DESCRIPTION

Maui vacations | Maui vacations packages | Maui cheap vacations

Maui, also called the Valley Isle, is just a small dot in the vast Pacific Ocean, but it has the potential to offer visitors unforgettable experiences: floating weightless through rainbows of tropical fish, standing atop a 10,000-foot volcano watching the sunrise color the sky, and listening to the raindrops in a bamboo forest.
Whether you want to experience the "real" Hawaii, go on a heart-pounding adventure, or simply relax on the beach, this book is designed to help you create the vacation of your dreams.

Attraction

After a few days of just relaxing on the beach, the itch to explore the rest of Maui sets in: What's on top of Haleakala, looming in the distance? Is the road to Hana really the tropical jungle everyone raves about? What does the inside of a 19th-century whaling boat look like?

There is far more to the Valley Isle than just sun, sand, and surf. Get out and see for yourself the otherworldly interior of a 10,000-foot volcanic crater, watch endangered sea turtles make their way to nesting sites in a wildlife sanctuary, wander back in time to the days when whalers and missionaries fought for the soul of Lahaina, and feel the energy of a thundering waterfall cascade into a serene mountain pool.

By Air, Land & Sea: Guided Island Adventures

These adventures aren't cheap. However, each one offers such a wonderful opportunity to see Maui from a unique perspective that, depending on your interests, you might make one of them the highlight of your trip -- it'll be worth every penny.

Flying High: Helicopter Rides

Only a helicopter can bring you face-to-face with remote sites like Maui's little-known Wall of Tears, near the summit of Puu Kukui in the West Maui Mountains. You'll glide through canyons etched with 1,000-foot waterfalls and over dense rainforests; you'll climb to 10,000 feet, high enough to glimpse the summit of Haleakala, and fly by the dramatic vistas at Molokai.

The first chopper pilots in Hawaii were good ol' boys on their way back from Vietnam -- hard-flying, hard-drinking cowboys who cared more about the ride than the scenery. But not anymore. Today's pilots, like the ones at Blue Hawaiian, are an interesting hybrid: part Hawaiian historian, part DJ, part tour guide, and part amusement-ride operator. As you soar through the clouds, you'll learn about the island's flora, fauna, history, and culture.

Among the many helicopter-tour operators on Maui, the best is Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, at Kahului Airport (tel. 800/745-BLUE [2583] or 808/871-8844; www.bluehawaiian.com), which not only takes you on the ride of your life but also entertains, educates, and leaves you with an experience you'll never forget. Blue Hawaiian is also the only helicopter company in the state to have the latest high-tech, environmentally friendly (and quiet) Eco-Star helicopters, specially designed for air-tour operators. Flight times range from 30 to 100 minutes and cost $150 to $350. A keepsake DVD of your flight is available for $25.

Going Under: Submarine Rides

Plunging 100 feet below the surface of the sea in a state-of-the-art, high-tech submarine is a great way to experience Maui's magnificent underwater world, especially if you're not a swimmer. Atlantis Adventures, 658 Front St., Lahaina (tel. 800/548-6262 or 808/667-7816; www.atlantisadventures.com), offers five trips per day out of Lahaina Harbor between 9am and 2pm; prices are $80 for adults and $41 for children under 12 (children must be at least 3 ft. tall). Book online and save 10%. The whole trip takes almost 2 hours; you'll spend about 45 minutes underwater. Warning: This is not a good choice if you're claustrophobic.

Eco-Tours

Venture into the lush West Maui Mountains with an experienced guide on one of the numerous hikes offered by Maui Eco-Adventures (tel. 877/661-7720 or 808/661-7720; www.ecomaui.com). After a continental breakfast, you'll hike by streams and waterfalls, through native trees and plants, and on to breathtaking vistas. The tour includes a stop for a picnic lunch, a swim in secluded pools, and memorable photo ops. The 6-hour excursion costs $120 per person, including meals, a fanny pack with bottled water, and rain gear if necessary. No children under 13 are allowed. There's also a shorter, less strenuous jaunt for $80.

