Five days at Maui, Hawaii
Due to COVID, my family haven’t done travel requiring flight for 2 and half years. This summer, we finally made the decision to resume our normal travel and vacation. We visited Hawaii (Oahu, Hawaii to be more specific) several years ago and we really enjoyed it, so we decided to visit Hawaii again. This time we choose to visit Maui. Excluding the 1st and the last days, we spent 5 full wonderful days at Maui.
Day 0 (Friday) - From Oregon to Maui
Our Southwest flight is from Portland, Oregon to Maui, Hawaii with 1 stop at San Jose, California. Based on the original plan, we would have arrived at Maui at about 5 pm local time. Then we planned to visit Costo near the airport and the food truck parks near Costo.
However, at San Jose, our flight got a total 4-hour delay and we spent almost 7 hours at San Jose airport. We are glad that we have Priority Pass to enjoy the lounge while waiting; otherwise, our 7-hour waiting at the airport would have been worse.
At the end, we arrived at Maui at about 9:30 pm and we were exhausted. After we got the rental car from Hertz, we drove to a Safeway along the way to get water, milk and some snacks. Then we drove to our hotel at Wailea (20-minute drive from the airport) and went to sleep.
Note! With a major flight delay, remember to ask the counter to see if there is any compensation. We asked and got $100 voucher for each of us.
Day 1 (Saturday) - Haleakalā National Park
This morning, we have some time to explore the hotel. We stay at Wailea Ekolu Village for the first 3 nights. Our unit is spacious and it has a great view from the patio.
Note! The check-in counter/office is located off-site and is very close to the village area. Since we arrived last night after the check-in counter was closed, the check-in staff emailed and texted us our unit location (with a map) and lockbox code to enter the unit. It worked smoothly.
A large outside shopping mall, The Shops at Wailea, is also close-by (12-minute walking time and 2-minute driving time). We have our morning coffee here and have a nice, quiet walk in the mall.
With a long and exhausting travel day yesterday, we have a pretty relaxed plan for today: to visit the beaches at Paia in the morning and to visit Haleakalā national park in the afternoon. We will have an early lunch first before we go to Paia.
Since the lunch place opens at 10 am, we still have some time to kill. We visit the 2 beaches nearby: Wailea beach and Ulua beach. Both beaches are very nice and there is a walking/running trail connecting these beaches in this area. We will spend more time at Ulua beach for snorkeling on Monday.
Note! The parking spaces in Maui’s popular beaches start to fill quickly after 9 am. If the visiters do not want to wait for a parking spot or drive around for a legal parking spot, do arrive early.
10 am - Early lunch near the airport
We have an early lunch at Tin Roof, located near the airport. The drive from Wailea area to the airport is about 20 minutes. When we arrive at Tin Roof at 10:05 am, there is already a line. The wait is not too bad though.
Tin Roof sells Hawaiian comfort food and is for take-out only. After we get our food, we find a shady parking spot and enjoy our early lunch. We have garlic shrimp, spicy ahi poke bowl, and their daily special, crunchy ahi.
After lunch, we get some guri-guri at Tasaka Guri-Guri. The taste is kind-of unique and is pretty sweet. It is good that we only got 2 smallest cups.
After the guri-guri, we share 1 medium-size shaved ice at Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice. Then we drive to Paia.
11:30 am - Kualahao beach near Paia
Our original plan is to walk around the Paia town for about 30 minutes. However, Paia town is super crowded during the lunch hours and we cannot find any parking spot. We decide to skip Paia and head to Kualahao beach. Kualahao beach is known for a sea turtle sanctuary, and we have our first Maui sea turtle encounter here!!
Note! If you plan to visit Paia, try to avoid lunch hours as it is very crowded and very hard to find a parking spot.
1:20 pm - Getting snacks at Komoda Store and Bakery before entering Haleakalā National Park
We want to get some malasada an donuts at Komoda Store and Bakery before entering the Haleakalā national park. When we arrive at the store at around 1:20pm though, all the malasada and donuts are sold out. We get some frozen cream puff instead. It is great to see a frozen cream puff and it is just like eating ice cream.
Note! Arrive at Komoda Store and Bakery before lunch hours to get malasada and donuts as they are usually sold out after lunch.
