One Week in Maui

Travel Guide & Itinerary for One Week in Maui, Hawaii

I planned a mother-daughter trip to Maui for my mom’s 60th birthday, and we had a blast! It was my first time in Hawaii, so I asked around for recommendations from family that used to live there, friends that go every year, and even a few locals! This blog is a round up of the must-see spots and everything you’ll need to know to plan your trip!

Covid-19 Info

Since we visited May 2021, during Covid-19, there were quite a few travel restrictions to get there. You have to get a negative Covid test within 72hrs of your flight (even if you are vaccinated), and then if you are not vaccinated you have to take a second rapid test upon arrival in Maui. We got our NAAT ID NOW test done at the Walgreens drive-through for free and got results in just a few hours! Just make sure and book your appointment a few days in advance since they don’t allow same day appointments. Be prepared to wait in pretty long lines at the airport once you arrive… We landed in Maui around noon and didn’t leave the airport until 4pm due to the lines of Covid check points and at the rental car check in. There’s a shortage of rental cars in Maui, as a lot of places have right now, so prices are crazy high. We booked a Hertz rental car through this website a few weeks in advance, and it was half the price of booking directly through Hertz! Although the travel day was long and stressful, it was so worth it! The island of Maui is pretty strict on mask wearing and social distancing. We felt super safe there since everyone had been tested and they do such a good job of contact tracing and keeping cases down! Since all the restaurants are at 30% capacity, make sure and book reservations as far out as possible.

Where to Stay

We decided to do an Airbnb/condo rental so that we would have a kitchen to make breakfasts, and have our own bedrooms. We stayed at Kamole Sands in Kihei (South Maui) that was walking distance to the beach. We found it to be very centrally located for many of the activities we wanted to do. There are a few beautiful beaches nearby and tons of amazing restaurants and food trucks! Since it was our first time in Maui, we wanted to see as much of the island as possible. If I were to go back I would probably stay at a hotel in West Maui to just relax and be close to the beautiful turquoise beaches out there!

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What to Do

There is so much to do and see in Maui, besides just laying on the beach! We visited a total of 11 beaches in our one week there. Here are the places I recommend seeing the most:

Beaches (in order of favorite to least favorite):

• Kaanapali Beach- super clear, calm water
• Napili Bay- prettiest water, but got really crowded
• Big Beach- beautiful water and sand
• Makena Beach- good for snorkeling and seeing turtles at the cove
• Wailea Beach- beautiful sunsets
• Po’olenalena Beach- has some shade and lava rocks
• Koki Beach- red sand beach along road to Hana
• Hana Bay Beach- black sand beach along road to Hana
• Kamole I, II, and III Beaches- good for surfing or outrigger canoeing

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Road to Hana:

Definitely set aside a day to do the Road to Hana if you’ve never done it before! It is a super long day but so worth it! It was about 8hrs round trip of driving for us from our condo, not including all the stops we did. I found this blog online that was really helpful in planning. The roads are really small and windy so I took a Dramamine beforehand since I am prone to car sickness. We downloaded the GyPSy Guide Maui app since there is no phone service most of the way there, it guides you through with GPS and narrates the history of Maui with all the best stops! If you want to visit the Waianapanapa State Park make sure and reserve it online a few weeks out. We stopped at the bamboo forest, rainbow eucalyptus trees at the Ke’anae Arboretum, Nahiku Marketplace, Hana Bay Beach, Koki Beach, Hana Town, and the Seven Sacred Pools. We also did a few turn offs to see view points and waterfalls along the way.

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Upcountry Maui:

We spent an afternoon in Upcountry Maui and thought it was beautiful and a unique area to visit! We went to Ali’i Kula Lavendar Farms and there were amazing views of the whole island. We took some photos in the lavender and then got a lavender tea and some goodies from the gift shop. We then drove to Grandma’s Coffee House which is known to be one of the best coffee shops in Maui! After that we drove to Maui Wine and did a wine tasting of their amazing pineapple wine! It’s actually made of fermented pineapples instead of grapes so it wasn’t too sweet and is probably the best white wine I’ve ever had! Definitely brought back a few bottles.

Snorkeling:

There are so many places to snorkel in Maui and see beautiful fish and sea turtles! We did one tour through Seafire Snorkeling that took us out to Molokini Crater and another spot where we saw a bunch of turtles. We thought Molokini was a bit overrated since we saw just as many fish and sea creatures as other free spots along the beach. Some other great snorkeling spots were Makena Cove where theres a bunch of turtles or Kaanapali Beach.

