First trip to Maui with Kids
 

Hi. This is our first trip to Maui. Going 2nd week in March for one week with our three kids, 12, 10, 7. Would love suggestions on things to do, must sees, places to dine that are not too expensive, kid friendly and have good food. Staying at the Westin Maui. Thanks for the suggestions.

I liked sunrise on Haleakala, Road to Hana & beyond to Seven Pools, Iao Valley and strolling Lahaina.

www.mauihawaii.org Great Maui site.

www.visitmaui.com They will send a free brochure.

www.gohawaii.com They will send a free brochure.

www.thisweek.com This Week on Maui XXX

www.spotlighthawaii.com Maui Gold XXX

www.101thingstodo.com 101 Things to do on Maui XXX

XXX - These three also have free hard copy brochures that you can get at airport baggage area or other places on Maui. Lots of coupons in the brochures.

www.driveguidemagazines.com Good maps including several detailed maps. Good restaurant guide.

www.alternative-hawaii.com Good narrative drive guides including Road to Hana.

www.hawaiiweb.com

Activities/attractions:

www.hawaiifun.org

www.hawaiiactivities.com

Buy a copy of 'Maui Revealed'.

Please build in lots of pool and beach time. I'm not sure that all that driving would be much fun for that age group. You are talking most of the day in the car for Haleakala and all day for the Hana drive.
Asnorkel boat to Molokini or a whale watch would be cool.

You'll have a great time.

On our last trip, we took a family surfing lesson. It was great fun. Our kids were 7 and 9 at the time.

When you want to take a little break from the beach and sun, the Maui Aquarium is spectacular. Don't miss the feeding of the rays. The scuba divers that are in the tank have earphones and microphones, so they will interact with the audience.

Unless your kids like very (very, very, very!) long winding roads, you may want to stay away from the road to Hana. It will take the entire day.

A fun freebie is to go to Hookipa beach and just watch the world class windsurfers in action. It's near the airport.

If your kids are like most, they would just rather stay on the beach or in the pool most of the day.

Enjoy!

Aloha, Joanne1928;
You're going to have great time! We took our kids and had lots of fun. Renting boogie boards and snorkeling were favorites. Our oldest wanted to kayak, so we took a half-day with Ron Bass, http://www.maui.net/~kayaking/, to teach the rest of us. He was great with the kids.

We all liked "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" in Lahaina, and Whaler's Village in Ka'anapali has a shopping center with a food court type area--good for kids. We also went to turtle Island on a snorkel boat, and saw whales. Just going to the beach was fun for the kids.

You can look and see if the gold card at www.goldcard.hawaiifun.org is worthwhile for the activities you are considering. It saved us money, as did the Hawaii Entertainment book.

We enjoyed Lahaina, the Atlantis Sub tour, and the road to Hana. The Sugar Cane train wasn't worthwhile. My kids enjoyed their surf lesson with Goofy Foot surf lessons. My kids really liked Mama's Fish House.

I don't know where the Westin is but For snorkeling, we absolutely loved Honolua Bay when we were in Maui Our group ranged in age from 7 yrs. to 64 yrs. Honolua Bay is north of Lahaina and is a marine preserve so there are lots of fish who are not too worried about people. We saw turtles, eels, and even squid/octopi (I don't know the difference). It is a cove so there was not a strong current when we were there. My guidebook says the snorkeling is best in the morning and calm spring, summer, & fall - I don't know if early March qualifies as "Spring". My family all agreed that it was like being in a National Geographic special. Take hwy 30 north of Lahaina past D.T. Fleming Beach Park. You'll see a Mokuleia-Honolua Marine Reserve sign near a parking area. Go past this just a little ways and watch for a tiny dirt side road on the left. There will probably be other cars parked there. Park by the road and take the trail/dirt road in. The trail is an easy walk and absolutely lovely. The Snorkel Bob shops may even have a free print out map. We felt so pleased with ourselves for walking in for free when we saw one of those snorkel tour catamarans that people pay a tidy little sum for.

We thought that the Paradise Family Guide Maui, by Christi Stilson was very helpful in planning fun w/ the kids.

Our kids also loved Bubba Gump Shrimp (touristy, but fun) For a nice restaurant with a kids menu, try Roy's. There are 3 on Maui, (we prefer Roys Nicolina) For about 14 bucks, the kids get a 3 course meal, and the regular menu is terrific. Its a bit pricey, but a nice special meal. If you travel north to Napili, there is a fantastic and filling breakfast place called The Gazebo, right on the water, they ring a bell if whales are spotted. Kids love it. The Westins a nice place, have a great trip.