Maui, Hawaii itinerary
5 days, 4 nights
Day 1: Fly in, chill at beach/pool
- Fly in and pick up rental car from Maui airport
- Stop by grocery store to get snacks and sunscreen etc
- Hotel check-in (Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa), get ready and go for lunch at Leilani’s (coconut shrimp and tacos are must)
- Chill at beach near the hotel / chill in pool and get a glimpse of Maui’s sunset
- Sleep early around 10pm as next day starts pretty soon. Most days in Maui requires waking up early and driving so, keep afternoon light and relaxing (spend around beach/pool)
Day 2: Sunrise at Haleakalā National Park and visit to Lahaina town
- Booking entry for each vehicle for Haleakala national park is a must for sunrise (checkout Haleakala National Park Summit Sunrise Reservations on recreation.gov)
- Wake up at 2.30am and drive to red hill, haleakala (2.15 hrs drive from Kaanapali beach/hotel)
- Watch beatiful Maui sunrise. If you are lucky and it would be a clear sky, it would be perfect sunrise experience.
- Do small trail 0.2 mile to go up after sunrise to see volcanic mountains more clearly and take more pictures
- Leave around 7.30am from halaekala and stop by at kula lodge on your way down (45 mins drive from sunrise point) for amazing brunch.
- On the way back, stop by at Lahaina town to check out largest banyan tree and walk on the street. Lot of shopping options and nice restaurants on the street.
- Go to Ululani’s Hawaiian shave ice (very popular) on the same street. Highly recommend their delicious coconut ice cream as a base.
- Head back to hotel around 12pm and take rest/afternoon nap
- Wake up and chill at beach/pool OR if activities/events in hotel do that for an hour (most hotels in Maui have lot of event like Lei making, Hula lesssons, coconut frond weaving etc) OR rent snorkeling gears and go out snorkeling
- Dinner at hula grill
Day 3: Snorkeling and Luau
- Leave by 5.30am to reach for snorkeling (30 mins drive from hotel — we booked Molokini & Turtle Arches Snorkeling for 7am). We took go pro rental for underwater pics
- Drive back to hotel, rest for a while
- Chill at beach/pool OR take part in any hotel event OR book vacation photography session
- Take shuttle from hotel and go to Royal Lahaina resort
- Enjoy oceanfront Luau (cultural dance/singing/performance) at Royal Lahaina resort with lovely dinner. Booking in advance is recommended
Day 4: Road trip to Hana
Highway 360 takes you to Hana. It has 620 curves with some challenging turns and 59 short bridges and most bridges could fit only one car at a time. If you have an extra day, you should spend the night in Hana and return the next day. I would also recommend carrying swimming clothes as there are some amazing waterfalls ponds to go swmming.
Pro tip: Keep Haleakalā National park pass that you purchased on day 2 as you can use the same for a week to enter the park again. That would avoid paying entry fees to the park again and will be needed for your last stop.
Must stops on road trip to Hana:
- Paia (mile marker 0): Last stop to stop for gas before starting your journey. There would not be any gas stops ahead so better to fill it full.
- Twin falls (mile marker 2- entry will be closed while going, so stop by on return)
- Keanae penunsula (mile marker 16.8)
- Aunty Sandy’s banana bread (little detour) — A must try banana bread. Freshly made and delicious
- Ching’s pond (mile marker 16.9)
- Upper waikini falls/three bears falls (mile marker 19.5)
- Pua’a ka state wayside (mile marker 22.5) — Perfect spot to take a dip in the water
- Hanawai Falls (mile marker 24)
- Waianapanapa State Park/ Black Sand Beach (mile marker 32)
- Wailua falls (mile marker 45)
- Last stop (I would skip it and return back from mile marker 51/52 listed below on return route): seven sacred pools/The pools at ‘Ohe’o. Need to enter Haleakalā national park again to get here. The same parking lot also takes you to bamboo forest towards the end of Pipiwai Trail, which is around 4 mile hike roundtrip
Way back from Last stop (sacred pools) back to Paia:
- Stop at hamao beach (mile marker 52)/koki beach (mile marker 51)
- Stop at Hana for lunch (mile marker 42) — Thai food by Pranee highly recommended. Left by 2pm from Hana
- Stop by at coconut glens ice cream (mile marker 27.5)
- Twin falls (mile marker 2) —It has 2 hikes : Lower falls hike is short and quick, upper falls hike is a 2 mile roundtrip hike. It also has sugarcane juice/fruit stand at the entry so try it out. We were done by 5pm and left for Paia
- Go to mamas fish house — best restraurant in Hawai and a must try. Booking in advance is recommended.
Pro tip : When we were booking Mamas fish house before the trip, it was pre-booked for next 6 weeks so book it early in advace and do not miss this one. We went ahead before dinner time and were lucky to get a table before people with reservation started to come in.
- After mamas fish house, drive back a mile for hookipa lookout to see green sea turtles and enjoy sunset
Day 5: Fly out
- Wake up, spend some time at the beach/go swimming/snorkeling/surfing
- Fly back in the afternoon
Food recommendations in Maui: Ululanis Hawaiian Shave ice, Fish tacos at dukes, Mama’s fish house, Mill house, Lahaina grill, Merrimans Kapalua, Leilani’s and Kimo’s Maui
Share the itinerary with your family and friends. Have a great trip !!!
