Maui is easily one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the chance to visit. From exploring it's sandy beaches, to driving the exhilarating Road to Hana, to watching the sunset above the clouds on top of a dormant volcano, there is so much adventure to be found in Maui. In this blog, you will learn the top 10 things to do in Maui and how to make the most of your time being in this amazing tropical paradise!
- Road to Hana
The Road to Hana is one of the most famous scenic drives on Earth where you get to navigate through lush vibrant rainforests, breathtaking waterfalls, black sand beaches all while being right next to the Pacific coast. It also has the name “divorce highway” due to its stressful driving conditions with its 59 one lane bridges, frequent construction and over 600 curves.
There are 3 main ways to Experience the Road to Hana:
First, is to just go it yourself with a rental car and make your own itinerary. This is probably the best option for someone on a budget or if you have experienced The Road to Hana before and know what you’re getting yourself into.
The second option is going on a Group tour which averages $200 depending on what service/company you choose. This would be a great option with a big family and are suitable for all fitness levels.
The Third and the option we chose is getting a personal tour. We decided to go with this option since it was our first time in Hawaii let alone first experiencing the Road to Hana. We concluded it would be best to not get into a fight or invite any unwanted stress while being in arguably one of the most beautiful places on Earth. If you can DO THIS OPTION!!!
We booked our Tour with Henry but we found his booking details on Airbnb Experiences
This was easily the BEST DECISION we made on our trip to Maui! There is a very good reason this experience has 600+ 5 star reviews! Henry is so knowledgeable, fun and helpful and at the end of our tour he shared with us an entire album of photos and videos he took of the entire experience! We got to go on so many stops over the 10 hour tour but the highlights of the tour for us were the waterfalls, Braddah Hutts Hawaiian BBQ, and the Hamoa Beach. $345 per person may seem like a lot but booking this experience was worth every penny, I cannot recommend this enough!
- Haleakala
Haleakala is the massive dormant volcano on the island of Maui. The volcano is near impossible to miss since it dominates the entire southwestern part of the island. The name Haleakala means ‘House of the Sun’ which comes from the Legend of the Polynesian god Maui who tricks and captures the sun at the very top of Haleakala allowing longer days and more fruitful harvests of the land.
The main attraction of Haleakala is making the journey to its summit of over 10,000 feet and seeing either sunrise or sunset. The trek up the volcano is quite long and is a very popular attraction so it’s recommended that you give yourself about 3 hours before sunrise or sunset to get to the summit. Arrive early since parking spots are limited and the next closest place to park is at the visitor center half a mile from the summit which is a heck of a hike especially at 10,000 feet above sea level.
For our experience we chose to do sunset mainly because we did not want to wake up super early. Sunrise is between 5-6am so to make it to the summit early or on time you’d need to be waking up around 2:30am to make it. One of the best parts about going during sunset is the incredible stargazing you’re going to see on the way back down so make sure you hang out a bit at the summit after the sun dips below the horizon.
- Snorkeling
For our last day in Maui we had nothing major scheduled so we decided to find a local snorkel shop and rent some gear. The place we found was Auntie Snorkel where we were able to get 2 sets of snorkeling gear, beach chairs, an umbrella and floating devices all for under $50! The staff were incredibly helpful and at the shop they’ll help you plan out the ideal snorkeling plan for your day!
What we learned is that we should've been snorkeling the entire time we were in Maui and not waited all up until the last day to go since it was such a blast! For our 1 time we went out snorkeling we got to see 3 sea turtles and so many colorful fish! When you’re in Maui, rent out snorkeling gear for the whole time you're visiting and just bring it in your car so you can spontaneously go snorkeling as you’re exploring the island!
As a side note, go snorkeling as early as you can in the day! That is when the water is going to be the calmest and you’ll get better opportunities to see all the amazing sea life. After we rented our gear we got to the beach around 10:30am and by 11am the water was very choppy and we had to get out of the water a lot earlier than expected since we got a little nauseous.
- Fresh Fish to Eat
Coincidentally the first meal we had in Maui ended up being our absolute favorite of the whole trip. After getting off the plane and getting our rental car we were super hungry so we headed towards our hotel in Kihei. On the way we found South Maui Fish co from online reviews in this little plaza and were able to get there right as they open for their late afternoon/evening time at 5pm.
We ordered one of their poke bowls split between spicy poke and traditional poke and an order of 2 fish tacos. The first you’ll notice is how large the portion sizes were.The fish tacos were MASSIVE and the poke came with a side of rice and macaroni salad. The food was beyond incredible! After having fresh fish like that you cannot go back there is a very good reason this place has been on Guy Fieri’s Diner Drive in’s and Dives.
One thing you’ll experience eating fish in Hawaii is realizing just how good freshly caught fish is compared to anything else you’ve ever had before. One of those revelations happened when we got to eat at Paia Fish Market. We were recommended this spot from one of the staff at the hotel and unfortunately we were only able to eat at Paia once the entire trip.