2:30 pm - Hiking at Leleiwi Overlook at Haleakalā National Park
The drive from Komodo Store and Bakery to Leleiwi overlook at Haleakalā national park takes about 1 hour. On the way to the national park entrance, we see many mountain bikers riding down the mountain. It seems that Haleakalā downhill biking is a popular tourist activity.
Note! Keep the receipt of the national park entrance. You can use it at Pipiwai trail on the Road to Hana within 3 days.
After entering the national park entrance, we go to the visitor center first to check with the ranger about the sunset time. Originally we thought the sunset to be at 6:30 pm; however, the ranger told us that it is 7:30 pm. After some discussion, we decide to not wait for the sunset.
We stop at the Leleiwi overlook and hike the short trail. It is very very windy here and is about 15 to 20 degrees (fahrenheit) colder than at the beach. The view is great and we are above the clouds.
3:30 pm - Haleakalā’s summit at 3055 meters
After Leleiwi Overlook, we arrive at the summit. The summit is at 3055 meters. We hike the Pa Ka’oao White Hill trail and get a better view of the crater than at the Leleiwi Overlook. We can see the famous Sliding Sands trail into the crater. We planned to hike the Sliding Sands trail for a while; however, with the wind so strong, we decide to skip the Sliding Sands trail.
At the other side of the summit, we can see the volcano at Big Island on the right in the distance.
5:30 pm - Dinner at Costco food truck park
On the way back from the national park to Wailea, we have our dinner at Costco food truck park near the airport. We get Thai food at Thai Mee Up. It seems that this food truck has the best business in this park.
We order Lemongrass fried chicken, Drunken noodles, and Ahi. They are all very good.
Note! Do not leave your food on the table alone. The chickens may jump on the table to steal your food. The chickens are running around.
We also get some shrimps at Geste Shrimp in the same food truck park. This one is just ok.
Day 2 (Sunday) - Molokini Crater & turtle town snorkeling and ʻIao Valley State Monument
Today’s plan is to do the snorkeling tour at Molokini crater in the morning and then to visit ʻIao Valley state monument in the afternoon.
6:30 am - Check in for snorkeling tour at Maalaea Harbor
Our tour is provided by Maui Magic Adventure Snorkel. We park the car at the parking lot of Maui Ocean Center and use our phone to pay the parking fee.
The snorkeling tour boat is at the harbor next to Maui Ocean Center. The check-in starts at 6:30 am and they serve light breakfast and coffee on the boat. When we finish the breakfast, the check-in also finishes.
On the way to the Molokini crater, the tour staff hand out the snorkeling equipments and have every one try them on. The tour staff also give an introduction of today’s itinerary. We will spend 1.5 hours snorkeling at Molokini crater and then we will head out to a difference place (announced later) for another 1.5 hours snorkeling. My son and I sign up for the Snuba diving with extra fee at the second snorkeling spot.
The morning ride to the Molokini crater is smooth and not bumpy. We can see the Molokini crater approaching ahead of us.
Soon we arrive at the Molokini crater. There are several other snorkeling tour boats also at the crater. We snorkel here for about 1 to 1.5 hours. The snorkeling here is just ok and there are not many fish varieties.
After Molokini crater, we head out to the seashore near Maluaka beach (a.k.a the turtle town). The seashore view from the boat is beautiful. My son and I have the Snuba diving here. My wifi does the normal snorkeling.
All of us 3 see sea turtles swimming nearby. It is pretty cool. The Snuba diving is also fun.
After the snorkeling/diving, every one has the BBQ lunch on the boat. The BBQ burger with pineapple is pretty good. However, at this point, we all feel a little bit sea-sick and do not want to eat too much food. When every one finishes the lunch, we head back to the harbor. The ride back to the harbor is quite exciting. At this time, the wind is getting stronger and the waves are getting bigger. I can say that we have a fun roller-coaster ride back to the harbor. I am glad that we all had the motion sickness pills before we left the harbor this early morning.
1:30 pm - ʻIao Valley State Monument
After arriving at the harbor and having a little rest, we go to ʻIao Valley state monument. This is the place where the Battle of Kepaniwai happened in 1790. The walk from the parking lot to the ʻIao needle is pretty short. There is a fee for parking and for entrance to the monument. On the short walk to the needle, we can see people playing in the river/stream.
