Nawiliwili to Lahaina

[CRieger]

We are planning on going to Lahaina from the NCL port. How far away is it? Thanks for the help! Also, do you think that doing Road to Hana and being in Lahaina for 6 pm luau is possible?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Carol

:)

[rjscott]

Carol, on Maui, you will dock at Kahului, which is about a 35 min drive to Lahaina. If you leave for the drive on the Road to Hana early, you should be able to take it slow, stop at some of the more scenic spots, have lunch and still be back in Lahaina by 6PM.

[CRieger]

Thanks so much for your quick response! I greatly appreciate it. We want to see so much...it's going to be hard to cram in everything. I have changed our plans about 3 to 4 times already and then I saw the Feast of Lele and I had to book that...

 

Thanks again!

 

Go Bucks!

 

Carol

[PDAZ]

I'm not sure if it will still be there in May, but there was construction along the road to Lahaina last month -- really bogged down traffic in the afternoon -- took us 90 minutes to get from Lahaina to Kahului. I'd plan a little extra time for that drive to Lahaina!

[beachchick]

The drive from Kahului to Lahaina is typically 45 minutes to 1 hour. Driving it in 35 minutes is rare indeed. As PDAZ mentions, road work can really slow things down. As can heavy traffic in general in the mid to late afternoons. You really must leave a minimum of 75 minutes to get back to Kahului from Lahaina at that time of day.

 

Also, it's entirely up to you, but I think that is going to be an extremely tiring day, especially for whomever does all the Hana driving. That's a reasonably challenging road and a minimum of 4 hours (that's absolute minimum) of actual driving time. To do the road to Hana (and beyond) justice, you need to plan on 6 to 8 hours. If you're on the road to Hana about 9:00 am (keeping in mind that the ship has to dock, and then you have to disembark, get on the rental car shuttle, and get the car), plan on getting back to the ship at around 3:30 to 4 pm. This gives you a maximum of 1:30 hours to rest, clean up, etc. and get back on the road to Lahaina absolutely no later than 5 pm. That is a very busy time of day on the roads (and there always seems to be construction somewhere). The worst that could happen is that you get to Lahaina a little early (and you do have to park once you get there).

 

Have fun.

 

beachchick

[CRieger]

Thanks again for your information! I think we need to push Road to Hana to day 2. That way we won't have any problems. There is so much to see and so little time.

 

Thank you all again!

 

Carol

[jerseyjk]

Also, it's entirely up to you, but I think that is going to be an extremely tiring day, especially for whomever does all the Hana driving.

 

That ^ is an understatement. It will be very tough to do Hana and make it all the way back to Lahaina for the luau by 6pm. You'll be exhausted and probably won't have any time to freshen up and change.

 

Stick with West Maui instead of driving to Hana ... it's very scenic, especially Iao Valley and the north side.

[beachchick]

That ^ is an understatement. It will be very tough to do Hana and make it all the way back to Lahaina for the luau by 6pm. You'll be exhausted and probably won't have any time to freshen up and change.

 

Stick with West Maui instead of driving to Hana ... it's very scenic, especially Iao Valley and the north side.

 

That's what I would typically say, but I thought maybe I should get off of my "don't try to cram every single second of every day and night full to the brim or all you'll remember about Hawaii is that you were exhausted" soapbox for once and be a bit gentler.

 

Nice to have more confirmation that I'm not alone in my opinions (and experience). Mahalo for that.

 

CReiger: IMO, you've made a good choice. You'll have plenty of time to do the road to Hana on day two. Just be sure to get an early start. And if you decide that the road to Hana is not a must do for you, then do be sure to visit Iao Valley/Needle, which will give you a really good taste of the road to Hana experience (tropical, green, water, etc.). I have to admit that the road to Hana is not a must do for us. We have spent a day doing it and had a lovely time, but my DH was so tired that night that all we could do was get some dinner and crash--and we weren't on a cruise that time. With short port days, you are correct that you must make choices about what is most important to you to do this time. You'll just have to plan a return visit to do some of what you missed. What a shame!;)

 

beachchick

[CRieger]

Well, after a long discussion with my family, we didn't that the road to Hana wasn't a must to do. One of my friends just got back from Maui and he snorkeled for a couple of days. My family loves snorkeling and it came down to sitting in a car, or swimming and snorkeling, it's a no brainer. I am sure after we have been to Maui once, we will most likely want to come back. This is a vacation...and we need to have fun but we don't have to do everything this time.

