With COVID cases nose-diving, we decided to get tested, double mask up, and escape the polar vortex that ravaged the U.S. We headed to Maui for 9 nights. I'm breaking down our itinerary, and I'm also including some information on costs, because I was always under the impression that Hawaii was wildly expensive, and I'll be the first to admit we did not hold back on this trip, so doing it this way, it may be for some people, but I wanted to highlight a few areas where you could drastically reduce spending and still have a lovely, more affordable trip to the islands, (or at least to Maui.)
Here was our high-level itinerary, (some being pre-planned, some not,) and then I'll dive into more detail and a cost breakdown.
Itinerary
Day 1: When we arrived, there was a massive queue to have our negative COVID tests confirmed and get our QR code, which you need to avoid the 10-14 day quarantine. Once we finally got out of the airport, picked up our Jeep rental, and got to the town we were staying in, (Paia,) it was about 9:30pm and everything was closed. Not during COVID, stuff does stay open later, we're told. We checked into Lumeria.
Day 2: Coffee at Paia Bay Coffee Bar, grabbed some supplies at Safeway, hit Baby Beach for swimming and sea turtles, hiked Wailuku Heights Cross, grabbed food from Paia Fish Market, hung by the hotel pool/hot tub, had the best dinner of our trip at Mama's Fish House.
Day 3: Road to Hana! Will dive into detail on our stops and recommendations later.
Day 4: Haleakala Summit Sunrise + 23 mile downhill bike, breakfast at Colleen's, pool-lounging, amazing in-room massages, Paia Fish Market on our lanai for dinner.
Day 5: Paia Bay Coffee Bar again, work, pool, checked into Napili Kai, hit the beach, paddle boarded, ate at the hotel restaurant, Sea House, for dinner. Massage #2 of the trip for Matt.
Day 6: Work, pool, beach, amazing dinner at Merriman's. Napili Farmer's Market. Massage #2 of the trip for Daytona. Napili Market supply run.
Day 7: Work, pool, beach, paddle board, Star Noodle, Sea House lunch. Massage #3 of trip for Matt. Joey's for dinner.
Day 8: Whale watching in Lahaina! Delicious smoothie from A'a Roots. Pool, beach, paddle board, Star Noodle again, Sea House dinner.
Day 9: Coffee at Napili Coffee store. Flight home. :(
I can honestly say I highly recommend everything we did, with the exception of the Napili Farmer's Market. Maybe it's better outside of COVID, but it was nothing to write home about and can be skipped.
Here are some details on all of our favorites.
Paia
Lovely little hippy surf town that we just adored. Super cute/walkable downtown area right near the ocean. Lots of great dining options and a fantastic place to stay for an easy start on the Road to Hana. We stayed here 4 nights and it was great.
Where to Stay
Paia Inn- which is right in the heart of it, though we opted for the Lumeria which was quieter, about 8 minutes out of town, and had the most serene, expansive, and meticulously manicured grounds. We had the pool and hot tub to ourselves almost every day. There's a row of hammocks beneath the trees, every room has it's own adorable Lanai, you can see the ocean in the distance, and the place is just oozing with charm. During non-COVID times, Lumeria offers yoga, a spa/wellness center, and a restaurant.
Where to Eat
Mama's Fish House- Literally if you could only eat one meal on Maui, or maybe in your life, it HAS to be Mama's. Reba McEntire and Hillary Duff ate here, so you know it's good. You'll likely need a reservation, and they do book up somewhat in advance. Let's talk about what we ate now and wipe the drool off our keyboard after.
Paia Fish Market- Everything on the menu looked delectable, but the calamari was my personal fav- big, meaty strips. Matt liked the shrimp tacos and cheese quesadilla he got. :-P
Paia Bay Coffee Bar- This place is just a hidden little oasis right in the town center, (you walk kind of down an alley type thing to get there.) It's a lovely little outdoor setup with great coffee, (I had a bomb macnut lavender latte,) and good food as well. Highly recommend the acai bowl- add peanut butter, duh.
Flatbread Company- Also fantastic. We did this after our a long day on Road to Hana and perfect doesn't quite describe it. One that we tried had macnut pesto..hot damn.
Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice- Get a fruity shave ice like mango or lilikoi, (passionfruit,) but then also get vanilla ice cream with it. I don't like creamsicle type things and I don't usually like snow cones because I feel like ice and high fructose corn syrup is kind of weird, (unless it's a Flavor Ice,) but this was something special. Must get.
