Pulaski Tickets & Tours

Outrageous Hawaii: 10 amazing shore excursions

Cruises to the Hawaiian Islands bring you to stunning beaches, tropical forests and volcanic peaks. There’s opportunity to pay tribute to Pearl Harbor servicemen, visit a coffee plantation, see humpback whales and experience a traditional luau.

November 13, 2014

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​But on sailings offered by Norwegian Cruise Line year-round, and lines including Carnival,Princess, Holland America Line, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Un-Cruise Adventures on a seasonal basis, there is also opportunity to get wild, wet and dirty.

Check out these outrageous Hawaii shore experiences.

Learn to surf: After being briefed on the basics on dry land, hit the water and see if you can "shoot the curl" or "hang ten," or at least stand long enough to have your photo taken. In Kauai, your instructors are professional surfers at Chava Greenlee's Surfing School, the venue for your coaching Poipu Beach. Expert instruction is also available in Lahaina on Maui.

Rappel waterfalls: You'll "learn the ropes" and then hike to a canyon to plunge into the deep pools of 30- to 50-foot waterfalls. The Maui scenery is gorgeous, if you dare to open your eyes.

Fly over lava: The Circle of Fire helicopter tour on the Big Island takes you above Volcanoes National Park including flying over areas of current activity on Kilauea Volcano. But as if seeing the glow of lava flows is not enough, for more adventuresome cruise passengers there is also a Doors-Off helicopter tour, where you feel the wind in your face as you view the molten lava in Kilauea's massive crater some 500 feet below.

Go tubing in a ditch: Your venue for gentle floating in one-person inflatable tubes is the tunnels, ditches and flumes of Kauai's historic Hanamaulu Ditch System, dug by hand in 1870 to provide water to sugar cane fields. You get to wear a headlamp for the tunnel part.

Get muddy: Go off-road in the lush rainforests of Kauai in a Mudbug – an ATV you drive yourself. First you get outfitted with boots, socks, pants, shirts, goggles and a helmet, because this is one messy ride. The course includes back roads, cane fields, hills, streams and some thick vegetation.

Bike a crater: A must-do on Maui is views at sunrise (available only on cruises that overnight) or sunset of the eerie landscape of cinder cones and other lava formations on Haleakala Volcano. You drive up to the 10,000-foot summit to view the massive crater, revered by Hawaiians as a sacred site. As if that's not outrageous enough, try biking down – following a guide as you ride down the 21 switchbacks of the dormant volcano.

Visit a seahorse farm: From Kona, visit the only seahorse farm in the U.S. You get to pet the sea animals and have them curl their tails around your finger. Plus you'll pick up seahorse facts – such as male seahorses are the ones that undergo pregnancy.

Snorkel with turtles: From the port of Kahului on Maui, you board a catamaran for the island of Molokini, known as one of the top snorkeling sites in the world. Put on your mask and fins and see how many of the reef's more than 250 species of fish you can spot. Then make a second stop at Turtle Arches, a hangout spot for Hawaiian green sea turtles.

See movie locations: That lush tropical paradise you spotted on TV shows including Gilligan's Island and Fantasy Island and in movies including South Pacific, Jurassic Park and Honeymoon in Vegas was Kauai. This tour takes you to the real-life locations – including lunch in Haneli town, used as a location for George Clooney's movie The Descendants. Taking of "selfies" and singing of the Gilligan's Island theme song are highly encouraged.

Go deep-sea trolling: Here's your opportunity to catch "the big one." Off Kona, billed as "blue marlin capital of the world," are deep, calm waters teeming with marlin, tuna, mahi-mahi, wahoo, bonefish and spearfish, among others. Anglers have broken records here.