Maui
After a couple of years of not traveling to far-off places, we recently were able to make the trek to the Hawaiian island of Maui. Now, this trip was momentous for two reasons: 1. Zach has never been to Hawaii, and 2. Zach finally has some temporary relief from me talking about wanting to take a trip.
I’ve never been one to opt for a beach trip. I would rather visit cities with centuries-old architecture, in the mountains soaking up the myriad of green hues or snowcapped peaks, or in a foreign (to me) place to learn about another culture. Thankfully, Maui offered the latter two.
Day 1: Central + West Maui
After landing from a brutal 8-hour flight, we picked up our rental car and went to where all great vacations start: Costco. We stocked up on some basic groceries for the week ahead and admired all of the local Hawaiian goodies. Once we had what we needed, we made our way to Acevedo’s Hawaicano Cafe for some lunch as our flight landed at 12 PM HST. This was a great local spot to fuel up for the day ahead of us. From here, we ventured to Iao Valley State Park. The lush greenery here was a great introduction to the island's tropical beauty. Next on the agenda was to make the trek to West Maui. Our first stop was Dragon’s Pointe. The rock formations are sharp and pointed much like a dragon’s teeth thus the creative name. This was next to the Kapalua Coastal Trail. We walked part of this and took in the views of Oneloa Beach. We headed back into Lahaina to Banyan Court Park where the largest banyan tree in the US lives. By then, it was dinner time, so we strolled across the street to grab dinner from Down the Hatch. The lava lava spicy chicken sandwich here was incredible. We strolled down Front Street to walk off our dinner before heading south to Wailea to check into our hotel.
Day 2 + 3: South Maui
On our second day, we woke up bright and early to grab breakfast from Akamai Coffee before a round of golf at Wailea Golf Club. Zach played while I took in all of the views from the golf cart. The course was beautiful and had numerous holes overlooking the ocean. Afterward, we ate lunch at Pita Paradise and went to Wailea Beach. As I mentioned, I’m not a big beach fan, but the water was pretty and it wasn’t overly crowded, so finding a nice spot to lay out was easy. That evening, we attended the Te Au Moana Luau at The Wailea Beach Resort which was a great way to learn about the history and culture of some of the Polynesian islands.
The next morning, we went on a snorkeling trip to Molokini Crater and Turtle Town. Unfortunately, the waves and wind were too powerful for us to get off the boat at Molokini, but it was still nice to be able to see the crater up close after seeing it from the shore. Thankfully the waves were less severe at Turtle Town, so we were permitted to snorkel there. Turtle Town is just off the coast of Maluaka Beach and was formed by lava eruptions long ago that have since become home to coral reefs, fish, and Hawaiian green sea turtles. We were lucky to see all of the above during our trip. After getting back to shore, we stopped by 808 Deli for lunch in Kihei before driving a bit further south to the lava fields at La Perouse Bay. The views of the historic volcanic flows, ocean and Haleakala were spectacular. After the hike, we decided to cool off with some drinks at Maui Brewing Company. For dinner, we had a reservation at Humble Market Kitchen. While we ate, we were able to watch the sunset over the ocean.
Day 4: Road to Hana
On day four, we woke up bright and early to leave the hotel by 5:30 AM, so we could stop at Costco to fill up on gas before setting out on the road to Hana. We opted out of stopping at any of the famed mile markers until on our drive back. By postponing our pit stops and leaving the hotel so early, we were able to get to and explore Haleakala National Park before it got too crowded. Zach was truly a superstar for driving us on the road to Hana. With over 50 one-way bridges and extremely narrow roads, it was quite the drive. Once at Haleakala, we hiked the Pipiwai Trail (4 mi), stopping to admire the Falls at Makahiku, a giant banyan tree, the wild bamboo forest, and at the end: Waimoku Falls, a 400 ft tall waterfall. After this, we walked the much shorter Kuloa Point Trail (0.5 mi) to see the Oheo Gulch and its accompanying black sand beach. On our journey back, we only made a few stops to see Hana Town (mile marker 34), grab some snacks from the Halfway to Hana stand (mile marker 17), and snag some photos of the Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees (mile marker 7). There were plenty of other stops but after the morning hikes, we were ready to get to Paia Town for a late lunch from Paia Fish Market and some shave ice from Ululani’s. The rest of the day mostly involved recovering the adventures of the day.
Day 5: Central + Upcountry Maui
Our last day started with breakfast at The Maui Market where we grabbed some *strong* coffees and delicious breakfast wraps. Afterward, we made our way to upcountry Maui to the Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm. Unfortunately, there was not much lavender to see as it had just been replanted earlier this year. Despite this putting a slight damper on the morning, we quickly rebounded by making our way to the Ocean Vodka Organic Farm. Upon arrival, we were able to join a last-minute tasting tour. The tour was relatively short but really informative on how they distill their spirits and the types of sugar cane and other crops they ground on the plantation. Since opening in 2004, they have expanded their spirit offerings from their flagship product Ocean Vodka to include Kula Rum (toasted coconut, silver, and dark) and Fy Gin. We tried all of these and despite not being a huge fan of liquor on its own, I was surprised by how tasty each was. I would definitely recommend this tour. Our last stop before heading to the airport to make our journey home was the Maui Tropical Plantation to eat lunch at Cafe O’Lei at The Mill House. Both the views and food here are something you don’t want to miss on your trip to Maui. It was a great spot to soak up the beautiful natural Hawaiian landscape before going home.
Verdict:
Spending five days in Maui was the perfect amount of time for us to be able to explore the island and see most of the spots we wanted. The only thing we didn’t get to was driving to the summit of Haleakala, and looking back, I wish we would have planned that over going to the lavender farm. Overall, we really enjoyed our trip and would definitely go back someday in conjunction with visiting some of the other islands.
