Kind of unrelated to Aulani. I need Maui advice!

[Jamesmom7]

Starting off. Normally our family visits aulani. We’ve been twice in the last 2 years and wanted a change up this year. I need advice on Maui! If you’ve been and done a luau do you have recommendations? We are staying in Honua kai. Outside of that we don’t have a ton of plans yet. We travel there in August! We want to do some of the obvious things like the road to Hanna. But on our own unguided. I want to see a black sand beach and a rainbow eucalyptus! Any advice is very welcomes. As I said it’s very unrelated but I know many people do multi island trips. We will probably be back at aulani next year. Maybe.

 

[linzjane88]

Don't under any circumstances do the "West Maui Coastline Tour". Holy moly. It makes Road to Hana look like your on a freeway. We downloaded the Shaka guide audio tour (highly recommend) which was like 20 bucks for all the Maui tours (10$ for just Hana) so we decided to take the West Maui tour. Beautiful sights but it was terrifying. We also did the full Hana tour in reverse which we liked. Downtown Lahaina was *hot* and full of lots of art galleries if you are into that. We had 3 kids 11 and under so we were....not . The fruit stand on your way to Lahaina is massive and EXPENSIVE. My friend and I played it cool when the cashier rang us up and two produce bags with fresh/dried fruit came to 75$ . We joked about needing to lock the car so our fruit didn't get stolen. I sort of regret doing big drives on 2 of our 6 full days there. It took a lot of time that would have been better spent on the amazing beaches. Then again I think, at least Hana, is a drive you *have* to do to feel like you did Maui.

A few favorites were snorkeling at Honolua Bay and swimming at Po‘olenalena Beach. We went to Wailea Beach park but it didn't have a great vibe. It seemed so 'resorty'. But man when we went to Poolenalena Beach it was AMAZING. Lots of turtles and crystal clear waters. I would aboid the weekend if at all possible. There were lots of locals fishing and day camping so we had to work harder to avoid getting in the way of their lines while swimming.

That's all I can think of for now.

 

[Jamesmom7]

Thanks for the advice and tips! I tend to not pay for a tour if I can do it free! There’s certain levels of vacationing I can justify and then there’s others I cannot. I have an 8 year old who’s on the autism spectrum but very high functioning and salt water is not his thing on any level so snorkeling is out of the question. This being said it opens up other things a typical 8 year old might not be interested in like art or history. He’s also not athletic to say the least. My parents are coming. It’s their first trip and they are talking like it could be their only since they weren’t sure they ever could afford it to start with. I want to really make it their dream trip. Im okay with some level of resorty but I also like to experience it like a local! Some days I want a fruity drink and a hot tub and sometimes I want authentic food and to explore. We will be there for 9 days 8 nights. We don’t set a budget for vacations because we believe you should make the most of where you are but I want to be smart too. I’ve read about the Maui cookie lady and I wonder if that’s worth a trip as well as other must haves!

 

[Jamesmom7]

Also on a different note they want to make the trip to pearl harbour. I’ve been twice and wouldn’t reccomend because you cannot walk the Arizona memorial but I’d like some input from others. If you thought it might be your only visit to Hawaii would you go despite the closure. Even with the cost of flying to Oahu for just a day? We walked it our first trip in March of 2017 but October 2018 it was closed. Considering we’ve been there and wished to explore other things in more detail it wasn’t an issue but idk if it’s worth changing islands for. To be fair pearl harbour was always on my bucket list so I understand the desire.

 

[Jamesmom7]

Thanks for the advice and tips! I tend to not pay for a tour if I can do it free! There’s certain levels of vacationing I can justify and then there’s others I cannot. I have an 8 year old who’s on the autism spectrum but very high functioning and salt water is not his thing on any level so snorkeling is out of the question. This being said it opens up other things a typical 8 year old might not be interested in like art or history. He’s also not athletic to say the least. My parents are coming. It’s their first trip and they are talking like it could be their only since they weren’t sure they ever could afford it to start with. I want to really make it their dream trip. Im okay with some level of resorty but I also like to experience it like a local! Some days I want a fruity drink and a hot tub and sometimes I want authentic food and to explore. We will be there for 9 days 8 nights. We don’t set a budget for vacations because we believe you should make the most of where you are but I want to be smart too. I’ve read about the Maui cookie lady and I wonder if that’s worth a trip as well as other must haves!

