FAQ

Gemini loads and unloads our guests directly from the sand of Ka’anapali Beach. Beach loading is perfectly safe and adds an element of fun and adventure to the tour! However, during days with rougher seas and high winds there is a chance you may get a little wet up to your knees. We recommend only wearing pants that you can roll up and avoiding long dresses and jeans when joining us for a sail! Upon checking in for any Gemini tours, one of our crew members will give explicit instruction on how to properly load onto the vessel. Our captains always ensure the sea and conditions are safe for beach loading and if there is any uncertainty we are then forced to cancel the tour to ensure the safety of our guests.

During peak travel months (Dec-March and June-Aug) we recommend at least several weeks in advance to guarantee the trip and day of your choice. Our peak weeks (holidays) often times sell out months in advance. During our slower times of the year (April, May, Sep, Oct) we recommend a week to ten days in advance.

If you are staying at one of the hotels on Ka’anapali Beach, your best option is to walk from your hotel along the beach path. Gemini departs from the middle of Ka’anapali beach, along the beach path walkway. The check-in location for all of our trips is located on the Westin Maui Hotel and Spa lawn, right next to Leilani’s Restaurant at Whaler’s Village.

If you are staying on a different part of the island, you can drive and use the pay parking structure at Whaler’s Village shopping area located at 2435 Ka’anapali Parkway, Lahaina, HI 96761. If you don’t want to drive and would prefer to take a taxi or Uber, you can have them drop you off directly behind Leilani’s Restaurant at Whaler’s Village, and then walk straight out to the beach path. Look for our check-in sign on the lawn.

Whale season in Maui starts December 15th and runs until April 15th. The peak of the whale season generally occurs in February. However, in the past few years we have had lots of whales visit Maui’s waters for the entire season.

Yes, and with lots of space! We have a shaded cabin that comfortably seats 49 passengers (and that’s just the downstairs!) and plenty of space to safely store personal belongings. We also recommend that you bring a hat and sun protection to enjoy our large deck area upstairs.

Gemini was originally designed to take out 75 passengers but we limit our numbers to 49 guests per tour to ensure ample space for everyone on board. Our vessel has enough space and seating to accommodate all 49 guests in the cabin AND upstairs on the forward deck + nets.

While Gemini is very stable, if you are prone to any sort of motion sickness, we suggest you take any of the over-the-counter options that are sold at a pharmacy. Due to health laws, we are unable to provide any medicine to our passengers.

Yes! Gemini trips are fun activities for children of all ages. We have child sized snorkel masks, swim vests, and swim fins onboard for the snorkel trip. Our whale watches (available during the winter months) with our experienced whale naturalists are especially exciting for children. Sunset sails are generally geared more toward adults, but children are always welcome and seem to be the ones to get the dancing started once we get back to calm water as the sun is setting!

**Please note that if you would like to bring an infant on any of our trips, while they are free for ages 2 and younger, they still must be counted on the Coast Guard manifest, so please be sure your little ones are included on your reservation.

Currently, we do not offer special rates for seniors. However, infants ages 0-2 ride for free, children ages 3-12 as well as teens ages 13-17 receive discounted rates. Please check our individual tour’s page for exact rates!

Gemini is very stable and we often accommodate pregnant guests. But, it is always best-advised to ask your doctor prior to any activity.

Absolutely! Especially in the summer months. If there is wind, which is almost always, we sail (outside of on our whale watches.)

Yes, we have a men’s head on the starboard side and a woman’s head on the port side of the ship.

We sure do! We offer a variety of t-shirts, UV 50+ SPF shirts, hoodies, hats, and koozies for both men, women, and children.

Gemini’s premier snorkel destination is the pristine marine preserve Honolua Bay on the northwest coast of Maui. Other locations include Hawaii’s mother reef off the shore of Olowalu in southwest Maui, the beautiful pier wreckage reef at Mala off of Lahaina, and various other locations depending on surf and weather conditions.

We provide boogie boards to hold onto while snorkeling, a range of floatation belt sizes for adults, as well as life vests for children.

Absolutely! We offer a snorkel lesson/refresher for all interested guests once we arrive at our snorkel location. One of our crew members will explain how to wear your mask, what to look for and where exactly the best snorkeling will be located at the snorkeling destination of the day.

We offer two sizes of snorkel masks for children and two sizes for adults. In addition, we offer a large variety of optical masks for those adults who wear prescription glasses.

We do discourage the use of full-face snorkel masks. The design impedes proper oxygen intake and can cause serious injury. However, if you would like to bring your own regular snorkel mask set up please feel free to do so! We provide all of the de-fog and will even clean it for you once you are done snorkeling if you would like.

You will need a beach towel, swimsuit, non-aerosol reef safe sunscreen, a hat or light cover-up, and cash or credit card for anything extra you may want to purchase while on board. Feel free to bring your own camera as well, however, we do offer professional photography service both in and out of the water that is available for purchase at the conclusion of the tour.

The sun is extremely strong here in Hawaii so we encourage you to please bring lotion sunscreen, preferably reef-safe, for the health of our ocean and sea life. We do offer unlimited complimentary RAW Elements reef-safe sunscreen as a courtesy to all of our passengers. We ask that our guests please do not bring aerosol sunscreens on Gemini’s tours as they make the boat decks very slippery and as a result can cause a slipping hazard.

All of Gemini’s trips are traditional Hawaiian style barefoot cruises. We offer a large secure shoe locker to store all of the passenger’s shoes at our check-in area.

Yes. Please call our office in Lahaina at 808.669.6571 to discuss the options. Online gift certificate purchases are also available by clicking the “Book Now” button at the top of the website and following the “Gift Card” links.

Occasionally it does happen where we must cancel a trip due to unfavorable conditions such as high surf, rain, thunder storms, or strong winds. Our Captains are constantly monitoring the weather conditions and we do our best to give notice of cancellation as early as we can. In the event we are forced to cancel a trip, we provide a full refund or offer the opportunity to reschedule to another tour.

A 24-hour cancellation policy applies to all trips booked directly with Gemini Charters. In the event of last minute illness (cancellation under 24 hours’ notice) we do require that you provide a Maui physician’s note to receive a full refund for the individual who is sick. If the person that is sick or injured is a child, a Maui physician’s note will guarantee a full refund for that child and one parent.

We are happy to provide you with a full refund provided we receive notice of cancellation or rescheduling at least 24 hours prior to trip. In the event that a guest simply does not show up for their tour we are unable to issue a refund.

Tipping is never required but always encouraged! Our Captains and crew members take pride in showing our guests the meaning behind the word Aloha on every Gemini tour. When you sail with Gemini you become part of our OHANA, our Gemini family.