One tip for Haleakala sunrise. Bring jackets and "borrow" blankets from the hotel. It can get cold on the summit.

we stopped and snorkeled off of the beach at Honolua Bay. The fish there were 10 times better than Molokini, I couldn't believe it! and it was free! There were 3 tour groups that came to that same spot (trillogy was one of them)! Right before we got in the water, one of the tour groups said they say a 6 foot white tip shark! YIKES! We never encountered the shark, just thousands of fish!

thank you everyone for the tips.
I think we might cancel the Atlantis, but keep everything else. I have read good reviews of the zipline in the new edition of Maui Revealed and on tripadvisor, so I am keeping that one too.
We will try to eat at Hula Grill on our first night - it should be close to Westin Maui :)

we stayed right down from the Westin, we really liked one of the restaurants at the westin. It is an outdoor restaurant called "ono". Great food..especially the maui onion soup. Also really enjoyed "Leilani's" it is right next door to the hula grill. We never ate at the hula grill, but they always had a very long wait.

bebalm: did you do any of the activities we have planned?

429...
Make reservations ahead of time for the Old Lahaina Luau, and if you "want to feel like your in the show" sit on the mats next to the stage.
Unless you have a hard time sitting on the ground (then sit at a table, they are also very nice)
Enjoy!

hey giuletta, I was in maui last summer for 5 days also, and i too crammed everything in my itinerary. i'm not saying it's impossible, it's totally possible, and you'll still have some time for relaxation. and I emphasize some. but some of the posts are are correct, you would regret not having more time to relax and that is why I'm going back again this august, b/c i miss the relaxation time. that is the whole purpose of going to hawaii, to relax. i'm a city type of person, i can't get myself to relax for an hour on the beach or the poolside, but i'm going to force myself this august to really take a chill pill and just relax. b/c after this hawaii trip, i dont think i'll be going for another 5 years at least. it's costing me way too much.
also, do not do the feast on ur second day in maui, u will be so jet-lagged and tired from the whole day that u wouldnt enjoy the food or the show. i did the lahaina luau on my second day and i regret it so much. i was too jet-lagged for anything.

Kalunchi: we had to do the feast on our second night, because we are flying on on the 7th (clearly, not a good night), and leaving on the 12th. We have 4 nights left - 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th. Well, the feast is closed 9th thru 11th. We really wanted to see it and the 8th is the only night we could do it.
I think we will do activities this time and relax more next time we go (maybe if we elope next time, we can just spend more time doing relaxing and pampering things)

I think your plans are great. I went the middle to end of May. I did the sunrise, parasailing, sugar cane train, shopping, and luau in the same day with a 2 year old. Get up early to do the sunrise. I left Kihei at 3am and had plenty of time to get there and wait. Just remember it will be cold. I had on a sweat suit and was still freezing. The wind chill factor was around 30. I took a similar snorkel trip and had a good time, but saw as much just going from the shore line. the only thing I would have missed by not taking the trip is seeing the green sea turtles. they are really neat. You will have more down time than you think. Trying to get used to Maui time will have you up at 5am. I had a blast and hope you will also. PS take plenty of sunscreen.

I forgot to mention this. If you are on Maui on a Saturday, go to the Swap Meet. It cost $0.50 to get in and there are great deals on souvenirs. I got t-shirts for 5 for $10. I had to dig for sizes and shirts that were not stained, but it was worth it. I also got the wrap pants, which are wonderful, for $5 a pair. the cheapest I found them in a store were $25 a pair.

lindsayjoy: I had thought leaving from Maui Kai at 3AM would get me there for the Haleakala Sunrise...do I need to bump that up to 2:00AM? 2:30?

I am trying to pack, and carrying a sweat suit almost seems a waste of space...am thinking about taking an old one (vs a nicer one)I can discard to make room for souvenirs on the way back...is this a good idea?

Also, have 'Hot hands' and 'Thermacare' back pad to use. Am taking a light wt. wind breaker with hood.

