I was very worried when I had read all the things in here on Maalaea and also what was written about in Maui Revealed, now that I have been I can give my first hand experience!!!

HAWAII IS AMAZING!!! I loved where we stayed at in Maalaea. It was an excellent location for doing things around the entire island!! I would love to stay there again. Personally, I thought that Lahina, Kaanapali area is waaay to developed! When I go to Hawaii I want to see the beauty of the land not a bunch of high rise condo's and hotels....Makena Beach was breath taking. My sister got married there and I was waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up. The mountains in Hawaii look fake because they are soooo beautiful. The Road to Hana is out of this world..This is def. a MUST DO in Maui!! Including Blue Pool and the Black Sand Beach. You should also make sure and go snorkeling on Molokini! I had heard how beautiful this place was and then I visited and I was in a loss for words! We got to swim with a shark, sea turtles and lots and lots of beautiful fish. The visibility you have is awesome as well. We went on the QuickSilver and had a blast. Everyone was so nice on the crew. There was also a guy on there that would video tape you and the others in your group in the water and out of the water while you were on your trip. Def. do this! He edits it and puts it with beautiful Hawaiian Music and he doesnt charge very much! You will be soooo glad you paid for it though once you get it.

It was absolute torture coming home to Missouri after being there! We are already planning our trip for next year. I have found my home...my home is Hawaii.

So glad you loved Maui. We love it too. I feel the same way esp. about Kaanapali. Good for some but not the Hawaii I dream about. Makena is wonderful. Next time you'll have to head over to the other side to Spreckels beach too. We just returned from Kauai and we're headed to Maui in November. We're splurging and staying two nights at the Hotel Hana Maui. We've never stayed in Hana before. Did you pull over for the smoked Marlin on the road to Hana?
Aloha!

Aloha, jakspears. Thanks for your report on discovering Hawaii. Your enthusiasm is contagious!!
Now that you've been, you'll always want to return, so that reading others' descriptions makes for smiles and longing to be back!
Glad you had the first-hand experience of not treating everything in "Maui Revealed" as gospel ("The Blue Bible") truth.

Have fun planning and dreaming for that next trip.

Glad you had a great trip but let's not let too many people know about the secrets of Maalaea. It's best if everyone thinks it's too windy there.

Otis

Maalea (and Makena) are may favorite areas too. However, they are nice and quiet because they are so darned expensive.