Hawaii - Maui?

meggiemo

Budget: $4000 - ish

Dates: June 10-17 (or near that range)

Does anyone have any hotel recommendations? Things we MUST see? Any other suggestions? We are looking to mostly relax but would like to do a few excursions. Thanks in advance!

Jells2dot0

Does your budget need to include air, car, food, activities?

meggiemo

It would be great if the budget could include all of that. We are willing to go a little over $4000 if necessary, but are trying to stay in that range. Thanks!

HoneymoonMe

I agree with LiaTris! I don't know where you're flying from, but getting to Maui is really expensive. It's a beautiful island but maybe consider something like Costa Rica or Belize...they both offer the jungle-beach that Maui has. 

If you're still itching to go, definitely rent a car a drive the road to Ha'na. It's beautiful, rugged, and will lead you to 7 Sacred Pools. Plus check out the guide books like Frommers...they'll have maps that show trails you can take along the way that lead to your own private waterfall (no snakes!!).

There are several hotel options, but the highest end and most killer in my opinion is the Fairmont in Wailea. Kuai is also equally as beautiful as Maui and is less developed in my opinion.

nycrose2013

I'm going to be In Maui at the same time as you on my honeymoon! We are going on the 7th and returning on the 17th. We are lucky, since we are using donated airmiles for our flights, or else that would have eaten a lot of our budget. We are spending most of it on our hotel. We sprung for the Four Seasons in Wailea since its our honeymoon and we want to get busy under some fancy ass sheets! I estimate we are going to end up spending around 8,000 in total, because food and excursions are important to us too.

In summary, Maui is expensive

kaos16

Maui does have a bunch of B&Bs though.  Some look really nice, and are very reasonably priced.  Perhaps look into that for lodging while you are there.

jemmini6

Like PPs said, flights are going to be your biggest expense, so I'd recommend keeping an eye on airfares now and buy when you see a price you can live with.  Generally with Hawaii, I've noticed the cheapest airfares are about 6-8 weeks before the travel date, but I'd really only recommend waiting till that close if you are flexible on your travel dates, which usually isn't the case with a HM. 

As for hotels, while it may not be the most romantic setting for a HM, but would save you a lot of money, would be to look into renting a condo (from VRBO), or staying in a condo/hotel (you can find these in the 'specialty lodging' section of tripadvisor hotels).  These might not be directly on the beach, or have 5 star finishes, but are usually very nice, and have the added benefit of having a kitchen.  This is actually my H and I's preferred accomodations, especially in Hawaii.  I like feeling like I'm coming home, rather than coming back to a hotel.  Plus, you can save a ton of money if you plan to eat several meals in your condo rather than have to eat out for every meal (we usually do breakfast in almost daily, about half our lunches in, and then at least one or two dinners).  Plus, I love being able to buy a few bottles of wine at the store and sit out with a glass on the lanai when we get in for the day. 

As for activities, unfortunately, we didn't get to spend as much time on Maui as we would've liked (we did two islands that trip, which I don't recommend unless you have at least 10 days).  For what we did do, I really enjoyed the luau, which was a non-traditional one called The Feast at Lele: great food, private tables, beautiful beachfront setting.  They also had great snorkeling at Black Rock.  We didn't get to do all of it, but I've heard the road to Hana is a great day trip.  We did ziplining an Haleakala, and I wasn't that impressed.  The ziplining itself was fun, but they only had 5 lines, 4 of which were fairly short, so for the price, I'd skip it.  I've heard good things about doing the sunrise tour on Haleakala, but it's COLD and early, so plan that one in advance to make sure you pack accordingly.

Have fun!!  I absolutely LOVE Hawaii!!

magsugar13

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_hawaii-maui?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:2428cdf7-1dae-4420-a89d-3ae635dc809aPost:cdeb702d-c79a-443a-93ca-55ce037ad929">Re: Hawaii - Maui?</a>:
[QUOTE]Like PPs said, flights are going to be your biggest expense, so I'd recommend keeping an eye on airfares now and buy when you see a price you can live with.  Generally with Hawaii, I've noticed the cheapest airfares are about 6-8 weeks before the travel date, but I'd really only recommend waiting till that close if you are flexible on your travel dates, which usually isn't the case with a HM.  As for hotels, while it may not be the most romantic setting for a HM, but would save you a lot of money, would be to look into renting a condo (from VRBO), or staying in a condo/hotel (you can find these in the 'specialty lodging' section of tripadvisor hotels).  These might not be directly on the beach, or have 5 star finishes, but are usually very nice, and have the added benefit of having a kitchen.  This is actually my H and I's preferred accomodations, especially in Hawaii.  I like feeling like I'm coming home, rather than coming back to a hotel.  Plus, you can save a ton of money if you plan to eat several meals in your condo rather than have to eat out for every meal (we usually do breakfast in almost daily, about half our lunches in, and then at least one or two dinners).  Plus, I love being able to buy a few bottles of wine at the store and sit out with a glass on the lanai when we get in for the day.  As for activities, unfortunately, we didn't get to spend as much time on Maui as we would've liked (we did two islands that trip, which I don't recommend unless you have at least 10 days).  For what we did do, I really enjoyed the luau, which was a non-traditional one called The Feast at Lele: great food, private tables, beautiful beachfront setting.  They also had great snorkeling at Black Rock.  We didn't get to do all of it, but I've heard the road to Hana is a great day trip.  We did ziplining an Haleakala, and I wasn't that impressed.  The ziplining itself was fun, but they only had 5 lines, 4 of which were fairly short, so for the price, I'd skip it.  I've heard good things about doing the sunrise tour on Haleakala, but it's COLD and early, so plan that one in advance to make sure you pack accordingly. Have fun!!  I absolutely LOVE Hawaii!!
Posted by jemmini6[/QUOTE]

I would also suggest rented a car. do the road to Hana and all the great sights along the way. Do a snorkling trip (trilogy is a good service). A luau is a most there are 2 good ones Lele and OLL. We stayed at the Ritz which is $$$ but the Marriot was also very nice,

phillychica85

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_hawaii-maui?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:2428cdf7-1dae-4420-a89d-3ae635dc809aPost:597aa32d-3db4-4652-8e96-3acfdf186b6e">Hawaii - Maui?</a>:
[QUOTE]Budget: $4000 - ish Dates: June 10-17 (or near that range) Does anyone have any hotel recommendations? Things we MUST see? Any other suggestions? We are looking to mostly relax but would like to do a few excursions. Thanks in advance!
Posted by meggiemo[/QUOTE]

DH and I went to Maui in late 2011 for a vacation and we spent just about $4000 (this included everything-flights, hotel, car, meals and other incidentals). In terms of making it possible I would strongly recommend doing a package-we did an air/hotel package through United Vacations and added a rental car and that came out to about $3k. We didn't go the luxury route (we stayed at a condo) and yet we had a beachfront location that we did not pay more than $100 extra a night for right in the Kaanapali area. We flew out from Pittsburgh to Maui (connections in San Franciso on the way out/Pheonix on the way back) and I would think Kansas City is pretty comparable to Pittsburgh flying wise. The only thing you may run into is that you'd be traveling at peak times (June versus we went in November).

I have a slew of Maui related posts on my blog (activities, restaurants, advice, hotel review):

<a href="http://www.theredheadedtraveler.com" rel="nofollow">www.theredheadedtraveler.com</a>

Good luck (it is possible though!)