Maui Hotel Guide

With 80 gorgeous beaches nestled along a 120-mile coastline, Maui sings a siren song to every stripe of traveler.

The second-largest island in the Hawaiian chain, this tropical Eden offers a bounty of natural beauty, a wide array of leisure activities, and plenty of lodging.

Often called the best island in the world, its nickname is Valley Isle. According to geologists, this gem was created more than one million years ago by the eruption of two volcanoes. One of them is now extinct; the other one, Haleakala, is the largest dormant volcano crater in the world. Rising gloriously 10,023 feet into the sky, Haleakala (meaning House of the Sun) is the crown jewel of Haleakala National Park on Maui's east side. The site is acclaimed for awe-inspiring sunrises.

Maui's endless days of sunshine and balmy year-round temperatures make it the ideal destination for a visit anytime during the year. Most travelers arrive during the summer and the period between Christmas and Easter.

Maui has the highest percentage of upscale hotel rooms of any of the eight Hawaiian islands. The majority of lodging is found in mountainous West Maui and the dry, leeward South Shore. Fifty percent of the island's population lives in Kihei on the famous South Shore. This is a relatively inexpensive area bulging with condos and small hotels. Accommodations are more scarce in the north and in Upcountry Maui. Central Maui, the location of the county seat of Wailuku, is the base for much of the island's commerce and industry.

All of Maui's beaches are free and open to the public. Blue beach-access signs indicate rights-of-way through resort and condo properties. Water activities include parasailing, sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, canoe racing, and windsurfing. Ho`okipa Bay is one of the world's top windsurfing spots. Whalewatching is popular entertainment. From November through April humpback whales breach and blow just offshore.

Waianapanapa State Park, on the edge of the Pacific Ocean near Hana in the eastern portion of the isle, is a perfect spot to picnic, hike, or swim. It has one of Maui's black-sand beaches and freshwater caves for swimmers to explore. Another natural wonder is the 2,040-acre Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve at the tip of the South Shore. Here visitors are awed by large lava tide pools, coastal lava tubes, coral, and a great variety of fish. It's a wonderful spot for snorkeling.

For landlubbers, rodeos are an exciting adventure. Believe it or not, Maui has dozens of working cattle ranches. A major event is the 4th of July Rodeo.

The popular twisty, turny Road to Hana is a narrow ribbon with speeds normally lower than 25 mph. But this long, slow trip to the east coast is definitely worth the time because it brings travelers through an exhilarating tropical rain forest and a path lined with orchids, mango trees, and African tulips trees. Some attractive lodging options are available at the end of the road in Hana and the surrounding environs.

To get acquainted with a new place, it's often a good idea to take a guided tour. For an overview of the island, take a helicopter flight-seeing excursion over the mountain tops. Other tours available include crater tours, downhill biking tours, art tours, horseback tours, pineapple plantation tours, and walking tours. You're sure to learn something intriguing about this national paradise.

If you are traveling to Maui by air it is possible to get a direct flight from the mainland, although most flights go through Honolulu first.

Maui has two major airports: Kahului Airport, in the island's central town of Kahului, and Kapalua-West Maui Airport. Kahului Airport is efficient and easy to navigate but quite far from most major resort destinations. It is the only airport with direct service to the mainland. Shuttles run between the Kapalua-West Maui Airport and the Kaanapali and Kapulua resorts. Hana Airport, near the Waianapanapa State Park, has limited commuter service to Honolulu and Kahalui.

The best way to get from the airport to your hotel is by rental car. Most car rental agencies require drivers to be at least 25 years of age. The Trans Hawaiian Airporter Shuttle runs between Kahului Airport and the West Maui hotels. You can also take a taxi cab. The two directions in Maui are mauka (toward the mountains) and makai (toward the ocean).

Like the rest of Hawaii, Maui is on Hawaiian Standard Time, five hours behind the time in New York. When the U.S. mainland is on daylight savings time, Hawaii is not, so add an extra hour of time difference between the islands and mainland locations.

Maui has no public bus service, but there are several tourist shuttle buses and taxis that traverse the entire island.