On the way back from the state monument to our hotel at Wailea, we visit Maui Tropical Plantation. The plantation area is beautiful. We walk around in the plantation and get some coffee and a papaya at the country market. Then we head back to our hotel.
5:00 pm - Dinner at Kihei
After some rest at the hotel, we have the dinner at Paia Fish Market at Kihei. It takes quite some time waiting in line to order food. After ordering, the food comes pretty fast though.
We have seafood pasta, finish and chips, and fresh fish catch plate. They come in large portion. We finish all the fisn and seafood; however, we cannot finish the pasta, the fries, and the rice.
Day 3 (Monday) - South Maui
We need to change hotel today. Therefore, today’s plan is flexible and is pretty light. We will stay at south Maui and then head to an AirBnb at Maalaea in the mid-afternoon.
8:30 am - Snorkeling at Ulua beach
We spend about 1:30 hours at Ulua beach for snorkeling in the morning. In the early morning, the beanch is still quiet since most people haven’t arrvied yet.
Ulua beach is pretty good for family. It is a nice sandy beach and has rocks nearyby for snorkeling. We see more fish varieties here than at Molokini crater.
We get back to the hotel after the snorkeling and check out at 10:30 am.
11:00 am - Poke takeout for lunch
For lunch, we get poke takeout at Tamura’s Fine Wines and Liquors. You can get rice also to make a poke bowl. They have both raw poke and cooked seafood poke. With our poke takeout, we drive to the nearby community athlete center to find a shady parking spot to enjoy our lunch. The Sunrise poke is fantastic.
12:00 pm - Driving toward Lava Fields
After lunch, we drive to the southern end of Maui to explore that area. At Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve, there is a parking fee and the midday sun is very strong; therefore, all of us do not want to walk into the reserve. Then we drive towards the Lava Fields. We turn back before we reach the Lava Fields because the road is quite bumpy and there are already many lava rocks along the road anyway. We also drive past the Maluaka beach we visited on the snorkeling tour yesterday.
3:00 pm - Arriving at AirBnb at Maalaea for the remaining days in Maui
We check in to the AirBnb at Maalaea at about 3:00 pm. It is right next to Maui Ocean Center. The building and the room are pretty old, but the view is great.
Note! The hotels at Maalaea are a bit isolated from the other main areas. The drive to other main areas (west, north, are south) are all about 20 minutes. You will need to go to those main areas to find most of the restaurant and food options and most of the grocery stores.
Day 4 (Tuesday) - Road to Hana
Today’s plan is to drive the Road to Hana. We will leave early and start driving the same road back in the mid-afternoon. We buy and download the Road to Hana trip on GyPSy Guide app and use it on our drive.
5:30 am - Start driving
After having some light breakfast at the AirBnb, we start driving. We start the GyPSy Guide when we reach Paia. We like the guide a lot. It is giviing many userful and interesting information on various spots on the road.
7:00 am - Ke’anae Arboretum
Our first stop is Ke’anae Arboretum. After driving the narrow and winding road for 1.5 hours, it is great to walk around in the arboretum to see many tropical plants. We see bamboo trees, large rainbow eucalyptus trees, and a taro field. There are many mosquitoes so make sure that you apply mosquito repellent on your exposed skin.
After the arboretum, we drive into the Ke’anae pennisula.
8:00 am - Ke’anae pennisula and Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread
While waiting for Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread to open at 8:30 am, we explore the seashore at Ke’anae pennisula. There are a few local teenagers playing and fishing.
At 8:30 am, it is banana bread time. We get 4 banana breads and some coffe. The banana bread is warm and is delicious. However, the bread is pretty solid and we 3 can only eat 1 bread. We keep the other 3 breads as snacks later.
Now that our banana bread craving is satisfied, we continue our journey. On the road leaving Ke’anae pennisula, we get a good overlook of the pennisula.
10:00 am - Waiʻānapanapa State Park and the Black Sand Beach
Our next stop is Waiʻānapanapa State Park and the Black Sand Beach. The state park needs a reservation via the reservation system. The reservation is open 30 days in advance. Our reserved time slot is 10 am to 12:30 pm.
