Leaving soon and need Itinerary Help. Would so appreciate...

My boyfriend and I are going to Maui for the first time this Thursday and we are only staying 4 days. (arrive Thursday nite @ 5pm and have 7pm flight out on Monday). Very short, I realize but it%26#39;s what we could afford and the days I could take off work and we are so happy to be going at all!

B/c of this really short time and b/c of all the millions of not-to-be-missed things I%26#39;ve heard and read about, I was wondering if could get some advice on my itinerary.

Thursday:

Arrive 4:45 pm, Dinner, Relax, Go for a walk on the beach. Maybe go see the blackrock dive at the Sheraton (our hotel) if time permits.

Friday:

6am Haleakala-Summit Area and Kipahulu Area- hiking, picnicking,etc

Tideschi Winery

5:15pm Old Lahaina Luau

Saturday:

8am Swap Meet

Explore Lahaina downtown

Snorkeling @ black rock on our own or possibly snorkeling boat tour.

Kayaking?

Hang out Beach/Resort

Sunday:

6am Hana Highway- ??? not sure about what is realistic to do in one day. I know there is so much that we will miss. ??? Red beach, black beach, 7 pools, etc. I do have Maui Revealed but still just don%26#39;t know how to sort it out.

Monday: Resort/Beach All day. Check out at 4pm. Return Car. Flight at 7:10pm

Any and all input would be so helpful. Am I missing something great? Have I included something that is a waste of time? Have I under or over estimated proximity when grouping activities together in one day?

Any help in making my itinerary realistic, practical and of course FUN [I will be on vacation after all--I must continue to remind myself!! ;)]would be so great!

Thanks a million %26amp; 10! ;)

Leaving soon and need Itinerary Help. Would so appreciate...

Oh, and I realize that besides the Luau, I haven%26#39;t even thought about places to eat. Again, I have Maui Revealed but haven%26#39;t sorted the food aspect out yet... Any input on that would be excellent too!

:) Thank u lots! :)

Leaving soon and need Itinerary Help. Would so appreciate...

Some good places to eat:

Mama%26#39;s Fish house

Pacific o%26#39;

Sansei

What about whale watching? Great time of the year for that.

I too am counting down, we will arrive Jan 25th.

Most of all I would try not to over book your self, there is a lot too see but you should save lots of time to relax and enjoy your surroundings!

I would not recommend the luau and Haleakala on the same day. You are going to be getting up around 4:00 a.m. to get to Haleakala and you will probably be pretty wiped out when you get back. I loved Haleakala and strongly recommend sunrise there. But I would plan an easy and relaxing dinner that night.

Sorry, but I%26#39;m going to disagree about Haleakala/Luau. We left for Hal. late am and had more than enough time to get back down and go to Iao Needle. We were done the Iao Needle at 5:30.

Rebecca

I think you%26#39;re on the right track already. Doing the Haleakala summit on the first day is a good idea since your body%26#39;s clock will still be on Eastern time. You%26#39;ll be getting up very, very early whether you drive yourself or take a tour. If you take the winery tour, you shouldn%26#39;t be too rushed for the luau that night. We went to the Old Lahaina Luau based on many recommendations and were glad we did.

I%26#39;d look into a snorkel boat trip you talked about. The water looks very inviting once you%26#39;re there, we went on another island but I%26#39;m sure Maui has several tours like this. I know the snorkel trips to Molokini crater are extremely popular and it%26#39;s very close so it won%26#39;t fill up your entire day. The last post mentioned whale watching, that would also be an excellent option, I bet.

Hana Hwy - if you%26#39;re into seeing many of the waterfalls and sights that the book talks about, plan for the entire day for sure. We actually did the first 5 or 10 miles one day when we had a free afternoon. Then, when we finished the trip a couple of days later, we weren%26#39;t in a hurry at all. If you%26#39;re leaving as early as you say I think you%26#39;ll be fine.

Lots of good restaurants, we didn%26#39;t have any firm plans when we were there. I had a list of a few of the nicer places I%26#39;d read about so we tried a couple of those when we could. Other days were so filled we just took Subway sandwiches back to the room at night!

Didn%26#39;t do the swap meet, I%26#39;d be interested in what others thought. Other than that, make it a point to visit at least of the few beaches, they%26#39;re as beautiful as you can imagine. The Maui Reveled book has some good maps for each area.

I love the Swap Meet.

Think about doing Lahaina downtown the same day as the luau, or even doing it Thursday night for dinner. Coming from the east coast you shouldn%26#39;t have jet lag problems.

Kipahulu, while part of the same park as Haleakala, is nowhere near there by car. It%26#39;s past Hana. You can see a lot on a 1-day trip, but you probably won%26#39;t have time for much hiking. Red Sand Beach is a short hike, though, and well worth doing.

Tedeschi Winery is doable along with Haleakala, and you could also explore upcountry - Makawao, Paia, Ho%26#39;okipa beach (kiteboarders).

You could probably manage a Monday morning snorkel trip to Molokini; they leave pretty early and get back around 1:00 pm. I think. Molokini is fine unless you%26#39;ve experienced snorkeling someplace like Bonaire or Australia. Try Paragon or Trilogy.

Try to schedule activities in the same general area on the same day. Maui is bigger than you think it is, with more traffic and low speed limits. You can%26#39;t get anywhere near as far as quickly as you can in the NY/NJ/CT area. For instance, from Ka%26#39;anapali to the Swap Meet I%26#39;d allow almost an hour (although it shouldn%26#39;t be quite as bad on Saturday morning.) Then you%26#39;ve got easily another hour up to the summit of Haleakala.

If you are staying at the Sheraton, just snorkel at the Black Rock right in front of your hotel. It is one of the best snorkel spots in Maui!! Taking a snorkel tour will take hours out of your day and chances are will be, at best, just as good as the Black Rock and more likely not as good as the Black Rock

Thanks soooo much for all this great input! This is excellent! And I was worried that perhaps I was grouping things together that I thought were near each other, but maybe were not so I think I will skip the Kipahulu Area all together. Between taking a little something from everyone%26#39;s comments, I think I feel pretty good about tweaking my itinerary.

I will definitely follow up when we got back. 3 more days to go! :)

Thanks so so much!

Drive past Hana and go the back way around Haleakala. That way, you%26#39;ll see Kipahulu, and Lindberg%26#39;s grave, and the winery. It%26#39;s a beautiful drive. Plan for a long day, and bring food with you. Not much to eat in that area, but on the back side of Haleakala there%26#39;s a great little stand by the general store that makes amazing bagel and croissant sandwiches.