8 Must-Know Details on Visiting Maui After the Fires
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In the spirit of first-hand knowledge, our family returned from a seven-day trip to Maui on September 18th. We were looking forward to seeing friends and business owners get their take on visiting Maui after the fires. Unprovoked, they all said the same thing,
“The best way you can support Maui is to visit.“
And Maui needs visitors. A Kahului runway has 20,000 dusty rental cars on it. We swam alone in the Pua’a Kaa waterfalls on the Road to Hana. Rental cars can be found for $30 a day. Plenty of seats open at The Hula Show at South Maui Gardens.
The Hawaiian owner of Da Mean Bean in Hana said, “Why did our government officials say Maui is closed?”
As West Maui was our home, it was refreshing to stay a full week in South Maui. We traveled the island from Makena to Wailuku to Hana to Kula during our stay. Here are our takeaways on visiting Maui after the fires.
Reminder: West Maui is now open as of the end of October which means you can book and stay in Kapalua to Ka’anapali. Lahaina is still closed of course. See our Maui Travel Updates for details.
Tips for Visiting Maui After the Fires
These takeaways on visiting Maui after the fires were first published in our twice-a-month newsletter. You can sign up for our Hawaii travel newsletter here!
As we love to show and tell, we also have these takeaways in a video. Watch to see what you can expect when you visit Maui after the fires.
1. What Should You Expect When Visiting Maui After the Fires?
Visiting Maui feels like a vacation to Maui. The crews on the snorkeling boats were thankful to have us visit, and so were the waiters at all the restaurants. People greeted us with aloha and were thrilled to have us on the island.
The biggest difference was the lack of crowds. As less than 40% of the daily visitor census is on the island, it was easy to walk into restaurants, book a tour, and drive an empty Hana Highway.
The University of Hawaii Economists expect visitor arrivals to reach 50% of their 2022 level by the end of this year, and to top 80% of their pre-fire levels by the end of 2024 50% of
As the fires were specific to the Lahaina area, we did not see any damage. We didn’t see the damage from the Kula fires during our trips to Upcountry to walk historic Makawao Town or volunteer in Kula.
There are Maui Strong signs all over the island and people are grieving. That is clear from talking to locals and listening to the radio. As the recovery effort continues, workers want to work and businesses are eager to have you wait in line for shave ice.
2. Where to Stay: South Maui is Open!
Ma’alaea to Wailea is full of vacation rentals, resorts, and hotels that are welcoming visitors. Ma’alaea and Kihei are full of vacation rentals, here are Erica’s 9 favorite vacation rental complexes in Kihei.
Wailea is home to luxury resorts. The Fairmont Kea Lani, Grand Wailea, The Andaz, and Wailea Beach Resort are some of the nicest places to stay in Hawaii.
We stayed in a vacation rental in Wailea during our stay so we were close to the famous Wailea beaches while having more space for the kids. See Erica’s 7 Best Vacation Rentals in Wailea and Makena to get some ideas and book!
See our where-to-stay directory for hotel and vacation rental reviews on Maui.
3. Save on a Trip to Maui
Since so few people are visiting Maui after the fires, supply and demand have brought down prices.
Our price research has found steep discounts if you want to do a last-minute trip to Maui. Hawaii in October is our favorite time of year to visit…
Rental car prices at Kahului Airport are less than $30 a day for a standard car in October.
Airlines like Alaska and Hawaiian continue to offer flash sales and low ticket prices in general. Hawaiian Airlines has $200 to $350 roundtrip flights.
Vacation rentals are dropping in price as websites like Airbnb adapt to decrease demand but hotels have been reluctant to drop prices.
All the Hawaiian Islands are experiencing price drops as tourism decreases due to the fires. You can find good prices even into Thanksgiving when prices traditionally start to increase with demand.
4. Things to Do on Maui
730 square miles of Maui are open and ready to be explored. From sunrise on Haleakala to driving the Road to Hana with 10% off (complete Road to Hana guide is here), don’t think small when planning your trip.
Here are some of our favorite things to do on Maui:
- 16 Things to Do in Upcountry
- 14 Things to Do in Wailea
- 14 Things to Do in Kihei
- The 9 Best South Maui Beaches
Get The Maui Itinerary
The step-by-step itinerary takes you to all the best beaches, snorkeling spots, restaurants, and sights. You’ll get six carefully planned excursion days to help you see the can’t miss stops no matter how limited your time is.
