reces

We are planning trip to Maui for 10 days. Please let me know what you think of our itin.

Day 1: ARV HNL, DPT HNL to OGG, p/u rental car (convertible ??-$$$$), Shopco, condo in Kaanapali.

Day 2: Rent snorkel gear at Snork. Bob's or Maui Dive Shop, snorkel Black Rock & beach near condo, Old Lahaina Lua.

Day 3: Road to Hana (full circle), visiting Maui Revealed hot spots, visit winery.

Day 4: Relax, snorkel explore.

Day 5: Relax, snorkel, fishbowl.

Day 6: Sunrise at Haleakala, Pony Express into Volcano (4 hrs w/lunch).

Day 7: Dolphin Daywatch to Lanai, snorkel, with a boat company to be determined.

Day 8: Relax, snorkel, explore.

Day 9: Explore Blow hole, etc in that area

Day 10.

Day 11: DPT OGG for HNL ~7:00, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Waikiki, Diamond Head, ~6:00 p.m. DPT HNL for home.

Sometime in there we will go to Mama's Fish House for sure but all other eateries are open at this time. We are not having fun with rental car prices for convertibles and are thinking about just getting a taurus.

Is there anything blaring in our itin. that we need to do or be aware of? Thanks bunches.

JohnD

Itinerary looks great!!! Since you are into snorkeling, if you have not been to Maui Ocean Center suggest you check it out.

With regard to day 11, we found it difficult to do Diamond Head hike after doing the Pearl Harbor tour, it gets real hot up there even as early as 10AM.

Alamo usually has special rates for convertibles in HI. _

tcapp

If there's any way you can bring your snorkle gear with you, you'll save quite a bit of money. Just a thought.

reces

Yeah, we realize our last day will be exhausting, but we will be exhaused (and depressed) our last day anyway, so we decided to make the Oahu trip as part of our travel day. After all the hiking on Maui, we prolly won't hike Diamond Head, but just drive up there.

As far as rentals, we are now considering just renting a convertible for 2-3 days and then getting a weekly on a taurus or something. Save more $$.

We don't have snorkel gear. We have only snorkeled (on honeymoon) in Caribbean (7 yrs ago). So, we are rookies. Any suggestions for best snorkel gear for beginners?

logandog

I love to see Maui plans with relaxation built in to them.Most of the posted plans seem hectic to me.
Just rent your gear at the weekly rate and you won't spend that much. You might want to buy a mask at home with a good fit.

iamq

Bravo for planning so many "relax, snorkel and explore" days! So many itineraries posted here make my head swim. It is so easy to overplan because there are so many incredible things to do. The snorkeling at Kapalua beach is superb! We bring our snorkel stuff with us when we go. Over the long haul I have saved a lot of money by having my own. Have a great trip!

JohnD

Hey reces,
The best snorkel gear is the one with the mask that fits your face without leaking, supposedly the best place to get a proper fitting is at a dive shop.$)

If you wear glasses, I have heard you can also get prescription masks and I have seen some new interesting snorkel tubes with a self sealing end if you dive underwater-have not tried personally.

You mentioned shopco, but I believe Costco has snorkel gear on Maui, and I recall Walmart on Maui had reasonable looking cheap snorkel gear. Personally we pack our gear for sanitary reasons (don't like idea of sharing snorkel tube) and use the cheap stuff (US Divers) and follow Maui Revealed tip about using Vaseline (e.g. lip cream tube w/ SPF) along the lip of the mask to seal it to your face. We usually rent fins locally instead of packing them. Also we periodically we find that Alamo or Dollar has special rate codes for convertible rentals in Hawaii.

iamq

JohnD: I have a prescription mask and one of those snorkel tubes that you mention and they both work great! The dive shop I bought the mask at actually had replacement glass pieces in -1 diopters up to -4 diopters, so I did not have to have one made. The dive shop just popped it into the mask and that was it.

JohnD

Thanks for the info. iamq! One of these days I'll upgrade. Forgot to mention that a dive shop also will likely have Sea Buff to clean masks before applying Sea Gold antifog gel to help reduce fogging and eliminate the need for expectorating in the mask.

reces

Thanks for the reinforcement of relaxation. Most replies to itineraries stress more relaxing than planning, so that's what we're gonna do. I'm sure our days will be filled.

As rookies, we haven't really considered purchasing snorkel gear, but maybe we should because we will certainly take other snorkeling trips. Should we just wait and shop Costco or Kmart in Maui or should we shop at home?

