Going to Maui, any ideas?

[MARIS61]

If you are dying to spend money and "do things", get a couple's massage with your wife at one of the fancy ocean-view resort spas.

Take her on romantic sunset walks on the oceanfront path at the beach in Wailea (in front of the Grand Wailea Resort and the others nearby).

Your list is full of the stuff the tourist industry wants you to do. Forget all that brochure crap. Maui is a beautiful place with great beaches and mountains. Go hiking/biking/exploring and all the water activities. Go to the beaches. Hang out and chill. It is supposed to be a vacation, not a let's stuff our week with scheduled activities event.

Instead of brouchure tours, spend the money on bike/kayak/surfboard/windboard/etc. rentals. If you are a golfer, you have to golf in Hawaii, some of the course are incredibly beautiful.

If you are a bike rider, rent road or mountain bikes. Ask the bike shop where to ride.
http://www.westmauicycles.com/

You can find good food on Maui, but it is expensive. So, it is best not to try to have high quality food experiences every day there. Just ratchet down expectations and eat where the locals eat at surf shacks and casual Asian places. I just hope you are not on a low carb diet. A lot of locals find that the happy hour deals at some resorts are a good deal. Find a gorgeous, oceanfront lounge that serves "free" appetizers as long as you order drinks. Maui Prince on Makena Bay used to be a good example of this, but I haven't been there in years.

Funny that you start by pushing romance, then tell him to take her to some dive for snacks rather than a nice restaurant.

The food is priced pretty much like it is in Portland or Bend, with good food costing more than bad food and being well worth the difference. The biggest difference is the fish is FRESH, they know how to cook it, and the tropical fruits are addictive.

3 years after my trip I can still taste the food, see the colors, and hear the slack key guitars.

 

[MARIS61]

We loved the magic/comedy show in Lahaina, and their food was magical too.

 

[crowTrobot]

in addition to what was already mentioned Pipiwai trail on the road to Hana was pretty fun for us in 2010 - multiple waterfalls through awesome bamboo forest, ending at 400 ft falls. obviously need to leave really early and allow time for it.

 

[Masbee]

Funny that you start by pushing romance, then tell him to take her to some dive for snacks rather than a nice restaurant.

The food is priced pretty much like it is in Portland or Bend, with good food costing more than bad food and beibng well worth the difference. The biggest difference is the fish is FRESH, they know how to cook it, and the tropical fruits are addictive.

3 years after my trip I can still taste the food, see the colors, and hear the slack key guitars.

Where do you come up with this stuff?

No, I did not tell him to eat EVERY meal at a shack. Read. Then post.

Wrong. Cost of living is much higher in Hawaii and food costs more there.

LOL. Yeah, fresh seafood is SOOOOO hard to find in Oregon. "They know how to cook it" Whatever you say.

 

[MARIS61]

Where do you come up with this stuff?

No, I did not tell him to eat EVERY meal at a shack. Read. Then post.

Wrong. Cost of living is much higher in Hawaii and food costs more there.

LOL. Yeah, fresh seafood is SOOOOO hard to find in Oregon. "They know how to cook it" Whatever you say.

Untrue. Maui food costs are comparable to those in Portland and Bend. The housing costs are comparable to a nice suburb of Portland. Dairy and gas are higher, but are a tiny part of the budget on an island with very little distance to be travelled daily.

http://www.mauirealestate.net/GetSe...Order1=ASC&SortField2=C_L_Area&SortOrder2=ASC

Portland and Bend (read, then post) never have seafood as fresh as Lahaina has, and the chefs there were clearly superior to anywhere I've eaten in the NW when it came to seafood.

 

[MARIS61]

We did not do the road to hana for 2 reasons. Every traveller we met at the hotel told us it was the most overrated thing on Maui, and we grew up in Oregon which has more spectacular and beautiful waterfalls. I later watched a video of it online that confirmed our decision to go snorkeling instead was the correct one. Spend some time on a beach every day. There are no bad beaches on Maui, but don't leave anything valuable in your car, not even locked in the trunk. The parking areas are all littered with broken auto glass and if you have a rental you will be an obvious mark.

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

5 more days!

 

[tlongII]

5 more months! LOL!

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

5 more years!

 

[Masbee]

Untrue. Maui food costs are comparable to those in Portland and Bend. The housing costs are comparable to a nice suburb of Portland. Dairy and gas are higher, but are a tiny part of the budget on an island with very little distance to be travelled daily.

http://www.mauirealestate.net/GetSe...Order1=ASC&SortField2=C_L_Area&SortOrder2=ASC

Portland and Bend (read, then post) never have seafood as fresh as Lahaina has, and the chefs there were clearly superior to anywhere I've eaten in the NW when it came to seafood.

What is that link to? Some sort of joke listing properties for sale?

I see your real estate link and raise you this one:

http://www.adrhi.com/articles/cost-of-living/

The cost of groceries in Hawaii is quite high. Almost all of the foods you find at the grocery stores are shipped from the mainland. That isn’t they only reason it’s expensive, though. Grocers have to keep the food good and keep larger inventories. Don’t be surprised to walk into a grocery store and pay at least $7 for a gallon of milk or $3 for a cheap, general brand loaf of bread.

http://www.alternative-hawaii.com/overpop.htm

However, the Economic Research Institute's 2006 Cost of Living Analyses for Honolulu shows that the cost of consumables weighted to pricing patterns of grocery and drug store chains is as much as 66% more than the U.S. average

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

Reporting Back:

Things I loved:

Maui, in general, is friken beautiful. Wayyyyyy better then Honolulu/Waikiki area.
Wailea, the location we stayed at is wonderful, and next time im going to maui, im staying there again.
Makena Beach, the best beach in Maui hands down. Tons of turtles too!
Road to Hana, This was awesome, but what was better was the road back, where we took the Pilani Hwy, this piece of road is absolutley astonishing.

