i heard its more secluded than oahu and has lots of hiking and **** like that. what i'd want ideally is to be very close to snorkelling where i could see cool fishies. anyone know of hotels or rental condo's like that?
Maui is great. Lots of beaches to hang out on and plenty of places to stop and hike on the road to Hana. If you decide to go up to see the sunrise off Haleakala, go the first morning... You'll be jetlagged and the wake up hour won't seem as brutal as it would later in the trip after you've adjusted to the Hawaiian style and timezone... Also, if you do that (highly recommended by the way!) take blankets and jackets with you. It's surprisingly cool up there... The road to Hana is also cool.... It takes a whole day, if you stop to see some of the sights. Get a good guide book (Maui Revealed) or one that details the stops along the road. Go early to beat some of the crowds and get someone else to drive if you can! When you get to the state park at the end, you can cross the road from the "seven sacred pools" and go on the hike to the waterfall... It takes you through a guava grove and some amazing scenery. It's a good hike that's not too hard... Enjoy!
check outThe Link for condo rentals. South Maui has better beaches ans calmer winds/water. (Wailea area) West Maui has good golf and greener, but beaches are not as nice--less expensive though (Kaanapali/Lahaina/Kapalua)
go to funjet.com They have videos and pcitures from all the hotels in Maui. Click on Hotels and then search Maui.
there are 2 threads on HF that are complete primers on Maui. Buy the book Maui Revealed. It's a must. The Wailea beach hotels (Four Season, Grand Wailea, etc) all have good snorkeling right in front or a short walk away. Molokini Crater is also just off Wailea shore and is great as well.
Best areas...Wailea and Kapalua--great beaches at both even if you're not staying there.... also book a sail/snorkel to Molokini--loads of fun...
I went to Maui last July and loved the place. I went with high expectations and they were met. The things that I did of interest were, Hana road tour, Haleakala sunrise, submarine ride, luau, and a snorkeling trip. Here is a place that I booked my tours with. You can look here to get an idea of the things that are available. www.hawaiiactivityworld.com/maui/ I agree with the prior poster who liked the Waialia area, I stayed in Waialia and liked it there because it seemed to be more laid back than most of the other resort areas. If your primary interest is snorkeling, I recommend going to a dive shop and rent snorkeling gear for the week. You can also get maps to all of the beaches with good snorkeling. You may also want to take a snorkel trip out to Molokini. It is bassically the top of a volcanic crater that is great for snorkeling. One bit of advice about Hawaii, be prepared for high prices. Hotels,food, car rentals are all pretty steep. You may want to stock up a few groceries to eat a few cheaper meals, then splurge on better dining at night. I found a decent rental car deal on priceline.com. Also, plan a lot of chill out time at the beach, dont put youself on a to tight of a timetable of events that you forget to relax on the wonderful beaches. Good luck on yur trip. I think that you will like Maui. I think about my trip there often and lately I have been daydreaming about going back there again.
Make sure you eat some of the guava. They are great!! I loved growing up on the liquid form - POG. I can't believe it's been 20 years since I have lived there. Damn, the time flies.
I've been to Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island several times....I've hiked a ton of trails and snorkeling probably 50 sites. #1) Go buy the Maui Revealed Guide Book #2) Best Hike in Maui is the one that runs above the Oheo Gulch (7 Sacred Pools) at the end of the road to Hana. You get to see several waterfalls, jungle ravines, go thru an awesome bamboo forest, and end up at the base of an awesome 300 foot waterfall. I think it's a 3.5 mile trail roundtrip. Don't miss it. Plus, the 7 sacred pools is there as well and it's a can't miss thing to do. #3) Best snorkeling in Maui bar none is the Aquarium at the end of LaPerouse Bay. Make sure you get the Maui revealed guidebook and follow the directions to a T. It's very tricky to get to because you have to park on the side of the road then hike over some rough lava terrain about a mile to get their. However, it's the best snokeling I've seen in Hawaii next to Captain's Cook's Monument on the Big Island. Tons and tons of fish, crystal clear visability, and you'll probably have it to yourself since it's tricky to get to.
I have 2 of the Maui guidebooks, and would be willing to trade them in return for a couple fresh pineapples. I went to Maui for my honeymoon 2 years ago and stayed at the Sheraton on Kaanapali Beach. It was easily the nicest hotel on that beach, and we probably had the best room in the resort with 2 separate ocean front balconies. (room # 4603) As far as snorkeling goes, our resort was positioned in front of a miniature lagoon formed by this formation called Black Rock. Everyone staying on this beach would go here to snorkel or scuba, and I can testify that it was great. I hadn't tried the Wailea area or Kapalua though, so they may be equally good or better. If you want a little bit slower pace, or are looking for spas and shopping, then try the Wailea area. I have relatives that stay there frequently and love it, but the prices are significantly higher compared to other parts of Hawaii. Some hotels that come to mind are the Fairmont Kea Lani, the Grand Wailea, and the Four Seasons. You can't go wrong with any of them. Either way, if you are on Maui, you MUST do the road to Hana. Buy the CD tour that's offered at one of the dive shops, or I'll give you my copy if you want to pick it up from me. (for the minimal charge of one pineapple) Also, much easier than doing the sunrise on Haleakala is doing the sunset. It's pretty much the same, but you are facing the opposite way and you don't have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. Definitely take blankets though cause it can be a bit nipply.