The state park is very scenic and the black sand beach is unique. There are people swimming in the water; however, the waves here are not small. There is a sea cave at the beach and we can walk into the cave. There is also a coast path trail along the seashore.
12 pm - Huli Huli Chicken at Koki beach
After the state park, we drive to Koki beach to get our lunch: Huli Huli Chicken. We eat at an outside table along Koki beach with a great beach view. The chicken tastes very good and is very juicy. We love it.
After lunch, on our journey to Wailua Falls, we stop at a fruit stand and get several passion fruit. They are very flavorful. My wife has been craving for passion fruit since she arrived at Maui.
1:30 pm - Wailua Falls
The road at Wailua Falls is a mess. There are limited parking space and there are many people. We drive past the main parkig of Wailua Falls and park at the next legal parking space and then walk back. The short walk down to Wailua Falls from the main road is quite slippery. We see people playing in the pool down the falls.
2:00 pm - ‘Ohe‘o Gulch
Both ‘Ohe‘o Gulch and Pipiwai trail are inside Haleakalā National Park. You need to pay the national park entrance fee at the gate. However, you can use the receipt for Haleakalā National Park entrance fee you paid when you visited the Haleakalā summit, if it is within 3 days.
We decide to skip the Pipiwai trail even though it is the first or second popular place on Road to Hana. To be honest, we all feel a bit tired at this point, and we want to hit the road driving back in mid-afternoon. We have a short hike to visit ‘Ohe‘o Gulch. The swimming in the pool is not allowed anymore, but the views of the pools are still beautiful.
After spending 1 hour at ‘Ohe‘o Gulch, we start the drive back to Paia at 3:00 pm.
Overall, we have some thoughts about Road To Hana.
- We read many posts about Road To Hana and they all mention that we need to bring enough snacks. It turns out that there are many places selling food along the road. We did not eat any snacks we brought at all.
- Using a paid tour app is worthwhile. We enjoy GyPSy guide a lot. It also gives us many cultural and historical information on the drive back.
- Many posts about Road To Hana warn about restrooms. However, we did not find any issue finding and using restrooms. As long as you utilize the restroom whenever you see them, there are enough restrooms along the road. Most food vendors have restrooms or mobile toilets.
- Driving on Road To Hana is ok. The road is narrow and winding indeed and there are many 1-lane bridges and road sections. However, I did not find them to be a problem.
5:30 pm - Ho’okipa beach near Paia
We arrive at Ho’okipa beach near Paia in the evening. The timing is perfect for some turtle sighting. We see many sea turtles on the beach. We also see people surfing and wind-surfing.
Day 5 (Wednesday) - West Maui
Today’s plan is to explore west Maui for half day and then to relax at AirBnb in the afternoon.
8:30 am - Snorkeling at Kapalua Bay Beach
We arrive at Kapalua Bay beach in the early morning and spend about 1.5 hours snorkeling here. This is also a good snorkeling place and has a nice sandy beach.
After snorkeling, we visit a small farmer’s market nearby. It is very small and we did not buy anything.
10:00 am - Black Rock Beach
We then visit Black Rock beach. The Black Rock beach is public and is kind-of-surrounded by Sheraton hotel. The best way to visit is to park at Sheraton parking structure (with a fee) and then to walk acroos Sheraton pool area to the beach.
There are many people doing rock jumping at the Black Rock beach.
11:30 am - Lāhainā Banyan Court
We have the lunch at Down the Hatch, which is next to Lāhainā Banyan Court. We order Lava Lava Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Lava Lava Shrimp, and Lobster & Crab Stuffed Grilled Cheese.
After lunch, we walk around the Lāhainā Banyan Court and visit the small Lāhainā museum to learn the history of Lāhainā.
Note! It is not easy to find a parking spot during lunch hours near Lāhainā Banyan Court. You will need to drive around and may need to park furtherer away and then walk back.
Then we drive back to AirBnb and relax at AirBnb for the full travel day back home tomorrow.
Day 6 (Thursday) - From Maui to Oregon
Today is a full travel day back to Oregon. We arrive at the airport at 9:20 am for our 11:55 am flight. When we arrive, the security check line is still ok. It is getting longer quickly though. The travel back home is smooth with no major flight delay and cancellation. This is a great Maui family vacation full of wonderful memories.