Ooops…………………………

Yeah, so I just realized that I told you I would give a walkthrough of our trip to Maui in a day by day format. Well, uh, looks like that didn’t work out. Instead of boring you with “ooh, this is what we did” I think instead I will offer up some tips on things to do and see in Maui. I think this would be better than my vacation stories don’t you?

First things first, you HAVE to rent a car. Why? Well the public transportation in Maui is lacking to say the least. I hear that on Hawai'i and O'ahu there is great public transportation, but Maui? Not so much.
so rent a car. We rented a mid sized sedan and not a convertible. Why? Because on the islands you can run into rain frequently and I saw numerous times on the drive to Hana people who were caught with rain pouring into their car. That and I figured we’d spend so little time IN the car why bother with the expense?
Another thing is to make sure you visit the major things that EVERYONE who has been to Maui suggests. What are those? They are:
a. The road to Hana.
If you are a person who feels the need to rush from point A. to point B. then go on a tour of the road to Hana, don’t drive it yourself. It will take pretty much all day to drive from Paia town to Hana. The road is narrow (boy that’s putting it mildly) and at almost every bridge or corner the road narrows even more (yes it’s that narrow) so you’ll spend a fair amount of time yielding to oncoming traffic. BUT… It is one of the most stunning drives I have ever taken in my life! Your are driving through a tropical rainforest on one side of the road, and the other side of the road offers a view of the most beautiful blue coastline you could imagine. And the waterfalls…LOTS of waterfalls. Many you can just pull your car over and walk right up to, even swim in the pools at the bottom of the falls!

b. Drive up Haleakala
Haleakala is the largest volcano/mountain on Maui. It dominates your view from anywhere on the island, so why not drive up it?!?! The summit is at roughly 10,023 feet above sea level so it’s gonna take a while to do the drive. Most people suggest a drive up early in the morning to see the sunrise. And while this is probably an incredible sight I suggest a sunset, and here’s why.
Unless you have made the drive up before you won’t be prepared for all the twists and turns, the steepness of the road, the driving through clouds (cool eh?). So why do that drive at 3 in the morning? Yeah, I said 3. It’s gonna take more than a few hours to get from wherever you are on the island, to the top of Haleakala. From the base to the summit takes about 2.5 hours! Another reason for sunset vs. sunrise is that in the morning the summit is FULL of people who are doing the bike ride down the volcano. So there goes your quiet serene sunrise. However, at sunset there are a lot fewer people and you have already made the drive in the daylight so you know what to expect on the way down in the dark. Be advised though that for every 1000 ft. in elevation increase, the temperature drops about 3°. So do some simple math, 10,000 ft. =’s about 30° colder at the summit! Dress accordingly.

c. Go to a LUAU!
I know what you are thinking, “A luau is so corny and so touristy”. Well, at least that’s what I thought when I was booking it. I thought, “man $90 a person for a buffet and dancers?” Ya know what? It was so worth it! The food was great, you get to meet new people since you share a table with several others and the show was phenomenal. We learned a lot about the Hawaiian culture from the show and it was just plain fun. BTW, we went to the show at the Sheraton in Kaanapali.

d. Go Snorkeling!
Wow! That’s all I have to say…WOW! You can rent the gear all over the place for just $7-10 a day. And you can go to almost any beach and there will be reefs to snorkel over. Just make sure you go early in the day sometime between 8a.m. and 11a.m. because that is when the wate is the calmest. You can also schedule a snorkel excursion but to be honest it’s pretty exciting to just drive around and find a cool spot on some beach with no one around.

e. Eat out… A LOT!
If you happen to rent a condo/timeshare or have a hotel room that provides a kitchen, don’t bother. One of the main reasons I got a condo vs. a hotel room was because I thought we’d go grocery shopping and do a lot of eating at the condo. Yeah right. Food is so expensive in Maui that it is nearly just as expensive as eating out! So why bother with the hassle of shopping for food, preparing a meal, then cleaning dishes? Why not go eat out? We did (and we liked Bubba Gumps in Lahaina, and Buzz’s Wharf in Kehei).

f. Go shopping, or at least window shopping.
There are a lot of cool towns to visit like Paia,Lahaina, and Hana. And these towns have all kinds of little shops, boutiques and art galleries lining their main streets. We had a blast looking at all the cool things for sale. And if you’re in Lahaina you HAVE TO go see the Banyan Tree….trust me. We also found a little swap meet of sorts in Kehei that had lots of handmade items for VERY good prices so don’t pass up those kinds of places either. Oh, I almost forgot. If you want to get T-shirts and those kinds of things as gifts fro friends and family go the ABC Stores. I won’t explain what they are or where they are, you’ll see em.

Ok, that seems to be enough for now (my fingers hurt).

Cya…