Maui is amazing with so many amazing activities to do while on the island. Here are a few must do activities while on the island of Maui.
Attend a Luau
A Luau is a traditional Hawaiian party or feast that is usually accompanied by entertainment. It is believed that the first feast resembling a current day Luau was held in 1819.
Luaus features lively music and vibrant cultural performances from Hawaii and greater Polynesia. They give you the chance to try many different typical Hawaiian dishes.
Often, they will include foods such as;
- Poi: Pounded taro plant root, it is a starch that is meant to be eaten with everything.
- Kalua Pig: Pork prepared in an imu, which is an underground oven and then shredded.
- Laulau: Meat wrapped in taro leaves and steamed. Traditionally they are prepared in an imu.
- Haupia: Coconut pudding
- Poke: Traditionally prepared with raw fish, soy sauce, green onions, Kukui nuts and seaweed.
Molakini Crater Snorkeling
Leave early from the pier and take a short boat ride across the ocean to the Molokini Crater. Once in the crater the boat will anchor and you will be allowed to snorkel in the area.
The crater itself is a bird sanctuary and laws protect the coral so this area is almost untouched by man. The water is crystal clear and you can see the coral to the ocean floor. Fish are abundant in the crater and you can see many different species.
Along with snorkeling in the crater many of the boats also offer Snuba. This is another amazing way to go even deeper under the water to get a closer view. With Snuba you are connected to a regulator and a small flotation device above. You can go down up to 15 feet below the surface. This is an amazing opportunity to get a closer look at the ecosystem beneath the surface.
Maverick Helicopter Rides
Take the Helicopter Tour! It is so amazing to fly over the Road to Hanna and be able to see the amazing vegetation and waterfalls. The intro to Jurassic park was filmed on Maui and you can fly right over the same area as the intro.
You take a short ride into a drained taro field. They land and you are allowed to get out and look around. They serve Champagne or water for their guests. You spend about 30 minutes on the ground. In that time the amazing guides will show you fruits like papaya, guava and bananas. Fresh bananas off the tree were delicious.
After, you load back up into the helicopter and fly a different way back to the airport. The views are amazing. Many of the waterfalls you will not be able to see if you do not take this amazing tour.
Cultural Activities
Lei making is an amazing opportunity to put your crafting skills to good use. They teach you to make leis by stringing flowers into a beautiful lei. You can also make a lei for your head that is made out of the palm leaves and fresh picked flowers. It was a lot of fun and who would imagine they would use a straw to place the beautiful flowers of the lei.
Hula lessons are a great way to connect to the energy and culture of Maui. Taught by amazing and patient teachers you are taught basic hula steps. Learning how spiritual hula is and how connected to the energy of both the earth and sky.
Drive the Road to Hanna
It is 64.4-mile-long stretch which connects Kahului to the town of Hana in east Maui. Hana is about 52 miles from Kahului to the town of Hanna. By car it takes about 2.5 hours to drive.
The highway is very windy, narrow, and passes over 59 bridges, of which 46 are only one lane wide. There are approximately 620 curves along Route 360 from just east of Kahului to Hana, almost all of it through lush, tropical rainforest.
Visiting Maui is the trip of a lifetime. If you consider adding even one of these activities you will enhance your vacation! Which one to choose? That is up to you, but you cannot go wrong with any of them.
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Thanks to Embrace the Journey Travel Planner, Angel Waite, for writing this blog post for us. You can learn more about Angel here.