Maui No Ka ‘Oi

““I’m gonna lay on the beach, eat a piece of pie, and see what happens.” ”

— As said by my brother on Maui

Hawaii has a special place in my heart, but there is something particularly peaceful about Maui. “Maui No Ka ‘Oi” is a Hawaiian phrase and literally translates to mean “Maui is the best.” And it truly is! Whether it’s the rolling grasslands, spectacular cliff views of the ocean, or quaint, little towns, whenever I come to Maui I feel my blood pressure lower.

I’ve been to Maui enough times now that I feel like I have a great idea of how to have the perfect 5-7 day vacation. Here are my recommendations.

First of all, most important: Rent a car! Maui is too big an island to get around by any other means. They do have lyft and Uber but it is sporadic at best and not be relied on for all transport. Plus if you stay in one place, you’ll miss out on so many of Maui’s treasures.

I’ve stayed both in Wailea/Kihei area and Lahaina. Both have pros and cons. Lahaina offers the cute downtown with lots of cute shops and lots of cheaper food selections whereas Wailea is more resort-like and upscale with better snorkeling beaches.

The last time I was in Maui, we rented a condo through Puamana Vacation rentals on the Lahaina side and it was lovely. 1.2 miles to downtown Lahaina with two pools and a great, quiet atmosphere. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT beat the ocean views at their pool!

The downsides to the condos at Puamana are that there aren’t a great beach as a part of the community – it’s about a 1/2 mile walk to the public beach and it’s not very nice. But again – rent a car and you can go to all the best beaches on Maui!

Things to do on Maui

1.Diving Deep with Trilogy

My number 1 thing to do on Maui is book a Trilogy Tour. It is a family-owned company and does sailing trips to various locations in and around Maui. The staff is so friendly, they serve delicious food AND have an open bar. Need I say more?

Trilogy Excursions offers several different tours and I am proud to say I’ve done 4/5 of them over the years. My two favorites are the Molokini Crater dive and the Lanai tour.

There are lots of company’s that sail to Molokini or Lanai – but Trilogy is the only company with exclusive rights to dock at Lanai’s harbor. The snorkeling on Lanai is incredible. Trilogy also allows the option of Snuba – which is like scuba-diving except you’re attached to a device above on the surface and you only dive down about 30 feet.

Molokini has some of the best visibility anywhere in Hawaii. The Trilogy exclusion to Molokini also allows makes a stop at “Turtle Town” where you are guaranteed to find lots of big ‘o’ turtles.

The other tour we were able to do during our time on Maui is Trilogy’s Sunset Excursion. This is a delightful 4 course meal, open bar, and all while served watching the sunset out of Lahaina harbor and also, during the right season, watching whales!

Trilogy tours tend to be slightly more expensive then some of the other but you can’t beat their commitment to hospitality, food and delicious cocktails.

2. Great Beaches on Maui

Lahaina Beach Just a great beach to swim and to sunbathe! Nothing special but it’s the closest one to Lahaina and good for a swim workout!

Kanapaali – Black Rock Beach – this is one of my favorites for a few reasons. 1. Good visibility 2. Some good snorkeling 3. Fun rock to jump off of and 4. It’s close to Whaler’s Village which has lots of shops and restaurants. My favorite restaurant over there is called MonkeyPod.

Makena Beach – Absolutely gorgeous water and visibility! Great sand and beaches! Close to Wailea which is also close to the island’s other MonkeyPod.

Pa’iloa Beach – Black Sand Beach – Cool. ‘Cuz the sand is black and that’s different. Plus you can buy a coconut and drink it. Right out of the dang coconut! On the road to Hana.

3. Spas

If you love a good spa my absolute FAVORITE spa in the WHOLE world is the spa at the Grand Wailea. The treatments are pretty expensive, but you can just buy a day pass to use the facilities for about $45 and worth every penny. You can experience the healing waters of Maui which features different, baths each using a different salt native to Hawaii. There is also a Hydrotherapy Circuit, and a unique haven of water therapies featuring a Roman tub, saunas, cascading waterfalls, Swiss jet showers and a Japanese furo. This is so relaxing and the facilities are so beautiful!

5. The Road to Hana

This is one of those touristy things that they say you have to do on Maui. And if I did it the normal “touristy” way then I would hate it. Who wants to spend all day in the car on a winding road just to see some waterfalls? Answer: Me! Only if I can jump off those waterfalls.

Here are some recommendations of places to stop along the way. FYI you do need 4-wheel drive to be able to do the entire Road to Hana and I recommend doing the whole thing. But either take a Dramamine or I use those motion sickness bracelets to help with the curvy roads.

6. Food on Maui

There is some DELICIOUS food on Maui. I’ll give just some of favorite places – 2 are really nice and the rest are more moderately priced.

#1 Favorite Food Place: Nick’s Fish Market at the Fairmont – I don’t know if the views could be any more breath-taking between the white-columns of the Fairmont hotel set against the backdrop of the ocean. Plus the food and cocktails are so delicious. I just went for it and ordered the lobster and I wasn’t disappointed.

2. Moma’s Fish House. This is a restauant that has a lot of hype and it’s really expensive but I think it lives up to the hype. Every place on Maui boasts that it has the best Mai Thais but I think Moma’s actually takes the win on this one. This restaurant is decorated in classic Hawaiian style and is located right on the beach. Their menu changes every day based on what is caught but they always have the Moma’s Stuff Fish with crab and lobster rolled in Macadamia nut crust which is truly incredible. I also love the crab guacamole.

3. Kimos – A great restaurant right on the water with great live music played at the right volume so that you can have an actual conversation while still enjoy it. They do serve dinner but I’ve only ever been for appetizers. I love the Ahi Poke and Avocado Stack appetizer and normally just get it as an entree. The Kalua Pork Lettuce Wraps are also really good. Grab some Hulu Pie for desert – ice cream pie with an Oreo cookie crust and macadamia nuts on top.

4. Tin Roof – by the airport and it’s the best little spot! Their Mochicko chicken is a great blend of Korean Fried chicken, rice, cabbage and delicious sauce.

5. Down the Hatch – Best Brunch on Maui! First of all can we just say $10 Blood Mary or Mimosa Carafes!? I tried the Ahi Tuna Egg Benedict and the Lava Lava Shrimp and Avocado Omlette – both of which were FANTASTIC! Who knew that lightly fried, coconut shrimp would be so delicious in an omlette?!

6. Leoda’s Pies - Some of my most favorite pies in the world. I have tried them all but love their banana cream pie and the chocolate macadamia nut! Their savory pies are great too!

7. Merrimens - another pretty pricey restaurant on a gorgeous beach in Kapalua. Everything is locally grown and harvested.

This is really only the tip of the iceberg with Maui. There are some great hikes too but I will save that for another post.

Until the next adventure!