I have Cuddle Duds ('long johns') I could take, but they would be UNDER my clothes, and therefore, difficult to remove as the temp. increases. Belle

lindasayjoy, where is the swap meet in Maui?

ggtrist: I had read on earlier posts, it's in Kahului. Sat. 7 'til noon, I believe.
Belle

We left Kaanapali at 3:45 am and were at the Leleiwi Overlook at 5:30am---that's not the top but there is a viewing platform there with a windblock. You don't want to be waiting in the dark for a long time. The stars were beautiful, but they disappear as the horizon turns pink and the crater fills with clouds. The sun was blinding when it appeared. It was pretty amazing. There are not a lot of people here---there were 6 other people when we were there. We wore sweatshirts and took blankets.

But not sweat pants?? Belle

Belle, you may want to check the time of the sunrise. That will help you determine the amount of time you need to get there. I was there an hour early, but was glad. the building you can look from would have been warmer, but there is about 5 feet of standing room and a 3 foot wall infront of the building. I sat on the wall and had a front row view. I also left a lot of items in Maui when I left. I gave me room for other stuff. I did not wear half the thing I took with me. We also had a washer and dryer in our condo, so that helped.

Belle is also right about he swat meet. I would get there at 7 to get good parking and the crowd is smaller.

Is it similar to the Aloha Stadium swap meet on Maui? Looking forward to finding some good souvenir bargains..thanks for the tip guys!

Do you mean the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet on Oahu? Belle

I agree the Feast at Lelai might be too much for the same day as the Crater Sunrise trip. Also if you are doingthe Lual at Old Lahina, you may not want to do both. We took the Van tour of hana road and we were all able to enjoy it. had my husband driven it, We would ahve been stressed, as more than once, the driver had to back up or move way over....On one blind curve we almost had a head on collision as a first timer was driving too quickly down the slopes. The drivers experince and knowledge helped us enjoy and see many sights we would have missed if we did the driving ourselves. I will look up hte tour company if you are interested.

The sunrise trip is an easy drive, but you will be up at 1, leaving by 2 and exhausted when you are through.If you get tehrte by 3:30 you will see tons of shooting stars! The color show that follows is as spectacular as teh sunrise itself. Be sure to really dress in layers, i had on a sweat shirt, a wind breaker , a long sleave tee-shirt and jeans and was shivering!!!! Most people brought blankets to wrap up in too. I was wishing I had gloves! Be sure to bring a hat or a hood! it was 20 degrees with bitter winds in mid- June. This might be a good beach day 9 afternoon) with a quiet dinner watching the sunset. You don't get to enjoy that very often, both a sunrise and a sunset.

Lelani's has two sections and two menus. One is as pricy as the Hula Grill, but both have great food and views. They are owned by the same company. Either is a good choice.

We did not enjoy Atlantis. I would suggest you enjoy the crystal clear water and the gorgeous views fromt he beach that day. Don't miss the beach!!!! You will need some down time after the Road to Hanna and the Sunrise Drive. You sound pretty adventurous. The people who have done the bike down from the crater, all want to do it again and some have! The companies provide the wind suits and equipment. They stop for photos ops on the way down. You may want to consider that instead of the zip line.

We enjoyed snorkling off Molikini.

Sandin: Thanks for the offer, but DH prefers to do the driving. I've read about the CD you can go by, and I have the Blue Book!

Really thought I wanted to do the bike ride, but after reading all the posts, I decided we're alittle old for that.....well maybe not...but I knew the Luau was that night, so didn't want to add that element of exhaustion(it'll be enough without that!)Plus the dangers/injuries I read about.

If we're on-our-own, we can leave early to get back for a nap if possible!

Whether or not we even make the Sunrise will be flexible...I really would like to time it to get max sleep and "just make it" for sunrise!
Will talk to locals once we get there to determine the final time line.

Yes, snorkeling is really top priority with us, so we will definitely hit the beaches! Belle.