The List
Everything we have thought worth writing down about Maui since 2001. Mostly restaurants, and there the list is complete: all 14 of them, including the ones that did not land, because a recommendation only means something once you can tell how many places it was chosen from. The rest is beaches, snorkeling, and the stops in between, kept here because it is the same island and the same twenty five years.
11 towns · 23 places · Dot size is how many. Tap one to filter the List.
- South Shore
- West Side
- North Shore
- Upcountry
- Central
Kind
Town
Verdict
Kihei CaffeBreakfast, outdoors, order at the counter. The line looks bad and moves fast. Roughly forty breakfasts here and never a bad one.Kihei200238×Go every tripMama's Fish HouseYes it is expensive and yes it is worth it, once per trip. Book the moment your flights are ticketed. The fish is named after the person who caught it that morning and that is not a gimmick.Order Whatever came in that morning, cooked the simplest way on the menuPaia200119×Go every tripSam Sato'sCloses early, closed Sundays, same family for generations. Half the room is people who have been coming since they were kids.Order Dry meinWailuku200316×Go every tripTin RoofSheldon Simeon's counter near the airport. We land, we drop bags, we come here. Tiny room, quick line, worth building your arrival day around.Order Mochiko chickenKahului201614×Go every tripKomoda Store & BakeryThey sell out. Get there before nine or do not bother. A hundred years old and still a screen door.Order Cream puffs, and a stick donut if they have themMakawao200412×Go every trip808 DeliSandwiches to take down to Kamaole III. This is a logistics recommendation more than a dining one, and it has never once let us down.Kihei201221×Worth going backStar NoodleLost the original Lahaina location in the fire, reopened in Kaanapali with a shorter menu. The garlic noodles survived the move intact. The room does not have the old view and that is fine.Order Garlic noodles, pork bunsKaanapali201114×Worth going backPaia Fish MarketPicnic tables, communal seating, fish tacos. Reliable rather than exciting, which on a travel day is exactly what you want.Paia200611×Worth going backMonkeypod KitchenGood, busy, slightly overpriced, and the mai tai genuinely is as good as everyone says. Go at four for happy hour, not at seven.Order The mai tai with the honey lilikoi foamWailea20149×Worth going backKula BistroWorth the drive up. Bring your own wine, they do not charge corkage. Portions are enormous and the pie case is a problem.Kula20137×Worth going backCoconut's Fish CafePerfectly good fish tacos in a strip mall. Everyone online loves it. We thought it was fine and went to 808 Deli the next four times.Kihei20152×Went onceKo at the FairmontWent for an anniversary. It was lovely and we have not felt the need to return. That is not a criticism, it is just the truth about how we travel.Wailea20191×Went onceAloha Mixed PlateLost in the August 2023 fire. Plate lunch on the seawall with the water right there. Twenty two visits across twenty one years.Lahaina200222×Closed 2023Kimo'sLost in the August 2023 fire. We ordered the hula pie every single time.Order Hula pie, shared four waysLahaina200117×Closed 2023Honolua BayThe other half of the snorkeling morning, about ten minutes up the road instead of ten minutes on foot. It is a marine reserve, which is most of why the snorkeling there is what it is. Same rule as Kapalua: the earlier you are in the water, the better it is.When Early morning. It is not a midday stop.KapaluaNotedKapalua BayAbout a ten minute walk from Napili, which is most of why it is the one we do. The snorkeling is genuinely good. Go early, before the wind picks up and before the beach fills in, and you get the calm water and the visibility both.When Early morning, before the wind picks upKapaluaNotedMolokini and Turtle TownThe boat option, and the day I leave open on purpose. Here is the honest part: we have never done one. Twenty five years of coming here and we have always just driven to a beach and got in the water. So I can tell you the trips exist and that Turtle Town and Molokini are the names you will see. I cannot tell you which operator to book.KiheiNotedNakalele BlowholeKeep driving north past Honolua and it is right there. It is pretty cool, and that is the correct size of claim. Do it on the way back from snorkeling, not as a trip of its own.KapaluaNotedNapili BayProbably one of my favorite beaches on Maui, and the middle of the part of the island I like best. The plan I write for people staying here is mostly walk out, sit down, and do not get back in the car. There are coastal trails at either end for when sitting still stops working.NapiliNotedSurf lessons, KiheiWe have only ever done lessons in Kihei, which is about forty five minutes each way from the west side. That is a real piece of a day, and the trade is a morning on the other side of the island. I do not have an operator to send you to.KiheiNotedThe spa at the Resort at Kapalua BayFormerly the Montage. We had massages there and then stayed in the pools for the rest of the afternoon, and it was one of our favorite days on the island. This is the day that makes a trip feel like a trip.KapaluaNotedWailea BeachBeautiful, and worth seeing if you want a day on the other side of the island. The honest version: I do not think the south shore beaches are so much better than what you already have that they are worth hours in the car. If you are staying west and you skip this, you are not missing out.WaileaNotedWhalers VillageWhere we send people for souvenirs on the last day, and where the last dinner usually ends up anyway. Monkeypod is the one we pick, and honestly most of what is in there is good.KaanapaliNoted
Go every tripWorth going backWent onceClosedNoted, no verdict yet
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