5-Day Itinerary: Maui

One of the main reasons I decided to start this blog is because I LOVE creating travel itineraries for my trips. And when I'm planning my vacations I find myself spending hours on Pinterest reading about how other people were spending their time in the places I was going and what things I simply had to see. But honestly, I found a lot of general guides highlighting cool places and very few that broke down how travelers spent their time each day.

Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a minute-by-minute list of where you need to be (it's still a vacation after all) but more of a list of the things I want to make sure we see and when it makes sense to see them which is mainly determined by location. If you've never been to Hawaii, all of the islands are pretty much divided into sections (north, south, east, and west) and it can take an hour or more to get to the other side. So instead of wasting a bunch of time driving, I typically plan our days based on which section we will be in and go from there. This strategy has helped us to see and experience SO much of the islands (other than just the beautiful beaches) in a relatively short amount of time. This was also our second time visiting Maui and we wanted to experience some different things than our last trip. Read more about that here.

I plan to write more detailed posts on each of our days and break down my complete reviews of our excursions and activities but I hope this will give you an idea of what activities you may want to add to your trip and how to plan your time on the islands.

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Day 1: Travel/Lahaina

• Fly to Maui from Kauai. I always prefer a mid-afternoon flight when island hopping because it allows us to still have the whole morning to squeeze in a last minute adventure before having to head to the airport. The later inter-island flights are usually cheaper as well.
• Pick up rental car and drive to check-in at hotel in Lahaina. We would honestly never stay anywhere but Lahaina Shores Beach. It's condo style with a full kitchen, balcony, pool, direct beach access and within walking distance to all the action on Front Street. 
• Walk to downtown Lahaina and explore Front Street - Read my full Lahaina guide here
• Dinner/drinks at Down the Hatch
• Stop at Safeway for groceries (make sure you sign up for the Safeway card for significant savings).

Day 2: Pool Day/Whale Watching

• Breakfast in our hotel (we do this often to save money)
• Pool/beach day at Lahaina Shores 
• Lunch at Aloha Mixed Plate
• Whale Watching tour with Pacific Whale Foundation 
• Shopping on Front Street 
• Dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp
• Dole Whip at Lappert's Ice Cream

 Day 3: Golf/Kehei 

• Breakfast at hotel
• Golf at Maui Nui Golf Club 
• Lunch at Coconut's Fish Cafe
• Wow Wow Lemonade (right next door)
• Beach day at Charley Young Beach Park 
• Shopping at Kihei Kalama Village 
• Happy hour drinks at Maui Brewing Co. 
• Dinner at Monkeypod Kitchen (make a reservation!)

Day 4: Snorkeling/Lahaina 

• Rent snorkel gear at Boss Frog's in Lahaina
• Breakfast at The Plantation House
• Beach day/snorkeling - We wanted to snorkel at Honulua Bay which is located near our breakfast stop but when we got down there the water was too rough and murky so we ended up driving back toward Ka'anapali and snorkeling near black rock. 
• Lunch and dessert at Leoda's Pie Shop
• Pineapple smoothie from Olowalu Juice Truck
• Relax by the pool at hotel
  
• Lahaina First Friday town party - each Friday of the month a different town in Maui hosts their party. There were arts and crafts set up in the town square, hula dancing shows, live music, and various specials at of each of the shops/galleries.
• Dinner at Kimo's (make a reservation around sunset and be sure to pick up a free Hula Pie coupon from the Lahaina Visitor's Center)
• Shave ice at Ululani's​

Day 5: Exploring Upcountry -Read my full upcountry guide here

• Maui Swap Meet (only happens on Saturdays)
• Explore Makawao town and lunch
• Surfing Goat Dairy 
• Ali'i Kula Lavendar Farm
• Kula Country Farms
• Maui Wine
• Sunset at Haleakala Crater ​​​​

Day 6: Paia/Travel

• Iao Valley State Park - This wasn't originally on our list but I'm so glad we stopped. This park offers gorgeous views of the valley and Iao Needle. It ended up pouring rain so we had to cut our visitor short but this is a great spot to see some authentic Hawaii landscape and a waterfall without having to hike miles to get there.
• Explore Paia town 
• Lunch at Rock and Brews
• Twin Falls Waterfall - Our original plan was to explore the first part of the Road to Hana but unfortunately on our last day there was a tropical storm bringing rain and 40 mph winds causing the island to lose power and have flash flood warnings so we ended up just heading back to the airport early. 

My favorite part about Hawaii is the fact that you could go multiple times and have a completely different vacation each visit. Even after our second time I've already started a list of things I still want to see and experience. Are you planning a trip to Hawaii? Did you find this post to be helpful? ​

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Other blogs you might enjoy:
- A Day in Lahaina Town
- A Day in Upcountry Maui
- Most Insta-worthy Spots on Maui
- Maui Must Sees: 5-day Itinerary (trip #1)
- Top Eats and Treats on Maui