Things I liked:

The magic show was suprisingly really fun. Still really expensive, but i really liked it (and im young!)
Lahaina, pretty cool harbor town, reminded me of seaside, oregon, but no beaches
Hakaleala Mt sunrise was ok, really cold, and you gotta wake up really early, which kind of ruins the day.
'Da Kitchen' restaurants were really good and their portions were huge.
Def go to walmart/kmart and stock up on food if you're looking to save money.

Things that sucked:

5$ a gallon gas
Coming back to Portland

 

[OSUBlazerfan]

bump for those that didnt see it

 

[MARIS61]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4516138_live-budget-hawaii.html

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I gotta go (well, not really have to but I probably will) there for a wedding in April. is there anything to do for a random single dude there? I'm probably only going to stay 2 days though (Monday, the wedding day, and a Tuesday) after spending 3 days in honolulu (I imagine I'll be bored out of my mind in Maui). thinking of staying at a little cheap spot in Lahaina...other option is a resort but don't want to spend much there.

 

[tlongII]

I gotta go (well, not really have to but I probably will) there for a wedding in April. is there anything to do for a random single dude there? I'm probably only going to stay 2 days though (Monday, the wedding day, and a Tuesday) after spending 3 days in honolulu (I imagine I'll be bored out of my mind in Maui). thinking of staying at a little cheap spot in Lahaina...other option is a resort but don't want to spend much there.

If your single I think Lahaina is the best place to be. Lahaina has the only nightlife and then spend the days at the beach.

 

[Wheels]

Sorry but Kauai is my place there (leaving in less than 3 weeks). However, I strongly recommend a book called The Ultimate Guide To Maui. It's written by a couple who lives in Hawaii and they pull no punches. If a place stinks, they flat out say so. I have found their book on Kauai to be 100% spot on.

looks like I'll be asking you for advice then. Going their in Late April and my wife chose Kauai as where she wanted to go most. I have no desire to go to Hawaii, but I figure she can get Hawaii once for putting up with me for 5 years. I know nothing about the place lol

 

[Spud147]

I gotta go (well, not really have to but I probably will) there for a wedding in April. is there anything to do for a random single dude there? I'm probably only going to stay 2 days though (Monday, the wedding day, and a Tuesday) after spending 3 days in honolulu (I imagine I'll be bored out of my mind in Maui). thinking of staying at a little cheap spot in Lahaina...other option is a resort but don't want to spend much there.

I was just there in May (and going back again in May) and for a single guy I recommend Big Beach/Little Beach (although it's a pretty rough surf). Little Beach is a short hike from Big Beach and is clothing optional, has readily available Maui Wowie, and sometimes even drum parties. There's also a fish taco truck there that is the bomb!

I stayed in Kihei across the street from the Kamaole beaches and they are great for swimming. Napili beach is really nice too. I also did the ziplines at Piiholo Ranch, super expensive but you get 5 different courses and the last one is almost a half a mile long!

 

[jlprk]

I was last there in Summer of 63 and there was nothing there for tourists. So I recommend sticking to that tiny village, Honolulu.

Hiram Fong and Dan Inouye were our senators. Inouye died yesterday.

 

[TradeNurkicNow]

just make sure to eat some fresh poke. so so so so good

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I was just there in May (and going back again in May) and for a single guy I recommend Big Beach/Little Beach (although it's a pretty rough surf). Little Beach is a short hike from Big Beach and is clothing optional, has readily available Maui Wowie, and sometimes even drum parties. There's also a fish taco truck there that is the bomb!

I stayed in Kihei across the street from the Kamaole beaches and they are great for swimming. Napili beach is really nice too. I also did the ziplines at Piiholo Ranch, super expensive but you get 5 different courses and the last one is almost a half a mile long!

yeah, Kihei is where they recommended staying. the wedding is on some plantation or something..but the hotel is the "Maui Coast Hotel". not doing anything really adventerous or hiking or volcanos really.

 

[blazerboy30]

Untrue. Maui food costs are comparable to those in Portland and Bend. The housing costs are comparable to a nice suburb of Portland. Dairy and gas are higher, but are a tiny part of the budget on an island with very little distance to be travelled daily.

haha. You don't get out of Lapine much, do you?

 

[blazerboy30]

I was there in November. They have been having a very abnormally high rate of shark incidents lately.

 

[tlongII]

I was there in November. They have been having a very abnormally high rate of shark incidents lately.

I was there October 20-27. There were 2 shark attacks while I was there. Not too serious though. Just a couple of bite and releases.

 

[blazerboy30]

I was there October 20-27. There were 2 shark attacks while I was there. Not too serious though. Just a couple of bite and releases.

It was interesting talking to some of the locals and lifeguards there. They said that there had actually been a lot more issues than the news had been reporting.

 

[MickZagger]

I was just there in May (and going back again in May) and for a single guy I recommend Big Beach/Little Beach (although it's a pretty rough surf). Little Beach is a short hike from Big Beach and is clothing optional, has readily available Maui Wowie, and sometimes even drum parties. There's also a fish taco truck there that is the bomb!

I stayed in Kihei across the street from the Kamaole beaches and they are great for swimming. Napili beach is really nice too. I also did the ziplines at Piiholo Ranch, super expensive but you get 5 different courses and the last one is almost a half a mile long!

I know exactly what fish taco truck you're talking about. Soooo gooooood!

There's a little restaurant just outside of Kehei at a place called Whales Cove that Don Nelson just bought that is off the hook.

I was supposed to go to Maui in April, but since I got promoted I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get it off, which sucks.