Every other day after we would try to go back and there was a huge line out the door so needless to say it is a local favorite and for good reason. Paia has so much variety on its menu from its types of fish to how the fish is prepared and all of their sides so you could have 80 different options of fish. When we went we ordered a blackened mahi mahi plate with a side of cajun rice as well as an order of the fish and shrimp tacos. If you show up at a busy time I’d say go and tough out the wait if it’s your first time because this is a MUST TRY culinary experience when in Kihei.
Now before you say anything or scroll away, getting poke at Foodland is not at all like just buying a grocery store sushi roll. Foodland makes all of their poke fresh everyday and there are no commercial fisheries in Maui so all fish that comes in is locally sourced. That combo makes Foodland a very underrated pick when it comes to getting fresh fish. This was such a hack since we had gone here before going up to Haleakala so we had delicious fresh poke at the summit of the volcano watching the sunset!
- Hawaiian Shaved Ice
One of my favorite moments in Hawaii was being on the beach on a hot afternoon and enjoying a bowl of Hawaiian shaved ice. It truly is the quintessential dessert of Hawaii. Da Kine was our go-to refuge for this highly sought after dessert. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful and had our shaved ice out in no time. We ordered “The Hawaiian” on the menu which comes with mango, lilokoi, coconut shaved ice, coconut ice cream and all topped off with condensed milk.
- Whale Watching
Hawaii is one of the premier places on Earth to whale watch! Due to many factors like, perfect water temperature, access to food and no predators, humpback whales travel all the way from Alaska to mate, give birth and train their babies how to breach and prepare them for the long journey back home.
Humpback whale season goes from November to May so if experiencing that is one of the top things on your to do list, try to travel during that time of year. Ideal time would be between January and March which is when there is most humpback whale activity
We booked our tour through Redline Rafting Whale Watching Tour and met at the Kihei boat landing parking lot. There were about 20 people on the tour total and we all were able to fit comfortably on the super fast raft to go out into the water. The entire experience lasted a little over 2 hours and we got to see a ton of humpback whale activity and listen to their songs using the hydrophone on the raft. The best part was us seeing a “flying pickle” which is when a baby humpback whale attempts to breach.
- Spa Day
As much as we wanted to exclusively partake in the local experiences we had to get a little touristy and indulge in a boujee spa day at one of the incredible resorts in Maui. When researching the local resorts in the area we saw that the Kilolani Spa at The Grand Wailea had just been newly renovated so had to give that a shot!
This spa day experience here is so much more than just a really nice massage. Leading up to your appointment you get to experience their hydrotherapy garden which features a contrasting bathing circuit which takes you in and out of hot and cold water modules. This includes a steam room, cold plunge, sauna, bucket of cold water, jacuzzi just to name a few. My favorite part of their hydrotherapy gardens was the combined pool area for you to be able to join your partner, it's always better to be able to share in an experience like this.
- Beaches
One of my favorite experiences of Hawaii was getting to see the immense amount of wildlife on the daily! My biggest surprise was getting to see so many sea turtles close up and our best spot to do that was at Ho’okipa Beach right past the city of Paia.
The beach has a washing area, picnic area and a very clear path that takes you right down to the beach to see the sea turtles up close! Not too close though since it is very frowned upon to touch them. There also is a gorgeous overlook that is where you can only see the sleeping turtles and if you go around sunset you’ll get a breathtaking view of the ocean!
- Shopping
Have you ever been to a shopping mall right by the ocean?! While in the Kiehi area, if you ever need a quick break from the beach you should definitely check out The Shops at Wailea. It is a gorgeous outdoor mall that has so many different kinds of shops and vendors and its so close to the beach! This spot saved our butt on this trip since I forgot to bring a good pair of sandals for our Road to Hana experience and luckily we found a shop in the mall that had the perfect pair that I needed!
There is also a ton of great food and treats at The Shops at Wailea! Island Gourmet Markets is right outside of the mall and has a ton of delicious sushi rolls, fresh poke and tons of treats like Hi-Chews which are my favorite! Inside the mall you can find an amazing matcha vendor called Maui Matcha. They serve incredible ceremonial grade matcha and create delicious lattes for you to enjoy while you explore the outdoor mall.
- Pretend like you're in the White Lotus
Piper Noooooo...oops wrong season. If you’re like me, White Lotus has been THE recent TV show obsession and when I found out that we were staying right by the ACTUAL resort where they filmed the first season I had to go see it for myself! It's officially called the Four Seasons Resort Maui and surprisingly not the White Lotus.
For our time there, we just walked over from the Grand Wailea after our spa day and were able to enjoy a few drinks at the bar at Spago. The Four Seasons offers so many other dining experiences that we unfortunately did not have the time to check out worth. But even if you’re not staying at the resort it's so worth it to just visit and enjoy what the resort has to offer.
We hope you enjoyed this guide for everything you need to know when visiting Maui! I'm already planning out when to go next since we had so much fun with our time there. You really can't go wrong making the trip out here, you will fall in love!
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Xx,
The Wildjoy Team