Maui, Hawaii

This was one of the best places I’ve ever visited. Not only was it beautiful, but it was very relaxing. I was there with my wife for our honeymoon in July 2024.

Where we stayed

We booked an Airbnb condo in Maalaea hosted by Viktoria. Solid place. The AC in the bedroom was out when we arrived, but they had it fixed by the second day with no fuss. No other issues at all.

One fun detail: Lil Wyte from Three 6 Mafia had stayed in the same condo and signed the guest book. Randomly cool.

Food

I mainly ate pizza while I was there. Yes, I did try pineapple on pizza and honestly it’s not bad. We did end up getting Ululanis shaved ice several times; I wasn’t the biggest fan of theirs. We did find another local place (Peace Love Shave Ice) that I believe was much better. I always went with coconut with the coconut ice cream on the bottom. 10/10.

Oh, and Taco Bell breakfast was still a thing when we were there. We got it. It was great. Got back to the mainland and a few months later it was just… gone. Killed off. Lame.

We also had Panda Express for the first time while we were there. On our honeymoon in Hawaii. No regrets.

Weather

Amazing. It wasn’t super hot or humid. We did get sunburnt our first day since we were driving a convertible.

People

I lost my glasses in the ocean and had to go to LensCrafters. We spent the majority of a day there so they could get me new lenses and the staff were amazing. They just hung out and talked with us the whole time. Everyone we met while out was very pleasant, just really nice and down to earth. I spoke to a guy who had moved there nearly 15 years ago from California.

Culture

The culture reminded me of New Zealand. It’s the island life: people are super laid back, relaxed, no care in the world, active. It’s bizarre seeing it in person. It’s certainly a life I’d love to live.

Activities

There’s so much to do. We drove around the entire island twice. We went to the volcano at Haleakalā National Park and it was very cool.

We also did the tour at Maui Gold, a pineapple farm up in the hills of Haliimaile. They take you out into the fields on a little tram and walk you through how they grow and harvest the pineapple. Worth doing - and the pineapple itself was genuinely incredible. It was actually the first pineapple I’d ever eaten in my life, so no complaints about the introduction.

Road to Hana

You can’t go to Maui and skip the Road to Hana. We didn’t. It’s a winding, narrow highway along the northeast coast of the island - something like 600+ curves and 50+ one-lane bridges before you even get to Hana itself. It sounds exhausting on paper and it kind of is, but it’s also one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever done.

The stops along the way are half the point. Waterfalls, black sand beaches, jungle. We pulled over constantly. Hana itself is tiny and quiet, which honestly felt like the whole point after the drive in.

until next time