12 hours in Maui - Why You Should Stay Longer
Introduction to a Short Maui Trip
First of all, I do not recommend spending only 12 hours in Maui. Maui is gorgeous and clean and perfect. It has all of the best Hawaiian things to offer; beaches, mountains, rainforests, surfing, whale watching, excellent food, and luxury resorts. If you are planning a trip to Maui, give yourself at least 10 days. When planning our month in Hawaii, we did not plan to spend any time in Maui for 3 reasons: 1. It is the only island I have visited before and I wanted to see the other islands. 2. It is the most expensive island, by far, and I would prefer to visit Maui when I am less cost-conscious. 3. Maui is the island we are most likely to visit again since it is my parent’s favorite. So, what changed my mind? Whales.
Whale tail with Lanai Island in the background on Trilogy Tours out of Ka’anapali Maui
You can see humpback whales all around the Hawaiian islands in the winter. We’ve seen whales 15-20 times in our month here. The whales migrate here from all over the Pacific Ocean to have their babies in Hawaii in the winter time. I don’t blame them. Although you can see whales anywhere in Hawaii, the largest concentration of whales can be found in the ‘Au’au channel between Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. Having seen whales hundreds of yards out from shore many times this month, I have sat enviously watching boats at sea only 100 yards away from these magnificent creatures (by law, you cannot drive within 100 yards of a humpback whale). I wanted to see them up close, so I began looking for a good whale watching tour. My research kept leading me back to the ‘Au’au channel off of Maui’s western coast. Thus, a whirlwind 12 hour tour of Maui was born.
As I discussed in the post on “48 hours on the Big Island”, we are able to fly between the islands for free by using Southwest skymiles points. Since we were only going for the day, we didn’t have to check any bags. We left our house in Ewa Beach at 7:00 AM and were in our rental car in Maui by 10:00. The cost of an Uber from the airport in Kahulia to the whale watching tour in Ka’anapali would have been about $100.00 one way, meaning that getting there and back, with no other stops in between, would have cost us $200.00. The total cost of renting a Subaru Forester on Turo for the day was $128.00 and there was no waiting around for a ride. This also gave us the flexibility to check out a few other things on the island as well.
Our Itinerary
10:00 AM: set off from the airport
11:00 AM-12:45 PM: Explore Lahaina—Lahaina is a bustling harbor town with an interesting past. It was the original capital city of Hawaii and a raucous whaling industry port in the 1800’s. This was tempered with a strong missionary presence and the capital of Hawaii was changed to Honolulu in an attempt to divert attention from the rowdy nature of Lahaina at the time. Now it is a quaint waterfront town with a plethora of award winning restaurants, art galleries, and shops.
Stop 1: Brunch at Down the Hatch in Lahaina—This is a fast casual joint where you order at the counter and eat at tables in the lovely, shaded nearby courtyard. We tried the Lobster Grilled cheese and Poke Nachos. Both were delicious. When we arrived, there was no line. By the time we left, there was a line of 10-20 people. Getting there earlier allowed us more time to explore Lahaina.
Stop 2: Lahaina Banyan Court—Spanning 1.94 acres, this is the largest Banyan tree in the United States. It has been meticulously cared for by the local Japanese gardening society and it shows. Banyan trees drop aerial roots from their branches and these form new trunks. At first glance, this looks like multiple trees, but it is really one massive tree with multiple trunks. I LOVE trees and would not miss the chance to wander under the cathedral of this massive specimen. It deserves at least 15 minutes of marveling.
Stop 3 : Cortados at VigiLatte Artisan Coffee—Our quest for a St. Louis level cortado led us here. This is a coffee stand inside the courtyard of a nice shopping center. The coffee was good and the staff was friendly, but our expectations were very high and this didn’t quite meet the St. Louis standards set by Sump and Comet.
Stop 4: Manuela Malasadas—This is a food truck in a gas station parking lot. Malasadas are a Portuguese fried donut that is popular in Hawaii. Like all foods in Hawaii, Hawaiians have put their own spin on the Portuguese creation and fill them with guava jelly, cream, liliko’i cheesecake, chocolate, and all kinds of other things. They are then deep fried and coated with sugar. The liliko’i cheesecake malasada here is the best donut I have ever eaten. I can’t think of any better. When we arrived, the cook let us know that he needed to fry a new batch and it would take about 10 minutes. This meant they were freshly fried and delicious, but it also set us back on our tight timeline and meant we were literally running back to our car after eating donuts (not the best pre-exercise food) in order to make it to our whale watching tour at 1:00.
