A Complete Guide to Maui

Our Complete Guide to Exploring the Island of Maui (2024)

2/1/2023

After spending some time in Maui, we fell in love with the adventurous lifestyle on the island! After staying there for over a week, we were able to find plenty of things to do and places to eat that we 100% recommend, and will be stopping at if we ever make it back! Read on for our complete guide of where to stay when visiting Maui, the best places to eat on the island, and a handful of bucketlist activities you can do while exploring Maui (including the infamous Road to Hana!).

While in Maui we stayed at Lumeria Resort and loved it!

Our Essential Travel Resources :
There are a lot of travel companies out there, but some are better than others. These are our favorite websites and resources to help you plan an incredible trip.

For flights, we recommend using WayAway or Hopper to compare the cheapest dates to travel to your destination.

Car rentals comparisons are best through Discover Cars - just make sure to bring your international driver's permit with you if you're heading somewhere international!

We always use AGODA for hotels. They have an easy-to-use platform where you can compare the best rates.

To keep cell phone service if you're traveling internationally, we always use Airalo’s easy to purchase eSIM’s (no installation required), and always use NordVPN to stay safe while connecting to different wifi connections.

For fun things to do, we always recommend Viator to find the best tours in the area, otherwise Klook also does the trick, especially for tours in Asia.

Just in case, Safetywing is the insurance I always use for travel insurance.

Lastly, my packing list for your international or domestic travels.

Where to Stay in Maui

We can undoubtedly recommend the Lumeria Maui Retreat Center, which is where we stayed for a majority of our time on Maui. With great included breakfast (pictured above) and incredible health focused amenities and classes, we wish we could have stayed longer! However, we'll list some places below in case you aren't able to get a stay here.

Lahaina Places to Stay :

Paia Places to Stay :

Lumeria Maui Retreat Center
Paia Inn

We don't typically include places NOT to stay at, however for our last few nights in Maui we stayed at an Airbnb that was honestly terrible. We initially chose it because of how cheap it is and the reviews honestly seemed ok, however once we stayed we learned that the host bribes for an exchange of 5 star stays. We'll link it here but only so you know which one to stay away from! DO NOT stay at this Airbnb.

Our Favorite Tours on Maui :
- Road to Hana with Lunch
- Molokini with Turtle Town Snorkeling
- Haleakala Sunrise Tour with Breakfast

Best Places to Eat in Maui

There are SO MANY great places to eat throughout Maui, we've gone ahead and rounded up a list of our favorite stops from around the island! Read our complete list of the Best Places to Eat in Maui here!

The Boba Bar - a delicious boba tea bar in downtown Paia, they also have some great desserts like cookies!
Paia Fish Market Restaurant - another restaurant in downtown Paia (with another location in Lahaina) they seem to always have a line out the door, our favorite was the Mahi Burger!
Flatbread Company - a great flatbread pizza company right downtown Paia
Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice - Ululani's is known for having the best shaved ice on the island, we added mochi on ours and it was amazing!
Down the Hatch - located right on the main road in Lahaina, their Shrimp Po'Boy was amazing!
Belle Surf Cafe - an adorable cafe tucked away right off the main street in Lahaina, they have great smoothie bowls!
Wailuku Coffee Company - a local coffee shop with great breakfast sandwiches, wraps, and bagels!
Pearl's Korean BBQ - located inside the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center food court, they had some great bibimbap and dumpling soup!
7/11 or ABC Stores - yes ok I know how weird this sounds, BUT these two places have the best spam musubis, and they're the perfect snack or meal!

Best Things to Do in Maui

In addition to having so many great places to eat, there are an incredible amount of bucketlist activities to do there as well! Check out our complete list of the 10 Best Things to Do on Maui here!

Waterfall Rappelling - Hands down the most incredible adventure we did during our time in Hawaii. We went through Rappel Maui and they were the best hosts. The perks of this adventure is it goes RAIN OR SHINE - even though it was pouring we did 3 rappels! Also - fun fact - this valley is where Jurassic Park was filmed in Maui!
Sunset & Stargazing at Haleakala NP - A bucket list experience for sure, and no athletic skills required. Begin by following the Maui Stargazing van from outside the park (depending on the year and requirements from Haleakala National Park), you'll then have to pay the park fee as you follow the van in. Typically $30 per car. End the night getting expertly coached in the star formations and seeing planets, stars, galaxies, comets, meteors and even other moons in the night sky.
Whale Watching & Snorkeling - We have to be 100% honest here, we've been on 6 whale watching tours before this one and none have ever come close to how amazed we were on this tour. Not only did we see multiple babies and whales breaching in what seemed like every direction, while we were snorkeling we even heard whales underwater and saw a whale breach while we were still in the water! We highly recommend this 2 in 1 tour through Hawaii Ocean Rafting!
Clean Up Beaches with PAC Whale - There's nothing more epic than doing your part to help clean up local beaches - it's completely free and only takes about an hour of your time. In order to help out head to any Pacific Whale Foundation store and pick up a free beach clean up kit, then choose any beach and get to work. Throw away the bag in any garbage can, return the form (digitally or in person at one of their stores) and receive a free recycled tote bag!
Drive the West Loop - The roads can get very tight, so we recommend driving only if you're confident - however the views are very rewarding and there are many stops and hikes along the way. We definitely recommend checking out Nakalele Blowhole, Nakalele Lighthouse and Honokoau Lookout.
Paragliding & Ali'i Kula Lavender Field - Although we weren't able to do the paragliding on this trip, we've definitely saved it for the next time we're in Maui. Not only would these be some of the most EPIC views ever, but their tandem instructors make this the perfect spot to try paragliding for the first time! Plus, their landing zone is directly across the street from the Ali'i Kula Lavender Field. The field itself might not be the most impressive, but at only $3 each we weren't disappointed. We also had a blast at their cafe trying all their lavender infused items (coffee, tea, honey, brownies, potato chips, etc.)!
Drive the Road to Hana - There's a reason the Road to Hana made it to the last spot on our list. Considered one of the most dangerous roads in the world, many of the turns are complete 180's - and only just barely fit a single car. You can read our Complete Guide to the Road to Hana here!