So most people dream of going to Hawaii one day! My husband and I were blessed to be able to go and spend almost two weeks in Hawaii! First Oahu then Maui! Which I will say was amazing and I could honestly stay in Hawaii well……forever haha! Maui is so lush and so beautiful and there is no way to even describe or show you pictures of just how beautiful it really is! Taking a good camera is an absolute must! There are so many photo ops everywhere in Hawaii and if you are like me you will want one to be blown up when you get home! I’m going to share with you things that we got to experience and things you must see and do while you are there!
Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour
This is a must in my book! It is definitely a more expensive thing to do, but honestly worth every penny! Honestly I can’t express to you the beauty you see! It’s just a very incredible experience to see things you can only see from a helicopter! Most people I talk to that didn’t do it wished they had! So just trust me and just do it! You only live once right and who know when you will be back! These pictures honestly don’t do it justice! I promise you will not regret it and all the incredible views!
Iao Valley
This is such a cool place to go! Very beautiful as you can see in the pictures! It’s a easy and quick thing to do you really only need about an hour if that really. Parking is only 5$ and then you can hike up to the needle then down to the river! Both are short very easy hikes! It has Jurassic park vibes.
Maui Tropical Plantation- the grounds are just incredible a great place to take pictures and grab a drink.
Luau
Honestly you just can’t go to Hawaii and not go to a luau! You just have to! It’s so much fun and the food we had was good and the drinks just keep coming! Was a really cool experience and we had the most beautiful sunset! We did the Old Lahaina Luau. I highly recommend this one we had the best time.
These drinks were so good. They hand you a Mai Tai as soon as you get there. It’s basically a open bar the whole time. I of course wanted to try all the drinks. They were all delicious
Lahaina
So one night or day go to Lahaina and explore! It’s a really neat area to walk around with all kinds of shops and eating places! We ate dinner then walked around and even saw a beautiful sunset from here! So cool and a must while you are there! Also don’t forget to see the Lahaina banyan tree
It’s so cool and was planted in the 1800s so it’s huge!
Road to Hana
This is a must if you are ever in Maui. We did this as a day trip but if you have time staying overnight in Hana would be awesome. There is so much hiking and so much to see it’s impossible to see it all in one day. We did get to see a lot. I will share a couple pictures and also have a whole post on the road to Hana alone. Make sure to read if you are going lots of tips to help make it the best experience. There was things I didn’t know that I wished I had known.
Snorkeling
So there is tons of snorkeling places all over the island the top few that I recommend are
Honolua bay (west Maui Pictured Below)
Kapalua bay (west Maui)
Black rock Kaanapali beach (west Maui)
Molokini crater (get there by boat)
So all of these are great options for snorkeling in Maui! As we were there in the summer I’m not sure how it would be in the winter but these are definitely the top of the list if you enjoy snorkeling!
My advice would be to get to any of these places early as things do get crowded and some parking is more limited!
The Molokini crater you will have to do an excursion but there are plenty of options depending on what you would like
To get to this spot with this view keep going past where you would park for snorkeling and you will see it off to your left and there is a spot to pull off
We snorkeled right after this picture at the Honolua Bay. The day we had gone some people that were leaving saw a octopus and shark. I didn’t see anything like that but we both saw some cool fish.
Waihe’e ridge trail (below)
I honestly would not recommend this one! It’s super hard (the app said moderate but I definitely say hard) and basically straight up from the beginning the whole time! If you are wanting a challenge then go for it but it’s a tough one I’m not gonna lie! It’s about a 5 mile round trip! If you are worried after doing the first steep incline at the beginning I’m warning you it doesn’t get easier! So beware! We saw some pretty views but I warn you when you get in the clouds just turn around and go down it’s not worth it you see nothing at the top! When we got in the clouds we still had a ways to go! My husband wanted to finish it so that’s the only reason we finished it! I did it for him! Now maybe on a clear day it would be nice but when we were here for a whole week and there wouldn’t have been anyday for this to be worth it cause the clouds tend to be on top on the mountains which block the views! Now down at the beach is beautiful and incredible! I’m all about the views I wanna see something beautiful and you don’t wanna waste your time while your at this beautiful place! So my advice, do it till you get to the clouds then head back down if you wanna do some of it!
Hiking
So you are in Hawaii with some of the best hiking and awesome views that will leave you speechless! I highly recommend downloading the All Trails app for this! The good thing is you can look up ones you want to do before you go on your trip and save them on the app when you are ready to do them! There is trail guides, length, how to get there, where to park and basically anything you would need to know about the hike! I will also say hiking through the road to Hana is the best but to do several you would definitely need to stay the night in Hana! Read my road to Hana guide next.
Pipiwai Trail(above)
The hike that we enjoyed the most was Pipiwai trail at the end of the road to Hana at the Haleakala state park! Honestly this hike is just beautiful so much to see and fairly easy. I honestly say this is a must do if you are doing the road to Hana! The waterfalls and beauty throughout this hike are just breathtaking!
While you are also at the Haleakala state park at the end of the road to Hana you must see the seven scared pools as well. It’s a easy hike down and just incredible! Just take it all in and don’t forget you camera!
Beaches
Kaanapali beach (west Maui)
This is where you will see the black rock for snorkeling we parked at the whalers village area where there is lots of shopping and eating and made our way down to the beach
Napili beach (west Maui)
Big beach (Makena state park)
Red sand beach (hana)
Black beach (Hana) this was so cool to see. It was rough when we were there but so so beautiful. Not really a beach you are going to just lay on. A must see though.
Kaanapali Beach 
Napili Beach 
Big Beach
Makenna State Park
Red Sand Beach (Hana) 
Black Sand Beach (Hana)
Food
Slappy Cakes- amazing pancakes and great place for families
Sea House Restuarant- Lobster mac & cheese is bomb
Monkey Pod-love the atmosphere
Teddy’s Bigger Burgers- great burgers & chili cheese fries is a must
Ohana seafood bar and grill- the shrimp is amazing
Slappy Cakes 
Sea House Restuarant 
Monkey Pod 
Teddy’s Bigger Burgers 
Ohana Seafood Bar & Grill
Where to stay
There is so many endless amounts of options in Maui. We stayed in a condo cause we knew we wanted a place we could cook some evenings and breakfast. We found the cutest VRBO. It was perfect for us and was in a great location. I would stay here again. We loved sitting out on the balcony in the mornings while we ate breakfast. One thing to add a lot of condos do not have air conditioning. Coming from Houston I was thinking that sounds so hot. It honestly was just perfect with the trade winds that blow threw during the night. Something to keep in mind if you go the condo route.
outside the condo 
outside the condo 
outside the condo 
Living room 
Bedroom and living and also had a kitchen
We had the best time in Maui and I can’t wait to go back one day. It’s so incredibly beautiful and one of my favorite places in the world. We did a lot in the 7 days we were there and I loved every min!
Feel free to ask any questions.
Much love, Hannah