 

I appreciate all of your responses it really helped with our decisions.

 

Again, thank you!

 

Carol

[rjscott]

Carol, our first (see, FIRST :D )trip to Maui was off a cruise ship, and we decided to snorkel there and do a luau in the evening. I was very happy with how we spent our day, and I'm sure you will be also. Do you have your snorkeling spot(s) picked out? There are many great places with easy entry into the water and good facilities for freshening up after.

[CRieger]

I booked Four Winds II. I know that it only has one stop Molokini but they stay there a long time. The price was good $75 per person and they provide breakfast and lunch. We are doing that Day 2. On day 1 we are going to Iao Valley and then head to Lahaina. I have my Revealed Book and if there is anything else that we want to stop at on the way, we will stop....no crazy rushing to get to do everything. I can remember that when first started going to the Caribbean that we wanted to do it all....and we ended up exhausted, now when we go there...we snorkel and relax.

 

I have cut back a lot in the ports because it is a vacation....somehow, I forgot that!

 

Carol

[beachchick]

Carol: Very nice plans. I want to make sure you know though that there is no snorkeling at or really near Lahaina. (Oh, I see you have the Revealed book; excellent. Pay attention to their suggestions because the information is usually right on.) Favorite snorkeling spots for us on west and south-west Maui (north to south):

 

Honolua Marine Preserve/Slaughterhouse Beach -- No facilities of any kind; must climb down a hill, but not difficult; parking can be a challenge as there's no lot; watch the water conditions (can get surgy, may be cloudy after storms, current can be strong further out)

 

Kapalua -- Great beach, beautiful and relaxing; snorkeling usually only okay to pretty good (try the right side, facing the water); parking at both ends of the beach, one public lot south and parking at the resort north; good facilities and rinse-off shower

 

Kahekili (also called Airport) -- Wonderful facilities in a public beach park; super easy entry, great for kids; snorkeling is often okay to pretty good, but not great and can be marginal; grassy area and some trees up on the little "hill" for shade; picnic tables, etc. and rinse-off showers; haven't had trouble with parking

 

Black Rock (in front of Sheraton on Ka'anapali) -- Long beach with much to do; parking at Whaler's Village shopping/dining complex (paid), but pretty secure and they validate (or at least they have); snorkeling can be good to very good; very experienced snorkelers will enjoy going out to a lava shelf around the outside tip of the rock (if conditions are good, watch for surge/current); most resorts have rinse-off showers (some say "for resort guests only," but that's not usually a problem as long as you're aren't hogging them and making a line of guests wait)

 

That's it for north-west Maui (for us).

 

South-west is still kind of new territory for us because we've only recently discovered that we really like the Wailea/Makena area and had rather dismissed it because we really don't like the Kihei area. Anyway, with limited experience there so far, we liked:

 

Wailea -- Nice long beach; snorkeling seemed to be on the left (facing the water), but not positive; has a beachwalk similar to Ka'anapali; parking down at Four Seasons (south end)

 

Polo -- Smaller beach; haven't snorkeled here (wind/chop when we've stopped there), but it looks good and doesn't seem crowded; stacks of plastic loungers for anyone, not just Kea Lani guests, to use (no charge)

 

Makena Landing -- Rocky entry (we found, may be other entry spots); has facilities and rinse-off showers

 

The beach in front of the Maui Prince (I can't remember the name) -- Nice smaller beach; haven't yet snorkeled there; enjoyed just relaxing for a bit

 

If you want to kind of "clean up" before the luau, you can rinse off in the cold outdoor showers and change in one of the restrooms. Sorry, but there really aren't any indoor hot showers readily available to the public. Don't worry though, luaus are fairly casual events, rinsing off the salt and sand and just basically washing up a bit will be perfectly fine. Do bring a light sweater just in case the evening cools a smidge. (I hardly ever need a sweater at night, but it's nice to have on hand.)

 

Hope you have a great time.

 

beachchick

 

p.s., I understand how easy it is to forget that we can't "do it all" all at once. I know some people want to just cram their days to the max and go home exhausted (DH and I are not among them), but we've seen far too many people who look haggard partway into their visits and seem to dread yet the next "must do" scheduled activity.