Thanks for the advice

iamq

I bought mine from a local dive shop here at home. For good fins, a great mask with prescription lens and snorkel I spent around $150.00. Having a knowledgable salesperson help me with the mask was worth the extra $$.

JohnD

If you have space in your luggage I would shop around on the mainland and bring own gear, except for the fins, rather than waste precious time on Maui deciding which and where to buy. With regard to fins we found not all locations on Maui have the special fins (diver fins?) that have a separate boot and fin, which I really would have liked to had on our last Oct. trip to Maui as I got cut up while trying to exit over the lava at La Perouse Bay. I recall that Maui Dive shop claims they have a warehouse with those special 2 piece fins.

riggsie

We always rent from Maui Dive Shop at Whalers Village ...they have other locations too. They always take time to fit you properly and in December 2003, I tried the optical mask.. it was great..We will be leaving in 11 days and will rent from them again. Their upgrade gear with anti-fog squirt bottle and boogie board for the week seems to be the best deal.

sweetj

Re your itinerary, I have a few suggestions. I lived in Hawaii for 18 years (5 of them on Maui), and was in the travel business there (selling tours to tourists), so I know quite a bit about it.

Day 2- small correction, it's the Old Lahaina LUAU (not lua...a lua is a bathroom). And it's fabulous.

Day 3- the Road to Hana (Full Circle). Please be advised that the contract you sign with the car rental company forbids you from taking the car off the road (state road). If you do drive off the road and have a problem, they will NOT come and get you, and you will have to find a way to get the car back to their lot on your own. About 15 miles past Hana, past O'heo Gulch (aka 7 Sacred pools...which aren't sacred by any means) the state road ends, and the road that's there is on PRIVATE PROPERTY, and you're not allowed to go on it. So, if you do intend to do the Full Circle, basically you're tresspassing. The tour companies have contracts with the owners of the land, so they can legally cross it. A lot of it isn't paved, and it goes through cattle country, and there are occasional road washouts. I was on a tour van that was allowed back there, and while on the road we had to stop and pick up a couple whose rental car had a problem and had BURNED to the ground. If we hadn't picked them up, they would have been out there all night with no shelter. Incidentally, the people who live in Maui are pretty ticked off at Maui Revealed. There's lots of complaints from local people who are sick of tourists traipsing through their yards (trampling their gardens and littering) looking for sights.

Day 6- I have taken the Pony Express ride into Haleakala, and it is amazing. Seeing what look like small cindercones from the top of the crater and then going to the bottom of the crater...and realizing they are 60 stories high, it really takes your breath away. Please remember that the temperature at sunrise is below freezing (you're at 10,000 feet), so dress in layers. A jacket or sweatshirt and long pants are essential. If you're not used to riding, your butt is going to be pretty sore by the end of the trip. (mine was)

Day 11- How are you planning to see the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor? By car? Where are you planning to put your luggage? The US government website has issued warnings to tourists about doing just that, because there have been many auto break-ins at the parking lot. In addition, you aren't allowed to bring bags, etc. onto the memorial.

Other than that, you've planned a lot of days relaxing and snorkeling, and that's fabulous. Enjoy Maui. One more thing...don't forget your sunblock. It's easy to get burned.

sweetj

Sorry, I figured that since I brought up the Arizona Memorial thing on my reply above, I should give you the information:

If you look up Arizona Memorial on the Internet, you'll get: http://www.nps.gov/usar/
That?s the national park service info for the memorial.

The following is the new security info for the Memorial. "Parking is available. If you are are driving yourselves, call 808-422-0561, you'll get a recorded announcement that tells you which exits to take to get to there. If you want to speak to someone, call 808-422-2771, and then dial 0. Remember, they're on Hawaii time. Their offices are open from 7:30am-5pm, which is 12:30pm to 10pm Eastern Standard Time.
Due to the terrorist attacks on the United States and the location of the USS Arizona Memorial on an active military base, strict security measures are currently being enforced. No purses, handbags, fanny packs, backpacks, camera bags, diaper bags, luggage or other items that offer concealment are allowed in the visitor center or on the memorial. Strollers with pockets and compartments must be empty before being allowed in the visitor center. Personal cameras are allowed. Baggage storage is not available and there are no alternatives in the local area for bag storage. Valuables should not be left in parked vehicles in the parking lots. (and this is Judy speaking now...because there have been a lot of thefts from cars here recently!)
The USS Arizona Memorial visitor center's operating hours are 7:30 am to 5:00 pm seven days a week. The park is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. The first tour begins at 8:00 am and the last tour begins at 3:00 pm. The tour lasts approximately 75 minutes and includes a film and Navy boat to the memorial. Tours are free, first come, first serve and wait times for tours may exceed two hours. Visitors should plan to arrive at the visitor center no later than 12:00 pm during busy times of the year.
For further information, please call (808) 422-0561.

reces

sweetj - yeah I noticed later that I forgot the u in luau. Sure don't want to eat in the bathroom!

