Hawaii Part 1 - Exploring Maui Island

Aloha

Hawaii had been on my list to visit for a long time, however the lengthy plane ride is what kept me from going sooner. I am a terrible flyer and anything over a seven hour flight had me feeling a little panicked. I am not sure why!

I am so glad I stepped out of my flying comfort zone and did it though - Hawaii is truly beautiful and a holiday for all ages that I think everyone would love. It was a nine hour flight from Brisbane, flying direct.

We jetsetted off for two weeks, dividing our time between:
- Kaanapali on Maui Island for 5 nights
- Haleiwa, The North Shore Oahu for 3 nights
- Waikiki, Oahu for 5 nights

My Hubby and I are the sort of travellers who cannot sit still, we are not the type to laze by a pool for a week, we like to get out and see things! So we visited two islands in the two weeks. It was brilliant!

I have had lots of lovely readers asking me where I stayed, what I did and top picks, so I thought I would share with you my Hawaii trip, breaking it up into 3 parts - Maui, The North Shore and Waikiki (as there is lots to share about all of these places)! 

There is something for everyone in Hawaii. Truly!

So, let me share with you some of my highlights, observations and experiences of Hawaii over the next three posts. There is alot to see, do and explore! 

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We travelled to Hawaii late August, which meant it was the last days of Summer in Hawaii. The locals kept commenting that it was the hottest end of Summer they have ever experienced, with the humidity up around 100%. Most days were around 35 degrees and the water temperature was a balmy 27 degrees. It was my kind of holiday!

Landing at 7:30am, the first thing we did was change from our Brisbane Winter 'plane' clothes into something a little lighter. It was already 30 degrees and the humidity was stifling! I would recommend packing light summer clothes into your carry on luggage and doing the same, boy is it hot!

We flew direct to Honolulu International Airport and then made our way to the Inter Island Airport for our next flight to Maui. The plane was a propeller plane and we glided over the islands, with the most magnificent view for 40 minutes before touching down at Kahului Airport. 

If you want to experience the best of Maui, I would recommend a hire car. It gives you the freedom to see the sights at your leisure. It was the first time for us, driving on the right hand side of the road and trust me, we had a few giggles when we first got into the car. Navigating out of the airport we were met with a four way intersection which was kinds interesting and a roundabout - then we were followed by a Police car for a few blocks, so that put the pressure on Hubby!

We drove approx. 40 minutes to Maui's west coast to the resort town of Kaanapali. As we had heard that the sunsets over the water were gorgeous and the beaches and snorkelling were great. We were not disappointed! We had booked a private condo, via VRBO here which was better than perfect - amazing views, newly renovated and extras like beach umbrellas and chairs! 

Kaanapali has a string of beachfront resorts and shopping village, safe beaches and lots of restaurants and eating options.  Most nights we just strolled along the beach path until we saw a restaurant that we liked, dined with the sunset and walked along the beach home. It was bliss!

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EAT
The Hula Grill was a favourite for us. You could dine at the barefoot bar, on the sand or in the restaurant for a fancier sit down meal. The service was great, the food fresh and there was always live music!

Island Vintage Coffee in the Whaler Village was great value for breakfast, lunch or coffee. The breakfast bagels were 11USD and jam packed, even with a side salad. The shrimp salad was the best prawn salad I have ever eater and it set me back about 15USD. 

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STAY 

Any of the beachfront resorts are great, however some are more suited to being family friendly than others with big pools and water activities. Shop around and also look into private condo rentals as you will save heaps!

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WHAT TO DO
The beaches along the west coast are quite safe for swimming and snorkelling. We enjoyed swimming around the famous Black Rock, where we saw turtles and plenty of tropical fish. It is an easy snorkel, we didn't have fins, only masks and there were kids and people of all ages enjoying the calm protected waters. 

There are plenty of water activities like jet-skiing and para-sailing, as well as sunset cruises if you want to get out and about on the water. 

A short 3 minute drive away is the historic town of Lahaina, where the main street runs alongside the ocean. There are cute shops, galleries and also outlet shopping if you feel like wandering the shops. 

