Seeing everyone head to Hawaii lately has made me miss Maui & Oahu so much! With uncertain quarantine and changing rules in other countries, it makes sense why most people are keeping travel stateside this year.

I’m sharing with you guys what to do in Maui Hawaii for a quick trip. Depending on how much you like to pack into a day, this can be more than a short weekend. Enjoy this Maui itinerary or check out our Oahu Hawaii guide or Kauai guide if you are considering island hopping as well!

We started our Hawaii trip with kids on Oahu, which I think is an amazing island for kids as there is so much to do! The hubby and I went to Maui for three days / two nights without our kiddos to celebrate our 6th anniversary. If traveling with kids, I would highly recommend more time. The good thing is the flight from Oahu is only 30 minutes away, which does make island hopping easy!

This is definitely more than a 3-day Maui itinerary, but I’m pretty ambitious on vacation. We didn’t finish everything so we will definitely be back with the kiddos. Enjoy our itinerary on what to do in Maui Hawaii!

1) Haleakala National Park

HIGHLY recommend that you either check out the sunrise or sunset at Haleakala National Park. It was beyond amazing. The sunset at almost 10,00 feet above sea level was breathtaking. We couldn’t get tickets for sunrise, nor did my husband want to get up at 4 AM to go. We opted for sunset since you don’t need tickets for sunset, and it’s a great option for those who are not early risers!

• Reservations can be made up to 60 days in advance. There are small portion of tickets released 48 hours in advance (for you last minute people!). No tickets needed for sunset.
• Make sure you know sunrise/sunset times!
• I recommended going at least 2 hours prior to sunset so that you can make stops on the way up, lesiurely enjoy the scenery and get a parking spot and found a good spot to enjoy the sunset. As we got closer to sunset time, the parking lot filled up very quickly.
• We arrived at 4:30PM for a 6:20PM sunset in October. The summit is very cold. Make sure you bring extra layers even if you were wearing shorts earlier in the day!

2) Ho’okipa Beach Park

This is a popular surfer’s beach that is close to Paia. We saw lots of turtles here! There is a lookout on the edge of a cliff, where you can see all the action.

• Great beach to find turtles on the beach.
• Surfer’s beach with lots of waves.
• Spend a day in Paia checking out Ho’okipa as well or can be a stop on the Road to Hana depending on where you begin.

3) Paia

Paia is such a cute beach town. I would highly recommend checking out or even staying here. Lots of cute coffee shops and restaurants. It’s a good midpoint on the island especially if you want to head to the Road to Hana. Check out these spots while visiting Paia:

• Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice
• Paia Secret Beach

4) Maui Pineapple Tour

This was a super cute tour. Mostly couples on their honeymoon, and a few families. Our tour guide, Tim, was great. He taught us about pineapples, sang songs, and loved cracking jokes. We learned about the growth cycles of a pineapple, toured the fields. We ate fresh pineapples on the farm and they gave us a Maui gold pineapple to go home with. There is also a distillery tour you can book as well.

• Address: 883 Haliimaile Road, Makawao HI
• Pineapple Farm Tour (1.5 hours) or Hali’imaile Distillery Tour
• Reservations: Tickets should be booked in advance
• Ages 2+

This tour was sponsored by Maui Visitors and Convention Bureau (MVCB).

5) Snorkel

Our snorkel trip got canceled when we were there due to a recent storm and since our trip was so short, we didn’t have time to reschedule it. It was booked with Ultimate Whale Watch based in Lahaina.

Definitely consider a snorkel tour or whale watching tour while visiting Maui. We definitely want to go back and experience this!

6) Road to Hana

We planned on driving to the Road to Hana, but we ended up relaxing as the hubby felt that I packed on too much on such a short stay (ALWAYS).

• Roadmap to Hana, start at Ho’okipa Look out
• Wai’anapanapa State Park – Black Sand Beach

7) Maui Beaches

There are so many beaches to check out in Maui especially depending on which side of the island you are staying.

• Western Maui: Lahaina Beach/ Kaanapali
• Southern Maui: Big Beach/Makena/Oneloa Beach

FOOD OPTIONS

Due to the ongoing pandemic, you must make reservations ahead of time at the majority of restaurants. These are the places that we went to on our last trip. Truthfully, we prefer the food options on Oahu better, but if you have any good recommendations, please let us know for our next trip!

1. 808 Grindz
   • Address: 843 Wainee Street, Maui
   • Reservations: No / Take out only
   • Definitely get the macademia nut pancakes with their homemade mac-nilla sauce!
   • There can be long waits here so definitely come when they open.
2. The Gazebo
   • Address: 5315 Lower Honoapullani Road, Maui
   • Resevations: No
   • Beautiful location overlooking the ocean.
   • LONG wait for tables. Definitely consider take out, which is ordered on the side of the restaurant. I wouldn’t necessarily say its worth a two hour wait, but we did enjoy the food. I do remember that I preferred the macademia nut pancakes at 808 Grindz.
   • Limited Parking as it is in a hotel/condo complex. Definitely do a drop off to get into line, while you look for parking!
3. Mama’s Fish House
   • Address: 799 Poho Place, Paia, HI
   • Reservations: Yes. This place is only by reservations. Make sure you reserve as soon as possible!
   • This place is famous and very popular. It has a gorgeous location. It is definitely about the ambience and experience.
   • It is expensive so consider it more of a special occasion place. I’m glad we tried it, but I don’t think I necessarily need to go back.
4. Monkeypod Kitchen
   • Address: 2435 Kaanapli Parkway Bldg 1, Lahaina, HI
   • Reservations: Yes
   • We came for a happy hour drinks and to enjoy the sunset as the restaurant is right by Ka’anapali Beach.

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We didn’t eat at these places, but these were some restaurants on our radar:

1. T Komoda Bakery & Store – known for their donuts & malasadas
2. Star Noodles
3. Kula Bistro
4. Coconut’s Fish Cafe
5. Plantation House
6. Lorraine’s Shave Ice – Get the Banana Bread
7. Honolulu Farms Kitchen – Purple Food with good acai bowls [Lahaina]

WHERE TO STAY IN MAUI

There are so many choices of where to stay in Maui. Most people decide to stay in either west Maui or southern Maui.

We deiced to stay in Lahaina as our snorkel trip was in Lahaina on our last day. We wanted to leave quickly after, but unfortunately, our snorkel was canceled.

If I was to do it again, I would likely stay in either Paia or Southern Maui. We spent most of our time on the other side of the island as our pineapple tour and Haleakala National Park was on the other side of Maui. We spent a lot of time driving from the west side to get to the places we needed to go. If you plan on doing more beach and snorkel time, Lahaina, would be a great location.

Western Maui – Lahaina Beach / Kaanapalli

• Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa [Lahaina, Hawaii]
• One Bedroom Airbnb in Lahaina Beach – We stayed at an airbnb condo in Lahaina and had a good experience! There is a balcony with a great sunset view. Our host was great at communication as I left behind my lens cap, and I was able to get it back without any issues!

Southern Maui – Wailea/Kihei

• Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort
• Marriott Wailea Beach Resort – family friendly with kids club
• AC Hotel by Marriott Maui Wailea

Enjoy your time in Hawaii! I would love to know what your favorite places are if you have been to Maui Hawaii or anything that you are looking forward to!

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** The Pineapple Tour was sponsored by Maui Visitors and Convention Bureau (MVCB), however, all opinions are ours alone.