I know I probably seem like a planning freak, but I was wondering if I could get some thoughts on our vacation itinerary here - how much time to allow for certain activities, etc. My husband and I are going to Maui in just a little over a week (our first time to the islands), and we'll be celebrating our anniversary there. We're staying at the Wailea Ekahi condos and really want to see most of the sights, but it is also very important to us to have SEVERAL relaxing days with NOTHING to do! I'm finding it's really hard to squeeze all of this in to just 7 days! So here's our plan so far; I'd love to hear any thoughts/suggestions/tips:

July 6 - arrive in Maui around noon. We can't check in to our condo until 3:00, so I was wondering if we'd have time to check out the Iao Needle and Valley because I'm not sure we'll see it otherwise - anyone know how long this excursion typically takes? After checking in, the rest of the day will be spent assessing our surroundings and buying groceries! Where's the best place for grocery shopping near the Ekahi condos?
July 7 - sunrise at Haleakala, and then we're doing the horseback ride into the crater. That'll pretty much take up that whole day.
July 8 - BEACH DAY!
July 9 - road to Hana
July 10 - snorkeling at Molokini in the morning, relax in the afternoon, and luau that night
July 11 - our anniversary! Hopefully we'll have a relaxing beach day, and then we want to have a fancy dinner somewhere on the BEACH. I had my heart set on Sarento's, but lately I've heard some less-than-stellar reviews of that place. Is there somewhere else where we can sit outside by the ocean that anyone recommends? Or should we stick with Sarento's???
July 12 - BEACH DAY!!!
July 13 - since we have to check out of our condo early but our flight doesn't leave until 11:30 p.m., we thought we'd use this day to drive to Lahaina and maybe check out Kaanapali...if possible, maybe take a drive around the west side of the island to see the Olivine Pools and the blowhole - would there be time for all this??? If so, which way should we go (start or end at Lahaina)?

If anyone can shed some light on these questions, I'd be eternally grateful! I'm so glad I found this site!

shoot, forgot something...what time should we leave for the road to Hana? We really want to see as much as possible and stop at all the good sights - has anyone tried to really do it all and how long did it take???

Not even kidding, I'd leave at sunrise to enjoy that time of day and that light while driving the early part. Besides, it works with your internal clock anyway. Never have your back to the ocean, and have a wonderful time!

Thanks, gyppielou - that sparks another question, though. Does anyone know what time sunrise and sunset is during that week on Maui? I've been looking around online and so far it LOOKS like sunset is supposed to be at about 7:15 - does that sound right? This would be helpful to know for our anniversary dinner, AND for what time we should plan to be up at Haleakala...

I'd call one of the hotels 800 numbers and ask a concierge for a sunset time. Just leave the windows open and when the birds get going, consider that you snooze button for starting that day. You can snooze on the beach. Fun!!!

Oh, and unless you really really want a boat experience, I personally am not a fan of Molokini. There's plenty to explore on your own.

You can check out the sunrise and sunset times at sunrisesunset.com. We were there last July, and the sunsets were around 7:15-7:25. It's funny though, some days they were awesome and others the sun was hidden behind clouds. Have you camera ready every time since you never know when you'll catch a good one!

I highly recommend taking a drive along the west side. We liked this drive equally as well as the road to Hana. I recommend leaving for Hana as early as you can. We left around 7:00 from Ka'anapali, did many of the suggested stops in Maui Revealed, and got back around 8:00 pm. That included a 30-45 minute stop for picnic lunch and about 1 1/2 hours for dinner. The road to Hana duration is very different for everyone, it depends upon how much hiking you want to do and how many stops you make along the way.

Hiking the Sliding Sands trail at Haleakala was one of my fondest memories, you will love that. Of course, it will be much easier on horseback!

I agree with gyppielou about Molikini. The one thing I wish we hadn't spent so much time or money on while in Maui. Although it's "only" a morning trip, most companies require you to be there 1/2 hour early to check in, then by the time you get back you will be pretty tired. We loved our off shore snorkeling, but Molikini was a big disappointment.