1:00 PM-3:00 PM: Trilogy Whale Watching tour out of Ka’anapali—I picked this tour based on their very high google reviews (5.0 stars, 4,600 reviews). The whale watching tour costs $75 per adult, $60 for teens, and $45 for children. I chose to depart out of Ka’anapali because it is geographically closer to the ‘Au’au channel. In the end, I don’t think this really mattered. It seems like the tours out of Lahaina took a similar course and likely saw the same number of whales. The big difference between the two departure locations is the method of boarding the boat. At Lahaina, you board the boat at a dock. In Ka’anapali, the boat is boarded on the beach, meaning you have to walk out into the ocean and climb the ladder to get on the boat. A southern swell had moved in that morning and the waves were quite large. I honestly can’t believe they had us board the boat this way given the conditions. Our family spends a lot of time on boats and in the water, so it was no problem for us, but I was legitimately concerned about some older folks and a very pregnant lady. In the end, we all made it on safely.
We saw a lot of whales, including a mother and her calf and a very playful adolescent that kept slapping its tail. The boat itself was gorgeous and they let us ride in the nets up front with the water rushing below us. The catamaran offered a nice, smooth ride and reminded me of how much I love being on a boat. The tour included lunch (after lobster grilled cheeses and malasadas, we skipped the food) and unlimited beverages. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t take us all the way across the channel to what looked like a more active location, but Gus reminded me that I should appreciate the experience instead. Several smaller boats looked like they were getting more action than us and next time I will go with a smaller boat. Overall, it was a good experience and fulfilled my goal of seeing these magnificent creatures up close. This is a good company to go with if you have any issues with sea sickness and are looking for a comfortable ride.
3:45-4:15 PM: Dragon’s teeth lava formation (Makaluapuna Point), Kapalua—Short walk through the Ritz-Carlton golf course to see a really cool formation that was created when the last lava flow on Maui met with large waves and wind on the western shore. Take Honoapiilani Highway to office road. Turn left on Office Road and then take a right when Office Road dead ends into Lower Honoapiilani Road. Lower Honoapiilani dead ends into the parking lot. (Google maps got this one wrong and it took a second to figure out where to park.) This was a nice quick stop and we all enjoyed running around on the rocks by the formation. Watch out for large waves. Joey and Wilson both got soaked by a big one.
4:15-5:30: Drive from Kapalua to Wailuku—Yes, it took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there. This brings up a very important point about Maui, and Hawaii in general. The roads are not big enough to accommodate the amount of visitors and there is bad traffic everywhere! It seems to peak at the expected times of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM but can happen anytime of day. Google maps originally said this drive would take 45 minutes, but the traffic was horrible and it took 30 minutes longer than expected. I usually try to pack as many things into the day as possible, but I have learned the hard way to give us extra time between transitions to allow for traffic in Hawaii.
5:30-7:00: Cafe O’Lei at the Mill House—picturesque outdoor dining at the Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu with views of the West Maui Mountains in the background. The scenery and ambiance here are idyllic and it would have been nice to have more time to wander through the gardens and around the pond. I had the blackened Mahi and it was fantastic. Joey was less happy with his seared Ahi. Unfortunately, the dinner ended with a bit of a snafu and we never got our fried banana cheesecake that we had already paid for. This was partially our fault because we were running behind schedule due to the traffic incident, but the service was subpar and our waitress really dropped the ball. This left us a little unsatisfied with the overall experience, which was unfortunate because the restaurant was otherwise lovely.
8:10 PM: Depart for Honolulu
Tips for Maui
Don’t plan on spending only 12 hours there. It’s a beautiful island with so much to see! Give yourself 10 days.
Allow for plenty of driving time. I really stressed Joey out by packing too much into the day and not accounting for traffic.
Visit Lahaina for great food and the largest Banyan tree in the US.
Visit Maui between the months of January and March for prime whale watching and perfect weather. (You can see whales November-May, but January-March is prime viewing.)
If you do a whale watching tour with Trilogy and you don’t want to have to climb a moving, slippery ladder in the ocean to board the boat, do the tour out of Lahaina.
If you are in a hurry, don’t order a deep fried dessert.
Final thoughts on Maui
I fully intend to return to Maui for a full family vacation some day. Despite the fact that we only spent 12 hours there, when I asked the kids which island, of the 4 we have visited, they most want to come back to someday, they all said Maui. The other islands are more raw and less polished. There is a surprising amount of homelessness and poverty in Hawaii, but not in Maui. If you are looking for a fancy beach vacation in paradise, and you have the funds to do it, go to Maui. Share your favorite things to do in Maui with us so that we can plan our next trip!