We stayed in Maui several years ago and really liked the place we stayed. It is the Kaanapali Alii condos. They are huge and very well kept with daily maid and concierge service. Right on the beach and very close to Black Rock (great snorkeling). We are going back again in a month and very much looking forward to it. The nice thing about these condos is a full kitchen and BBQ pits outside. We love to cook and you can spend a fortune in Hawaii if you eat out for every single meal.
Can't stress getting Maui Revealed enough. Try the Paia Fish Market in Paia, which is right up the road from the airport and on the way to the Road to Hana.
If you do the road to Hana, do the northern road on the way there and the road on the southern side on the way back. The rental car agencies will tell you the southern road is not suitable for driving. That's utter ********. You'll miss a completely different environment if you skip the southern side. The northern side is tropical. The southern side is a desert.
If you miss the southside of the island you are missing lots of beautiful scenery. I recommend taking a tour bus if you want to do the whole loop around the south side of the island to Hana. Much of the road is one lane and is very narrow in many places. I saw many cars having to hassle with backing up in really tight places. It looked like a big headache to me. A frend of mine who drove it told me that he was unable to enjoy most of the scenery because he had pay so close attention to the road. The tour bus that I went on had a guide who gave us a lot of info on Hawaiian culture and history. The only drawback to the tour is that you are on the drivers timetable.
I second Turkey and Tailgate on checking out the Kaanapali village area. I think I stayed at the Alii as well, and it was a great trip. Didn't do the Hana last time, opted to play Kaanapali course then follow it up with Kapalua Plantation course (1 week after Mercedes Open, so course was in perfect shape). The Black Rock was fun snorkeling, maybe not the best on the island, but very accessible and open. if you're looking for a nice meal in that area, there's a great seafood restaurant in between the Kaanapali and Kapalua towns, right on the beach in a cove with the best sunset photo op I've found in Hawaii. The only recommendation I have is to buy the best digital camera you can afford and get to know it inside and out before you go. It's money well spent
I'd like to add the obligatory "make sure you take plenty of money." When the wife and I were trying to "save" money, we'd still spend $50 for dinner. Shoulda bought ramen.
I don't recommend taking a tour bus for the road to hana. Get the revealed guide. Find the secluded and very cool spots that he recommends in the guide. We wandered around many hidden trails finding cool waterfalls and pools. We'd see other people there and we'd both hold up our blue books and laugh. Other people just drove on by not knowing what they're missing. As for traffic, it was only bad at one spot for me: past hana and prior to the seven sacred pools. We arrived at hana via the northern route around 2 PM. We took the southern route back and saved probably 2 hours drive time. This let me avoid the traffic on the way back. I probably saw 5 cars on the southern side.
Some great threads. Links inside these threads too. I actually printed a couple of these out and took them with me. The LinkThe Link
Everyone has pretty much covered everything except luaus. Do not go to one of the hotel luaus unless you like the cheesy cliche experience. The best luau on Maui is by far the Old Lahaina Luau. It is a traditional Hawaiian luau in a beautiful setting.
Everything on Maui is expensive. Be prepared to spend $60-80 on a typical meal (no wine) and upwards of $100 for a fancy dinner (still no wine). Some days we would try to take it cheap and still drop 50 bucks on a lunch. There are grocery stores scattered around though, so if you are trying to save $$$ you can buy your own breakfast food and perhaps some sandwich stuff for lunch. You can do fast food too, but it's hard to opt for that when your other choice is a gourmet meal and frozen drinks served right on the beach.
I snorkeled on Molikini in january and it was incredible. The boat we were on also took us to another area where you can swim with Hawaiian green sea turtles
You will love Maui. The suggestion about taking lots of money can be true, but doesn't necessarily have to be. First time we went, we blew lots of dough on tours and eating out. Last summer we stayed up in the Kapalua area at a place called the Napili Kai Beach Club. Right on Napili Bay so we had a great time just snorkling in the bay right outside our room. Walked over a couple of times to Kapalua Beach and the snorkling was even better. We've taken the snorkling trips to Molokini and to Lanai. Both were worth the money, but we had just as much fun right in the area we were staying. Our big meal out was the Feast at Le Le on the south (east?) end of downtown Lahaina. Spectacular food and "luau show." I highly recommend it as an alternative to the traditional luaus. The meal is served, no buffet. They serve a course corresponding to the island music and dancing being featured at the moment on stage. About five courses, if I recall. I may not recall correctly, because they offer a different wine matched with each island's food. The waiter wanted to know how far I was driving or if I had come in a cab before he served me. It was about $100 per person, but worth it. The rest of the time we grilled fish, steaks, etc. on the grills provided on the grounds of the Napili Kai. A little salad, a little wine and you secure one of the picnic tables looking out over the bay and the sunset, and you're in heaven. Grocery store nearby had everything we needed. I can't wait to go back.
