Maui- A Complete 7 Day Itinerary

My husband and I spent a week in Maui in July 2023 and here are the details of our days there…

This a complete 7 day itinerary to Maui, we hiked a total of 16 miles in one week!

Table of Contents:

• Waihee Ridge Trail
• Nakalele Blowhole/Olivine Pools–Ono Taco Truck/Kohola Brewery–Royal Lahina Luau
• Haleakala–Stewz Burgers–Makawao
• Road to Hana–Waiʻānapanapa State park–Waimoku Falls–Paia
• Weilea–Makena Beach–Pita Paradise

Maui Itinerary : Day 1- July 22

Arrival Travel Day to Start Our Maui Trip

We flew from Baltimore to Las Vegas and had a little over 2 hours there before we flew to Kahului airport. The car they gave us was a red, 2 door 2020 Camaro, it wasn’t our favorite car, but it seems to be a common rental given out on the island. We drove about an hour to Sands of Kahana and got our room which is beautiful with an amazing view but quickly discovered there is not air conditioning in our room! We got settled and grabbed some dinner at Dottie’s across the street.

Maui Itinerary : Day 2- July 23

Waihee Ridge Trail

Total miles hiked were 4. This is a difficult hike espcially if its raining! The trail was slippery and muddy.

My husband and I were up early and set off for the Waihee Ridge Trail. It was a very winding road that turns to one lane to get to the park entrance. The parking lot will fill up quickly so we made sure to get there early. The hike starts with a very steep incline leading to a forest with eucalyptus trees, pine trees, passion fruit vines and tons of ferns. We got to see a waterfall and then clouds started to roll in with the rain came soon after that, it was cloudy the whole time and rained on and off for the rest of our hike. I was shocked by the narrow path and the drop off on either side of it. At the top there were clouds all around so we didn’t get any good views or pictures but it was still really cool to be up there. We met a couple from California at the top and hiked down the mountain with them. They were very nice and gave us a lot of good advice. The husband started to slip and fall down a part of the trail (it’s was muddy and rainy, very slippery the whole way down) and my husband grabbed his backpack and yanked him up so he didn’t slide off the edge of the cliff!

Whaler’s Village

My husband and I went swimming at our condo for a little while in Lahaina. A sea turtle came to say hello! The water is so clean and blue/green! We then went to whaler’s village for happy hour and walked around checking out all the shops. Then we went to Monkey Pod for happy hour. They are always voted the best Mai tai, it has this yummy honey foam on top. The pineapple kept me from drinking it but my husband said it was delicious. I had a very good margarita. The food was also tasty! We had truffle mushroom pizza, Parmesan truffle fries, and a fresh fish sandwich.

Maui Itinerary : Day 3- July 24th

Nakalele Blowhole/Olivine Pools—Ono Taco Truck/Kohola Brewery—Royal Lahina Luau

Total miles hiked were 1.

Nakalele Blowhole

This morning we went east towards the Nakalele Blowhole and the Olivine Pools. The drive is jaw dropping with such a diverse landscape. We took HI-30 E 10 miles away from civilization. The road turned into highway 340 and was so winding and up and down mountains. We saw jungle, forest, desert, and sea scapes. We climbed down the cliffs overlooking the ocean over all the volcanic rock to the blowhole down by the ocean. The hole was connected to the ocean and waves would come in and then water would shoot up out of the hole. So cool! Tons of crabs around it, I tried to catch a crab and got soaked by the blowhole. My husband was very entertained. Haha! We then hiked back up the cliff it was so windy the whole time. Also harder to hike back in wet, slippery foam Birkenstocks.

Olivine Pools

A few more miles down the road passed where the highway ends we found the Olivine pools. This path was more difficult to hike down, additionally warning signs and memorials were placed along the path to caution visitors. I was a little nervous once I saw that people died there but, we continued down toward the crashing waves anyway. There were crabs and these jumping fish through the pools. The deepest pool we guessed was 20 to 50 feet deep but we couldn’t really tell. We saw some tropical fish and then we started discussing if we were getting in or not. It took me awhile but I slid down a slimy rock to about my waste, took a picture and hopped out as quick as I could. No swimming around for me! We scaled back up the cliff.

Ono’s Tacos/Kohola Brewery/Luau

We went to Starbucks and then checked out Lahaina Cannery, a small mall. After the beach at our condo, we went to Ono taco truck in the parking lot of a strip mall down the road. It was good Mexican food and great Mexican cola. (Side note: there are chickens everywhere). We walked through a thrift store and then went back behind the strip mall to Kohola Brewery, which had a relaxed warehouse feel. I recommend a booch-a-Rita. Later that night we went to the Royal Lahaina for a luau. I got real flower lei’s! Had a Hawaiian buffet dinner and drinks, and learned a little about all the Polynesian islands. We saw a lot of different dances and songs. The finale was a fire dance. After we got back we went for a walk on the beach. 