Nightlife

Centered in the $32-million Maui Arts & Cultural Center (MACC) in Kahului (tel. 808/242-7469; www.mauiarts.org), the performing arts are alive and well on this island. The MACC remains the island's most prestigious entertainment venue, a first-class center for the visual and performing arts. Bonnie Raitt has performed here, as have Hiroshima, Pearl Jam, Ziggy Marley, Tony Bennett, the American Indian Dance Theatre, the Maui Symphony Orchestra, and Jonny Lang, not to mention the finest in local talent. The center boasts a visual-arts gallery, an outdoor amphitheater, offices, rehearsal space, a 300-seat theater for experimental performances, and a 1,200-seat main theater. The center's activities are well publicized locally, so check the Maui News or ask your hotel concierge what's going on during your visit.

Watch for the Green Flash -- If you're gathered in a crowd on Maui watching a sunset, you may hear someone call out: "Green Flash!" If you're lucky, you may get to see it yourself.

The romantic version of the story is the green flash happens when the sun kisses the ocean good night (honeymooners love this version). The scientific version is not quite as dreamy: Light bends as it goes around the curve of the earth. When the sun dips beneath the horizon, it is at the far end of the spectrum. So this refraction of the sun's light, coupled with the atmosphere on the extreme angle of the sunset on the horizon, causes only the color green to been seen in the color spectrum just before the light disappears.

Here's how to view the green flash: First it has to be a clear day, no clouds or haze on the horizon. Second, the sun has to set on the ocean (if it sets behind an island, you won't see the flash). Keep checking the sun as it drops (try not to look directly into the sun, just glance at it to assess its position). If the conditions are ideal, just as the sun drops into the blue water, a "flash" or laserlike beam of green will appear to shoot out for an instant.

In Search of Hawaiian, Jawaiian & More

Nightlife options on this island are limited. Revelers generally head for Casanova in Makawao and Maui Brews in Lahaina. Because they are in different parts of this spread-out island, you'll either have to drive a great distance to these clubs or explore what's happening in the major hotels near you. The hotels generally have lobby lounges offering Hawaiian music, soft jazz, or hula shows beginning at sunset.

Hawaiian Music -- The best of Hawaiian music can be heard every Wednesday night at the indoor amphitheater at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua with the Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Series (tel. 808/669-3858; www.slackkey.com). Host George Kahumoku, Jr., introduces a new slack-key master every week. Not only is there incredible Hawaiian music and singing, but George and his guest "talk story" about old Hawaii, music, and Hawaiian culture. Not to be missed. Tickets are $47.

At the Movies

The 12-screen movie megaplex at the Maui Mall, 70 E. Kaahumanu Ave. (tel. 808/249-2222), in Kahului, features current releases. The Maui Film Festival (tel. 808/572-3456 or 808/579-9244; www.mauifilmfestival.com) presents "Academy House" films for the avant-garde, ultrahip movie buff Wednesday nights at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, 1 Cameron Way (just off Kahului Beach Rd.), Kahului, usually followed by live music and poetry readings. In June the not-to-be-missed Maui Film Festival also puts on nights of cinema under the stars in Wailea.

Film buffs can check the local newspapers to see what's playing at the other theaters around the island (or go to www.mauigateway.com/~rw/movie): the Kaahumanu Theatres, in the Kaahumanu Center in Kahului (tel. 808/873-3133); the Kukui Mall Theatre, 1819 S. Kihei Rd., in Kihei (tel. 808/244-8934); the Wallace Theatres in Lahaina at the Wharf Cinema Center, 658 Front St. (tel. 808/249-2222); and the Front Street Theatres at the Lahaina Center, 900 Front St. (tel. 808/249-2222).

The Best Place in the World to See a Movie -- Imagine lounging on a comfy beach chair on the island of Maui watching the stars come out in the night sky. As soon as it gets dark enough, the biggest outdoor screen you've ever seen comes to life with a premiere film. This has to be the best place in the entire world to watch movies.

