Last week, I wrote about the first half of our spring break trip to Hawaii’s Big Island. This week, we dive into the second half of our Hawaiian Vacation: the island of Maui. Maui was by far my favorite of the two islands, but that may just have been a reflection of what we chose to do there. We purposefully decided to take it easy and skipped crowded places such as the Road to Hana in favor of having more time in nature and less time in the car.
Lahaina’s Recovery
First and foremost, let’s talk about Lahaina’s recovery from the devastating fires last August. That is to say, in no way is Lahaina recovered. The whole area that used to be Historic Lahaina is gone and it’s blocked off to make room for trucks hauling out debris. Visitors can still see all of the destruction from the main bypass, as well as a lovely memorial to the people who lost their lives in the fires.
We kept in touch with our condo owners & the people we rented our car from to ensure they were doing ok and to ask if they wanted us to find another reservation so that people who lost their homes could have a place to live. Both came back with the same message: “Please don’t cancel your trip to Maui! Our economy is tanking and we need the tourism.” So with that, we went to Maui and I’m so, so glad we did!
Maui’s Beautiful Beaches & Nature
Most of what we did on Maui was relax at the beach and eat delicious, local food. Our condo, which was 12 miles North of historic Lahaina, had a beautiful view, complete with great snorkeling right off the back patio.
We saw whales often in the distance, dolphins, and lots and lots of turtles (that we were careful to keep 10 feet away from per Federal law).
Our favorite beach was Napili Beach (pictured above), which was 10 minutes North of where we stayed. It was a bit hard to park if you got there after 9am, but relatively uncrowded, sandy, and also a great place to snorkel.
Maui has many such beaches tucked into every corner. We passed by several like this one during a hike on the Kapalua Coastal Trail, which is an easy 2-mile hike one-way through resorts, beaches, and rocky outcroppings.
Trilogy Snorkeling Excursion to Molokini Crater
The very best thing we did on the entire trip to Hawaii that everyone agrees was amazing was our snorkeling trip with Trilogy Excursions. I could not believe how highly-rated Trilogy was when I was planning this trip, but now I know they are worth every, single penny you spend on them.
We set sail in the morning on one of Trilogy’s six catamarans. They fed us a homemade cinnamon bun & fruit for breakfast while we sailed to Hawaii’s Molokini Crater. This was an excellent snorkeling location if you like fish and clear, blue waters. We saw a lot of coral, a starfish, and all kinds of tropical fish at this stop. Then, we sailed to a place called “turtle town” in search of some sea turtles and were lucky enough to see several despite the high waves at that spot.
It was just an absolutely perfect weather day too. On the way back we got an exceptional lunch (BBQ chicken, rice, salad) and all the drinks (alcoholic and otherwise) we wanted. The kids were asked to take several servings of ice cream. I think that’s the reason they highly recommend this tour.
But my favorite part was that on the way home, our snorkeling tour turned into a whale-watching tour! We saw several humpback whales (moms with their babies and maybe a male escort or two) and learned all about them. The crew was fantastic. They even had a whale microphone so we got to hear them talking to each other. They did not sound like Dory from Finding Nemo, for what it’s worth. Hear for yourself:
Maui’s Yummy Restaurants
The food in Maui was good, but great restaurants had waits without reservations. Food is also incredibly expensive. To take our whole family out to dinner at the Maui Brewing Company, for instance, we spent well over $200 for four adult entrees, two kids meals, and drinks. Needless to say, we did a lot of our own cooking, which was also not cheap unless we got meals from Costco. Side Note: Costco is probably the best way to do Hawaii without spending way too much on food if you’re bringing the whole family.
Our top two favorite places were the Burger Shack Kapalua, which had amazing wagyu beef burgers and probably the best shakes I’ve ever had. It was conveniently located at the end of the Kapalua Coastal Trail and so we got to sit outside overlooking the beach and have an amazing meal after the hike.
On our last night in town, Graham and I snuck away from the kids and went to The Banyan Tree restaurant, which is located on the grounds of the Ritz Carlton. That was a good call. We had an amazing lobster gnocchi appetizer, seafood curry (me), catch-of-the-day (Graham), and a wonderful malasada dessert. The most sought-after restaurant on Maui is Mama’s Fish House, but we couldn’t get reservations for because you have to book it months in advance. The Banyan Tree is newer and a lot of the articles about it say it’s better than Mama’s Fish House. I guess we’ll have to go back and do a real comparison soon!
We also tried some sushi at Miso Phat, which has been featured on the Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives TV show. Weirdly, we didn’t think it was worth the hour-long wait. Our local cheap sushi place in the middle of the country, Fin Sushi, we all thought, was better! Go Figure.
Skipping The Road to Hana
One thing you won’t find on my trip report is the Road to Hana. Most websites say it’s a Maui must-do, but when you dive into the reviews, they are split between people complaining about the long drive, motion sickness, and congestion and people who loved it. Apparently the locals HATE all of the traffic and beg you to take a tour to reduce congestion. With four kids, we just felt like the four-hour round-trip car drive to the start of the road wouldn’t be worth it. And that doesn’t count the windy drive itself complete with 42 one-lane bridges. You also need reservations for the main state park stop and I hadn’t done enough research to realize that. We’ll likely come back and do it someday, perhaps with an overnight in Hana.
Haleakala National Park
On our way back to the airport, we drove to the summit of Haleakala, the 10,000-foot volcanic peak that looms over Maui. Now THIS is a drive worth doing! You quickly rise above the clouds into an otherworldly mars-like landscape. It was beautiful and fun to see the native āhinahina plants at the top.
Again, we loved Maui so much! I am sure we’ll be back again soon.