If you are up to it after your flight, sure, you can check out `Iao valley before heading over to Wailea. It would be a great way to start your visit to Maui. You can spend as little as few minutes there, or make it an all day event.

When you head over to the other side be sure to take the upper highway, not S. Kihei Rd. You will need to turn right at the stop light on Mokulele onto Pi`ilani. Look for a brown sight that say "Welcome to Kihei" and turn left where the arrows point to Wailea. A little ways down you will see the Pi`ilani Village Shopping Center on the right. There is a Safeway in there. I prefer to shop at Long's Drugs for many things, especially beer and wine and local-grown produce and Maui beef. The prices are the best, and the produce is local, not from the mainland like at Safeway. You can get to Longs by turning on Pi`ikea Ave, at the Pi`ilani shopping center and continuing on down towards the beach. Longs is on the right in the Kihei Town Center. Then you can either take the slow drive along the ocean to Wailea, or go back up to Pi`ilani Highway for a faster drive. The speed limit on Kihei Rd is 20 mph, and, although you may be tempted to cruise at freeway speeds on the upper highway, the speed limit is 40 -45, and I've seen MPD ticketing a lot lately (finally). It becomes nearly impossible to turn on and off of Pi`ilani with drivers cruising by at 70 mph.

Sarentos is Italian food. Nick's FishMarket is also on the beach in Wailea. If I were going for a special meal on the beach it would be at the Ma`alaea Waterfront or i`o or Pacific`o in Lahaina.

On your last day you have plenty of time to visit west Maui, but be aware of your surroundings and yor luggage. I see cars all the time parked with luggage piled in the back seat in plain view--way too much tempation for would-be thieves! You want to start in Lahaina. A great place to have dinner after exploring and before your flight is Mañana Garage in Kahului.

According to my tide calendar, sunrise on your Haleakala day is at 5:55 am, so plan on being there well before than to get a place to park. I'd leave at 3, but I am notorius for being too early for everything. Sunset for anniversary dinner is at 7:17. The show starts about a half hour before.

One alternate suggestion for July 10: Instead of Molokini, try a snorkel/dolphin watch to Lana'i sponsored by Pacific Whale Foundation, departing Lahaina early a.m. Much better boat ride and sealife during your snorkel than you'd experience going to Molokini. Fewer two legged air breathers to crowd your swim. Explore Lahaina upon your return, then head up into Kapalua towards the pools (don't know if you could get to the pools and back to Lahaina by dinner, though). Return to Lahaina for a luau at either Old Lahaina Luau or the Feast at Lele, the undisputed two best on Maui. Long day, perhaps too long after your trip to Hana. But, if you do, you'd have more time your last day to explore the northwest part of the island. The scenery on that side is beyond jaw droppingly beautiful.
Save Ka'anapali for that trip your company gives you for your sales prowess. It's a better place to stay than to visit.
Spago, Ferraro's have very nice food, service, ocean views. Five Palms, within walking distance in Kihei, has great views and is very near Sarento's, physically and in terms of price. Some love it. Some don't. Recently renovated.

Just an FYI_ my H and I ate at Sarento's and while the service was great, the food was less than stellar- our most disappointing mean in Maui.
we did the road to hana, but stopped about 2/3 the way there and turned around. Had an incredible meal at mam's fish house for a late lunch though- try to eat there.

Thanks so much for all the help - we were really looking for a great atmosphere for our anniversary dinner, of course good food also, but we can get plenty of good food at home, too. We canNOT eat on the beach at sunset at home, though (living in Denver). So we were really looking at Sarento's primarily for the atmosphere. You cannot eat outside at Mama's, am I correct?
I understand that Molokini is a very crowded, touristy thing to do...we're mostly interested in the novelty of the whole thing...taking a boat out to a crater in the middle of the ocean to snorkel would be pretty neat for the 2 of us beginners (never snorkeled before), even if it's not "the best" snorkeling around. Of course we plan on exploring many of the off-shore/beach snorkeling spots, too! This is all very helpful information, however! If anyone else has anything to add, I'd love to hear it!