Sunset Sail:

My brother and I booked a surprise private sunset sail for my mom’s birthday gift, and it was probably the highlight of the vacation! We booked it through Shadowfax Sailing and they were so accommodating! It was just us two, the captain and 2 crew members and we had a great time getting to know them along our sail. They played Hawaiian music, served us appetizers and champagne, and smoothly sailed along the coast out of Maalaea Harbor. It was so fun and relaxing and we got some amazing photos as the sun was setting!

Shopping:

We didn’t do much shopping besides some gifts and souvenirs from Whalers Village, but I got a lot of recommendations for shopping at the Shops at Wailea and some boutiques in Paia (Boutique Aloha, Mahina Boutique, Pearl Butik, Simmer, Maui Girl) recommended by my friend Alex.

Sunrise at Haleakala Crater:

This was another thing on our list we ended up not doing, but I got a lot of recommendations for! We decided not to do it since the drive sounded pretty daunting (windy, cliffside roads with low visibility in the dark) and I was also worried about dealing with altitude sickness since it’s the highest elevation gain in the shortest amount of time in the world (10,000ft above sea level)! However, if driving small roads and altitude doesn’t bother you, it looks like an unreal experience to watch the sun rise above the clouds! Here is a good article I found about planning your visit.

Where to Eat:

Probably the most important part of this blog post right here!! Maui has the most amazing food, whether at an expensive restaurant with a view, or a cheap food truck, you really can’t go wrong! We got groceries to make easy breakfasts at our Airbnb and sandwiches for lunches at the beach, and went to a local farmers market to cook some fresh Ono fish with maui onions and purple sweet potatoes for dinner one night. Here were our favorite spots:

• Mama’s Fish House- reserve super far in advance! Amazing view and food but pretty pricey $$$
• Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice- we went here twice it was so good. Get macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom.
• Miso Phat Sushi- fresh fish, great for take out/picnic on the beach
• Monkey Pod- go for happy hour and get the Mai Tais, they were the best we’ve ever had!
• Coconuts Fish Cafe- we also went here multiple times for takeout, amazing fresh fish and fish tacos
• Hula Grill- requires reservations far in advance, beautiful view and live music, amazing crab topped Mahi Mahi
• Baya Bowls- food truck with delicious acai bowls
• 5 Palms- nice sunset view for dinner, fresh fish
• Kihei Caffe- authentic Hawaiian breakfast dishes, long line but worth it!
• Thai Mee Up- got on our way to the airport, food truck with the BEST Pad Thai I’ve ever had
• Akamai Coffee- another great coffee shop, we took some beans home with us

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What to Pack:

My secret packing trick was using Fashion Pass for all my cute vacation clothes! If you use my code “MERISSA” you can get $35 off your first month of unlimited rentals. This website is perfect for getting statement items that you’d only wear on a tropical vacation! Besides the obvious of what to pack, here were some things on my list that were helpful for the trip:

• Cameras (of course!)- I brought my professional camera, a GoPro for underwater photos, and a film camera
• Reef Safe Sunscreen (it’s a lot cheaper to pack than buying there)
• Snacks- bring a lot for the flight since they don’t serve a meal due to Covid and it’s over 8hrs!
• Dramamine and ginger tablets- if you get motion sick this will save you on boats or Road to Hana
• Light jacket- it gets pretty windy/chilly at night so nice to have a denim jacket of sorts
• Water shoes or old tennis shoes- I brought a pair of gross tennis shoes I didn’t mind getting muddy and wet on hikes
• Wine skins to protect bottles you may bring back
• Hats- definitely bring some baseball caps, sun hats, and bucket hats to protect from getting too much sun
• Swimsuits- I brought way too many, oops! But found some cute ones at F21 and Nordstrom Rack

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Our Itinerary:

This itinerary may not work for everyone depending on what time you arrive and depart and what side of the island you are on, but here is a general idea!

• Day 1: Land at 12:30pm, get rental car, check in to Airbnb, get groceries, Coconuts Fish Cafe to-go for dinner
• Day 2: Molokini morning snorkel, beach day at Kamole II, Miso Phat Sushi beach picnic dinner 
• Day 3: Mama’s Fish House, Upcountry Maui, sunset sail at 5pm, 5 Palms dinner at 7:30
• Day 4: Makena Cove snorkeling, Big Beach, dinner at home
• Day 5: Road to Hana
• Day 6: Spend day in West Maui, lunch at Baya Bowls, sunset and dinner at Wailea
• Day 7: Napili Bay, Kaanapali Beach, happy hour at MonkeyPod, dinner at Hula Grill
• Day 8: Kihei Caffe breakfast, walk on beach, Thai Mee Up lunch, return rental car and back to airport