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Recent Car Rental Experiences (Kahalui, Maui; Hilo, Big Island; Nawiliwili, Kaui)


ajtraveler66
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Thank you Silver Sweethearts. You are right, we will be putting into port at Lahaina. I checked with Enterprise website and the have locations at Kapalua West Maui Airport (about 7 miles away-12 minute drive) & on Kaanapali Pkwy. The Kaanapali Pkwy location is only open till noon on Sunday but the airport location opened till 430p, so that will work. I will give them a call tomorrow and see what they can do on picking us up (Enterprise does this, at least my experience here on the mainland).

 

Have a question Silver Sweethearts, seeing your from Maui? Having car from 10 to 330 on a Sunday, what highlights would you suggest? Thanks Alan aka Banjo

 

As far as we recall, Enterprise does not have a shuttle in Lahaina, but do check it out. The "Airport" location is the one on highway 30 we believe (at Halawai or Hanawai Drive or some such). Not all that far from Lahaina/Kaanapali. You never do go to the "airport" itself, which we put in quotes because that is extremely small and out of the way.

 

In all honesty, you might consider doing without a car. Lahaina and Kaanapali are fun to explore and enjoy. You can take a short taxi ride between them. Do you have any special interests or places you have heard about and might want to see?

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Which rental company was this? I'd like to avoid one that only has 1 employee on cruise day.

Many of them in Kauai and Lahaina, Maui. Avis, Budget, Alamo. Kind of hard to avoid as they are small offices, not line for premium customers. Most of the offices for Lahaina are up at the Kapalua West Maui Airport so we have found it easier to share a $20 cab with another couple and beat the van there. That is contingent upon getting on one of the first tender boats too.

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Thank you Silver Sweethearts. You are right, we will be putting into port at Lahaina. I checked with Enterprise website and the have locations at Kapalua West Maui Airport (about 7 miles away-12 minute drive) & on Kaanapali Pkwy. The Kaanapali Pkwy location is only open till noon on Sunday but the airport location opened till 430p, so that will work. I will give them a call tomorrow and see what they can do on picking us up (Enterprise does this, at least my experience here on the mainland).

 

Have a question Silver Sweethearts, seeing your from Maui? Having car from 10 to 330 on a Sunday, what highlights would you suggest? Thanks Alan aka Banjo

 

With only having a car for about 5 1/2 hours, Silver Sweethearts' suggestion of not getting a car and exploring the area is great suggestion. Especially if you have not been there before. If you leave the Lahaina/Kaanapali area to see the sights you would probably end up behind the wheel for most of that, especially if there is an accident on Hwy 30 or even just heavy traffic.

If you stay in the area there is Maui Dragon Fruit Farm, Sugar Cane Train Maui, snorkeling at Black Rock Beach, exploring Front Street. Lots of things to fill 5 hours.

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We’re in South Maui & agree that getting a rental car for 5.5 hours is not a good idea.

 

It’d be best to remain in the West Maui area (Lahaina to Kapalua) & to not risk traffic delays by going elsewhere. To explore West Maui you could travel by bus or even better by cab. That area has many fewer available rental cars which results in higher rental rates. And the closest facilities would require transportation to get to the rental offices located in the Kaanapali area.

 

Banjo...if you could provide the type of things you’d like to do without renting a car, I could make some suggestions.

 

But the Sugar Cane Train has been closed for several years & a website shows they’re hopefully of resuming in 2018 (https://www.sugarcanetrain.com/). I haven’t read about that possibility in the Maui News nor could I locate any information by searching online about the possibility of it reopening.

Edited by Astro Flyer
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We’re in South Maui & agree that getting a rental car for 5.5 hours is not a good idea.

 

It’d be best to remain in the West Maui area (Lahaina to Kapalua) & to not risk traffic delays by going elsewhere. To explore West Maui you could travel by bus or even better by cab. That area has many fewer available rental cars which results in higher rental rates. And the closest facilities would require transportation to get to the rental offices located in the Kaanapali area.

 

Banjo...if you could provide the type of things you’d like to do without renting a car, I could make some suggestions.

 

But the Sugar Cane Train has been closed for several years & a website shows they’re hopefully of resuming in 2018 (https://www.sugarcanetrain.com/). I haven’t read about that possibility in the Maui News nor could I locate any information by searching online about the possibility of it reopening.

 

Sorry I didn't mean to give misinformation. I didn't realize it had closed. :o

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Sorry I didn't mean to give misinformation. I didn't realize it had closed. :o

No problem...you provide a lot of useful information on this forum. :cool:

 

Living in Maui it’s easier for me to keep updated & it was sad when it closed. Throughout the decades generations of my Ohana had enjoyed the Sugar Cane Train.

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I was on the POA in April. Our first day on Maui was the Road to Hana. The second day we rented a car and drove to Lahaina. So you might be just where you need to be.....stay there and skip the car. We had no trouble driving from Kahului to Lahaina, but the return trip was very slow on a packed two-lane highway. You could spend your whole five hours sitting in traffic. And you need to see that Banyan Tree.

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Thank you everyone for the advice on renting a car for just a short period. I did call around this afternoon and it just not practical. So I agree on nixing the car rental.

