Prepare for your magical island trip on Maui
Maui has a special place in my heart. It has been over a 10 year love of this island, from annual trips, getting proposed to and married on Maui there, have been a lot of great highlights.
There is so much good food and many activities so sharing top recommendations below!
I hope that you will also fall in love with the island just as much as I have. 😊
Top things I recommend
1. EAT!
There is so much great food on the island. Below are some of my MUST GO locations
Breakfast:
Kihei Caffe (Neighborhood: Kihei) Go early. My favorite dishes are the loco moco with pork fried rice and the cinnamon bun. They have large portions so I suggest you split with another person if you are going in a group. If not, leftovers are always yummy from this place.
Nalu's South Shore Grill (Neighborhood: Kihei) In the Azeka shopping center, this is right next to the hardware store. My favorite dish is the big kahuna omelet: 3 egg omelet with our homemade Maui Island portuguese sausage, homemade kimchee, fried rice and green onions.
Kraken Coffee (Neighborhood: Kihei) Delicious coffee truck. My favorite was the Mocha Wao which was a white chocolate macadamia nut mocha.
Akamai Coffee (Neighborhood: Wailea and Kihei locations) Their signature roast is delicious and also great to bring home.
Brekkie Bowls or Choice Health Bar (Neighborhood: Lahiana): Great and delicious açaí bowls.
Island Vintage Coffee (Neighborhood: Lahiana): Great coffee and açaí bowls.
Ka’ana Kitchen (Neighborhood: Wailea) Located in the Andaz Maui, this place has delicious breakfast and dinner.
For breakfast, they have an amazing buffet assortment of items (favorites were the mochi pancakes, fresh fruit juices)
For dinner, I loved the fried chicken with butter mochi and Kona Kanpachi Crudo)
Lunch:
Geste Shrimp (Neighborhood: Kahului) This is a food truck located near the airport that serves delicious shrimp plates. One shrimp plate has 12 shrimp pieces with rice and macaroni salad. Two of my favorite plates are the hot&spicy and the spicy pineapple. I suggest that you head there after you land but first check their hours and bring cash.
Eskimo Candy (Neighborhood: Kihei) This is one of the best poke bowls on the island. Their poke special has 4 different kinds of ahi poke: shoyu, wasabi, furikake, and spicy tuna served over white rice with wasabi aioli.
Jazzy's Kitchen Mexican foodtruck (Neighborhood: Kihei) The best fish tacos on the island. So yummy and their mango salsa is to die for. Pick up some tacos on the way or after your day of fun at Big Beach.
Snacks
Leoda's Kitchen and Pie Shop (Neighborhood: Lahiana) or Maui Pie (Neighborhood: Kihei) Depending on which side of the island you are at, each of these locations have the tastiest pies. You cannot go wrong.
Sugar Beach Bakery (Neighborhood: Kihei) This is our favorite places to get spam musubi’s and malasadas. They have spam, spicy spam and Portuguese sausage musubi’s. Their malasadas are super yummy as well, my favorite flavors are the li hing mui and vanilla filled.
Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice (Neighborhood: Lahiana and Kihei) The best shave ice on the island. Get it with macadamia nut ice cream.
Dinner:
Treehouse Dining Experience (Neighborhood: Wailea) At the Hotel Wailea, this dinner option is only available via reservation through the hotel. You get to enjoy 7-course private chef dinner in a treehouse overlooking the beautiful ocean. Chef Krista and David were AMAZING.
The Mill House (Neighborhood: Kahului) Delicious drinks, appetizers and entrees on the Maui Tropical Plantation. If you get to sit outside, you will get the views of the Waikapū Valley. My favorite dishes were the pork musubi and beef bone marrow.
Mama’s Fishhouse (Neighborhood: Paia) You HAVE to make a reservation ASAP and take whatever time and date they have available. It’s THAT good. My favorite dish was the Mama’s stuffed fish (stuffed with lobster and crab, baked in a macadamia nut crust) and the Polynesian Black Pearl (lilikoi chocolate mousse served in a pastry shell)
Matteo's Osteria (Neighborhood: Wailea) If you are craving Italian, look no further, this place is delicious and a hidden oasis. My favorites were Fettuccine Frutti Di Mare and G’s meatballs.
Top Things To Do
Check out the sunrise or sunset Mount Haleakala (you feel like you are up in the clouds on top of the world) Tip: You need to get a permit if you are driving up there yourself. For those that may want more of an adventure, you can also book a tour and bicycle down the mountain after the sun rises. For this excursion, you will need to wake up early so I recommend that you add this to the earlier part of your trip when you will still be jet lagged due to the time zone change.
Drive the Road to Hana. Check out all of the stops to get yummy breads, candies and meet the nice locals. If you have time, I suggest you try to break this excursion into two days. Most folks do this in one day but I suggest you break this up into two days and stay at a hotel or Airbnb in between. One trip we had broken this up into two days and were one of the firsts to enjoy the Bamboo Forest.
Beach day at Big Beach. Recommend you rent some beach chairs from Storkel Bob’s in Kihei and head to this beach early to hang out at the beach. This beach is very spacious. Make sure to find the second entrance.
Self care day at Spa Grande. Their individual baths in the terme area is so peaceful. You get to go an hour before your treatment to enjoy the baths, jacuzzi and sauna. Before your treatment, you also get a 5 minute exfoliation scrub . I also recommend that you go ten minutes before your treatment starts to enjoy the lanai.
Do a helicopter tour with GoFlyMaui, it is an open helicopter that has capacity for the pilot and 3 others max . Pilot Nick and his wife Magen were very kind and super knowledgable of the island and the ride was very safe. We went in the beginning of January and saw a circular rainbow, whales and a lot of the island in the early morning.
Schedule time for photos with Anna Kim if you want the most amazing photos of your family, trip or celebrations. She was our proposal and wedding photographer, she has the ability to capture the most epic sunsets, rainbows and genuine love that couples and families share.
Shortcut: All of my favorite spots are also included in this Google list, feel free to add these on your list by clicking here
If you have also traveled to Maui, I would love to learn from you!
Please share your tips 👇🏼