My future husband and I are planning our honeymoon for March 2001. We plan on staying 3 nights in Maui. We don't want to stay longer than that because we are going on to The Big Island and there's so much there that we want to see. We will only be in Hawaii for 9 days and we are going to only 2 islands. We want to experience deapth rather than breadth.

We can't decide between staying in Wailea (at the Renaissance or Outrigger most likely) or staying in Hana at in a small cottage. Can you help us by answering these questions?

1. How far is Wailea from Hana? I can't really tell from my map.

2. We want to go somewhere quiet and relaxing -- but we also want good food & wine (we don't have to have it at our hotel). Are there good places to eat in Hana? or do you have to cook for yourself?

3. We don't want to be around a lot of kids or crowds. We will be honeymooning after all! Is Wailea crowded? Are the pools full of kids?

4. We would like to swim in the Ocean -- but we are going to the Big Island after Maui, and can swim there. Would we be able to swim in Hana?

5. How far is Hana from Halekea? We want to do the bike ride down the mountain.

6. Based on the first five questions, do you think that we should maybe go to Kuai instead?

Thanks! Any other tips that would help us make this decision would be great.

Kat

Hi Kat. The length of time it takes to get from Wailea to Hana varies depending on when you go (how crowded the roads are) and how many times you stop to see things on the way. The "road to Hana" is only 2 lanes, curving and narrow, with lots of one-lane bridges, and has lots of sights such as waterfalls that are visible right from the road so traffic slows a great deal in some areas. We were told to allow anywhere from 2.5-4 hours each way. We left around 8:30 a.m. and arrived in Hana around 12:30 pm, but that was with a few short stops at a couple of waterfalls and the black sand beach. We went on past Hana to O'heo Gulch ("seven sacred pools") and Lindbergh's grave and then drove the "back way" around Maui back to Wailea, and it took us about the same amount of time to get back -- 4 hours. We left Hana at 1 pm and were back in Wailea by 5 pm. It was a lot of driving but I was glad we did it. While the road to Hana is gorgeous, I personally am glad that we stayed in Wailea rather than Hana. The reason is that there is nothing that great about Hana itself. What is great is the journey, not the destination. Aside from a general store, a large hotel, and a few homes, Hana doesn't have a whole lot. The scenery on the way is really pretty though (especially along the north shore). Personally, I would recommend staying in Wailea instead. It is more accessible to everything on the island than Hana is. Also, staying in Wailea gives you a lot more options in terms of restaurants than Hana would. We did not find Wailea crowded at all. We did not see many kids at the Renaissance Wailea. It seemed like more families with kids stayed up in the Lahaina-Kaanapali area, or at the larger resorts with kid-oriented pool areas. If you want to avoid kids, I would recommend Renaissance over the Outrigger. Also, I thought Renaissance had a better beach.

Regarding swimmability of beaches -- this varies with the weather, which way the winds are blowing, etc. in terms of how rough the surf is. I'm not sure anyone could tell you that you can definitely swim on any particular beach at a particular time of year because it seemed pretty variable with each day. We were able to swim in Wailea at the time we were there this month. We didn't try to swim in Hana so I don't know.

Kauai is great. We liked it a bit more than Maui. It is smaller and the scenery is a bit more dramatic in my opinion (especially the NaPali coast). There are probably more top-notch restaurants on Maui than on Kauai though. It's a tough call. You would have a great time on either one.

Kat,
Good post above, I just have a few things to add. Hana is a quiet and relaxing place to stay, but if you only have only 3 nights on Maui, I'd definitely stay in Wailea if you want to do the Haleakala bike ride. Hana is just too far away, especially if you're going up Haleakala for the sunrise. You could drive the Hana road as a day trip on one of your days, and do the bike ride and enjoy the Wailea beaches on another.

There are very few places to eat in Hana, aside from the overpriced Hotel Hana Maui. There are some beautiful and unusual beaches there, including a black sand beach and a red sand beach, but the swimming is likely to be better in Wailea.

Hana is less crowded and more visually beautiful than Wailea. That said, I would recommend Wailea for you. we stayed at the Renassaince last March and found it to be a beautiful, peaceful hotel. Despite the March crowds in Maui during that time, the Renassaince did not feel crowded to us at all (and it was full). I think it would be just fine for a honeymoon. And compared to Hana, its much easier to get everywhere you want to go visit for a three day trip to Maui.

i actually have the opposite point of view.
i liked maui. notice i say liked, not loved, not thought i'd died and went to tropical heaven. if you have been to any one of the nicer caribbean islands, maui is similar. very built up....anyhow, with 4 days in maui, you could feasibly do 2 days in wailea, get the whole big resort thing going on, see lahaina, etc. then you can drive to hana, and spend two nights there.
for my money, if i ever went back to maui, i would fly right into hana and stay there. it's tropical paradise, what you think hawaii should look like.
where are you staying on the big island?

Edie -- pray tell -- just WHAT islands in the Caribbean do you really think match Maui?

maybe not for the scenery along the hana highway, but as far as the major built up resort areas of kaanapali and kapalua, pretty much any tropical resort can stand in. we stayed at the Ritz, and i can think of many similar hotels with nice pools, nice views,nice service.
all i am saying is that for that dream hawaii experience that everyone talks maui up to be, i was disappointed.
i didn't like the traffic, the big hotels, etc.

Hi. I spent my honeymoon on Maui last July. It was perfect. We stayed at the Maui Prince at the extreme southern end of Wailea - last hotel actually. I recommend it highly for couples. We drove all over the island though so saw most of what Maui has to offer - which is a lot!
1. Hana is about a 4 hour drive from Wailea.
2. Both are quiet and relaxinga and beautiful but Hana is isolated from everything. Very limited wining and dining.
3. Neither place is crowded.
4. Swimming in the Wailea area was perfect. Water temperature was 79. We took the catamaran cruise from our hotel to Molokini to snorkel - underwater visibility was 100 feet - FANTASTIC.
My personal vote would be Wailea.
Whichever you choose, have a wonderful honeymoon!
Kim.