As our first trip to Maui drew to a close, the only words we had were - Mahalo, Maui. Thank you for the amazing experience that you delivered. From pristine white sand beaches with turquoise waters to rainforests next to black sand beaches, the spectrum of experiences had left us gobsmacked.
This post is meant to be a definitive guide to visiting Maui, based on our experiences. Of course your feet move different than ours so you might like to spend your week in Maui differently, but we can give you a guaranteed jumpstart in your planning!
As per usual, we'll start off with our reference map - The Travelicious Map for Maui.
The basics. Where should you stay?
As you fly in to Maui and see the blue waters, you'll probably feel like changing into your swimsuit and stepping out on the beach as soon as you get off the plane... well, hold on. The Kahului airport that you undoubtedly are flying into is 45 minutes away from Kaanapali and 30 minutes from Wailea, the two major spots where tourists tend to live. So while it goes without saying, please rent a car from the airport, and book early as cars tend to get sold out or get more expensive.
Wailea is an area with lavish hotels and private beaches. You'll be far away from all tourist attractions though, unless you consider an open air mall to be attraction. :) We would only recommend this to folks who want a luxury experience away from all the tourists and value their privacy a lot more than anything else.
Kaanapali on the other hand is our kind of place. It is right on the beach with glistening blue water just like Wailea, but being here puts you in the center of all the action! You have a lot of restaurant options, attractions, adventure activities, different spas and hotels on the entire spectrum of luxury, albeit with slightly less privacy than Wailea might offer. In all our trips to Kaanapali, we have never found it "crowded" to the extent that we would call it that.
If you want to check out more on the specific hotels we recommend, check out our list at the end of this post.
Moving on. Our experience at a glance!
Our drive from the airport to our hotel, Aston Mahana at Kaanapali was magnificent. For a majority of the drive, you are driving on a road between the West Maui mountains and the pacific ocean. Every so often, you'll spot small and large beaches with cars parked along it and people spending their island time in the island way.. on the beach!
Our check-in at Aston was great! They offered to upgrade us as we were celebrating our anniversary, and we were in a room right next to the ocean. The next 4 days, we had the pleasure of sleeping to the lullaby of ocean waves. Not to mention the literally-sweet gift of Maui Gold pineapple. I'm not kidding when I say that it blew our mind every time we ate it!
Before we dive in to all that you can (and should) do in Maui, here's how we planned our itinerary -
Day 1 - We spent the evening of the first day exploring Kaanapali beaches near Black Rock and the Whalers village.
Day 2 - We devoted the day entirely to discovering the legendary "Road to Hana".
Day 3 - On this day, we planned to catch a glimpse of the oh-so-magnificent Haleakala (but ended up going on a different adventure, that we'll talk about soon)
Day 4 - There is so much to do in Kaanapali itself, and this day was dedicated to ziplining and going around the north bend of the island.
Day 5 - On our last day, we explored Wailea and headed back to the airport!
Pro Tip - Get Shaka Guide! It is an app on your phone that guides you around the island via multiple different tours, and I have never experienced something as exquisite or well-designed. It'll leave you wanting more every time.
The good stuff. Attractions!
Now, let us get down into the nitty-gritties of what all you should do in Maui !
1. Exploring Kaanapali and around!
There is so much to do in this tiny, yet gorgeous city on the westernmost edge of Maui. Plan to stay in one of the ocean facing hotels on the long string starting from Lahaina until Kapalua.
Whalers Village in Kaanapali
There is a quaint, yet touristy, boardwalk that runs along the shores of the Pacific around the Black Rock beach. If you are staying anywhere near here, you should definitely walk to Whalers Village, an open air shopping complex with some well known and some boutique stores.
However, the real deal behind coming here is to visit one of the many ocean facing restaurants and bars where you can have dinner as you watch the sun set into the Pacific. Head to either the touristy Hula Grill right in the center of all the action, and enjoy some hula dance with your mai tai. Or if you want a more luxurious experience, Westin's beach bar is right around the corner. If you are after a quieter experience, hotels like Marriott and Sheraton are just a short walk away and offer great waterfront dining.
Adventure!
For the adventurous, there is so much to do in Kaanapali. We had a ton of fun going ziplining with Kapalua ziplines. The experience was completely guided, extremely safe, and we had a wonderful time zipping over Hawaiian rainforests with the mighty ocean right behind it. Riding around in an ATV to get to the ziplines is a free bonus!
For a cheaper option, I recommend heading over to the namesake of the Black Rock beach, the Black Rock :) And here you will find the most fun cliff jumping that you can find on the island. Just be careful and don't slip!
The string of beaches along the coast give you endless possibilities for going swimming, kayaking or SUP-ing, whatever floats your.. well, boat.. :)
Kapalua & Nakalele Point
As we set out to explore Kapalua after our ziplining, we wanted to checkout the Kapalua Bay Beach. However, that is when we happened to come across Merriman's! A fabulous restaurant in an amazing location. We definitely recommend dropping by, whether it is for lunch or for a few drinks! If you want a way to go around without spending $$, there is plenty of opportunity to stop at beaches/viewpoints around to get a feel of the rugged coastline of Kapalua
Next up, we drove to the Nakalele Point which is famous for its blowholes. A blowhole is nothing but a hole that blows up plumes of water during high tide. All you need to do is park next to the road (right near where the paved road narrows), and walk a couple minutes towards the ocean, and you'll hear the roar from the blowholes and see the water spewing out of them!