Get all the details on our itinerary and download it for a memorable and easily planned trip to Maui.
5. Supporting Local is Easy
To run a business well on Maui, you have to live on Maui. Hence, most restaurants and shops are locally owned. Maui has many of the classic stores found on the mainland and other large brands so it isn’t hard to spot the mom-and-pop places.
We made sure to visit as many small Maui businesses as we could on this trip. Here are some recommendations.
- Rent your car from a local company like Kimo’s or Kihei Rent-a-Car. The Huskin family opened Kihei Rent-a-Car in 1990 and rents Altimas, vans, and Jeeps at good prices.
- The best local grindz (food) can be found at food trucks! South Maui Gardens has a new food truck park that will be going in my Maui Food Truck Guide. Here are Erica’s favorite restaurants in South Maui.
- Local shopping can be found along South Kihei Road in Kihei, Baldwin Avenue in Makawao, or with a trip to Wailuku.
Before you visit Maui after the fires, check out our video with more tips on shopping locally on Maui.
6. Do a Tour!
There is nothing more local than going on a guided tour. Everything is local on a snorkel tour, especially the ones we do as they source their food and drinks locally.
We took the opportunity during this Maui trip to go out with one old friend and one new friend.
The Molokini Crater Sunrise Deluxe Snorkel tour is one of our favorites in all of Hawaii. It leaves from Maluaka Beach in Wailea. The sunrise over Haleakala is gorgeous and having Molokini Crater to yourself is a special thing. The local Hawaiian owners are doing their best to keep their full crew employed. They have a sunset tour also!
We met Sage of Maui Sailing Canoe on Polo Beach in Wailea. Sage and his first mate Brody took us canoe sailing and snorkeling offshore Makena. The kids loved playing on the nets, we loved Sage’s Hawaiian history lessons, and a large female turtle loved hanging around the canoe.
Whale season on Maui starts in December! Lahaina tour operators have moved to Ma’alaea Harbor in Central Maui. We expect a prolific whale season this year. Explore our favorite whale-watching tours on Maui to pick one for your trip.
Get this, during the Lahaina Fire one of the owners of Trilogy (a family-owned company) gave his truck to a family who was stranded at the harbor so they could escape. He hopped aboard Trilogy V and steered it out of the harbor using a compass because the smoke was so thick. Trilogy’s oldest boat sunk in the fire but the rest of their catamarans survived.
Explore all our favorite Maui tours and activities here. We have updated the Lahaina Harbor tours.
7. Consider Volunteering
Thou shalt not feel obligated to volunteer or donate when visiting Maui after the fires. The act of visiting speaks volumes in our opinion.
If you do feel inclined to volunteer at a kitchen or other event, we have a list of Maui volunteering opportunities that are possible while you are on vacation.
We volunteered at Hungry Heroes Hawaii at their Kula Kitchen. They are a wonderful group that makes meals for people all across the island. They are an efficient operation. So efficient that they were mostly done cleaning up by the time we arrived to be the clean-up crew.
8. Consider Bringing Supplies
Folks in our newsletter community love to recommend bringing a suitcase of supplies to Maui and then going home with a suitcase full of souvenirs. That is a wonderful idea.
Maui Food Bank has drop-off locations across the island, including Kihei Rent-a-Car and Safeway grocery stores. They also list what they need on their homepage so take a look.
Final Thoughts on Visiting Maui After the Fires
We understand that it is a complicated decision to visit Maui after the fires. There is a lot of information, some not accurate, on what is going on in Maui. We enjoyed our trip and felt we were greeted with aloha as we brought our aloha spirit.
The island is working together to support those who survived the Lahaina Fire. Our friend at Valley Isle Excursions provided some more advice when she answered, Can You Travel to Maui Right Now?
If you do visit Maui after the fires, bring your aloha spirit and have a wonderful trip!
Get The Maui Itinerary
The step-by-step itinerary takes you to all the best beaches, snorkeling spots, restaurants, and sights. You’ll get six carefully planned excursion days to help you see the can’t miss stops no matter how limited your time is.
Get all the details on our itinerary and download it for a memorable and easily planned trip to Maui.