Was it at least good produce??? I’ll likely avoid that. Thanks for the heads up. However I’m sure I’ve been in that exact situation elsewhere. I paid 12 dollars for a dove chocolate bar because my child insisted at a port in Cozumel on a Disney Cruise. ‍

 

[Jamesmom7]

Don't under any circumstances do the "West Maui Coastline Tour". Holy moly. It makes Road to Hana look like your on a freeway. We downloaded the Shaka guide audio tour (highly recommend) which was like 20 bucks for all the Maui tours (10$ for just Hana) so we decided to take the West Maui tour. Beautiful sights but it was terrifying. We also did the full Hana tour in reverse which we liked. Downtown Lahaina was *hot* and full of lots of art galleries if you are into that. We had 3 kids 11 and under so we were....not . The fruit stand on your way to Lahaina is massive and EXPENSIVE. My friend and I played it cool when the cashier rang us up and two produce bags with fresh/dried fruit came to 75$ . We joked about needing to lock the car so our fruit didn't get stolen. I sort of regret doing big drives on 2 of our 6 full days there. It took a lot of time that would have been better spent on the amazing beaches. Then again I think, at least Hana, is a drive you *have* to do to feel like you did Maui.

A few favorites were snorkeling at Honolua Bay and swimming at Po‘olenalena Beach. We went to Wailea Beach park but it didn't have a great vibe. It seemed so 'resorty'. But man when we went to Poolenalena Beach it was AMAZING. Lots of turtles and crystal clear waters. I would aboid the weekend if at all possible. There were lots of locals fishing and day camping so we had to work harder to avoid getting in the way of their lines while swimming.

That's all I can think of for now.

I meant to reply to you not me!!!

 

[linzjane88]

As far as island hopping goes I wouldn't do it if I wasn't staying at least 1 night. I have been to Oahu a few times but never went to Pearl Harbor so I can't speak for the tour process there but on this last trip we did 4 nights in Oahu and 7 on Maui. The flight may only be 40 or so minutes but it is every bit the airport experience as the 5 hour flight home was. You are still still arriving 2 hours early, navigating the airport, security, boarding, etc. I myself thought it would feel like a breeze because its such a quick trip but in reality it was just as time consuming. If funds are that tight I would skip it all together I think because that sounds crazy stressful.

 

[GatorChris]

I love Honua Kai! We stayed there in 2012 and it was really awesome. The open-air lobby is great. Oddly enough, I asked for an island view. Someone said I should at this resort, and I'm glad I listened. There are rain clouds that come over the mountains non-stop behind the resort, which makes rainbows all the time. As much as an ocean view is cool, having a Hawaiian rainbow daily (and at 40% less $) was pretty cool.

The resort has Duke's, which has some amazing ribs and other fun food. Do it at lunch and it's never crowded...but it will be at dinner time. My kids and I did the waterslide A LOT!!! And the beach creates the most magical sunsets you can imagine, with Lanai and Moloka'i in the background.

The beach itself isn't the most calm, and it does have quite a bit of coral reef, so be careful or you'll end up shredded.

We did the luau at the Royal Lahaina and it was pretty lame. Very commercial, the entertainment was not the best I've seen, and the luau pig just wasn't up to par with what I expect.

The road to Hana is amazing! Just driving it will bring a ton happiness to the trip. DON'T stop at the very first waterfall, Twin Falls. It's a long hike and the waterfalls aren't much bigger than the one they built at Honua Kai. My favorite stop is the Waikamoi Nature Trailhead, which most people skip. It has lovely, easy to traverse trails full of tropical foliage and flowers. Also, down the road a bit more is the Ke'anae Arboretum. That's where you can find rainbow eucalyptus trees.

There are a lot of beaches with "hard breaks" at Maui. If you see a sign that warns about it, skip it and go to another beach. They will beat you silly and leave you literally covered in sand EVERYWHERE.

Finally, do NOT skip a snorkel cruise to Molokini Crater. Outside of Kona, it's the best snorkeling you can find at Hawaii.

 

[longboard55]

The best Luaus are Old Lahaina luau and Feast of Lele. They sell out early

 

[cgattis]

I second Ke’anae but bring bug spray! We were mobbed by mosquitoes.

Waianapanapa beach was one of the (if not THE) highlight of our 14-day trip for me. But it’s not really sand, it’s pebbles (and they’re scorching hot!) so I’d recommend a sport sandal.

We enjoyed driving through upcountry to see the cattle farms. We also enjoyed Haleakala during the day—we just weren’t into getting up at 2 am. We plan to return to Maui in a couple of years so look forward to hearing other replies!

 

[abdgeek]

Starting off. Normally our family visits aulani. We’ve been twice in the last 2 years and wanted a change up this year. I need advice on Maui! If you’ve been and done a luau do you have recommendations? We are staying in Honua kai. Outside of that we don’t have a ton of plans yet. We travel there in August! We want to do some of the obvious things like the road to Hanna. But on our own unguided. I want to see a black sand beach and a rainbow eucalyptus! Any advice is very welcomes. As I said it’s very unrelated but I know many people do multi island trips. We will probably be back at aulani next year. Maybe.

