Travel Recs -- Maui

[sugarbear1]

We will only be there for five days in April. It will be my two DSs and me, plus my parents. My parents are pretty easy going and sometimes want to join activities but are happy to stay at the hotel too. I'd like to plan at least 2 or 3 fun excursions. We've already done the aquarium and a submarine reef tour.

What were your favorite activities? Any recs for a chocolate tour, whale watching, or zip lining?

[Deleted]

I would suggest anything you can book with Trilogy. We loved their tours. If you have the time and inclination, their day tour to Lanai is amazing. My family still talks about it being their favorite Maui thing we've done, even four years later (and we've since had another trip in between).

[1confused1]

Mar 7, 2023 13:58:58 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

I would suggest anything you can book with Trilogy. We loved their tours. If you have the time and inclination, their day tour to Lanai is amazing. My family still talks about it being their favorite Maui thing we've done, even four years later (and we've since had another trip in between).

Ditto!

[mellymel]

Another vote for Trilogy!!

[mellymel]

Also make sure you have dinner at Mama’s Fish House

[kittywalker]

We did the Alii Nui Whale Watch and loved it.

[egishere]

We loved our Trilogy sail to Lanai too.

How old are DS? We also did an ATV thing that was fun.

Are you doing a luau? We went to the Old Lahaina Luau and liked it.

[devonpow]

Is whale watching still available in April? I know it’s just a winter activity (we usually go in the summer).

We did a kayaking/snorkeling tour from Wailea that was amazing - I’ll look up the company we used. A day trip to lanai was awesome - we used a tour guide to drive us around (took the ferry there) and then had cocktails at the four seasons. We have really enjoyed all snorkeling tours with the Pacifhc Whale Foundation. Kids and DH loved the helicopter ride. We do sunset on Haleakala (we don’t want to get up early enough for sunrise lol) and it’s awesome.

DH and I are all about the food - see if you can book sunset for dinner at Merriman’s. Mamas Fish House has the best Mai tai on island IMO. And monkeypod kitchen is worth the wait (not sure if they are back to reservations yet). Paia Fish market is our favorite casual eating. Omg so good

[sugarbear1]

Thanks everyone!
devonpow, Merrimans is just doing a prix fixe menu right now and I'm not spending $150 for my kids to eat! I will check out the other spots though.

egishere, kids are 10 and almost 13, so they would probably love an ATV tour! I will check that out.

With only five full days, I don't want to over plan.

[pinkdutchtulips]

We went to Lahaina and Hana .. we checked out some of the blowholes in Kaanapoli Bch and the black sand beaches in Hana, after we survived the twisty road to get to Hana.

We had brunch one day and could see the whales from where we were at the restaurant (mid Feb so they were migrating).

[snorky]

Depending on where you are staying/if you have a car/if you are up for a nighttime show, there is a great magic show in Lahaina at a place called Warren and Annabelle’s. You can either eat dinner there before the show or there are lots of cute little restaurants right there in the town (we love Frida’s Beach House).

warrenandannabelles.com

[devonpow]

This is who we did the kayak tour with: mauikayakadventures.com/

We did the private tour and it was great - he took us out to an amazing location and anchored us, and we all jumped out to snorkel. Our guide was an underwater photographer and got some great pictures for/of us.

[alicethellama]

If you want to snorkel and you or your kids are new to it, I’d recommend The Ocean Project. Our kids had never snorkeled, so we did a family snorkeling lesson with Mel and Jen, and they were fantastic.

We drove road to Hana and hiked the Pipiwai trail, and the bamboo forest was pretty amazing. The rest of the days we spent visiting various beaches and swimming and snorkeling.

[jlt19]

Unfortunately it’ll probably be too late for whales. We were there in February 2018 and saw a ton, but we’re there last April and saw 0 We loved Front Street and the lobster grilled cheese at Down the Hatch.

[Pibs]

I think my favorite thing was the Road to Hana and doing the Pipiwai trail hike at the end through the bamboo forest. It was just so quiet and calm, and the bamboo blows in the wind and knocks together like giant wind chimes to make it even more relaxing. The hike wasn't super hard, and the rest was also beauitful with a waterfall at the end. We also went to and swam in some of the seven scared pools.

[gastro]

A lot of great recommendations above. Our last trip to Maui we did a farm tour at O’o Farm and then they cooked lunch for us on the farm. It was really nice and DS1 loved it.

[al dente]

Theres no more whales in April, the season is just about wrapping up now.

Snorkeling at the Molokini Crater is cool. The tour we did also stopped at a turtle area too. I can see who we went with, they offered like boogie boards with peepholes so you can float and look down into the water if you're kids aren't comfortable with a the whole snorkel get up.

[thejen626]

Whale season is technically until 4/15. However you might see 1-2, not big groups, in April. Pacific Whale Foundation has great boats and they’ll find whales for you!

I’ve hired a private guide several times to drive us “halfway to Hana”, the road is very windy and cliffy, I do not recommend driving it yourself. Send me a pm if you want his info. He’s great!

Agree with Trilogy, the Lanai day trip is magical. They also have a sunset cruise that picks up on the beach in Kannapali.

I like the Sea House in Napili for breakfast, and Hula Grill in Kaanapali for dinner. Make reservations now because everything books up quickly.

I leave for Maui in 5 days ❤️❤️❤️

[starburst604]

Mar 7, 2023 13:58:58 GMT -5 @rebeccawelton said:

I would suggest anything you can book with Trilogy. We loved their tours. If you have the time and inclination, their day tour to Lanai is amazing. My family still talks about it being their favorite Maui thing we've done, even four years later (and we've since had another trip in between).

We did that same trip and definitely recommend it! We also did the tour to Molokini which was wonderful. We ziplined too, I think it was called the Flyin Hawaiian?

[basilosaurus]

Mar 7, 2023 14:56:42 GMT -5 mellymel said:

Also make sure you have dinner at Mama’s Fish House

Not worth the hype at all imo, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! I think my favorite was mala restaurant. It's funny that I'd forgotten that after naming my cat mala for malasada for the Portuguese donuts popular in Hawaii. Man I miss living there!

I loved hula girl boat. This is one of my top excursions ever. Can snorkel, dive, swim, relax, plus the food was pretty tasty.

Lavender farm and goat cheese are close together. It's probably pretty slow for a child but might be your parents speed.

Or just go to the beach and not "do" something. Lahaina is a nice little town with good food.