Maui! Have you been?

run21 · August 2010

Hey gang! Bf and I are hoping to go to Maui in October (to replace the vacation that didn't happen earlier this month). Neither of us have ever been to Hawaii. We chose Maui because... don't know. Bf wants to go and I'm indifferent - it's all an adventure to me!

We aren't sit-on-the-beach-and-bake vacationers. We will want to hike, bike, kayak, snorkel, and maybe fish. (He fishes. I boat. Which means I sit in the sun, watch the water, and drink.)

If you've been to Maui, which part of the island do you recommend staying on? We're likely to spend time all over the island. Should we pick one base and drive, or move from one hotel to another halfway through? Any recommendations on hotels, condos, or inns? We aren't resort people. We don't use half of the services and feel like we wasted money. This doesn't need to be a budget vacation but we don't want to throw money away either!

notquiteblushing · August 2010

Hi I went to Maui as part of my honeymoon last month. Or this month still? I can't get it straight. Anyway there is so much to do on Maui. We barely sat still at all. We stayed in Ka'anapali at the Hyatt and there are a bunch of resorts in that area. It's a pretty nice area but that's the only place I've stayed on Maui so I don't have much to compare it to. The resort was great. Skip the laui though - the food was good, the show was mediocre.

We did the Road to Hana. Awesome time but a little stressful. It took us 11 hours including all the stops. Swam in waterfalls, saw so much wild vegetation, etc.

We also did the Hanalakalai (sp?) sunrise + bike tour. So. much. fun. We had to get up at 2 in the morning, hop in the shuttle to the top of the crater and then watch the sun rise in the freezing cold and wind. Then we biked 28 miles down the crater. It sound scary/hard to some but it was really scenic and the biking was a breeze (it's all downhill). I really reccomend it.

I'm trying to remember other stuff but anyway you'll love Maui, it's a lot of fun.

run21 · August 2010

I had heard about the sunrise bike tour! We'd be up for 28 miles with no problem. (We're actually talking about our first bike tour together this fall. It will either be the first of many, many tours together. Or the first and last.)

notquiteblushing · August 2010

I've heard staying in a condo is a great way to save $ and get out of the touristy areas but we had some free nights from my husband's work travels so that wasn't a big issue for us. I would start researching places to stay first and then see how much of a budget you have for activities after that because they can add up. We scouted out activities on tripadvisor before we left. There's so many choices, it can get overwhelming.

Also I would reccomend renting a car. We looked up what it would cost to get a shuttle to/from the airport and it was more $ than renting a car the whole time we were there. And you'll need it for the Road to Hana - though don't listen to anyone who tells you you need a Jeep or convertible. I'm sure either would be nice to have but our little economy car did just fine.

notquiteblushing · August 2010

And now for some gratuitous Maui pics.

On the Road to Hana at one of a million beautiful places you can stop:
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And watching the sunrise at the top of the crater. Told you it was cold!:
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But it warms up fast and look at that view:
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run21 · August 2010

Thanks NQB! I might be using some points too so I'm not sure about the condo thing just yet. I had heard you wanted a car for sure, but I also heard about the Jeep. We'll skip that cost!

By the way, your wedding photos are gorgeous! They are very classic - like stepping back in time - but somehow are still very contemporary. I'm not sure how you did it!

jemmini6 · August 2010

I went for a few days last year (4 days on Oahu, 3 on Maui). We stayed at the Royal Lahaina, which was pretty nice. It was right on the beach next to Black Rock, which has excelllent snorkeling. We also did a zipline tour on Haleakala, but it wasn't really worth the money IMO (4 tiny lines and 1 long one, took about an hour, and was $95pp).

Our favorite thing we did was the Feast at Lele luau. It was nice because it wasn't one of the traditional luaus with 100+ people sitting at a giant picninc table and buffet style food. They had private tables and servers actually bring out your courses. It was about 4 or 5 courses (one for each Pacific island...Tahitti, Hawaii, New Zealand, etc) and each one had about 3-4 dishes from that region. It was also an open bar too, with a pretty decent selection. When my BF called to make the reservation for it, he told them it was our engagement party so he wanted to sit right up front (it wasn't really, we had actually only been together about 6 months at that time), but they gave us a great table! Here's some pics from the luau:

Sunset view from our table

Sign at the entrance

We went with the BF's family, so that was our private table...it was right in front of the stage

the show (and that picture is not zoomed in). They did dances for each of the islands too, as they brought out the food for that place. It was really cool

Maui! Have you been?

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