Visiting Maui: what you should know before traveling to this Hawaiian island

In August 2015, my boyfriend and I traveled to Hawaii for a month. We visited 4 islands of Hawaii: Oahu, Maui, Big Island, and Kauai. Find more about Oahu here, as well as my travel experience and the many activities to do in Kauai, here.

We spent 5 days in Maui. To me, Maui is the most beautiful Hawaiian Island for the visit and the stay. Here is a little bit more about our trip!

EATING

Like on any other Hawaiian Island, life is expensive. There were a lot of improvised meals on the beach at sunrise or sunset. This is the best place to enjoy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine ?. You can’t beat this view! Plan for at least one picnic on the beach when visiting this island. It’s a must and it gets you the chance to enjoy a slow picnic on the beach and to share the moment with someone you appreciate!

We had our first and only shaved ice cone in Maui – it’s not very tasty, but it makes for a great photo?!It’s like a snow cone served in a conical paper, but in reality, it’s more like a block of ice shaved to which they add a sweet syrup of our choice. But it’s ice… Tasteless ice!

We also had sushi at the Sushi Paradise restaurant. Make sure not to judge the book by its cover as the restaurant is located in a shopping mall… but we had such a good experience, probably the best sushi we had in our lives to this day. It’s a very tiny restaurant, with 8 or 10 seats max. The sushi man, and probably the owner, is very impressive to watch behind his counter, cutting the fish and making sushi like a pro. He gives a real show! The fish was fresh, and everything tasted so good.

TO AND FROM!

The number one attraction on Maui Island is the Road to Hana (renting a car is a must). To be honest, it’s not the most beautiful road to go on. We personally preferred the North road; I will touch on this later.

To travel from an island to another, the easiest way (even if it’s expensive) is to take the plane. We took Mokulele Airlines to fly to Big Island. It was a 10-seat low-flying aircraft. It gives you the opportunity to see the island of Maui and the Haleakala Volcano from the air, which is great!

HALEAKALA PARK

It’s such an amazing spot, from sea to sky, you will be very impressed. The entrance fee is $15. Once in the park, you will go up to the top of a massive dormant volcano, located at about 10 000 feet above sea level. It took us 2 hours to drive up the volcano. The road is very winding. There are some hiking trails at the top, you can also look out through the telescopes. We brought a blanket, a picnic (sushi and wine (for my boyfriend)) and we watched the sunset. Then we looked at the stars and around 8:30 PM we left.

ROAD TO HANA

To be honest, this was pointless, and it took too long. It’s about a 5-hour drive and it’s not as beautiful as what you would see on the other road.

We really did enjoy the North road; it was a hundred times more beautiful. This other road on the North Shore of Maui is a typical small island road but has breathtaking landscapes. We even saw an enchanted forest. I felt like in the movie Tarzan. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where the forest was precisely.

TWINS FALLS

Very touristy and not worth it. That’s what happens with most of the activities in the travel guides. There are a lot of tourists and there always will be. Twin Falls is one of those places. As it’s recommended in many travel guides, blog, etc. The place is crowded, there is a lot of people, therefore the water is always in movement and very cloudy. We definitely didn’t have a good time there.

BEACH AND SURF

It’s in Maui that we had our first surfing experience. As I was pregnant with Téo, “experience” would not be the adequate term! The waves were quite big, and I didn’t feel comfortable doing so, as I didn’t want to fall and hurt myself. My boyfriend, on the other hand, did have a really good time!

We rented our surfboard at a beach house. No need to put it on the roof of your car, simply ask your boyfriend to carry it to the beach #lol. And if you’re single, ask your father… Just kidding! It’s not that heavy, you will be just fine!

Hope you have a good time in Maui, don’t hesitate to ask me your questions!

This post was translated from French to English by: