The hubby and I recently traveled to Maui for our two year anniversary and it was ahhhmazing! It is literally the definition of paradise and it’s right here in the USA!  Well, just a flight over the Pacific Ocean, but totally worth the long flight!

We were in Maui for 6 days and 5 nights and it was just the right amount of time. Our trip was full of relaxing at the beach, hiking up to breathtaking views, and exploring the back roads of the island. Here are the things that we suggest when visiting Maui if you haven’t done so already!

1. Road to Hana: This is an ALL DAY thing.  Do not think you can sleep in and get a late start. This drive takes about 6-7 hours without the stops.  Road to Hana is about 64.4 miles of windy, curvy roads full of beautiful views and one way bridges. It felt like we were driving through Jurassic Park. Here are some of my recommendations:
   • Download the Shaka app BEFORE you start the drive. It was sooo helpful!  Internet/reception is poor during the trip so downloading the app before allows you to use it offline.  As you drive, it uses your location to determine what facts/stories/recommendations/options to bring up.  It was spot on in identifying the “stop-worthy” stops while also explaining the ones that you could pass.
   • Bring a car charger since you will be using the phone all day.
   • If you are a person that gets car sick, I would highly recommend that you sit in the front seat, driver’s seat, or take some sort of medicine for precautionary measures.
   • Bring your own snacks and water. There are not too many stops along the way. We did stop in Haiku on the Ke’anae Peninsula to get Aunty Sandy’s Banana bread.  And let me tell you this had to be THE BEST banana bread I’ve ever had!  They even serve it to you warm and fresh out of the oven!! Other than that- there are not too many other places to stop and get food. As you get closer to Hana, there will be more food options. We eventually pulled over and got a fresh coconut. You will also want to bring cash since a lot of these mom and pop shops only accept cash.
   • Bring towels, swim suits, snorkel gears, hiking shoes, etc. Road to Hana has it all!
   • BE CAREFUL on these roads!! The locals here are used to these roads and are what I think crazy drivers. While we are on the topic of locals, you will want to be very respectful while you are doing Road to Hana. We were at a swimming hole and there was a sign before you hiked down to the swimming hole that said, “ATTENTION: If you don’t live here, you don’t swim here!”  And when we got to the bottom of the hike, there was a mix of locals and tourists.  While we were enjoying our time there, a local yelled to get everyone’s attention and asked “when you all leave, we just ask that you take all your rubbish with you and leave our place clean…”  And shortly after, we left and as we were hiking back up we started to hear a bunch of commotion at the top of the hike.  A local was yelling at some tourists about not reading the sign and respecting the land. Once we reached the top, the commotion was done.. Soooo long story short, be super nice and respectful to the locals!!
   • Once you get to Hana, some people stay the night and go back the next day. I think if we were to do this part of the trip again, I would stay the night in Hana and hike Mt. Haleakala the next morning since you are pretty much at the base of the mountain being in Hana.  For this trip, we decided to continue driving around the other side of the island instead of going back through the Road to Hana. It was fun to drive the backroads and get a different experience.
2. Explore the Beaches:
   • Maui has a wide array of beaches to offer. White sand, black sand, red sand, clothing optional, etc.  You can’t go wrong with any of the beaches.

     

3. Snorkel:
   • There are sooo many snorkeling tours that are offered in Maui. One of the most popular tour is probably Molokini Crater. We were very close to pulling the trigger on this tour, but we talked to many people who did not suggest it.  We heard that it tends to get overcrowded with all the boats and over the years the amount of fish has become less and less. It’s now basically an overpriced tour. Another tour that was suggested in comparison was doing the Lanai snorkel tour. It was comparable in price, and promised to see turtles, fish, and even dolphins. But for times sake, we decided to stay local and snorkel in Honolua Bay, which is north of Kapalua in the west part of Maui. When we were there we saw many colorful fish and we even got to swim with a huge turtle! The turtle swam right in between Bryan and I and it was one of the most peaceful things that I have seen. All of the marine life off the shores of Maui was unbelievable.
4. Hike:
   • We did the Iao Valley State Park.  It was a very easy short hike.  it has paved walkways, stairs, bridges, dramatic views, monuments, etc. Bryan and I even did the “secret trail” because we wanted to keep going!  We ended up hiking a very small and narrow pathway, but it led us to the most beautiful view where we could see the ocean from the top.  Back in the day, “Iao Needle” was used during wartime as a lookout by warriors.

     

     

5. Attend a Luau:
   • Bryan and I did the Old Royal Lahaina because we heard it was the best. They can be a little pricey (~$100/person) but we booked ours through Costco and I believe they give you a pretty good deal. We had an amazing view and it was fun to learn more of the Hawaiian culture and their amazing food and drinks.  Good food + good drinks + good show + good company = priceless.
6. Eat shaved ice:
   1. Hawaiian shaved ice is not a snow cone! It’s so much better than that. It’s like super fine snow flavored with tropical deliciousness.  We had Ululani’s Shaved Ice because we heard many great things and everything we heard was right!! Wow, it was sooo good! I even had it with ice cream and topped it with Li Hing Mui powder…and let me tell you! SO worth the wait. So if you pass by and there is a long line, don’t pass it up.  It is definitely worth the wait and they nearly always have a wait.

      

7. Do a Sunset Cruise: Coming to Maui we knew that this was a must do for us.  Since we were celebrating our second anniversary, we thought it would be cool to do one since we did one in Santorini during our Honeymoon.  We booked this experience through Costco as well and we decided to do this on our last night in Maui.  It was the perfect way to end our trip.  The cruise we did came with a dinner and an open bar.  Plus, you get to sail the waters and watch the sunset from the catamaran.

   

I hope that you found some of this information helpful and you enjoy your time on the island of Maui!

xoxo,

T