I Recently Went to Maui… Here’s What I Can Tell You
Welcome. Presumably, you are interested in learning more about Maui or maybe you just want to hear my op-ed about my recent vacation. In case you didn’t know, Maui is one of the primary islands that is closest to the Big Island, the island labeled Hawai’i in this image.
Just recently, I vacationed in Maui with my family. In this blog, I am going to take you through my trip and give my recommendations should you travel to Maui at some point.
First, we have to start with the flights. I had a 4.5-hour flight to LAX, about an hour-hour and a half layover, and then an eight-hour flight from LAX to Maui. If you are able to sleep on the plane, I advise that you sleep according to the Hawaiian time zone. In my case, I stayed up extra late in Illinois the night before because 2 am in Naperville is only 10 pm in Hawaii. Then, I slept on the first flight and stayed up the entire second flight because it would be daytime when I arrived. This strategy proved effective as I suffered zero jet lag in Hawaii. Using the same sleeping strategy, I suffered no jet lag on the way back to Illinois either.
Now you’ve successfully reached Hawai’i. Hopefully, you have planned far ahead with reservations at restaurants. My family decided to take a last-minute trip to Hawaii because we realized that winter break was sixteen days long. We missed out on some opportunities and prices ended up being higher than they should have been because we waited so long. My friend’s family booked their hotel and many of their restaurant accommodations six or more months in advance. Even if you don’t plan far in advance, you definitely can enjoy your time in Hawaii. But what should you make sure you do and see while in Maui?
The Road to Hana.
The Road to Hana is a day-long adventure that you have to do at least once in your life. I won’t go over all of the details, but my two favorite stops were the waterfall off of Honokohau Falls and Hamoa Beach. First, the waterfall. You must hike two miles from the parking lot to the waterfall, but it is worth it. If you would like to see pictures from my trip including a picture of the waterfall, you can ask me anytime, but I took too many photos to narrow it down in this post. The waterfall is 400 feet high and the flow rate varies all the time. When I visited the waterfall, the picture wasn’t nearly as impressive because the waterfall was drier than usual, but because the waterfall was drier, I was able to hike up beyond the intended trail with a few other people, and I was able to stand in the base of the waterfall. This picture above does not do the waterfall justice, either. It is far more impressive in person. That aside, entering the waterfall was so refreshing and I highly recommend moving beyond the trail and going towards the waterfall. Note: Only do this if the waterfall is very dry. If it is flowing, people have been swept away and have died. Next, Hamoa Beach. This is the best beach I have ever visited. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to reach unless you take the long journey on the Road to Hana, but if you are already on the Road to Hana, this is a must-stop location.
The beach is relatively private, small, and frankly, perfect. The water is sparkling clear, the waves come crashing against the shore, perfect for surfing, and even the sand is soft. If you enjoy beaches, this is your place.
Hawaii is known for its sunsets and for good reason. One of the most well-known places to view the sunset is at the top of the central dormant volcano. While the sunset is spectacular, I don’t think the hour(s) it takes to drive up the volcano is worth the 10-15 minutes of beauty. Criticize me if you want, but the sunset on top of the volcano wasn’t that much more beautiful than the sunset over the beach.
Hawaiian snorkeling is the best. I say this with some recency bias, and, well, I’ve actually only been snorkeling in Hawaii. I recommend renting snorkeling gear as early as possible because the mornings are going to be your best bet, and you never know if the day will be perfect or terrible for snorkeling because of the tides. Trust me, just rent some equipment and wake up early enough.
My last note for this blog will be about whale watching. Whale watching can be boom or bust, but for my outing, we were blown away by the whales we saw. You should take into consideration when whale season is in Hawaii, but don’t be afraid to go whale watching a little bit before whale season as I did. You won’t regret it. My tour was two hours long and felt like the perfect amount of time, maybe a little short just because whales surrounded us at the end!
Overall, I don’t think anyone will discourage you from visiting Hawaii or Maui, and I hope you take some of my recommendations should you decide to visit. Mahalo.
I think that the road to Hana is a definite must and clearly #1. However I will criticize you on your lack of respect for the sunrise or sunset. Kids these days…
Tommy, thank you for your comment. I will take your criticism to heart.
Hi Chris!
I have to admit, as someone who (until five minutes ago) knows pretty much nothing about Hawaii, this was a fascinating read. Confession time: I didn’t even know Hawaii itself was the name of an island; I’d always thought that it only referred to the state. I also had no idea the flight to Hawaii was that long. In my experience, the flight to China takes around 14 hours, and it’s crazy to think that there’s only a couple hours of difference between the two.
Although my family hasn’t done much traveling in the past couple of years, mostly due to COVID (although we’re taking our first overseas trip since 2018 to Italy this May, which I will certainly be employing your time-zone sleep-schedule trick for), I’ve always wanted to visit Hawaii. For me, the most exciting thing about traveling is experiencing new landscapes and environments, and the lush tropical rainforests of Hawaii sound especially enticing after spending the past three months living in a world where it gets dark at 5 pm. To that end, I would love to see some of the photos you took during your trip! I’m definitely also guilty of documenting basically every minute of a vacation; I think I have at least 10+ photos of the same mountain somewhere in my camera roll.
Hi Chris.
I decided to comment on your blog after you asked me today, in class, about my winter break plans. As you know, I did not go to Hawaii. My family is typically pretty good about planning ahead – my dad usually just does whatever he wants and tells us later – but such was not the case this year. Maybe he’s getting old and I should be worried. Whatever the case, we, as a family, found ourselves at the start of December trying to decide on a place to vacation at. Reading your blog, I’m a little sad our Hawaii plans fell apart.
The Road to Hana sounds pretty incredible. I don’t love hiking, but I also don’t hate it. 2 miles sounds even more doable with the prospect of seeing a gorgeous waterfall and visiting what you’ve so boldly labeled as ‘the best beach you’ve ever visited’. I too, however, probably wouldn’t drive that far up for a sunset. While I’m sure it’s an awe inspiring display of nature’s grandeur or whatever, driving up a volcano sounds terrible. Not for me. As for snorkeling, I’ve never been. But once again, if you’ve deemed Hawaii’s ‘the best’ (even with your questionable authority on the subject), I’ll try it out if I’m ever in there.
As someone who also went to Hawaii, I can attest that Hawaii is an absolutely beautiful place. I most definitely want to go back someday especially since I have yet to go and check out the natural wonders of Maui. It seems to me, however, that flying there might’ve been a pain for you. I’m assuming that your flight was 14 hours long because of the layovers, but I was wondering if you got the chance to also explore the cities you stopped at? I feel like the only good part of having to fly with multiple layovers is that you get to spend an hour or two in a place you might not have visited before. Also, I am very envious of your trip along the Road to Hana just because of the natural beauty of the place. Based on the pictures you put in your blog, it seems to me that the area is somewhat isolated and serene. It reminds me a little bit of Kauai which is one of the islands I visited this past winter break. Kauai is also very nature-centered and we also ended up spending a day just driving along its coast, but we never saw anything like the Honokohau Falls. I feel like each of the Hawaiian islands had something different to offer which is why I really want to now go back and check out Maui.