Getting there
Hawaii is very far from anywhere; in particular, from Boston. If you are going to Maui, there is an airport right there in Kahului (OGG), you don't have to fly to Honolulu first. The total flying time would be about 12 hours, which I guess is doable as a direct flight (same length as to Israel). A major difference, though, is that they won't feed you on the plane - "because this is a domestic flight". Yes, on a 12-hour flight too, most likely... they sure didn't feed us on our 8-hour one. If you happen to have a direct flight from the East Coast, look into the food situation.
In any case, there are no direct flights from Boston, so you have to change planes somewhere. We chose Dallas, TX, which made the first leg of out flight 4 hours and the second 8. (If you change in California, you'll have 6 and 6, which might be easier.) We chose to have a 3-hour layover between flights, which gave us plenty of time for a very good lunch at Reata Grill in the Dallas airport. On the way back, we had less time in Dallas (under 2 hours), which was beside the point because at 4:30 am everything was closed, except Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. At least in our area of the airport. Nevertheless, the way back was easier somehow: maybe because of shorter flying times (7 hours and 3.5), maybe because we were better rested... In either case, we subsisted on sandwiches and snacks that we took with us.
Hawaii is very serious about cross-contamination, therefore you are not allowed to bring any fruit or vegetables IN or OUT. So don't line that cold cuts sandwich with lettuce or tomato, you'll have to throw out the whole thing. Alex was worried about sogginess and packed sliced vegetables separately, so when he had to throw them away at the airport's "agricultural inspection checkpoint", at least the rest of our food survived... This is only a concern during the return trip, though, because on the way in you'll obviously eat the whole thing way before landing in Hawaii :)
Travel guide
We used Maui Revealed (by Andrew Doughty), which is THE definitive travel guide that everybody seems to use. As somebody who writes for a living, I think this guy should be smacked upside the head repeatedly until he finally learns to stay on the subject. He has a lot of solid and helpful facts there (his opinions is a different matter), but getting them out and lining them up in a way that makes sense is a hard job.
I've also discovered that whenever he gives directions to a place he always seems to miss at least one important step. Several times trying to follow his directions led us nowhere (or to a completely wrong place) - and we were repeatedly rescued by strangers along the way who helped us get to where we were going. (Haven't I already mentioned that people in Hawaii are kind and helpful?) I will try to point out his omissions in describing how to get to the places where we've been.
To reflect my complex feelings about the book and its author, and to give credit (good or otherwise) where credit's due, I will attribute information gleaned from Maui Revealed to "Andrew" throughout my notes. So don't be surprised with phrases like: "Andrew suggests..." or "According to what Andrew says..."
Maui geography and where to stay
For practical purposes, you can think of the island of Maui as consisting of two unequal circles: a bigger one on the right (East), and a smaller one on the left (West), with very little of interest in between. The circles are more or less aligned at the top (North), and that's where the airport is. There is a huge volcano in the middle of each circle (both volcanoes are dormant; the one on the right is bigger and younger, it last erupted in 1790). As far as tourists are concerned, there is more or less just one road in each half of the island, leading along the edge of the ocean. Most of the towns are located along the edge. In the eastern half there are also a couple of towns about halfway up the mountain, with a couple of roads leading to them, and one road leading ultimately all the way to the top of Mt. Haleakala.
Tourists live either along the left edge of the left circle, which is called West Maui, or along the LEFT edge of the right circle (which is bigger than the left one, and therefore extends more to the South): this is called South Maui. On the East coast, there is only the town of Hana. You can probably spend a night or two there if you don't want to make the famous "Road to Hana" trip all in one day, but otherwise it is too far from everywhere. Still, if all you want is nature, hiking, swimming, and comparative lack of tourists, staying in Hana might be an option.
On the opposite pole of this is West Maui: that's where you'll find most of the resorts, beaches, nightlife, and teeming humanity. The only town on the island that claims to have a downtown is Lahaina. It has a main street lined with shops and restaurants, and IS the place to go for all kinds of entertainment. The town just to the north of Lahaina boasts the most prominent beach on Maui (Ka'anapali beach), with a lot of resorts and a beautiful but very busy boardwalk.
South Maui, in my opinion, is the happy medium. Especially South Kihei, which is where we stayed. It has its own share of restaurants and souvenir shops (although nowhere near as crowded as in West Maui), the beaches there are just as good or even better than in the West part, and certainly provide much more personal space. We were there in April, which is admittedly not the high season, but the beach across the road from our condo (Kamaole II) was almost empty and allowed for very nice swimming and snorkeling. We even saw turtles right there, several times. In Kihei you stay in condos, not in resorts, and thus have your privacy while still being close to everywhere. Also, the weather in South Maui is better: least rainy.