First of all, of course we love Maui Revealed's info, maps and advice. However, we have heard stories about upset citizens of Maui having their property trashed. We DO NOT want to do that to anyone's property. However, we have also heard great reports about the views, etc. on the back side of the Road to Hana. Are there No Trespassing or Private Property signs posted? Do the residents really NOT want ppl on the road? And what about other areas revealed in the book that may be private property? How are we to know whether it is private or not. Are there signs posted around the island? Help us be polite!!!

On our Oahu visit, we haven't really decided how to work out the luggage, logistics, etc. If we book our flights HNL to OGG back to HNL as a package, then won't our luggage be "forwarded" by the airline for our next flight out that night as it would have been checked from OGG-HNL-BNA? We were thinking maybe we could rent "lockers" at the airport to put our carry on luggage, rent a car and drive around Oahu.

Thanks for the Arizona Memorial information. We had read about purses, etc. One website I read, (hawaiivacationsite.com) says the security policy regarding purses, fannypacks, etc. has been relaxed but can be reimplemented at any time.

And by the way, sweetj, as you are well-versed in maui vacations, what do you think of us flying "through" HNL so that we don't "waste" a day travelling to Oahu. This way, we just use it as part of our return trip. Is that feasible or should we just fly into HNL for a day trip? Any hints, suggestions on the flying part will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

sweetj

Hi reces - yes, in fact there are private property and no trespassing signs past Hana. And some people do ignore them and drive around the back side of Haleakala. Please remember what I said about the rental car agreement. Re the other places in Maui Revealed, my best suggestion is to ask someone in the vicinity if it's OK to walk there. Also ask your concierge in the hotel, they'll know.

Re: the Pearl Harbor baggage problem, I would call the carrier you're taking back home and ask them about the possibility of checking your bags early, but honestly, I don't know of any airline that will let you check in your bags 8-10 hours prior to the time of departure. Remember that since 9-11, security concerns will probably not let you do that. In addition, all the individual storage lockers at Honolulu Airport that people used to rent for reasons like this were removed years ago because of the security problems.

If you really want to see Pearl Harbor, there are a couple of choices. First, upon arrival in the islands, stay in HNL overnight, take a tour the first thing the next morning to go to the memorial. You can leave your luggage in the hotel with the bellman, and once the tour is over, and they return you back to your hotel, you and your luggage take the transfers back to the airport and go to Maui in the afternoon.

Or, you can do a one day fly drive from Maui to HNL. You'll need to arrange this in advance, as the early flights to the islands book up quickly, and you'll want to get there as soon as possible in the morning. You'll have a car on Oahu, they'll give you instructions to drive to Pearl Harbor, and once you finish there, you can drive around the island, visit the North Shore, etc.

This all relates to your question on flying through HNL to OGG. Actually many airlines fly right into Maui without stopping in HNL. Check with your airline to see if they do this. The question you have to ask yourself is this: How badly do you want to see Pearl Harbor?, because the logistics of visiting it on the last day of your trip are daunting, nee extremely difficult to say the least.

I'm not sure if I answered your question, but I hope this helps.

hmmm

There is a mile-marked public highway, number 31, that runs around the back side of Haleakala. Part of it is unpaved-but that does not make it private, only rough. People circumnavigate that part of the island daily, without commiting any crime. Great views, but lousy conditions. Don't miss it, unless the weather is bad.

CajunStorm

We drove all the way around the island after doing the road to Hana with no problems. Yes, the rental car companies say not to drive there but it was not that big of a deal. We did have a 4WD SUV though. We didn't do any "exploring" on that side and therefore didn't accidentally trespass on anyone's private property. I think it's pretty evident to most people what is private on Maui...

reces

Thanks everyone for your advice. We will just make a decision about the back side of the Road to Hana when we get there.

As far as Pearl Harbor goes, we still don't know what to do. It seems "more logical" to me to just take a day trip instead of making it a part of our travel day. We just hate to give up a relaxing snorkelin kinda day to visit Pearl Harbor - but we don't want to miss it. In this day and time, you never know how long things will be around.