1 Week In Maui, HI – Here’s What We Did

After spending a week in Kauai, Shae and I flew over to Maui where we also spent a week. Unlike Kauai where we stayed in the same place for the entire week, in Maui we stayed in a couple of different places.

Our first couple of days were busier than the rest of our time in Maui, but we had a fun and relaxing time during our entire week. Here’s a roundup of where we stayed, how we got around, what we did and where we ate and drank.

Where We Stayed In Maui

Hana-Maui Resort

Our first couple of days were spent driving the Road to Hana. Rather than driving it in both directions on the same day, we decided to split up those two drives by spending a couple of nights at the Hana-Maui Resort in Hana.

The Hana-Maui Resort is a Destination by Hyatt property and so we were able to book using a Hyatt free night certificate for one night and Hyatt points for the other. My Hyatt Globalist status meant we got a nice upgrade to a bungalow with a partial ocean view.

It was a lovely, relaxing property with good service, an infinity pool and more. You can read more about our stay here.

Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa

Our other five days were spent at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa on the western side of the island. I was able to apply a Suite Upgrade Award ahead of time which meant that we were able to lock in an upgrade to an Ocean View Suite which was a one bedroom suite with mountain views from the living room and oceanfront views from the bedroom.

My Globalist status meant we had access to the Club Lounge which meant our breakfast and evening meals were complimentary, helping save us money. The hotel had some good amenities, but there were also quite a few features I found frustrating. Check out this post to see more about the things I loved and hated about the Hyatt Regency Maui.

How We Got Around Maui

We booked a rental car from Sixt as they were one of the lowest-priced established car rental companies. I also picked them because Capital One Offers had an offer giving 30 Capital One miles per dollar on Sixt rentals, so that made it extremely rewarding.

I had Platinum status with Sixt from a status match I’d done last year, so once again we were offered an upgrade (we got one with Sixt in Kauai too). One option was a sporty vehicle, but we were a little nervous about driving something like that on the long, winding Road to Hana. We therefore opted for an SUV instead which ended up being a wise choice.

What We Did In Maui

Road to Hana

The Road to Hana is a famed scenic drive from Kahului to Hana. This was something we wanted to do properly which is why we decided to spend a couple of nights in Hana rather than rushing to drive there and back in one day.

There’s tons to see along the way – more than you can fit in one day no matter what. We stopped to walk through a lava tube, saw many waterfalls, watched sea turtles resting on the beach, saw Eucalyptus Rainbow Trees and much more.

I wrote much more about what we did on the drive, so check out our guide to the Road to Hana for more.

Haleakala National Park

One of the reasons we wanted to have a rental car for the entire week rather than only the Road to Hana is because there were at least two other day trips we wanted to make.

One of those was to Haleakala National Park, named after a dormant volcano – Haleakala. Many people like to visit Haleakala at sunrise due to the stunning views it affords, but with it being a 1.5-2 hour drive away from the Hyatt Regency, I wasn’t overly keen on how early we’d have to be up in the morning. n.b. if you would like to go for sunrise, you have to book a timed ticket in advance.

Rather than visiting for sunrise, we decided to leave later in the day, arriving late afternoon to stick around for sunset. Pro tip – take a jacket with you (or layer up) as it gets very cold that high up in the evening. I’d known this ahead of time, but completely forgot to grab my jacket before we left. Thankfully I did have a long sleeved t-shirt in the car to have an extra layer, but I was still very chilly nonetheless.

There’s an observatory at the summit which had a little bit of an impact on the sunset view, but despite that it was still very pretty.

We stuck around to watch the sky’s changing colors…

…and stayed even later to take advantage of the astrophotography opportunities up there. The photo below was taken using the astrophotography setting on one of our Google Pixel 8 phones.

Nakalele Blowhole

While researching things to do in Maui, Shae came across a suggestion for Nakalele Blowhole, a blowhole on the northwest side of the island.

We parked here, then initially followed a trail down towards the cliff face. From there, we followed the coast around to the right until we eventually reached the blowhole here.

This blowhole was superb. We visited a couple of other blowholes while in Hawaii, but the others didn’t have anywhere near the frequency or scale of Nakalele Blowhole. The frequency is obviously at the mercy of waves crashing below, but there was some kind of spurt every minute or two – some larger than others.

Be aware that there’s very little shade along the hike to the blowhole, so it’s worth wearing sunscreen and a hat. Even more importantly – take water with you. We ended up having to give one of our bottles to someone who was on the verge of suffering from severe heatstroke.

It’s worth the visit though. Thanks to how high the water sprays, it was also wonderful standing somewhat close to it so that the water would rain down on us, helping cool our bodies in the heat of the day.

Where We Ate & Drank

Most of our meals were eaten at the two hotels we stayed at. In Hana, the hotel’s on-site restaurant was the only thing open the night we arrived, then it was just easiest to eat there again on our second night.

When staying at the Hyatt Regency, our lounge access meant we had the (fairly extensive) hors d’oeuvres each night to save money on eating out. This following section is therefore a little shorter than normal.

Road To Hana Snacks

We had a late breakfast before driving back along the Road to Hana, so we only stopped for a few snacks along the way – ice cream, a BBQ sandwich for me and a hot dog for Shae and a small loaf of banana bread. You can see more about those in this post.

Maui Brewing Co

Maui Brewing Co was only a mile or so away from our hotel and a friend had recommended getting a chocolate porter from there. We therefore went there for drinks one evening and I started off with a flight:

• Pineapple Mana Wheat
• Mango Stickee Rice
• OMG Hazy IPA
• Waimea Red Ale

Those were all fairly good, but my favorite was indeed the Coconut Hiwa Porter I followed that up with.

What We Missed In Maui

There were a few places we didn’t end up making it to:

• Maui Ocean Center, The Aquarium of Hawaii
• Ho’okipa Beach Park – has tiny colorful shells
• Makena Beach – past Big Beach for lava fields
• Snorkeling in Molokini Crater