Maui Fun

A blogger asked me about what to do in Maui so I wrote this up.   You will have smile on your face if you do these things.

The nightlife is fairly limited on Maui believe it or not

Lahaina has some good bars and restaurants right on the ocean, will be touristy.

I always like the Greek Bistro in Kihei for moderate local nightlife and good enough food.  

There are some other restaurant bars in that same shopping center which are also good.

3 beaches in Kihei which are awesome too

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The outdoor stuff is the real winner stuff for Maui

Upcountry / Haleakala

Visit a Lavender farm in upcountry Maui, have a lavender scone and by some other products.

Also visit Kula lodge in upcountry, same day, have a lunch/dinner drinks there.  Very cool.  Old style hobbit type outdoor seating area.

Go to top of Haleakala for sunrise 10,000, don’t miscalculate the timing, its a crap shoot if there are clouds, hike the crater, but be prepared for cold and don’t caught in there after dark

Worth it to spend the money for a whale boat its the best season right now, but April it starts winding down.  $50 to $80 per person out of Maalaea or Lahaina....but even better there is a Catamaran that sails from  Makena Beach and Golf Resort called the Kai Kanani run by Captain Bill and it leaves right from the beach in front of hotel….maybe go to small island called Molokini for snorkeling and see whales along the way.

Or from same hotel, if SCUBA certified so a guided underwater scooter dive to WW2 wrecks right off the beach within scooter range, world class fun.

TOWN and NORTH

Wailuku and Kahului are fairly useless except to stock up necessities at Costco at start of trip,  Only a few decent beaches on that side of the island too, 90% of the good beaches are on the South/West side 

Further east Kahului, I guess you would call it the north shore is Hookipa world class wind surfing beach, bring good binoculars, maybe whales too.    And out that direction is Twin Falls a 1.4 mile hike to some wicked good falls and swimming holes.    ALL of the swimming holes in Hawaii are now being fencing off by 12’ tall razor wire fences as the owner of the land have been repeatedly sued by people doing stupid stuff and hurting themselves and ambulance chasing lawyers ruining it for everyone.    This one is fairly docile and still open as far as I know, don’t miss it!!!! In 10 years all the good spots will be shut down.   

HANA SIDE

Hana side-- Hike the bamboo forests up to 200' waterfalls in the national park upstream of the seven sacred pools in Hana, which entails driving the road to Hana which is an adventure all itself, start real early in the AM like on the road by 7AM to enjoy the day properly and have some red bull for the trip home.

Kihei/Makena

On Sunday PM 5 to 9 go to Little Beach (next to Big Beach), it’s a clothing optional beach and they do drum circles and seriously good fire dancing (also clothing optional), really a blast.   This is also the best body surfing in Maui, bar none.    If you want to see how the locals really do it!

 West Side

Drive around the west side just for the adventure, the road is much better now than it used to be, but still amazing.   There are only a few spots to drop down to the water, don't miss any of them.

There are also some horse riding tours which take you through nice woods, great views, and maybe even have a lunch by a waterfall.   $100 and up.

Safety and Security

Be aware that the ocean kills an average of 1 person per week in Hawaii, and half of those are tourists, although tourists are only 10% of the population.

Also petty theft (break your car window) is RAMPANT in Hawaii.   The locals think it is “income” and the cops come to fill out a report and then do nothing, they also think of it as extra income for the local bruddahs.   DO NOT put you valuable stuff into the trunk after arriving at a site, especially a beach or hiking site…”they” look for that and will break in.   But they will break in anyway, so carrying valuables in the car should be curtailed without getting too crazy about that idea.    If hiking or boating, definitely don’t leave your wallet or camera in the car, or any fancy looking bag or even backpack.   

Sorry, that is the reality of a corrupt and low education island chain, disgusting but true.