on bathroom stops and which attractions are paid vs. free. Having a local guide who knows the area show us some lesser known stops was worth every penny - these were actually some of our favorite experiences! The Hawaiian history on the drive back was entertaining and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip. I highly recommend this guide and wish we would have downloaded some of the other Maui guides earlier in our trip!

We downloaded ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours for a trip to Maui back in 2021 per the recommendation of some friends. It was so much fun to be able to listen to the history and engaging stories, and visit the stops, with our young children. In this age, when kids are so dependent on iPads, traveling in places where there is no cell phone service can make for cranky experiences. The fact that this is GPS triggered means it doesn’t need cell service. The stops on the tour were incredibly fun, and the stories made everyone laugh.

We recently returned from Las Vegas where we downloaded the Hoover dam and Red Rock Canyon Tours. They were also fantastic! No kids in the car this time, but it was equally as enjoyable. I can’t wait to road trip out west with the family in the coming years. I’m so glad they have added north & southwestern destinations!!

We paid more for some of the books we aren’t using during our travels around Utah than we did for this “guided” tour of several of the parks here. It’s amazing. We love the way it works with gps to give us the right recording in the right place. My kids were rapt in attention to the stories and we all appreciated having a guide right there to tell us what we were looking at.

So far we have used Arches and Bryce and we look forward to trying out Zion as well. We were really bummed that we didn’t download Capitol Reef before we went through that area. Sad for us.

One request: while the music is surprisingly(!!) good, we would still prefer to play a podcast or listen to our choice of music during the in-between times. It would be great if we could pick a podcast or recording or channel or something.

Was looking into this for our first trip to Hawaii (multiple islands). I noticed each island had a package and was expecting to pay for each island. When I went to purchase I was wonderfully notified that I could get all 4 islands for less than what I was expecting to pay for three!

The directions and narration is great and gives you tons of insight and history. There is so much available with each guide. We only wish we had more time to do it all! We will be back for more!

On a side note the only recommendations I have is that the walking guides are not necessarily stroller friendly. While we may be a minority for the people that use the guides a brief "disclaimer" could help. By no means did this detract from the experience, but we just had to find an alternate route and rejoin the tour in progress. Also, although it was only a couple times, a little more notice on a couple of stops/highlights/locations could have been beneficial as the family couldn't decide in time and we ended up just passing them. It was only 2-3 that I remember and not anything major that we missed.

Overall I was very pleased with ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours and would recommend it to anyone! Also interested to see all the other national parks available as it looks like they are expanding with those!

My family and I used Shaka Guide for the Road to Hana tour in Maui and it did not disappoint! The local insight, great recommendations, and overall amazing storytelling amplified everything the Road to Hana had to offer. The price is very low for everything that is included with buying the tour such as the networkless gps which helped immensely with navigation especially in a dense forest. I wished that ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours had a greater variety in the music that played when driving or “tour in progress” but with the constant stops we took it was alright. I honestly couldn’t imagine doing the Road to Hana without this guide, and in all honesty, I would say spend 20 dollars on ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours and go at your own pace than way more with a large group (and stops you may not want) Overall ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours is amazing and really impressive for not being owned by a large company. It’s high quality, interesting, and caters to you every need.

We did all four tours in Kauai. This allowed us to see all of the island, recognize and understand local things, and entertained us!
We did the tours the first four days - went back to do some things on different days. Loved the hikes and the stops on the route. Rained a lot when we were there- wish we had taken trekking poles for the muddy trails- slippery! Wish we had more days as it would be fun to hike more and spend more time on the beaches! It was great to check out all the beaches via this tour and then we knew which ones we wanted to spend more time hanging out on.
The tour includes information about bathrooms (or when you won’t have one!) and if you need to bring your own snorkel gear for certain beaches or if they rent. Appreciated the details. Also the details on rigor of hikes, how to modify them and trail conditions.
Highly recommend!!!

We loved using the Shaka App on our trip to Kauai! Our family loves to get in the car and explore, and the Hawaiian Islands are perfect for that type of travel. Usually it’s me interrogating friends, locals, and concierge workers and then planning the stops. I wind up with chaos and a lap of maps and brochures. Instead we used ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours for 2 full days, and partly on a third. ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours had options for scenic views, interesting history, shopping, dining, beaches, parks, and hikes. There was something to satisfy many preferences. I felt like we saw and learned so much more than what I could do myself. I would have missed all the hidden gems. We enjoyed the entertaining stories and mood music during the in between drives. I wish we had learned about Shaka just a few days sooner when we were on the Big Island. The cost is very reasonable, and you get a great guide for the day. Totally worth it.

