ac921ol

I have 2 days in Maui, staying at the Andaz Maui, we have a rental car for the 2 days.
Land at 4pm in Maui on Thursday
Leaving later in the day Saturday to head to Honolulu

then we touchdown in HNL and head to HHV.

What are some most do's in this area?? we have 5 days, we we do not have a rental car, we were thinking of renting a car for a day or two while we are hear.


-Thanks for the help.

In Maui we are doing the Road to Hana and heading up North for sunset/dinner and to walk around.
She also wants to hang around some waterfalls and jump off rocks, which I believe we can find on the road to hana.


in Waikiki, I think we are just winging it, but our 1 Year Anniversary is Sunday, so I wanted to have a good dinner with a sweet view and just good all around everything. Any recommendations, I saw Hau Tree Lanai.

747FC

In order to give a recommendation, it would be helpful to know how much you are willing to spend for dinner and what kind of culinary orientation you have.

happymommy

You are coming from DC for only 2 nights on Maui and 5 on Oahu. That is tight. Trust me, I lived on Oahu and now am in MD (and we got back to Oahu typically every other year) but for two weeks. It's a long trip for only a week, and we still haven't taken our kids to other islands (other than my son born on Oahu; he's been everywhere but was a baby).

The road to Hana is one day there I believe. You may want Dramamine if you're prone to motion sickness. So that pretty much takes up your whole time on Maui. If it were me I'd just enjoy the resort! I stayed there back in 2005, while living on Oahu, when it was a Renaissance Resort. The area is serene, and you may want time to relax! For the drive to Hana, you're looking at five hours without stops. That's one way.

One spot we love is on a Sunday, we used to go (often) to the Moana Surfrider Hotel (it's a nice walk from HHV) for a Mai Tai and watch the hula and listen to the live music. Can't get much better! I'd look into who is playing at the resorts and do that maybe? For dinner, with a view sorry other than the Moana I can't think of anything. We seem to visit Waikiki less and less each visit (this trip we didn't even go there).

Of course, for a special dinner, the best place is Alan Wong's. It usually takes months to get in, but you can always see!

BOSOGG

Agree with happymommy on most points. If I only had 2 days on Maui I would veg at the resort. Road to Hana is memorable, but 10 hours round trip is going to take up the only full day you have to enjoy Wailea. If you must explore, consider Haleakala or Makena, maybe Lahaina.
On Oahu, if you rent a car, North Shore is a must. Waimea Bay, Pipeline and Sunset beaches are as fine as any on the islands. Easy hike to climb Diamond Head. Dinner at Kahala Resort is nice change from Waikiki. I prefer the outdoor Plumeria Beach House; more casual with great seafood buffet on certain nights.
Also agree that visit to Moana Surfrider is worthwhile. It's a perfect evening walk from HHV. Most importantly, do not miss Lappert's Ice Cream. They have a shop near Andaz in the Shops at Wailea, and another one within Hilton H Village.
What are your dates?

IBxAnders

Just got back from Maui, 2 days is really tight. But depending on how active you are - I would not recommend veg'ing at the resort (even though "big beach" is right near Andaz and it's a really nice beach.). I would still do the "drive to Hana" and stop at the little waterfalls along the way and maybe even do the 2 mile hike to the big waterfall "Waimoku Falls Hike", it's out of this world.

BOSOGG

Not promoting inactivity, but if you just spent 12+ hours on a plane from the East Coast, you might not want to spend 10+ hours in a car the next day. Hanging out at the beach in front of your hotel, boogie boarding if there are waves, snorkeling if calm, is worth considering.

WRCSolberg

I would have done five days on Maui, personally. Oahu is nice, but it's not my cup of tea, especially for five days. If you're the night life loving type, you'll enjoy Oahu, though.

Need

The drive to Hana in Maui is one of those things that you have done it and people would know what you are talking about. Would I ever do it again? Not in 1 day for sure. It takes about 3.5 hours to drive there if I made minimal stops and the way back is much slower. The sun goes down really early on Hana side so it gets really really dark in early evening. There is no street light with locals driving 60 mph toward you...

I think to really enjoy the trip, I would stay a night at Hana side and drive back the next day.

lhgreengrd1

I would agree. If you are spending time on both of these islands, for sure, the lion's share of it should be on Maui. Frankly, other than Pearl Harbor - and if you were looking for world class surfing on the North Shore, and raucous bars, I can't think of much else that Oahu offers more/better than Maui - other than traffic jams.

shenon1

I definitely would not do the drive to Hana. After a week there, this is the only thing I felt could have been time better spent.

Consider going to bed early the first night there and getting up at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise at Mt Haleakala and riding a bike down. It won't feel so early since you'll be on DC time.

There is also ziplining as an option, or take a day trip out snorkeling. Love, loved the snorkeling excursions with Trilogy.

edscholl

I would drive the road TOWARDS Hana - take your time, stop and check out some beaches, waterfalls, hikes... Don't worry about getting all the way to the end. :-)

codex57

Prolly too late for the OP, but hopefully useful for others.

If that short, I'd probably skip the Road to Hana too. We hated it. Ok, there were tons of waterfalls. I did jump in a lake in front of one. The waterfalls are pretty.

But... everyone got car sick. Everyone! And while most of us didn't puke until the end (on the reverse drive back; which is part of the suck), it's a really long time in a windy road, narrow as hell with locals flying by literally a couple inches from you, and when we went, the vegetation wasn't as pretty as I expected it to be. It was green, but more of a faded or yellowish green. Not lush, bright tropical green. Looked like an overgrown garden. And the water was COLD! Refreshing I guess, but too cold to be really comfortable to me. Anyways, the waterfalls start looking the same after a while. It's just not worth the pain IMO.

I'd find a waterfall somewhere else and skip the Road to Hana. Not worth the time if you only have a couple of days. That blowhole in North Maui that is talked about in the Blue Book takes a lot shorter time and is just as memorable.

Maui Time

For one of the days in Maui I would do Haleakala at sunrise then leave from there and drive across upcountry on Highway 37 to the backwards way to Hana. The trip to Hana from the backwards side is very pretty, almost no traffic and about half the time of the regular way. You will hear people say that you can't take rental cars that way. Not true. Part of the road is reasonably rough pavement but otherwise it is fine. On that route you also pass the quaint church where Lindberg's grave is. Not stunning but historical. We have done this a couple of times and loved it. Gave us the rest of the day to do something else.

An alternative to Hana is to take the road from Kahalui around the northwest side of Maui. We call it the 'Mini Hana'. It is about 2-3 hours (depending on how many stops you make) from Kahalui to Kapalua (west Maui). It is stunningly beautiful and doesn't take forever.


On Oahu definitely do Pearl Harbor (see the Missouri) and the Punch Bowl (military cemetery). Both outstanding.

CanfordCliffs

I think you have Maui covered- you can frankly while away 2 days on the beach in Wailea. Glorious! We enjoyed having a beer at the four seasons (2nd floor with a piano player and wasabi nuts- one of my top romantic bars!) and then having diner in wolfgang pucks.

For Waikiki i would always choose Dukes for an inexpensive fun Hawaiian evening with tikki torches and good food, for something more upmarket it has to be La Mer, located in the Halekulani hotel. Oh and do an evening walk along the beach in waikiki.

CanfordCliffs

ps i forgot to say , i choose La Mer as its the only high end dining place with an open side and views to diamond head. amazing but obviously pricy!