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Maui

Sunrise from the Haleakalā summit is by reservation only, booked in advance.

HawaiiCapital: Wailuku

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Haleakalā's summit stands 3,055 metres above the ocean it grew out of, and the depression at the top runs about eleven kilometres long. Sunrise up there has been capped since 2017: entry between 3am and 7am needs a timed reservation, released on recreation.gov sixty days ahead.

The other road worth naming is the Hāna Highway along the wet north-east coast — roughly 620 curves and 59 bridges, most of them one lane wide. On the opposite shore, Lahaina, the old whaling port that once served as the Hawaiian kingdom's capital, was largely destroyed by the wildfire of August 2023 and is being rebuilt.

Quick facts

Currency

USD

USD accepted

Language

English

Power

—

Driving

Right

US-style

Airport

OGG

Kahului

Emergency

—

Police · Fire

When to go

Monthly breakdown

Storm risk: Low

Jan

Rain

Feb

Rain

Mar

Rain

Apr

Best

May

Best

Jun

Best

Jul

Best

Aug

Best

Sep

Best

Oct

Best

Nov

Rain

Dec

Rain

Best monthsRainy season

Major events

Feb

Maui Whale Festival

Kihei marks the peak of the humpback season, when several thousand whales are in the Auau Channel between Maui, Lanai and Molokai. Sightings happen from the shoreline.

Other

Jun

Kapalua Wine and Food Festival

Four days of tastings and chef demonstrations on the northwest coast, running since 1981 and one of the longest-standing food festivals in the islands.

Food

Sep

Aloha Festivals

A statewide season of hula, music and floral parades running through September, with Maui holding its own events alongside the larger Oahu programme.

Cultural

Hidden gems

Viewpoint

Waihee Ridge Trail

A ridge walk into the West Maui mountains that ends above the cloud line more often than not; go early or see nothing.

Nature

Nakalele Blowhole

A lava tube on the north coast that fires seawater 30 metres up on the right swell. People have been killed standing too close.

Village

Keanae

A lava peninsula off the Hana road where taro is still farmed in wet loi and the 1860 church survived the 1946 tsunami.

Local food

Kalua pig

A whole pig salted and cooked for hours in an imu, an underground oven lined with hot stones and banana leaf.

Malasada

dietary_tags.vegetarian

Portuguese fried dough brought by plantation workers in the 1870s, sold without a hole and rolled in sugar.

Maui Gold pineapple

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Low-acid pineapple grown on the slopes above Haliimaka; the last commercial pineapple operation left in Hawaii.

Safety tips

Water-Safety

Makena's Big Beach has a shorebreak that breaks directly onto sand and causes neck and shoulder injuries every year. It looks calm from the car park; watch a set land before going in.

Nature

Haleakala sunrise requires a reservation booked in advance, and the summit sits at 3,055 metres where it is often near freezing. People arrive in shorts and turn back.

Transport

The Road to Hana is 600 curves and 50 one-lane bridges. Pull over to let locals pass, do not park on blind corners, and treat it as a full day rather than a stop on the way to something.