There are lots of things to do on Maui depending on how far you want to drive. The following are some things I enjoyed doing while on the island: the Road to Hana tour, Mt Haleakala Sunrise tour, Old Lahaina Luau, Maui Tropical Plantation, Iao Valley State Park, and Lahaina. There’s also the Maui Ocean Center (Aquarium), but I didn’t make it there.

After seeing the drive and the fact that the Road to Hana was not always on paved roads, I was glad I did the tour. It does make for a long day if you do the whole trip, but it was worth it. We saw rainbow eucalyptus, black sand beaches, and went to Oheo Gulch (Haleakala National Park) among other things on the tour. Yes, you can do it yourself. You will have to decide if you want to.

Regarding island hopping to Oahu to see Pearl Harbor, I say go for it if it’s in your budget. You can either do a tour or on your own. On your own, you can probably get a round trip ticket on Hawaiian Airlines for about $100 or less. You would then need to rent a car. Although you can’t actually go to the Arizona Memorial, you can still see it and that may be enough for your parents. You may also want to plan some other things to make the day trip worth it.

 

[linco711]

We took a tour for road to Hana also. It was a great day. Wouldn’t want to navigate those roads myself. To scary for me..

 

[cedricandsophie]

We’ve driven road to Hana on our own. My husband loves to drive and we loved it. Be sure to stop for banana bread at one of the trucks.

Also mamas fish house is a restaurant on the best surfing beach. Great but expensive dinner. Or just go for a drink.

 

[nkereina]

If you’ve been and done a luau do you have recommendations?

As PP mentions, Old Lahaina Luau and Feast at Lele are two of the highest rated luaus in all of Hawaii. They are both in Lahaina, just down the street from each other. Old Lahaina Luau is a very traditional Hawaiian luau - a pig roast served buffet style, communal seating at long tables, and the option to sit on a cushion on the ground. They do not include fire dancing because it is from other Polynesian cultures (not Hawaiian). The Feast at Lele has servers (rather than a buffet) and you are seated at your own table for your party. Each course is aligned to the different Polynesian cultures, and as you are enjoying that course, they perform the traditional dances for that culture. We did this one and really enjoyed it - the food was plentiful and seeing the different cultures' dances/traditions was really great. They do include fire dancing here - I think it may be Tongan? I don't recall. Another poster has a trip report here with a lot of photos and a recent review, and my review from 2016 is in my trip report in my signature.

If you thought it might be your only visit to Hawaii would you go despite the closure. Even with the cost of flying to Oahu for just a day?

I agree with PP that island hopping is a time sucker. We island hopped three times and each time, our flight was mid-day and we lost the best part of the day. If they could hop very early morning and come back late at night, having a full day to explore Oahu (in addition to Pearl Harbor), then I would say it would be more worthwhile. Its my understanding they still take you to the Arizona, you just can't get off the boat and explore the memorial. I'm sorry if I missed it, but where on Maui are you staying? If near Lahaina or Kaanapali beach region, keep in mind its a solid hour's drive to and from the airport. An easy drive, but not convenient.

 

[soccerdad72]

Leaving for Maui 4 weeks from today! We're also staying at Honua Kai, so I'll give a review when we get back. Our boys are looking to do a lot of active stuff, so we have surfing lessons, a snorkel trip, ziplining and other activities like that planned. We booked our flights so we can spend our final couple nights in Oahu on our way home, so we're going to Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach and probably Diamond Head.

 

[pepperandchips]

Shameless plug for my trip report that includes some tips for Maui. I also reviewed the Feast at Lele which I highly recommended as a worthwhile splurge!

https://www.disboards.com/threads/b...rn-to-aulani-and-first-visit-to-maui.3729422/

 

[Malela9]

I go to Maui almost every year, we are going in July again. Here are some thoughts about things that have been mentioned:
1. Road to Hana is a 5-6 hour trip. Get an app to give you the tour. It is lovely, once. Mount Haleakala is nice. It takes about 3 hours. (We only do these every 6 years or so.)
2. Old Lahaina Luau and Feast at Lele are very expensive. (Over 100 dollars a person.) We go to the Royal Lahaina Luau which is just as good and more family friendly. My kids like it better. They have been to both many times.
3. Hanaloa Bay is very hard to get to, you have to walk through a jungle and it has a very rocky entrance. This is only for a very good swimmer and someone in good shape. Water is very deep almost instantly. I saw someone have a heart attack there once. Airport beach is a good beach, has bathrooms and I have seen dolphins, whales, turtles and lots of fish there.
4. Get all the coupons at the baggage claim at the airport. That will help you decide what to do.
5. Bring your own floats from home. (Blow up rafts and rings.) That saves us a ton of money.
Hope you have a great time! Aloha!