If you're headed to Maui in June, pick your dates around the Maui Film Festival (tel. 808/572-3456 or 808/579-9244; www.mauifilmfestival.com), which always starts the Wednesday before Father's Day. This is an event you won't want to miss. The 5-day festival features nightly films in the "Celestial Cinema," an under-the-stars, open-air "outdoor theater" on the Wailea Golf Course. The event features premieres and special advance screenings on a 50-foot-wide screen in Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Festival organizer and film producer Barry Rivers selects "life-affirming" films that often become box office hits.

In addition to the 5 days and nights of films, film workshops, and filmmaker panels, there also is terrific food: A Taste of Chocolate night, A Taste of Wailea (with Maui's top chefs creating exquisite culinary masterpieces), and a host of other foodie events.

For the family there's a Father's Day Concert of contemporary Hawaiian music, a sand sculpture contest, and picnics.

For those interested in Hawaii culture, the festival also presents TheStarShow, where live images of celestial objects are projected onto the screen, as experts in Polynesian astronomy and cultural history take the audience on a tour of the night sky and Polynesian navigational lore.

As Rivers puts it: "Rising stars, shooting stars, movie stars, all under the stars."

At the Theatre

It's not Broadway, but Maui does have live community theater at the Iao Theater, 68 N. Market St., in Wailuku (tel. 808/244-8680 or 808/242-6969 for the box office and program information; www.mauionstage.com). Shows range from locally written productions to well-known plays to musicals.

A Night to Remember: Maui Style

Most of the larger hotels in Maui's major resorts offer luau on a regular basis. You'll pay about $75 to attend one. Don't expect it to be a homegrown affair prepared in the traditional Hawaiian way. There are, however, commercial luau that capture the romance and spirit of the luau with quality food and entertainment in outdoor settings.

Maui's best luau is indisputably the nightly Old Lahaina Luau (tel. 800/248-5828 or 808/667-1998; www.oldlahainaluau.com). On its 1-acre site just ocean side of the Lahaina Cannery at 1251 Front St., the Old Lahaina Luau maintains its high standards in food and entertainment in a peerless setting. Local craftspeople display their wares only a few feet from the ocean. Seating is provided on lauhala mats for those who wish to dine as the traditional Hawaiians did, but there are tables for everyone else. There's no fire dancing in the program, but you won't miss it (for that, go to The Feast at Lele). This luau offers a healthy balance of entertainment, showmanship, authentic high-quality food, educational value, and sheer romantic beauty. (No watered-down mai tais, either -- these are the real thing.)

The luau begins at sunset and features Tahitian and Hawaiian entertainment, including various forms of hula and an intelligent narrative on the dance's rocky course of survival into modern times. The entertainment is riveting, even for jaded locals. The food, served from an open-air thatched structure, is as much Pacific Rim as authentically Hawaiian: imu-roasted kalua pig, baked mahimahi in Maui-onion cream sauce, guava chicken, teriyaki sirloin steak, lomi salmon, poi, dried fish, poke, Hawaiian sweet potato, seafood salad, and the ultimate taste treat, taro leaves with coconut milk. The cost is $89 for adults, $59 for children 12 and under.

'Ulalena: Hula, Myth & Modern Dance

The highly polished 'Ulalena, staged in the Maui Myth and Magic Theatre, 878 Front St. (tel. 877/688-4800 or 808/661-9913; www.ulalena.com), is a riveting production that weaves Hawaiian mythology with drama, dance, and state-of-the-art multimedia capabilities in a brand-new, multimillion-dollar theater. A local and international cast performs Polynesian dance, original music, acrobatics, and chant to create an experience that often leaves the audience speechless. It's interactive, with dancers coming down the aisles, drummers and musicians in surprising corners, and mind-boggling stage and lighting effects that draw the audience in. Some special moments: the goddess dancing on the moon, the white sail signaling the arrival of the first Europeans, the wrath of the volcano goddess, Pele (the stage effects depicting lava are brilliant), and the despairing labors of the field-worker immigrants. The effects of the modern choreography and traditional hula are surprisingly evocative. The story unfolds seamlessly, and at the end you'll be shocked to realize that not a single word of dialogue has been spoken. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 6:30pm. Tickets are $50 to $70 for adults and $30 to $50 for children ages 12 and under.

