Paia (Maui) town and beach - worth a visit?

[Panhandle Couple]

We are on a March NCL cruise, and looking for things to do in Maui.

We have an excursion for the sunset at the volcano, which leaves at 3 pm.  We are wanting something easy without a set schedule earlier in the day.

Looks like Paia has both a set of very nice beaches and a small town area to window shop and maybe a snack or two.

 

Is it worth the Uber trip for 3 or 4 hours?  We would spit the time between the beach and town.

 

TIA.

Edited January 14 by Panhandle Couple

[CruiserBruce]

And it has one of the best fish places around,  Mama's Fish House. Gotta eat there.

[princeton123211]

5 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

Looks like Paia has both a set of very nice beaches and a small town area to window shop and maybe a snack or two.

 

Is it worth the Uber trip for 3 or 4 hours?  We would spit the time between the beach and town.

3-4 hours might be a little long but it's a lovely little town to walk around in-- very low key surfer vibe. The premade food at Mana Foods market is great. Cafe Mambo across the street is fun for casual sit down. Tobi's has some great shave ice. The shops are mostly beach related things or souvenirs. Alice in Hulaland is a funky local shop worth poking into. 

 

But as you'll quickly see-- unless you are planning on having a long, drawn out meal (which would be difficult to do there), 4 hours will be way more time than you need. 

 

Just a word to the wise-- the town will be quite busy early in the day (when folks set out on the Hana Road) and later in the day when a lot of those who didn't drive all the way around the island come back through. I would shoot for the middle for lunch and a walk around to avoid it being crowded. 

 

Bruce is right-- Mama's is my second favorite restaurant on the island (only behind the now destroyed Lahaina Grill) but you'll have to make reservations well in advance. 

[Silver Sweethearts]

8 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

We are on a March NCL cruise, and looking for things to do in Maui.

We have an excursion for the sunset at the volcano, which leaves at 3 pm.  We are wanting something easy without a set schedule earlier in the day.

Looks like Paia has both a set of very nice beaches and a small town area to window shop and maybe a snack or two.

 

Is it worth the Uber trip for 3 or 4 hours?  We would spit the time between the beach and town.

Sincerely trying to be informative and not sour grapes, we were just in Paia this morning and it looked the same as ever - a sleepy tourist trap.  Sounds charming, but you would just be killing time, and it would be a shame to waste your time on Maui on that.  YMMV though...

[Panhandle Couple]

Thanks all.

We have decided on a 2 day car rental, that will allow us to see many parts of the island.