What to Do
Road to Hana- I'd start by downloading the GyPSy Guide app on your phone. This was huge and great storytelling along the drive- it tells you where to pull of and stop, some history about Hawaii, and a little bit about each stop. Next, I would do some research on what sounds cool to you. I quite liked this map from this blog. ALSO- you DO NOT need to get started at like, 4am if you're staying anywhere near Paia. The first place you'd probably want to stop, (Huelo Lookout,) doesn't open til around 7am anyway, so..keep that in mind. We were under false pretenses for the necessary start time.
1. Huelo Lookout/Fruit Stand- Closed, presumably due to COVID. :-(
2. Rainbow Trees- JK we actually missed this stop because it was before we remembered I downloaded the app that literally tells you exactly where to pull off, but I do hear it's cool, (these pictures are of rainbow trees that were at our next stop..)
3. Garden of Eden Arboretum- This place was alright..really pretty manicured grounds, but there is an entrance fee, (totally get it- for upkeep of the grounds,) and there's some cool plants and trees, but I was so ready to get on the actual road I was a bit too antsy. I will say since we skipped the Rainbow Eucalyptus Tree Grove just before, I was glad I got to see some of those trees here. You can also see one of the rocks from Jurassic Park here, which was cool. ALSO.. the freaking banana bread we got from the little trailer cafe thing here was seriously the best banana bread in my life. I'd go back and pay the entrance fee again just to get that banana bread. There was a very aggressive bird type thing..maybe a duck? that took a large portion of my banana bread despite my most valiant "shooing" efforts, and that was perhaps the worst thing that happened the entire time we were in Hawaii. I still tear up thinking about it. RIP, BB.
4. Ke'anae Peninsula- Breathtaking stop, but super sad history of a tsunami hitting this little town and wiping out the entire school, (all students and teachers,) some years back.
4. Halfway to Hana- alright, so this is basically a little off-road snack stand known for it's banana bread, but again, the best banana bread our whole trip was from the Garden of Eden Arboretum snack shop.
5. Upper Waikani Falls (Three Bears)- Three awesome waterfalls all together.
6. Coconut Glen's- Delish vegan ice cream. When I lived in Thailand, I had the motorbike ice cream man trained to come outside the gate to my house and ring his bell so I could go out and buy fresh coconut ice cream. I haven't had coconut ice cream that good since then, but this was the closest second I've encountered.
7. Wainapapa State Park- Amazing black sand beaches and a little trail so you can walk along the coast.
8. Wailua Falls- Loved this one. Had it to ourselves for a bit. You can take a dip and swim.
8. Pipiwai Trail/Pools of 'Ohe'o- You have to go into Haleakala National Park (and pay the entrance fee- I think it's $15,) for this. We didn't hike Pipiwai Trail, but it's supposed to be great. There are plenty of trails throughout and picnic tables so you can stroll as you like. This was our last trip before we headed back!
Haleakala Downhill Bike Ride- This was so fun! You start at the top of Haleakala Volcano crater, (they drive you up,) and then you bike 23 miles back down an into town. We did the self-guided sunrise tour, which meant getting up at like, 3:30am driving up, seeing the sunrise, and then coming back down. My recommendation? No need for this. It's more expensive at $180pp than the self-guided express tour at $79pp and you still get the coolest part, which is biking down the 23 miles. Plus, you get to sleep in.
Wailuku Cross Heights Hike- Hot, sweaty, and straight up. Great views and worth it! Bring lots of water. The starting point is not super well-marked but right off the road, (right hand side if you're coming from Paia,) and there'll likely be cars parked along the side of the road there so you can kind of tell.
Baby Beach- Just a lovely little beach with sun-basking sea turtles we randomly stumbled upon. You go through an amazing neighborhood where I would love to live to get there.
Napili Bay
When it comes to choosing which beach to stay at in Maui, it can be overwhelming. There's the gorgeous and sprawling Makena/Big Beach in Wailea with all the boujee shopping, expensive restaurants, and Four Seasons, or Kaanapali with it's high rise hotels. We chose the smaller, more low key beach of Napili Bay and place to stay, and I can say a thousand times over, we made the right choice. Prices were far more reasonable than Wailea, the food was amazing, and the sunsets on point. There's a great little market in town for anything you need to grab and it was just super chill vibes all around- it felt like exactly what I thought Hawaii would feel like.
Where to Stay
Napili Kai Beach Resort- cannot recommend this place enough! Multiple pools, hot tubs, a snack/drink stand right by the pool/beach, rooms as close to the beach as you can get (just a few steps outside our door and we were on the sand,) a great restaurant onsite and a 3 minute walk to the amazing Merriman's, and best of all, amazing staff.
