The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

[NemesisVex]

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this ...

In all the years of growing up and living in Hawai`i, I never visited Maui. I've been to Kaua`i, the Big Island, even Moloka`i, but never Maui.

Now I live in Austin, and I'm planning on visiting some time in 2007 (most likely before summer.) On this trip back home, I would like to squeeze in a visit to Maui, partly as a birthday gift to myself but mostly to rectify this grave oversight.

(Kind of like living in New York City for a year and never visiting the Metropolitan Museum.)

Arranging flight and car rental should be no problem. Accomodations, though, are the big question mark. I'm not made out of cash to afford a resort, and I'm far too old to do the hostel thing.

What would you folks suggest or recommend?

[LocoBoy]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

Its been a while since I've been to Maui but when I was there I spent time at a relatively cheap hotel called the Maui Palms. It was near the water and in Kahului I think. Hope this may help a little.

[tutusue]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

[...] I'm far too old to do the hostel thing.[...]

A friend of mine who lives on Oahu is 52 and spent 2 weeks in a hostel on Maui during this past holiday season. He loved it. He's a gypsy at heart and felt that, instead of going to Europe, being in the hostel was like Europe coming to him. He rode the local "bus" alot and has hilarious stories to tell. I want him to write an outline for a potential series based on his experiences! Oh, he's also one of 7 kids which, I think, makes a big difference. He's not used to privacy.

He's far braver than I! Give me a 5 star hotel and my own space! I'd settle for a B&B!

[cynsaligia]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this ...

In all the years of growing up and living in Hawai`i, I never visited Maui. I've been to Kaua`i, the Big Island, even Moloka`i, but never Maui.

Now I live in Austin, and I'm planning on visiting some time in 2007 (most likely before summer.) On this trip back home, I would like to squeeze in a visit to Maui, partly as a birthday gift to myself but mostly to rectify this grave oversight.

(Kind of like living in New York City for a year and never visiting the Metropolitan Museum.)

Arranging flight and car rental should be no problem. Accomodations, though, are the big question mark. I'm not made out of cash to afford a resort, and I'm far too old to do the hostel thing.

What would you folks suggest or recommend?

the beau and i stayed in a bed & breakfast in lahaina last summer, when we went to maui for a four day weekend. i was like you until that trip--despite having grown up here, i hadn't visited maui since i was in the single digits of age. anyhow, the B&B cost about $120 a night and included a very good continental breakfast, but if you check tripadvisor.com you can find other alternatives with fairly trustworthy opinions. i can also share with you details about what we chose to do, where we stayed, and where we ate, if you PM me. in the meanwhile, i suggest you pick up the guide book "maui revealed." it was very helpful and we definitely wouldn't have had as good a time without having consulted it. i'll put it this way--i enjoyed that four day trip to maui much more than i ever enjoyed any of our trips to vegas, and i LOVE going to vegas.

[Miulang]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

Depends where you want to be and what you want to spend. The cheapest places and most centrally located would probably be the Maui Palms and Maui Beach Hotels (both owned by the same company and sitting right next to each other) in Kahului. Maui Beach has a pretty good Chinese and Japanese (sushi) buffet every week. The beach in front of the properties fronts Kahului Harbor and really isn't a good swimming beach and when the limu piles up and starts drying, the smell is rather ghastly (the closest beach is Kanaha Beach, which under the flightpath of OGG, and that beach gets really windy, so it's not good for swimming either, but it is great for the windsurfers and parasailers). Both hotels are also within walking distance of both Kaahumanu Shopping Center and Maui Mall, which are the two main shopping destinations for Central Maui.

In Wailuku, there are a couple of B&Bs (the Old Wailuku Inn at Ulupono is supposed to be excellent) and it's right in Wailuku town, which is "quaint" and right now is undergoing sort of a renaissance (there's a good sushi place and a great coffee house and an excellent Thai restaurant nearby) but there isn't all that much to do there unless you like shopping for antiques. The other B&B in Wailuku is the Wailuku Guesthouse, which is on the other side of Wailuku in a residential area.

Kihei and Wailea are about 20-30 minutes away from Wailuku/Kahului, the west end (Lahaina/Kaanapali/Kapalua) is at least 1 hour away depending on when you travel, Hana is about 3-4 hours depending on how often you stop, Haleakala is about 2-3 hours away. Best swimming beaches are on the South and West end, but go in the morning because around noon the wind really starts blowing HARD and the blowing sand really stings.

