My family and I recently took a trip to Maui for the very first time and friends who had recently been to Hawaii recommended this app as a must-have. I admittedly was a bit skeptical about spending $30 on an app I had never heard of, but I decided to take the leap and I'm sooo glad I did! We drove the Road to Hana today and I honestly don't know what we would have done without this app! It was absolutely incredible and the whole family (including kids ranging from preschool to Middle School) we're absolutely enthralled by the stories and music woven throughout. My husband, our driver, was particularly thrilled because he said it was the first time he felt like he could just enjoy the journey and not be consumed by where we were going and how to get there. He just sat back and let the guide direct us to all the stops, telling us where to park, reminding us when to fill up the gas tank, all the things we usually stress about. It was amazing! The kids got a kick out of the guide's uncanny ability to know exactly what we needed when we needed it, like a bathroom stop, or snacks - it was incredible how thorough and detailed the guide is - we felt completely taken care of! Also, as a mom, I was very happy with how family-friendly the stories and history were. Everything be was age-appropriate and accessible for even the 5 year old, yet utterly enjoyable and fascinating for the adults. I couldn't recommend this app more and we can't wait to use more for future travels!

I don’t think I’ve ever written an App review until right now. We LOVED using the Shaka app on the Road to Hana. As someone who does her research and extensively prepares for adventures like the Road to Hana, I can honestly say that we would’ve been lost and confused without the Shaka guide. It provided us invaluable information throughout the day, like where to park for different sights, which spots had fees associated with them, which places we could skip and hit on the way back if time, which places had bathrooms, where to get food, what time certain sights close, etc. Seeing as you don’t have Internet access or service most of the drive to Hana and back, we never would’ve been able to access that level of info and detail without Shaka. Using Shaka let us prioritize the sights we wanted to see, skip the ones that were less important to us or would be more time consuming, and find the often shrouded entrances and parking areas necessary to actually see and enjoy the various waterfalls, natural pools, caves and arboretums. PLUS, we learned so much about Hawaii, its history and traditions, which was especially appreciated on the drive back from Hana, when we were done with our stops but needed the audio company. We were honestly sad to end our time with Shaka and our narrator for the Road to Hana. Will recommend to absolutely everyone going to Hawaii!!!

First, and most importantly, this app is absolutely worth the $20. It’s very informative, has great stops for sightseeing and tasty food, and the GPS worked very well even in areas with little service. HOWEVER, and this is a huge however, TURN AROUND when they suggest you turn around. If you’re doing this drive, they give you the option to do a complete circle or go halfway and turn back because the road becomes “challenging.” To call the road challenging is such an understatement it feels borderline illegal. I’m a 30 year old man and literally almost started crying the drive is so frightening. It’s a narrow single lane road on the edge of a cliff with no guard rail. And it’s an actual cliff with like a 100 foot drop. If a car comes at you, one person has to reverse down the mountain until there is a spot when it can slip by you. The second half of the drive was one of the scariest experiences of my life in that I actually feared for my life. The Shaka app shouldn’t even have the option to do a full circle loop because a customer will actually die (if that hasn’t happened already). To be fair to Shaka, the app gives plenty of warnings (probably at least 5) that drive will become difficult and challenging and you should turn around if you’re an anxious driver. TURN AROUND. But otherwise, 5 stars and I would definitely recommend Shaka with this caveat.

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. This app 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 this app with some national parks!