Finally, my Maui Travel Guide is complete! So excited to share this with you guys… thanks for your patience as I got this done!
Maui is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places in the United States. The beaches are beautiful, the mountains and hills are breathtaking, and there are a bunch of little towns with tasty food and good shopping. My family and I spent ten days there earlier this month, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite moments from the trip! The places we went, things we did, restaurants we ate at, etc. Now I have to say that quite a few of these recommendations came from from my Instagram followers so THANK YOU if you sent me anything when I asked for suggestions! I got so many messages that we couldn’t do it all, but we did see quite a bit.
We spent about half of our days just lounging by the beach and at the pool where we stayed. The other half we went out and about with our rental car to other beaches, nearby towns, and even took a day trip. That’s what vacation is all about, right?! Finding a good balance between relaxation and taking in the place around you.
I figured the easiest way to share these spots would be to group them according to what’s near each other, showing how we decided to split them up. For reference, since I’m a weirdo visual person and you might be too, you can refer back the map below (shout out to Google Maps) as you read the post. You’ll see Ka’anapali on the west side of the island – this is where we stayed, at Honua Kai Resort. The majority of the hotels/touristy stuff is on this side!
Ka’anapali
Ka’anapali Beach, the beach our resort was on, is pretty long and absolutely gorgeous! Between all of the hotels and the beach is a path, which we walked a couple of the mornings. There’s a Starbucks at one point on the trail (technically it’s at the Marriott), so we’d walk the two miles there from our hotel and then the two miles back. It gets pretty busy by about 9am but was a great way to start the day!
Right at Honua Kai, where we stayed, was Duke’s Beach House. They have a good happy hour and live music every night from 3-5 and 6-8:30! Great view of the beach, too. We ordered some beers, fries, and Mac and cheese (nutritious, I know), and it didn’t disappoint!
Napili & Kapalua
Just a little bit north of our hotel are both Napili and Kapalua. These two beaches are pretty much right next to each other, and both of them are amazing! Napili is a bit more rocky, but it’s known for all of the sea turtles that hang out there. Kapalua (pictured below) is a bit easier to swim in and is great for snorkeling!
Also in this area we found the coolest natural store, Farmer’s Market Maui, where we got these acai bowls! The honey and granola they used were soooo delicious. Best part: the beach is right across the street!
Lahaina/Front Street
Lahaina was just a 10 minute drive south of our hotel and was one of my favorite places! Front Street is the main road that runs through town, and it’s lined with shops and restaurants on both sides. It isn’t the best for shopping… all of the stores are pretty touristy, selling what you’d expect – Hawaiian t-shirts and keychains and all that jazz. Oh and there are a weird amount of art galleries. BUT all of that said it is right on the water and has a really nice beachy, old aesthetic to it. A couple places we grabbed food on Front St. were Down the Hatch (great outdoor dive bar), Fleetwood’s (a little pricey, but nice ambience), Cheeseburger in Paradise (typical diner type feel, live music upstairs every night), and Ono Gelato.
In the middle of the town is this incredible Banyan Tree – it’s almost 150 years old or something crazy like that. Whenever the branches that dangle reach the ground they plant a new trunk… SO bizarre! It’s massive in person. Just don’t walk under it at night or you risk being pooped on by all of the birds that roost in it haha.
Below is a fun little outdoor area that you’ll see at the intersection of Front & Hotel… it’s also where you’ll find the Down the Hatch bar I mentioned earlier!
Besides Ono Gelato, Island Cream Co. was SOOO GOOD. It’s like a mix between gelato and ice cream and is just unbelievably creamy and flavorful. I got peanut butter & cheesecake… drooling. It is a couple minutes drive away from Front Street!
Kihei/Wailea/Makena
These spots are fairly close to one another, so we checked all of them out in the same day. We stopped in Kihei first for some sushi at Miso Phat (it was UNREAL) and some lemonade from Wow Wow Lemonade (a chain but still so good!). Afterwards we headed to Big Beach in Makena State Park for a few hours. If we had more time there I definitely would’ve wanted to come back to these places and explore them some more!
Maui’s weather can be a little all over the place at times. During this beach day it was sunny, cloudy, rainy, and windy all within a few hours! I’d recommend bringing an umbrella to the beach with you if you plan on being there for a bit so you have shade when you want it and cover from the rain if necessary.
The Road to Hana
Hana is on the eastern side of the island, and is about a 2.5 hour car ride (despite the fact that it’s only around 50 miles to get there). The road is windy and is only one lane in a lot of spots, meaning you have to take turns with the cars coming from the other direction. All of that said, I would 100% take this trip if you have the time! Hana itself isn’t super exciting, it’s more just about the journey across Maui and what you can see along the way. We took an entire day for this whole excursion… here are a few photos from the adventure including everywhere we stopped! Some are official state parks/beaches and others are just little viewpoints on the side of the road where we spontaneously pulled over.
Wai’anapanapa State Park + Black Sand Beach
This park was so gorgeous. The beach looked like it was straight out of a movie… with jagged black cliffs and caves to explore, black sand, and super green trees everywhere you look. Free parking and restrooms here too!
Haleakalā National Park (Bamboo Forest + Seven Sacred Pools)
The Haleakalā National Park is just past Hana. It’s pretty big, and there are a lot of different things that you can see. We chose to visit the Seven Sacred Pools, which were also right next to Bamboo Forest (see the trailhead sign below). For this one I think we had to pay like $20 or something to park our car, but it was definitely worth it!
Seven Sacred Pools. They were SO pretty and really hard to capture in a photo!
Entrance to Bamboo Forest!
Waimoku Falls: a 400-foot waterfall at the end of the Bamboo Forest hike!
Kaihalulu Beach (Red Sand Beach)
We actually stopped here on the way back home from Hana, and I think I liked this beach the best! The trail to it is a bit hard to find… just put ‘Kaihalulu Beach’ in your maps on your phone, park as close as you can, and then walk the rest of the way. It’s pretty secluded but there were still a handful of people there. We swam and it was really fun!
For more info on the Road to Hana, check out the official website for it here.
Paia
Paia is a tiny town with alllll the hippie-vibes, located on the North Shore of Maui. Great coffee shops, pretty good shopping, and of course, yummy restaurants. We actually stopped here briefly on the way out to Hana, and then again on our last day since it was right by the place we went ziplining, North Shore Zipline Co. (Side note: zip-lining was fun but not my favorite thing ever… looking back I wish we would’ve done a helicopter tour or sunrise bike ride instead). While in Paia we tried out Sip Me (coffee shop with good pastries), Milagro’s (bomb Tex-Mex place with a great happy hour), and Uluani’s Shave Ice. We also checked out some of the boutiques, like the dreamy San Lorenzo Maui!
WELL my friends that is all I have to share with you! So thankful I had the opportunity to experience Maui with my family… it was so beautiful. Thanks again to all of you who sent recommendations, like I said we couldn’t get to all of them but I did save them in a note in my phone for next time. Hopefully those of you who haven’t been yet can make it to Maui soon with your loved ones!
Have specific questions about anything you saw in this post? Please don’t hesitate to contact me! 🙂
And finally, if you haven’t yet, make sure you check out my other blog post from the trip: Maui Vacation Outfit Round-Up! In it I share some of the looks I wore while we were there, including links to shop everything.
Thanks for checking out my Maui Travel Guide and have an amazing day!
XO Sorelle