Magic - Maui Style

A very different type of live entertainment is Warren & Annabelle's, 900 Front St., Lahaina (tel. 808/667-6244; www.warrenandannabelles.com), a magic/comedy cocktail show with illusionist Warren Gibson and "Annabelle," a ghost from the 1800s who plays the grand piano (even taking requests from the audience) as Warren dazzles you with his sleight-of-hand magic. Appetizers, desserts, and cocktails are available. Check-in is 5pm. Show-only price is $50. You must be 21 years old to attend, although they occasionally have a 4pm family show (minimum age is 6) without food or cocktails (generally during major school holidays); call for details.

The Kaanapali Beach Hotel has a wonderful show called Kupanaha that is perfect for the entire family. It features the renowned magicians Jody and Kathleen Baran and their entire family, including child prodigy magicians Katrina and Crystal. The dinner show features magic, illusions, and the story of the Hawaii fire goddess, Pele, presented through hula and chant performed by the children of the Kano'eau Dance Academy. The shows are Tuesday through Saturday; tickets are $75 to $85 for adults, $49 ages 13 to 20, and $35 for children ages 6 to 12 (free for children 5 and under). Included in the ticket price is dinner (entree choices include island fish, roasted stuffed chicken, steak and shrimp, or a vegetarian dish, with a children's menu available). For reservations and tickets, call tel. 808/661-0011 or visit www.kbhmaui.com.

Gastronomy

With soaring visitor statistics and a glamorous image, the Valley Isle is fertile ground for Hawaii's famous enterprising chefs (like Roy Yamaguchi of Roy's, Gerard Reversade of Gerard's, James McDonald of I'O and Pacific'O, Peter Merriman of Hula Grill, Mark Ellman of Maui Tacos and Mala Ocean Tavern, D. K. Kodama of Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Vino Italian Tapas, and Beverly Gannon of Haliimaile General Store and Joe's), as well as an international name or two (Wolfgang Puck of Spago). There are also a few newcomers who are cooking up a storm and getting a well-deserved following (Ryan Luckey of Pineapple Grill, Jennifer Nguyen of A Saigon Cafe, Dana Pastula of the Cafe O'Lei restaurants, and Don Ritchey of Moana Bakery & Cafe).

In this dizzying scenario, some things haven't changed: You can still dine well at Lahaina's open-air waterfront watering holes, where the view counts for 50% of the experience. There are still budget eateries, but not many; Maui's old-fashioned, multigenerational mom-and-pop diners are disappearing, eclipsed by the flashy newcomers, or clinging to the edge of existence in the older neighborhoods of central Maui, such as lovable Wailuku. Although you'll have to work harder to find them in the resort areas, you won't have to go far to find creative cuisine, pleasing style, and stellar dining experiences.

Maui vacations | Our friendly travel advisors are experts on Maui vacations and know most of Maui hotels. Before we quote any Maui vacations packages, we compare with other tour operators serving your departure city and provide the lowest price available. Call our reservation center and purchase your Maui vacations with confidence, our company has maintained an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau for many years.

Maui vacations | Maui vacations packages | Maui cheap vacations

Aruba vacation packages | Cancun vacation package all inclusive | Cozumel vacations packages | All inclusive packages ixtapa | Los cabos family vacations | Mexico vacations all inclusive | Montego bay vacation packages | Playa del Carmen vacation packages | Puerto Vallarta vacation packages | Punta Cana vacation packages | Riviera maya family vacations | Family vacations