Lahaina
This is a cute little town that we mostly drove by (and stopped in to get a Lei for Isheeta), but we hear the best Luau in Maui is in Lahaina, so definitely check if out, if that's your vibe! Unfortunately, being somewhat-vegetarians, shelling out bucks to visit a Luau seemed wasteful to us.
Relax
There are enough ways to relax in Maui, but the best is to get a massage next to the ocean! There are spa facilities in every resort available for every budget, We went to the Sheraton Black Rock Spa, and while it wasn't a massage on the beach, it was nevertheless a great experience and put us in "vacay mode" right away!
For those who enjoy playing golf, based on what we saw, there isn't a dearth of golf courses in Maui, so you should be in for a fun (is that what golf is?) time.
2. The northern road via Kahakuloa
If you love an adventurous drive, and have an affection for disregarding rental car rules, then I recommend going around the northern tip of Maui, past Nakalele point. As soon as you drive past, the road narrows into a single-lane road for the next 15 or so miles. And when I say single-lane, I mean the kind where if you meet an oncoming car, you might have to reverse as much as half a mile to allow them to pass!
It is an exciting drive, where you don't know what you might face around the next corner. But that's not the only reward. You also get mind-boggling views of the coastline and the ocean, with dense rainforests on one side. Once in a while, you'll run across a fruit stand and maybe one boutique shop doubling as a cafe. But that's about it as far as civilization goes. It is a neat way of getting the true feel of the island, in my humble opinion.
Tip - Feel free to skip this drive if you have to choose between this and Road to Hana.
3. Road to Hana
This is considered as one of the most famous drives in the world for good reason. It has everything you could want from a tropical island, and then some. The actual route starts from the town of Paia and goes all the way east to Hana, at which point you have the option of turning around and coming back the same way (recommended for day trips) or stay a night in/around Hana and complete the loop of the island via the southern route.
We had kept aside a full day for Hana, and so should you! It is a long trip (especially if you are staying in Kaanapali), but well worth it. You'll start off with seeing golden beaches past Paia. Moving on to driving through thick rainforests where you see numerous waterfalls. You can choose to explore some caves along the way, or stop at the famous Black Sand beach. If you haven't seen a black sand beach before, be prepared to be astounded. The same volcanic eruptions that created this beach, also created some lava tubes that are worth checking out. Once in Hana, check out the myriad of food trucks that offer some amazing grub!
Pro tip - The reason why I don't describe each stop you should make in this post is because I believe everyone should be using Shaka Guide for this journey as it does a better job than anyone could! If you are on an extremely tight budget, skip a couple coffees, but don't skip Shaka Guide.
Pro tip - Remember to carry enough food, as there'll be few opportunities to buy anything between Paia and Hana.
4. Driving to Haleakala (or to Maui Wine?)
As I put the car into gear (for effect, since we were actually driving an automatic), I had some hopes of seeing Haleakala. Based on other people's experiences, we had convince ourselves that checking out Haleakala at sunset is as magnificent as at sunrise. And while that might be true, I would not be able give my opinion on it. Because as we drove towards Haleakala, I could see dark clouds looming around the mountains.
As we reached the entrance to the National Park that encompasses the volcano that has erupted numerous times in the last 1000 years, we were told that the weather was pretty bad at the top, and while we could go on, there was probably no chance of it clearing up. We made an executive decision that we would instead explore the surrounding area and try to make it to Haleakala on another trip.
I had noticed signs for a winery earlier, MauiWine, and this was a clear indication that the volcano wanted us to drink up! The experience of getting to MauiWine is such an additional perk to visiting the winery itself, that it deserves a special mention. You will drive on the side of the mountain, with vistas different from rest of Maui. Here, the road meanders through pastures on the mountainside and you can see the pacific ocean and all the beaches in the distance. It is almost as if you were flying hundreds of feet above ground!
Once you get to MauiWine, you find yourself in a huge estate, with the same views of the pacific in the distance, and a cute cottage that serves as the tasting room. And here is where our tastebuds met the wine that they would remember for life - Pineapple wine! We had never thought that people could make wine from pineapple, and even if they could, we did not imagine in our wildest dreams that it would taste so-freakin'-good ! I would literally visit Maui again, just for that wine!
But hey, lets not take away credit from the rest of the experience. MauiWine offers multiple short tours during the day through their estate where you get to see how they make their wine, and visit some cool little spots and learn about their history.
All in all, while Haleakala might not have been in the cards, MauiWine was an exquisite experience for us, in its own right!
Pro tip - Haleakala has a live webcam feed, so if you face dire weather, check it out to see if you want to make the trip, or take a diversion like we did!
5. Wailea
Our last day was spent driving around the coast to Wailea and checking out the resorts and the deserted version of "whalers village" that Wailea has to offer. I've accepted that Wailea is not something to my taste (especially if you consider the thousands of lizards that I saw take over the place in May), and will probably leave it out of any short itinerary!
Recommended Hotels
Based on our experience, and that of our friends', we can definitely recommend Aston Mahana at Kaanapali, the Sheraton Black Rock, the Westin or the Marriott, depending on where your budget leads you.
But again, as long as you can walk to the beach and take a dip in the glistening blue water, it doesn't matter where you stay, you'll still leave the island saying "Mahalo, Maui".
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