Transportation around Maui

[beachgal]

I'm booking some excursions through tombarefoot.com during my cruise in March. A lot of the excursions leave too early in the morning for when we dock or don't pick up at our dock in Kahului, so she advised to rent a car. Of course, there are a lot of excursions offered through our ship, but I just want to check all my options before I decide. Renting a car and studying a map to get around is not what I want to do on vacation, and the person driving doesn't get to see a lot of the scenery, so not sure that's for me.

 

I've been told by friends and think I've seen here on the boards that WalMart and Hilo Hattie's has shuttles waiting by the docks as we get off ships. Can anyone verify this? I have e-mailed and left message with Hilo Hattie but haven't gotten response yet. I'm curious how often they run back and forth and I'm assuming both stores are in Lahaina?? Also wondering how late they return at night, and are they free or do they charge?

 

I was told there was no public transportation on Maui, but I came across this website stating they instituted a bus service in July:

http://www.co.maui.hi.us/bus/schedule.pdf

I also have calls in about this because it's not clear to me where pickups are. It assumes you know where WalMart and other stores are. Looks like they don't run at night but may be helpful for getting around during the day. If any of the locals on the boards can give me any info. about the bus schedule, etc., I'd appreciate it.

 

For me, it might be easier just to book things through the ship, but I'd like to find out about alternative transportation if it's available. Thanks!

[spleen93]

We've actually talked about the Maui bus system before on the board but I can't recall whether it was the old board or this board. Once again, *sigh*

 

OK, here is one mention in the past:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=19201&highlight=maui+bus

 

The dock in Kahului is right across the street from Maui Mall (check the MEO schedule on the pdf document you referenced). Frankly, the schedule isn't that great since the wait time between buses is up to 2 hours at a time. Also, since the routes are geared for local usage, it's going to be hard to get to certain places.

Maalaea isn't too bad (whale watching, Maui Ocean Center, food) - you'd need to take the MEO bus from Maui Mall to Wal-mart and transfer then to the Roberts bus to get to Maalaea - if you left at 10:55 am, you'd get to Maalaea at 11:48, assuming that you made your transfers correctly and that there weren't any delays. Other places can be harder - for instance, if you wanted to get to south Maui, you'd need to get to Walmart, transfer to a bus to take you to Maalaea, and then transfer again for south Maui. From Maui Mall, that could take you up to an hour and a half to get to the Shops at Wailea (I found route C that takes you directly from Walmart to south Maui - if you went through Maalaea, it'd take even longer). Don't forget that service is only Monday to Saturday - no service on Sunday.

 

I still think that renting a car is going to work a whole lot better for the majority of people but understand that some people are very against renting a car in a location that's unfamiliar to them and that's fine too.

 

Spleen

[beachgal]

Mahalo, Spleen! As usual, your information is very helpful. We don't tell you enough, but those of us traveling to Hawaii are very appreciative of all the time you and other locals spend on the board trying to answer ALL of our questions! I know you must get tired of answering the same things over and over!

 

I think the bus schedule is not going to help much. Sounds like wasting too much valuable time while in Maui! I'll either stick to ship excursions or rent a car with a friend. I have problems seeing well driving at night, but we'll figure it out!

[bobnsandi]

I have problems seeing well driving at night, but we'll figure it out!

Please take into account that Maui's roads are not well lit (observatories...) and can be very dark. Please take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to drive after dark, especially if you have nite vision problems.

[spleen93]

BobnSandi make a good point as well. The road between Lahaina and Kahului/Maalaea is particularly dark at night.

 

Spleen

[Sea Island Lady]

The wait for a shuttle to Hilo Hattie's was 30 minutes for us once we finished shopping. Hatties was just another store like all the rest with more junk to offer. You would do just as well to shop around the stores near town on foot and Hattie's is just a few blocks up. May I ask why you would want to go to Wal Mart? We got a big kick out of seeing signs for the shuttle to WalMart. Even had the lady dressed in her blue smock.:D

[spleen93]

Cheap gifts? :)

 

Spleen

[beachgal]

I didn't particularly want to go to Hilo Hattie's or WalMart, but was looking for a ride into town. We dock in Kuhului and I understand there is nothing near it, so I was looking for some public transportation or other way to get around without paying the costly cab or shuttle fares and didn't want to rent a car. I found out that Hilo Hattie's does not come to Kuhului, and most of the excursions through Tom Barefoot do not pick up there, so I'll do excursions through the ship.