Travel Tips- Maui

One of our favorite destinations was the beautiful island of Maui.

A quick summary of our trip. We stayed at the Fairmont in Wailea, the hotel was absolutely beautiful and we will be back. It is an all suite hotel making a typical 7 night stay extremely comfortable with the extra room the suite offers. Wailea is the desert part of the island which means that if you want absolutely no rain I recommend staying on this side. Our hotel and most of the others in Wailea offer shuttle service to other hotels and to the near by restaurants and shopping centers.

We hope you enjoy your trip as much as we enjoyed ours !

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Places to eat

• Ko Restaurant - Our Favorite restaurant on the island. Located at the Fairmont in Wailea. The lobster tempura is amazing! Also a great atmosphere.

• The pint and cork- If you are at the shops at Wailea we recommend the pint and cork, great sandwiches and mac and cheese! Comfort food done right.

• Paia fish market- A great place for quick seafood that is extremely fresh. You can go healthy or not so much with the fried option. A place to stop on the way back from the road to Hana

• Mama's Fish House- Another stop on the way back from the road to Hana more upscale fantastic dishes. One of the best on the island!

• Aunty Sandy's Banana bread - An amazing banana bread, we actually met sandy and she is as wonderful as her banana bread! To get to her stand you do have to travel on the road to Hana.

Things to do and be aware of:

The beach is a necessity when it comes to staying in Maui. At whichever hotel you are staying at I recommend definitely taking a few days to relax and enjoy the resort. Almost all of the hotels had beautiful beaches. That being said, I do believe the Fairmont beach was one of the nicest out of the other hotels in Wailea. We were not able to check out the other resorts in the different areas of the island.

Shopping stops:

• Shops at Wailea - The shops at Wailea are a mix of upscale stores, middle of the road stores and fantastic restaurant's. A fun fact to know is that the upscale stores like Gucci, Bottega Venetta and Prada all offer 20% off of their handbags and no tax.

• Downtown Paia - A really cute downtown filled with great restaurants and shops. Stop on the way back from the road to Hana or just for a day outside of the resort. Stars like Owen Wilson have houses nearby. Also a warning... There are some homeless people, especially where you park the car. None of them gave us a problem and we would still recommend going just something to consider.

• Target and Costco - They do have a target and Costco on the island incase you decide to rent an Air bnb or VRBO

Things to do:

• Whale watching tour: A beautiful thing to experience. Most people don't know this but Maui actually has even better whale watching than Alaska. Something to consider: If you get easily sea sick, do not go on the whale watching tour. The waters are choppy and you don't want it to ruin a vacation day.

• Road to Hana: A real life example of what it would feel like to be in Jurassic Park, Waterfalls, Mountains, Ocean and beautiful views. We never made it to Hana but we did make a stop at Aunty Sandy's which was great. Also awesome to stop at the fruit stands on the sides of the road. Unfortunately, we did not make it to Hana due to a case of car sickness. Also the road is VERY narrow so drive safe.

• Walk along Wailea: Connecting all the hotels in Wailea there is a beautiful walkway along the water to take in the views. We did this walk every morning and I believe it is over 2 miles one way! If you aren't staying in Wailea to do the walk park your car at one of the hotels, go for lunch then go on the walk!

The Overrated:

• The Luau: We went to the Andaz for a luau which was rated a top luau on the island, it was around $200 per person and the food was terrible! We also heard the other luaus did not have great food as well. The dancers and performers were amazing, but if you are a foodie like us you will be disappointed.

Hope you have a wonderful, happy vacation!

Julia & Jan