South of Kihei there are 2 more towns: Wailea and Makena. Wailea is all about posh resorts and golf. Makena seems to have fewer condos and is not touristy at all. They both are more remote, and also much more expensive.
Whatever you do, don't stay in Ma'alea and North Kihei. This is one of the facts that Andrew (the author of Maui Revealed) got right: these places are downwind from a lot of sugar fields, and when they burn a field and harvest the sugar cane (which is apparently the standard operating procedure), there is a lot of smoke and dust. We saw a field burning one day (and saw/smelled the sugar plant working nonstop, as we were driving north of Kihei, on our way elsewhere), and this was not pleasant. We also saw big road signs "SMOKE AND DUST" near Ma'alea...
Where to eat
Everybody gripes about the food on Maui. Groceries are expensive. Restaurants are even more expensive, also the food is mediocre. Our experience proves this not to be quite true.
If you stay in a condo, you can eat right on your lanai (balcony). That's what we did most of the time. Sure, the groceries are a bit more expensive there than in Boston. Well, include the difference in your vacation price tag... It is not that bad, really. There are supermarkets right in South Kihei (we shopped at Safeway, but there is also Foodland that's open 24 hours) and in West Maui, where the prices are quite reasonable, and there is absolutely no need to go grocery shopping at Costco or K-Mart (as Andrew suggests) unless this is what rocks your boat.
Because we could eat so well at home, I decided to only go to restaurants if they provided added value: not just a meal, but a view, ambience, unique experience... And I've got to say: there are quite a few good restaurants on Maui. We've been lucky with every single one we went to. But of course, I did a lot of research first. Mostly on TripAdvisor, but I've got to give Andrew some credit as well. Generally, his comments about the places we tried were spot-on.
Here are the restaurants we recommend:
- Antonio's: in South Kihei, in the Long's Drugs plaza. The first evening upon arrival we were too exhausted to cook, and it was just a few minutes from our condo. No view and no ambiance, but spotlessly clean, with good, attentive service, and the food was absolutely delicious! Italian - and I don't mean pizza: the type of food you get in Italy, veal, variety of good pasta, traditional antipasti and soups - the ultimate comfort food... And the prices are unbelievably low for Maui. Andrew said not to get the calamari and we didn't. Everything else was melt-in-your-mouth good.
- Sarento's on the Beach: another Italian place, but this one with more of a local flavor. Seared ahi appetizer, entrees featuring local fish, and local vegetables along with more traditional Italian dishes. Located so far south in Kihei that it is almost Wailea - most importantly, located right on the beach, with a beautiful view of sunset. Make a reservation for about half an hour before sunset and make sure to ask for a beachside table, this way you'll just have enough time to order and can then enjoy watching the show.
- 808 Bistro: in South Kihei, in one of the little strip malls along the South Kihei Road, less than 5 minutes walk from our condo. Relatively inexpensive, reasonably good food ("New American"), BYOB ($5 corking fee; that is, you come with your own bottle and they charge you $5 to open it, but this is still much less expensive than buying the same bottle at restaurant prices). They have no view to speak of, tucked behind a strip mall among some bushes, but they do have a terrace, and after dark - with the candles burning and the tall bushes rustling around, the ambiance is quite nice.
- Leilani's Beachside Grill: at Ka'anapali beach in West Maui, at the Whalers Village. There is a restaurant too, with an indoors seating and a more formal menu, but we stopped for lunch at the outdoor terrace, after snorkeling near the Black Rock. Great ambiance: gardenlike setting right next to the boardwalk, ocean view and people watching at the same time. Delicious lunch menu of fancy salads, sandwiches, a couple of simple entrees (including fresh local catch), and nice desserts.
- Pacific'o: in Lahaina, on the beach. Contemporary Pacific cuisine, "farm to table" philosophy, highly rated by foodies and right on the beach, with beautiful sunset views. We had dinner there one night, and actually I liked the view even more than the food. The food was good; the view was spectacular. There happened to be an actual wedding on the beach being conducted literally in front of our table... the bride and groom well in their fifties, I'd say, and a small party of their relatives and friends, less than a dozen total. The priest, or whoever (shaman?) blowing into a humongous seashell. Then, as soon as the wedding was over, the sunset show began...
- Honu: also in Lahaina, right on the water edge. "Honu" means "turtle" in Hawaiian, and the restaurant is well named: as we were having lunch on the deck, turtles were constantly poking their heads out of the water, as if to say "goodbye" (this was our farewell lunch, on the last day in Maui). Food was delicious, and so were the cocktails.