Where to Eat
Merriman's- The setting itself was gorgeous- we ate right out near the water. The food was unreal. Our favorite was the Tako and Country Bread, (Octopus, Garlic Butter, Cognac, House Made Bread, a l'Escargot,) and the White Chocolate Filled Malasadas with espresso chocolate dipping sauce.
Star Noodle- In Lahaina, just up the road from Napili Bay. The pork buns are an absolute must-eat. We went multiple times.
Sea House- This is the restaurant at Napili Kai Beach Resort. To me, it's hands down the best place, (aside from maybe Merriman's,) to catch the sunset and enjoy a drink, but the food in general is also bomb. The Haleakala pancake, (oven-baked custard pancake with cinnamon + brown sugar + pineapple + banana,) is unreal, but the Ahi Poke-Tini and Ahi Nachos are also amazing. Also, if you are of the retiree age as we pretend to be and eat before something like 6pm, they have an amazing prix fixe menu that's not too bad price-wise and delicious.
Miso Phat Sushi- Super divey little sushi place in Lahaina that's in a strip mall type setting and very unassuming. You can BYOB from the liquor store next door.
a'a roots- Amazing vegan cafe right next to the Napili Market, (where you should get all things needed in terms of groceries, sunscreen, etc. for your room.) I got the Roots Brew with almond milk, banana, maca, dates, cacao, and cold brew coffee..delish.
Monkeypod- Unfortunately, we never made it to Monkeypod, but we've heard nothing but good things. Apparently the Mai Tais with lilikoi foam (seen below) are to die for..particularly the lilikoi foam part.
What to Do
Whale watching from Lahaiana- There are tons of options and we even saw some for as low as $49 for 2 people. We paid a good bit more than that through Makai Adventures and it was great, but I really have nothing to compare it to. We probably saw at least 15 whales and got relatively close to some of them, (you aren't allowed to get super close unless they approach you, which they did to one of the boats near us.)
Horseback riding- We didn't get a chance to do this because they were super booked up, but Ironwood Ranch right near Napili Bay gets great reviews!
Beach. Paddleboard. Surf. Swim. Pool. Catch a sunset and/or rainbow or 5.
Can't quite stress how great the beach/water are there. You can rent boards from 808 Boards a few doors down from Napili Kai and they bring them to you with a lock, or you can just keep it on your patio like we did.
Costs
I know some people are weird about sharing how much they spend on things, but not only has that never been my style, one of the main reason people read travel blogs is to try and get an idea of costs, so not sharing them helps no one. I'm going to break ours down here and share where I think you could easily save, should you want to do a similar itinerary just..cheaper.
If you're looking for a good chunk of time in Maui but not looking to spend $10k+, here are some definite ways to save:
Lodging/Group Travel- First, if you book far enough in advance, I do believe you could get an AirBnb in/near Paia for much cheaper than the Lumeria. In Napili Bay, we paid more because we wanted to be RIGHT on the beach, but just across the street, the Napili Gardens has awesome condos that are only about a 5 minute walk to the beach. You can save even more if you travel in a group. For instance, in the condo that sleeps 8, I picked some random dates and it only came out to about $300 pp for 5 nights, vs the over $1k each we paid. (We'll go with you!!)
Whale watching- like I mentioned, you can probably get two people for well under $60 as opposed to the $158 we paid. I'm not sure how the quality compares though.
Eating in- we ate out for pretty much every single meal. The only time we didn't was if we had leftovers and weren't that hungry. Since we had a full kitchen at Napili Kai, we did occasionally just heat up leftovers, but again, we ate out basically every meal. This is unnecessary, and if you enjoy cooking, I don't think this would be any sort of detriment to the trip.
Renting a smaller car- For us, the Jeep was so worth it because we had so much fun in it, but you could easily rent a smaller, economy car, (or better yet, take the busses!) and save some $$. Again though, I loved the Jeep so much I literally came home and bought one..soo. Your call. :-P
Do the express downhill bike tour- I highly recommend that downhill tour from Haleakala, but there's no need to get up at 3am for it. Do the "Express Tour," sleep in, and save about half the cash.
Don't have dogs. Kidding. Our dogs are worth every penny, but you probably don't need to spend $500 on a dogsitter if you have either a) friends that are looking to make a little cash or exchange dogsitting services, or b) Dogs that aren't extremely high maintenance like ours.
Lastly, no sane person/couple needs $1,051 worth of massages in 9 nights. But I'm not sure if you've met my fiance. Just don't marry him and that on its own will save you, but life prolly won't be as fun. :-P