 

 

 

The ship is in Lahaina for 2 full days. The first day we did book a tour 'Loa Valley & Maui Tropical Plantation'. If we took a cab/uber over to Kapalua and walked around, is that doable and recommended?

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Thank you everyone for the advice on renting a car for just a short period. I did call around this afternoon and it just not practical. So I agree on nixing the car rental.

 

The ship is in Lahaina for 2 full days. The first day we did book a tour 'Loa Valley & Maui Tropical Plantation'. If we took a cab/uber over to Kapalua and walked around, is that doable and recommended?

If you just want to walk around then Ka’anapali Beach could be a better option. A long sandy beach & in the middle there’s Whalers Village with shops & restaurants. On the north end near the Sheraton is a popular snorkeling spot Black Rock.

 

https://mauiguide.com/maps/kaanapali/

 

Checking a taxi website it shows a fare of about $12 from Lahaina to Ka’anapali Beach or $30 to Kapalua.

 

http://westmauitaxi.com/services_and_rates

 

Another option could be to walk around the historical old whaling town of Lahaina which at one time was the capital of the Hawaiian Monarchy.

 

https://lahainatown.com/

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The ship is in Lahaina for 2 full days. The first day we did book a tour 'Loa Valley & Maui Tropical Plantation'. If we took a cab/uber over to Kapalua and walked around, is that doable and recommended?

 

Just curious what your interest is in Kapalua - meaning is there something or somewhere special there that you want to see? We have a place at a resort called Montage up there, so we have walked and walked and walked the area many times over the years and know that area rather well. Please give us an idea of what you are looking for and hopefully we can give you more information.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just a quick tip to everyone. Be careful when renting a car from Enterprise Kahalui Maui near the cruise port. They have early closing hours on Sundays so you can drop off your car at their lot and can put the keys in the drop box, but you are considered responsible until one of their employees inspects the car. We were informed three days after dropping off our car that they had found damage and were charging us. They initially stated when we picked up the car there was no damage, but we had the copy of the inital report which had several items of damage on it, so they backed off that but are still insisting that there is a dent that wasn't present when we picked up the car. As the car was quite old and had several scratches, dents and damage on the inside of the car, I'm not sure how they are determining additional damage. We had made sure to put the car in a space instead of leaving it in a line where they could be additional damage to it, but now wish we had taken pictures of it as well when we dropped it off. Beware this place, as it's possible they are running a scam!

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  • 3 weeks later...
I was on the POA in April. Our first day on Maui was the Road to Hana. The second day we rented a car and drove to Lahaina. So you might be just where you need to be.....stay there and skip the car. We had no trouble driving from Kahului to Lahaina, but the return trip was very slow on a packed two-lane highway. You could spend your whole five hours sitting in traffic. And you need to see that Banyan Tree.

 

We will be in Maui in April 2019 on the POA and plan to drive a rental car to Lahaina on the 2nd day. Since the traffic is bad coming back to Kahului, will we have time to explore Lahaina? What time do we need to head back to the car rental facility/ship if ship sails at 6pm? Thanks!

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Just a quick tip to everyone. Be careful when renting a car from Enterprise Kahalui Maui near the cruise port. They have early closing hours on Sundays so you can drop off your car at their lot and can put the keys in the drop box, but you are considered responsible until one of their employees inspects the car. We were informed three days after dropping off our car that they had found damage and were charging us. They initially stated when we picked up the car there was no damage, but we had the copy of the inital report which had several items of damage on it, so they backed off that but are still insisting that there is a dent that wasn't present when we picked up the car. As the car was quite old and had several scratches, dents and damage on the inside of the car, I'm not sure how they are determining additional damage. We had made sure to put the car in a space instead of leaving it in a line where they could be additional damage to it, but now wish we had taken pictures of it as well when we dropped it off. Beware this place, as it's possible they are running a scam!

 

Thank you for the warning. I've had this happen with other rental car companies (Hertz and Budget) in the past as well. On mine, I even returned when someone was there and they tried it. Taking pictures is a good idea. We will return ours on a Monday, but still, good to be extra careful with the inspection on check-out.

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We will be in Maui in April 2019 on the POA and plan to drive a rental car to Lahaina on the 2nd day. Since the traffic is bad coming back to Kahului, will we have time to explore Lahaina? What time do we need to head back to the car rental facility/ship if ship sails at 6pm? Thanks!

 

I'm curious about this too. Does anyone have more info on this?

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We did exactly what you are asking about, but I have forgotten exact time we left Lahaina. We picked up our Thrifty auto at 9 am and returned it at 4 pm, with plenty of time to return to the ship. There was construction going on which could possibly be completed by the time you arrive, but I don't think that was the reason our return trip was so slow.....there was just a lot of traffic on a two-lane highway. We drove to Lahaina and rode around town a bit to orient ourselves. Then we found a parking lot somewhat near the Banyan tree. We walked around town, saw the Tree, shopped a bit, spent time eating a meal and also shave ice. When we left, we realized we had arrive via the by-pass, so we left on the old road along the beach. I'm not sure, but I guess we left around 2 pm. Before your trip, someone can probably give you more recent news about construction, but you do have time to go to Lahaina if that's what you want to do.

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