Hello,

Thanks in advance for your help.
We're about 2 weeks away from our trip to Maui. My husband and I are so excited. We currently have reservations at the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel. I would prefer Wailea because the beaches sound nicer, but we're on a tight budget and needed to find a hotel under $165 a night. Here's my question:

How long will it take to drive from Ka'anapali to Big Beach in the afternoon? Yahoo maps said about 30 miles, but I'm not sure what the typical traffic flow is. Is it an easy drive or curvy roads like Hana?

I have read through a lot of postings on dining. Can anyone suggests some inexpensive places to eat? Here today Gone2Maui, are there any good places for local cuisine in Lahaina/Ka'anapali?

Thanks everyone!

Charlie's ((&)) in Paia. Huge macadamia nut pancakes, be sure to ask for coconut syrup.

Charlie's is only about 40 miles from Lahaina/Kaanapali.

For breakfast try the Sunrise cafe, Lahaina, Front and Market sts. Have a good time and try doing a google search for more choices.

Search for the thread entitled "Taste Grub in Maui". It had some great suggestions from Here Today and a reference for an informative newspaper article. Seems like there was another thread about "Maui Grinds" that had inexpensive suggestions as well. I know that Lahaina Coolers and Cool Kats (sp?) in Lahaina were mentioned as well as Aloha Mixed Plate there. We'll be in Wailea at the same time and I've got Alexander's, Pita Paradise, Jawz Tacos, and Mulligan's on my "inexpensive" list. I doubt that your drive down to Wailea would be any more than 20 to 30 minutes.

We were in Maui in January and stayed in both Wailea and Ka'anapali. We much preferred Ka'anapali because of the cooler breezes. And we stayed at the Grand Wailea and still say that!

You are in a great spot staying at the K.Beach Hotel. The roads are nothing like "The Road to Hana" (which btw I suggest taking ALL the way around the volcano and NOT turning around in Hana). However, they are very packed during the day so the traffic is slow. I never went to Big Beach, so I cannot address that specifically, but I can assure you that the roads are wonderful in that entire area.

While in the Ka'anapali area, we ate at Bubba Gumps in Lahaina which I strongly recommend. The only difficulty is parking but, if you are willing to pay the lot prices, you can find a spot. Actually, all the food in Lahaina (the best shopping in the area) is pretty good. However, we used the book, "Maui Revealed" to discover the best places to stay and eat. It's the best investment you can make before and during your trip.

If I can be of any more help (MAUI IS SIMPLY WONDERFUL), please let me know. You will never regret this trip.

The thing about the drive to Wailea from Kaanapali is the two lane road. It's nothing like the road to Hana, but one lane each way takes a while, especially if you get stuck behind a slow-poke, there's an accident, construction, etc. Be sure to allow close to an hour just in case. But the views from the road are great - in some places the ocean is right there, right next to the road.

The Gazebo is a nice lil oceanfront cafe at the Outrigger Napili Shores. Great pancake combo (mac-nut, pineapple and coconut syrup) large servings and under 10 bucks a person. Not bad for oceanfront dining, but it is quite popular and there can be a wait. There is free parking, you can bring your beach gear and then go snorkeling with turtles at the cove nearby.

I had lunch at the Cool Cat Cafe on Sunday. Best burgers in Lahaina, according to DH. They do make a mean veggie burger. They have been running a two for one burger coupon in the MauiTime weekly.

Some other tight budget hints for Lahaina: Canoes. They have a sunset special, I think it is $19.99 for dinner, which is good, but they have the best salad bar on the island. I always fill up on the salad bar and take home my dinner for lunch the next day.

Here's one I hesitiate to broadcast, but here goes. Have you looked at the Feast at Lele? It runs $98 a person. Well, if you reserve a railside table at Hecocks restaurant, you can see the show. Hecocks overlooks the Feast at Lele, and they have some pretty reasonable nghtly specials. It's become DH's favorite place to watch the games on Sundays because they have TV's all around the bar, a nice beachside loaction, it is off the tourist path, not crowded and they have $1.75 beers, $2.75 tropicals from 3 to 6.

For local food up in Lahaina, Aloha Mixed Plate. They have a good happy hour too. If you are in Kihei, Da Kitchen. Wailuku, Frans or Tiffany's.

Pick up a MauiTime Weekly and look for coupons and specials. Here is the link to MauiTime's food edition
http://www.mauitime.com/v07/v07iss39/index.html

New place for eveyone to check out is the Who's the Boss? Bistro. It is owned by Jennifer Ngyuen of A Saigo Café and Patrick Callarec of Chez Paul. It's in Wailuku on Main Street.

Pita Paradise is hit or miss. The last time I was in there they were seriously lacking in ingrediants to make me a veggie. They had no avocado, no tomato, they were out of what my husband tried to oder too. I mean, come on, go across the street to the market and buy it if you have to!

The traffic from Lahaina to Wailea and back again normally flows just fine. You will hit commuter traffic going towards Lahaina in the morning and coming back in the afternoon drive time. Hint: When you hit Kihei, don't take S. Kihei Road, unless you want to take a slow cruise through Kihei. Stay to the left and use the upper highway, Pi`ilani Highway. It will take you all the way to Wailea. The speed limit is 20 mph on S. Kihei Road and I have seen them enforcing it much more agresively in recent weeks.

Thank you everyone for you help and answering my questions. I'll take this info with us along with Maui Revealed which I just purchased. I love these books. We used the Kauai edition a couple of years ago and it led us to Ke'e Beach, one of our favorites.
I can't wait for our trip and sampling shave ice.

Thanks again
Aloha

We just got back from Maui last week and loved it. We stayed a little north of where you will be in Kahana. We enjoyed the Gazebo in Napili but there was a wait - the view is incredible. I would also recommend the entire drive around the island (do not backtrack) when going to Hana. We had a small rental car and did it with no problem. The hairiest part of the trip to Hana was when we made the detour to the Blue Pool - there was quite a bit of water on road in one place and the road was quite rough. If you go to Hana I will second the recommendation for Charley's - the ono eggs benedict are great. Also Paia Fishmarket if you are up that way.

We ended up eating in condo a lot. If you have the patience to go through all those tourist magazines that are full of advertising you will come across some coupons that do save money - used Jonny's, Aloha Mixed Plate, Heacock's. Heacock's has a great happy hour - tropical drinks that were good for $2.

Have fun - I really want to go back!

When you are down an southern end of island you should go see lava flows - very cool. And Big Beach is just beautiful!

Pam

Sean1

Kaanapali to Big Beach is 55-65 minutes, if you travel on the Pi'ilani Highway (31), which starts in North Kihei/Sugar Beach area (as opposed to continuing along the ocean, via South Kihei Road).

Just to clarify the above, you travel a little over half the distance from Kaanapali via Honoapi'ilani Highway (30), until you reach the Sugar Beach area...and then have the choice of Highway 31 or S. Kihei Road, to continue south to Kihei, Wailea, Makena/Big Beach, etc.

Free tip: I recommend buying "Maui Revealed" as the best guidebook, which also has great maps (I just referenced mine for the above stuff), as well as terrific suggestions for sightseeing, plus very representative color pix, restaurant recommendations. Buy it and read it BEFORE you get on the plane, and plan ahead what you want to see during your stay. This book is highly regarded by vacationers: You will see more folks carrying and using it on Maui than ANY other guidebook.

Bob Cohen