Lahaina, Maui 10th/11th May 2019 Radiance of the Seas

Hi we will be arriving 8am on the Friday and departing 5pm on the Saturday we are going to the Luau, Lahaina, on the Friday, looking at what else people can recommend for us to do. We were looking at the Road to Hana but it looks like that won't work with timing, open to all kinds of suggestions, first time to Hawaii for us.:)

Lahaina itself is an interesting place to walk around--it's a historic whaling village. There's also a huge banyan tree there. Haleakela, a dormant volcano on the eastern side of Maui (Lahaina is on the west side), is well worth the visit and I'm sure your ship will offer an excursion. North of Lahaina is Kaanapali Beach, good for swimming. Another interesting thing to see is the Iao Needle, located in Iao State Park in the center of Maui, more or less. Again your ship may offer excursions to these places. And if you like to snorkel or whale watch there are lots of vendors for those activities. [We've visited Lahaina during several stays in condos north of there.]

Enjoy!

Lahaina itself is an interesting place to walk around--it's a historic whaling village. There's also a huge banyan tree there. Haleakela, a dormant volcano on the eastern side of Maui (Lahaina is on the west side), is well worth the visit and I'm sure your ship will offer an excursion. North of Lahaina is Kaanapali Beach, good for swimming. Another interesting thing to see is the Iao Needle, located in Iao State Park in the center of Maui, more or less. Again your ship may offer excursions to these places. And if you like to snorkel or whale watch there are lots of vendors for those activities. [We've visited Lahaina during several stays in condos north of there.]

Enjoy!

Thank you for your advice greatly appreciated.

IMO you could get off the ship right away and rent a car and do the road to Hana. Go as far as you can as time would allow. You could make it back in time to do the luau at night. Then spend the next day walking around Lahaina. There are many vendors along Wharf Street that will take you out for a few hours for whale watching tours. Although this time of year there may not be much to see. Saturday morning you could get up early and take an excursion to see the sunrise on Haleakala. It was awesome! As long as the weather cooperates it is so worth it! Enjoy your time on Maui. She's a great island!

Having several tines been on Radiance for the May cruises and rented cars I am not sure I would recommend trying the road to Hana if you also have a evening luau in Lahaina. Last time (2017) we got off early, tender boat number 2 and I waited in line early to get the tickets. By the time we got our rental car in Kapalua it was close to 10 am and that was taking a taxi to the rental car instead of the shuttle.

Figure more than an hour to get to fron Kapalua to Paia which is just the start of the highway. Without stops (why would you want to do that?) it's two hour drive from Paia to Waianapanapa State Park, one of the first scenic stops. So now it is close to 2 and you will need to start heading back as it 2 1/2 - 3 hours back to Lahaina from there (without traffic). That doesn't even give you time to clean up before the luau and all you did was drive all day. Not my first choice on how to spend a day on Maui.

Edit: you might consider heading up country Haleakala on maybe Makawao

Having several tines been on Radiance for the May cruises and rented cars I am not sure I would recommend trying the road to Hana if you also have a evening luau in Lahaina. Last time (2017) we got off early, tender boat number 2 and I waited in line early to get the tickets. By the time we got our rental car in Kapalua it was close to 10 am and that was taking a taxi to the rental car instead of the shuttle.

 

Figure more than an hour to get to fron Kapalua to Paia which is just the start of the highway. Without stops (why would you want to do that?) it's two hour drive from Paia to Waianapanapa State Park, one of the first scenic stops. So now it is close to 2 and you will need to start heading back as it 2 1/2 - 3 hours back to Lahaina from there (without traffic). That doesn't even give you time to clean up before the luau and all you did was drive all day. Not my first choice on how to spend a day on Maui.

 

Edit: you might consider heading up country Haleakala on maybe Makawao

Thank you Bill taking it all onboard, will give the Road to Hana a miss and look at other options, don't want to get too worn out.;)

We did the road to Hana but we were on that side. I would never try it unless I were on Maui 3 or 4 days. It is a beautiful drive but narrow road and 1 lane bridges. With a luau that evening, you would be rushing and not able to spend a lot of time sight seeing. PCWalton we stayed at the WaianapanapaState park and recommend it.

The Road to Hana is a VERY long day....and there's so much to see on the rest of Maui! I would skip that and save it for a land-based vacation.

Thank you to everyone for their advice we have decided not to do the Road to Hana tour this time, we will look at other options.

Hi we will be arriving 8am on the Friday and departing 5pm on the Saturday we are going to the Luau, Lahaina, on the Friday, looking at what else people can recommend for us to do. We were looking at the Road to Hana but it looks like that won't work with timing, open to all kinds of suggestions, first time to Hawaii for us.:)

had a fantastic day there a couple of years ago on the World Cruise just by walking around the really interesting old whaling village .... and sampling some very good value Mai Tai's !

Quite a few of the passengers did the whale-watching excursions which had a bonus of microphones that they would place under the water so you could hear the whales communicating. Most of the day, the whales were jumping right beside the ship and it was probably the most memorable departure I have ever experienced. I wrote of the experience on my blog here if you are interested in getting a feel for the town...

https://exitviathegiftshop.blogspot.com/2016/02/la-haina-13-february-2016.html