If you don't care that your rental car is not the current year, try Aloha Rent-A-Car. They have older cars (1-2 years old) but the rates are way cheaper than the national chains. The advantage to renting an "older" car is it's also less likely to get broken into at the beach. One other hint: if you can find a "makaki'i" or "ikaika" (one of those little feathered warrior helmets that you can hang from your rear view mirror), buy one of those to hang in the rental car. That might also keep the car prowlers away when you park because they will think that a "local" owns it.

Miulang

P.S. If you do get a copy of Maui Revealed, make sure you don't bring it out in front of the locals. Many are very resentful about the authors disclosing some "secret" spots that used to only be known to locals.

[hbragg]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

We went to Maui a year and a half ago and stayed at the Nona Lani cottages in Kihei. They are owned by a local family and are great. We paid $97 a night for a one bedroom cottage and we really enjoyed it.

[Jake's Ohana]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

Taking my ohana to Maui this summer. My keikis first time to the islands. They are so excited. We will be staying at the Sheraton Kapiolani. Anyone know about this hotel? I heard its nice. Got an offer I couldn't refuse.

I'm looking to do a lot of swimming pool activities and then off to some snorkeling. Probably will do a lot of the tourist activities shuttling the ohana around to see Haleakala and Hana, to name a couple. Any other suggestions for the ohana (kid friendly) would be greatly appreciated. I've been to Maui once during small keiki time and during part of my honeymoon 11 years ago. I'm still getting familiarized with the island from my distant memories. I'm sure a lot has changed since I last visited.

[Miulang]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

Taking my ohana to Maui this summer. My keikis first time to the islands. They are so excited. We will be staying at the Sheraton Kapiolani. Anyone know about this hotel? I heard its nice. Got an offer I couldn't refuse.

I'm looking to do a lot of swimming pool activities and then off to some snorkeling. Probably will do a lot of the tourist activities shuttling the ohana around to see Haleakala and Hana, to name a couple. Any other suggestions for the ohana (kid friendly) would be greatly appreciated. I've been to Maui once during small keiki time and during part of my honeymoon 11 years ago. I'm still getting familiarized with the island from my distant memories. I'm sure a lot has changed since I last visited.

Um, do you mean the Sheraton Ka'anapali? There is no Sheraton "Kapiolani" on Maui!

It's one of the original resorts right on the beach at Ka'anapali (built right into Black Rock). It was completely renovated about 3 or 4 years ago (was built in the mid 1960s) so it should look pretty good (pictures of rooms here). The beach right out front (to the right of the hotel) has crystal blue water and is very safe for the keiki to frolic in the ocean.

Right within the Ka'anapali resort area (there are lots of hotels and timeshares in the resort), there is Whaler's Village which is a shopping mall that has a little whale museum that the kids might be interested in.

On that side of the island, there's also Cannery Mall (right past Lahaina town). On Saturdays and Sundays during the lunch hour, they have keiki hula, which is cute. The best part about that mall is it's AIR CONDITIONED! There's an L&L BBQ place and a Ba Le (Vietnamese) counter (excellent banh mi sandwiches) and a Japanese fastfood place and a regular Mexican restaurant in the food court. There's also a Safeway and a Longs Drugs in there.

Take the kids on the Sugarcane Train. Snorkeling is good at Kapalua Beach, but you gotta get there early because the little parking lot fills up fast and you have to park on the very narrow shoulders of a road if you get there too late. D.T. Fleming Beach, which is a little farther beyond Kapalua is a good place to have lunch, but the ocean is not sheltered by a reef there, so the waves can be intimidating, especially in the afternoons.

Be prepared to test your patience, because traffic is the pits on that side of the island, especially if you go through Front St. in Lahaina (I would take the bypass and avoid driving through town unless you like crawling along at 5 mph and having tourists step right in front of your car, totally oblivious to the fact that your car is bigger than they are...the same thing happens around the Kamaole Beach areas in Kihei...grrrr)

You didn't say how old your kids were, so I don't know if they would be interested in historical sights (Lahaina was the whaling capital of Hawai'i before Honolulu became the 'aina's capital city). There's a walking tour of Lahaina town that is pretty interesting and it's free for the most part. Start down by the big banyan tree down by the harbor at the old courthouse and pick up a walking tour brochure.

In Ma'alaea (between Lahaina and Central Maui) is the Maui Ocean Center. It's a beautiful fairly new aquarium that has a plexiglass tube going through part of the main tank so you can walk underwater without getting wet. Kinda pricey, but you could make a whole day out of being there. There are exhibits outside too (baby hammerheads that are being raised to be released into the wild when they're older, lots of honu, a tidepool where the kids can touch things like starfish). Right next to it is a Carl's Jr. and I think the mini golf course is still there too.