We drove about 20 minutes north of Kaanapali to Honolua Bay to snorkel in a protected Bay. We saw two turtles, lots of coral and tropical fish. There is no sand at the bay, only rocks so not great if you want to laze on a beach. There is a beautiful rainforest walk to access the bay though, with the most beautiful fig trees.

Kaanapali Beach

Honolua Bay

Rainforest walk to Honolua Bay

Kaanapali Beach - sunset

 Kaanapali Beach

Kaanapali Beach - Whalers Village

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THE ROAD TO HANA
A must see if you visit Maui. The road to Hana is a windy road that hugs cliffs, waterfalls and rainforest with 54 one way bridges and over 300 S bends to the east coast. It is a beautiful drive and a great way to see some of Hawaii's best rainforest and waterfalls.

My tips 

Stock up with plenty of food and drinks before you embark on the trip. We stopped at Kuau Store in Paia and were like kids in a candy store - fresh made sandwiches, wraps, juices,cakes, organic fruit platters and snacks. We spent about $30USD and filled our cooler bag with goodness.
Also fill your car with fuel, as there are no fuel stops along the way!

If you are driving and not on a tour, hire a small car as the road is very windy and narrow making it difficult to pass in some areas.

Leave early in the morning, as it is a long day once you factor in all the stops.

If you have ever driven Victoria's Great Ocean Road, I would say this drive is similar. You will be in and out of the car like a yoyo as there are lots of things to see. The road doesn't look that long, but it is windy, slow and you have to drive back along the same road to get back to your starting point. There is no highway or freeway detour to just zoom home! You do not want to be driving on this road in the dark.

Take a camera! There are many great photo opportunities of the beach, rainforest, waterfalls and cliffs. You wont want to miss capturing the memories.

Take your swimmers and a change of clothes. We stopped and swam in many waterfalls and creeks, so take a towel and swimmers. Once you start climbing to the higher peaks and rainforest, it is likely it will rain. Take a change of clothes in case you get caught out!

We left our west coast condo about 8am, arriving home about 5pm that evening. It is a long day with lots of windy, slow driving, so a tour may be better suited if you don't want to be behind the wheel all day.

I was so excited to go to a store and have a bag of food in a brown paper bag - just like the movies! This is Kuau store.

 Road to Hana waterfalls

 Road to Hana - amazing tropical rainforest

 Road to Hana - the roadside stops along the way

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Haleakala National Park and the Crater

The Road to Hana and Haleakala Crater were the two drawcards for us in visiting Maui. I would say they are the top two sights to see for tourists visiting Maui. We had been told that watching the sunrise appear out of the clouds, 10,000 feet up in the sky over an extinct volcano was one of the most surreal experiences. 

Unfortunately, with Hurricanes off the coast of Hawaii during our stay the weather was not on our side. We were awake and ready three times at 3:30am during our five nights on Maui trying to catch the sunrise, however with flash flooding, road closures and lots of rain it disappointingly didn't happen for us. On the last day, we went anyway driving in horrendous conditions to the top of the Crater, where we were met by Ranger Steve who told us the lightning had just struck down the Visitor Information Centre just a couple of hundred meters ahead. So there we were in our hire car, in the rain, 10,000ft up in the sky being told to turn around. We were bummed!

My tips 

We left our west coast condo about 3:30am to allow for the sunrise. Obviously nature had other intentions for us that day - but best to leave early and beat the rush or cars as it is a slow and windy road in the dark climbing to 10,000ft and you don't want to be rushing.


Take warm clothes, as it gets cold up there!

Take some light breaky with you in the car as there is not much to eat that early in the morning!
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Maui for us was the highlight of the trip. We were so relaxed and loved the laidback beach vibe. Lazy afternoons on the beach were my favourite....oh take me back!

I hope you enjoyed this insights into our Maui island adventure. I will be back with Part 2 (The North Shore) and Part 3 (Waikiki) in the coming days, so stay posted.

As always, I encourage you to jump on in to the comments and share or ask away – if there’s anything I can help with, I would be happy to!

And before I go, don’t forget to share this post around the webs using the buttons below. Maybe there is someone you know heading to Hawaii?

Aloha x

 

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