 

[dreamin_disney]

I go to Maui almost every year, we are going in July again. Here are some thoughts about things that have been mentioned:
1. Road to Hana is a 5-6 hour trip. Get an app to give you the tour. It is lovely, once. Mount Haleakala is nice. It takes about 3 hours. (We only do these every 6 years or so.)
2. Old Lahaina Luau and Feast at Lele are very expensive. (Over 100 dollars a person.) We go to the Royal Lahaina Luau which is just as good and more family friendly. My kids like it better. They have been to both many times.
3. Hanaloa Bay is very hard to get to, you have to walk through a jungle and it has a very rocky entrance. This is only for a very good swimmer and someone in good shape. Water is very deep almost instantly. I saw someone have a heart attack there once. Airport beach is a good beach, has bathrooms and I have seen dolphins, whales, turtles and lots of fish there.
4. Get all the coupons at the baggage claim at the airport. That will help you decide what to do.
5. Bring your own floats from home. (Blow up rafts and rings.) That saves us a ton of money.
Hope you have a great time! Aloha!

Where do you recommend staying in Maui?

 

[VandVsmama]

I've been to Maui a few times. Not sure when you're going, but here are some of my Maui favorites:

Food:

1. Da Kitchen in Kahului near the airport. They also have a Da Kitchen Express location in Kihei.
2. Koiso Sushi in Kihei. Very small sushi bar run by a Japanese sushi chef & his wife. No printed menu. Menu changes daily based on what the fresh fish is that was caught that morning. Expensive, but the best sushi I've ever had. Be prompt for your reservation. If you're late, he will wait to take your order for as many minutes as you were late.
3. Ululani's Shave Ice - locations in Lahaina and Kihei
4. Aloha Mixed Plate - in Lahaina near the Safeway
5. Foodland grocery store - across the street from Safeway in Lahaina. HUGE selection of poke, made fresh daily. Local produce & locally made products in this store are marked as such.
6. local farmers markets for fresh produce - they're often on Wed & Sat on the west side of the island, not sure about other locations. Maui Swap Meet on Saturday mornings until 1 pm by the airport in Kahului also has a lot of fresh produce vendors.
7. Merriman's in Kapalua - EXPENSIVE. But they use a lot of locally sourced food directly on Maui. VERY yummy. Quite an experience.
8. guava malasadas & cream puffs from Komoda's General Store in Makawao

Fun stuff to do:

1. Haleakala volcano crater - if you go at sunrise or sunset, you need a reservation through the National Park Service. So reservation required for other times of day. It's like a whole other world up there.
2. watch the kite/wind surfers at Ho'okipa Beach near Mama's Fish House.
3. snorkeling - lots of good places to do this from various beaches on Maui.
4. my sister did a helicopter tour of West Maui & Molokai and said it was totally awesome.
5. snorkel trip to Lanai or Molokini crater
6. go see the massive Banyan tree in Lahaina. There are often art vendors selling their wares in that park.
7. 1-1.5 hour submarine trip out of Lahaina harbor
8. Old Lahaina Luau
9. I'ao Needle state park
10. Surfing Goat Dairy in Upcountry Maui. For ~$20/person, they'll take you on an afternoon tour where you can help feed & milk the goats. There are other tours & self-guided tours, too. Some of their goat cheese has won national awards. Merriman's uses their cheese in some of their dishes sometimes.
11. Launuipoko Beach Park - has a very nice protected area of the beach which is great for younger children.

Avoid Maui Tropical Plantation. It's a tourist trap.
There's also other cool beachy things to do like:
- surfing lessons
- paddle boarding
- ocean kayaking - there's companies on the island that will take you out and teach you how to do it. ~$60/adult for 2-2.5 hours
- there's also a nonprofit group that has been restoring one of Maui's Hawaiian fish ponds. And for a fee, they will take you out in an outrigger canoe and you can learn how to canoe like the Hawaiians used to. The fee they charge goes towards the pond restoration projects. http://mauifishpond.com/canoe-tour/
- the Pipiwai Trail near Hana is a popular hike. I've never done it myself, though.
- there are multiple locations across the island to go horseback riding.

 

[nkereina]

Where do you recommend staying in Maui?

I'm not the poster you quoted but we stayed at the Westin in Kaanapali Beach and we LOVED it! I don't think you can go wrong with any resort in the Kaanapali area. Its also very close to Lahaina which is such a quaint town for shopping and dining. We liked the Westin because it was walking distance (next door) to the Whaler's Village for more shopping and dining, and the Starwood properties in the area offered free shuttle service to and from Lahaina. The only downside to this area is that its about an hour's drive to and from the airport.