Maui Itinerary : Day 4- July 25

Haleakala—Stewz Burgers—Makawao

Total miles hiked were 6.3.

I can’t believe it’s day 4! We had a lazy morning and ate breakfast on our balcony, then walked 2 miles around our condo. After our walk we started toward Haleakala, the world’s largest dormant volcano. We went to Pukalani and had lunch at Stewz Burgers. It was delicious!! My husband had a double cheeseburger and I had a Hana.

Makawao

The next stop was Makawao, a cute small town with artsy clothing stores and galleries. We bought a print of “the giving tree” here and then headed away from civilization up the volcano.

Ascent to Haleakala Summit

My husband and I noticed the difference in elevation several times, our ears were popping and we felt winded and dizzy. Every 1000 ft or so we had to adjust again. Our first hike was through forest (hosmer grove, elevation 6,800). The eucalyptus scent was strong and as a result it felt so fresh there. As we climbed up the winding road we noticed the temperature dropping, some overlooks were so windy you felt like you had to hold on to the rocks around you. The island has tons of lava rock everywhere and all the trails after the first one have been dusty, rocky, and desert like. All of the hikes lead us up or down to an overlook view of the crater on its rim. The crater looks like Mars. There’s red and black rock/sand and this is the only place in the world that Silverswords grow! Check out my blog post for the top 10 hikes in Maui!

Maui Itinerary : Day 5- July 26

Road to Hana—Waiʻānapanapa State park—Waimoku Falls—Paia

Total miles hikes were 4.5.

Today, I regretfully scheduled our road to Hana trip. I wish we would have had a day to rest before going out trekking through the jungle again. My husband and I woke up at 7 am and had to get moving pretty quickly. We did stop for Starbucks before hitting the road….we needed the caffeine. We had a 10am-12:30pm reservation at Waiʻānapanapa State park. It was over 2 and a half hours away from our condo. The road to Hana had a lot of stops along the way of notable things to see. There is a lot of traffic because of tourists, and the locals drive really fast on the road and generally seem annoyed with tourists. The roads are so tight and twisted that the speed limit was only between 10-35mph with most people moving about 20mph on the road. Also, there were many one lane bridges so, you would have to stop and take turns. My husband and I saw tons of waterfalls and rainbow eucalyptus trees. There were food trucks and road side stands selling food and gifts.

Waiʻānapanapa State Park

We made it to the state park about 10:30. You park up above the black sand beach and then walk down stairs to get to it. It was really cool. So pretty, the black sand contrasts the blue water and makes it look even more turquoise. Here we found a lava tube that we crawled under and walked down to the water in. We really enjoyed that. Then we went swimming. The beach is in a little alcove but the waves were still pretty big. Swimming here was amazing. After and hour or so we hiked to the top of the lava cliffs and checked out the overlook. There was a sign about monk seals but, we didn’t see any. Great views here, my husband said it might be his favorite beach ever. After the beach we toweled off and hopped back in the car.

Pipiwai Trail

After the state park we saw more waterfalls and Hana town before arriving at Haleakala National park again. This time staying at sea level, we hiked the beautiful Pipiwai trail and saw Waimoku falls. It’s the tallest waterfall in Maui at 400ft. We hiked through jungle and saw an ancient banyan tree. We hiked through a bamboo forest and even saw a mongoose! The trail was 4 miles round trip but we went beyond the trails end point and got right up to the falls. My husband went in the water under it! I was a little worried about the signs they posted about the bacteria in the water. We were at the end of the road to Hana so we started back the way we came. It was a beautiful trip we left the parking lot around 4:30. We drove back to Paia. This was a cute little town, kind of like Makawao. We ate at Paia Fish Market. It was delicious! It was one of the top meals we had.

Maui Itinerary : Day 6- July 27

Weilea—Makena Beach—Pita Paradise

Total miles hiked were .8.

Thursday we went to Makena Beach State Park. It was separated by some rock/lava, they were called Big Beach and Little Beach. Heads up!! No matter what the signs say, Little Beach is a nude beach! We found that out quickly as we explored the area. My husband and I went to Pita Paradise after and it was sooo delicious, then walked around the shops at Weilea. It was fancy and we checked out the Louis Vuitton store. We played tennis back at our condo to end the evening.

Maui Itinerary : Day 7- July 28

Rest Day

We had a total rest day, we woke up late and laid by the beach all day at our condo. We had happy hour dinner and drinks at the beach bar at our condo. It was so nice to relax after a busy week.

Maui Itinerary : Day 8- July 29

Return Travel Day

Unfortunately our time had run out and we had to head back to the airport. We flew from Maui to Phoenix, then back to Baltimore.

Please let me know if you have any specific questions or need more details. I would be happy to help you, leave me a comment or email me directly at [email protected].

<3,

Allie

P.S. Check out the top 10 hikes I did on Maui or see my can’t miss restaurants in Maui.