If you're staying in Ka'anapali, I suggest that you DON'T try to drive up to the top of Haleakala for the sunrise. Since sunrise in the summer is as early as 5:30, in order to get up there in time you'd have to leave Lahaina by about 3 a.m. and you'd have hundreds of your closest friends shivering along with you. Coming down from there in the morning is the pits because of the downhill bike tours, so if you're planning to venture up to Haleakala, make sure you don't go for the sunrise. Sunset is pretty spectacular too.

Right before Wailuku is Maui Tropical Plantation. That place is nice because they have a tram that takes you around the property and a guide explains about coffee and coconuts and other things that are growing on the property. They have lots of nice foliage too, and there are a couple of monkeys in a cage that are kinda fun to taunt. If the weather is really hot, it's a good place to stop off and get some Roselani IceCream (made on Maui)...the most popular flavor is coconut.

While you're in the Wailuku area, drive up to Iao Valley. It's where there was a famous battle of the ali'i. There's a little park at the end of the road, and if you're lucky, you'll see some idiot young kids leaping off the bridge railing into Iao Stream (which is about 30 feet below the bridge). On the way back, stop in Kepaniwai Park and check out the heritage villages and have a picnic. It's cooler in Iao Valley than just about any other place in Central Maui.

If your kids are youngish (say of squirmable, "are we there yet?" age) you might want to skip driving to Hana this time. That trip is sheer hell for young kids because besides the scenery and the windy road, there's very little else to keep them occupied. By the time you get there, the damage that the area sustained from the Oct. earthquakes may be mostly repaired, but you might not be able to drive to O'heo Gulch (also known to the tourists as "Seven Sacred Pools"). The pools are NOT sacred and there are more than 7 of them, so go figure. So check with the hotel concierge before attempting that drive.

Maui doesn't have as many kid-friendly things to do (besides the beach) as Honolulu does. There used to be a zoo, but it closed down years ago. You could take them horse riding on Haleakala if they're old enough.

Mostly people go to Maui for the beach and there's very little nightlife per se outside of the resorts (Ka'anapali and Wailea) and the locals kinda like it that way.

To say "I'm sure a lot has changed" is an understatement. Even though I go back to visit once or twice a year, every trip back I see more and more changes.

You can also check the www.gohawaii.com site for more information about special events. Depending on when in the summer you get there, the Aloha Festivals might have started.

Miulang

P.S. make sure you take your patience with you. Driving sucks, especially on the only road into and out of the west end, and especially if there is an accident or fire, when you could get stuck in gridlock worse than the LA Freeway at rush hour.

[Jake's Ohana]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

Wow...Thanks Miulang for all of the insightful suggestions! I plan to put it to use. As for my typo, excuse the misrepresentation of our location. After I signed off last nite, I then, realized that I typed Kapiolani instead of Ka'anapali. My bad.

It seems that we will have plenty of kid friendly activities for them to do. You mentioned some big points about the trip to Hana. I will definitely save that trip when they get older (son 6, daughter 5). Iao Valley will be a must see, whether they get antsy or not! I think they'll get a kick out of JFK's profile and the pointy needle, not to mention the lush greenery all around the valley. My folks and grandmother will accompany my wife and I, so we will have some support with the keiki tantrums.

I've gotten so many "pearls" from your response that I am going to print it out! The train ride and aquarium will be right up their alley. Also, the ono grindz by the hotel sound quite convenient too. I'm sure that it will save us in the pocketbook as oppose to room service or on-site restaurants $$$.

Big Mahaloz,

Jake

[oggboy]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

I recommend taking the trip to Hana with one of the tour companies. The drivers are very imformative and skilled on these roads. FYI.... the road to Kipahulu is open till Oheo pools, make that Charles Lindeburg`s grave at Pala`pala Hoo`mau Church. Then you have to make the trip back to Central Maui in reverse. The roads beyond the church is closed off, only allowing some local families thru. So, if planning the trip to Hana, my advise is to go thru a tour com. My wife is a Hana tour guide and she has children as young as yours all the time. She tells me the children behave better than the adults... This also helps keep the Hana road free of add`l cars... Something that the Hana folks are p.o. at......
Enjoy your trip to Maui
OGGBOY

[tikiyaki]

Re: The Lapsed Local's Beginners Guide to Maui

Best place to find a vacation rental at any price....

www.vrbo.com

You can find anything from a small studio condo to a $5000 a week house.

Lots of great deals on there.