We downloaded the Shaka app for our self-guided tour of the road to Hana in Maui. Let me just say it was well worth the $20. Honestly this tour was SO well done, Maui tourism should advertise it. Not only did it guide us on a road with zero cell service, it gave us in depth info about each stop before we got to it. It taught us about the beautiful history of Hawai’i and had great music along the way. My favorite part had to have been the reminders to respect the road signs, nature, and most importantly the locals. As respectful tourists, it is really nice to know the not so obvious
not to do’s or places locals would like to keep to themselves. This was a very great thing to add to the tour and I really respect that!
We chose the classic road to Hana as the loop is currently closed. I thought the ride home was going to be boring but to my surprise, the tour included a whole new bunch of info for the ride back! So so so well done. Probably even better than the guided tours. I will absolutely be recommending this and will definitely use it again when we return to Hawai’i!!!

I never write reviews but I simply have no choice but to rave about ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours! We purchased the classic Road to Hana tour and started it in Paia town. By the end of our day, my fiancé and I were legitimately sad to hear our virtual guide say his goodbyes. We felt so connected to the tour all day! It took us to all of the popular spots and gave us so much insight into the rich history surrounding the island of Maui! The guide gives you so many tips while driving and stopping which so so helpful- especially when driving on a road that so many locals are using on a daily basis, we wanted to make sure we were respectful and mindful that we are visitors and the Shaka Guide let us know to pull over for locals, where it’s appropriate to park, and what sites we should just drive by instead of stopping. Overall this was such an immersive and wonderful experience and we can’t wait to use the Shaka Guide app on our next trip to Hawaii!

We’ve used the Shaka Guide twice now. First was for the Road to a Hana. It was such a pleasant experience. So much, in fact that recently when we went to Death Valley National Park, we remembered ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours and checked to see if there was a tour and there was!!

We immediately downloaded ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours again and bought the tour. The tours makes travel so so easy. We went to Death Valley with no plans and no idea of where to go. Uncle Shaka took us on a journey. He told us the history behind the different areas we visited, where the next rest stops were, and music was played to fill in the gaps!

I cannot imagine going on future vacations without ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours. Truly. They do all the work for you, and make it so fun! We’re actually going to start referring to ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours tours first when considering where to visit next. 100% am grateful to the amazing people that make ShakaGuideGPSAudioTours possible. Thank you so much for what you guys do!!

I’m in Hawaii right now & bought the Big Island bundle. BEST DECISION. I didn’t want to pay a tour company & be tied to a group. We absolutely LOVE this! The invaluable info, the cultural history & tales are amazing! We’ve done Volcano Nat. Park & today did North Jungle loop! SO MANY GREAT STOPS! Tomorrow Backcountry one. SO MUCH TO SEE ON THESE TOURS! Love how he puts things in contexts, heads ups, tidbits of imp info, and the music etc. We just kept saying during our whole tour how much we loved this. Great job Shaka!
Update! We did Volcano again for the Tubes. We played the tour again and loved it! ALSO DEFINITELY download the trip you are taking for the day and read the before you go portion. Helped immensely. We loved how in many places cell service was obsolete on the island😭. We realized how we would’ve been LOST if we’d used Google maps etc. Shaka was our only way to return back to main roads. As corny as this sounds this gentleman was our friend and we grew to love him 😂. He talked us through literally 10 hours each day of sightseeing. So START EARLY so you can squeeze most of the points of interest in!

We downloaded the Shaka Road to Hana loop tour for our Maui vacation and it was worth every penny. We wanted to drive ourselves so we could stop where we wanted, spend whatever time we wanted, and skip the things we didn’t want to see. This guide was amazing and helped us find some really unique spots. The guide is knowledgeable and fun and the GPS worked almost to perfection. You won’t regret the purchase. And if you’re nervous about the full Hana loop, don’t be. Our rental Nissan Rogue did it with no problem and the roads are much improved since my husband and I made the drive 12 years ago. It’s a long trip either way, but seeing some of the back Maui countryside with less traffic made the loop worth it for us. The locals understandably drive faster through there, so be on the lookout and pull off to the side to let them pass.