Nick's Fish Market (Wailea - Fairmont Kea Lani) is really wonderful (five-star and they're not kidding!) but it's really not on the beach; however, if you can get an outside table, you will have the best sunset view of your life! We had the most memorable "dining experience" of our 28 years of marriage at Nick's in May - they are first class all the way. Also, don't skip Lahaina - it's a great little town with some excellent restaurants and tons of fun little shops. Cheeseburger in Paradise is far from fancy but it's alot of fun and their burgers are great. They also make a mean margarita! Have a wonderful vacation!

Another alternative for the Molokini trip is to take the Maui Dive Shop morning express trip (i think that's what they call it). They leave from the Kihei public boat ramp (it's a shorter trip to Molokini from here)at around 7 AM and are back by ten (with a stop at "turtle town" too). This way it's not so crowded at Molokini and you don't blow a whole day on an excursion. My sister in law enjoyed this trip.

I did the PWF to Lanai and while I liked it, I expected a little more snorkeling time.

Forget about Sarento unless you really don't care about the quality of the food. For a special dinner there is Pacific o' or inside the Hyatt, the Black Swan.

Black Swan = Swan Court @ Maui Hyatt.

1) Yes, you can easily visit Iao Valley as a sidetrip on your way down to Wailea. I was really surprised how close everything is and how little time it takes to get anywhere (except Hana). We're from the Bay Area where it takes forever to drive anywhere.

2) We shopped at the Safeway in Kihei (bring your Safeway card if you have one), but next time I would try gone2maui's suggestion about Long's. The prices at the stores were not much higher than at home. Restaurants, however, were another matter.

3) I would very highly recommend both Nick's and Sarento's. I almost canceled our Sarento's reservation because of the bad reviews and even made reservations for Roy's at the same time just in case. In the end, we decided that the sunset view was worth chancing the food and we were not disappointed. My husband actually preferred their food over Nick's (although Nick's was awesome). We were lucky enough to get an outside table at Nick's too, though, and it was a great view of the sunset looking down across the terraced lawns, pools & beach. (We fell in love with the Kea Lani -- more about that in my upcoming trip report.)

4) For the drive to Hana, we left Wailea by 6:30; picked up a box lunch and CD tour guide in Pa'ia and were on the road by a little after 7:00. We had plenty of time to make most of our planned stops; were in Hana itself by early afternoon; came around the beautiful/scary southeast road; and were back to the hotel well before sunset (around 5:30 p.m. I think).

By the way, the Wailea Ekahi condos look really nice. We passed them several times walking the Wailea beachside path on the way to visit the other resorts. Now there's a good place for a sunset! Look for a raised stone seat big enough for two and just perfectly situated for a sunset view. It's in front of the Ekahi condos on the point between the Polo and Wailea beaches. Wish I was there now . . .

Of course, I should clarify that we didn't spend any time playing in the pools at Oheo Gulch. They were closed because of heavy rainfall. If we had been there awhile as planned, it probably would have been dark by the time we got back to Wailea. Also, we didn't do any hikes, other than the little trip over to Blue Pool, because of the rain/mud. On our next trip, I want to skip a lot of stops just to do have time for the Pipiwai Trail hike.

sap,

you posted <came around the beautiful/scary southeast road> regarding your trip to Hana. Was this your return trip? Does this mean you did not turn around and take the same road back?

Just researching for a future trip to Maui. Not for over 8 months, but I love reading this board and making notes in my Maui file

That's right, sk84fungirl, instead of turning around at Hana or Lindbergh's Grave and going back the same way, we kept winding around the bottom of the island on cliff-hugging Hwy 31 and back up through the Upcountry (37). I am so glad we saw that side of the island, so beautiful, isolated and windswept with wonderful "back" views of Haleakala. It was very different than the rest of Maui. DH said it reminded him of the Big Island.

Thanks so much for all the help! We went shopping today to get everything we need, and were able to find everything except a little waterproof case to hold money, keys, license, etc. while snorkeling. We looked EVERYWHERE, so I really hope we'll be able to find one on Maui!