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Good timing. I am heading to Maui for the first time in October with my wife and another couple. We have not found a condo yet. I would love to hear impressions about what town to stay in on Maui. Our main desires are to have a place we can cook, have some grocery stores nearby so we can stock up on food easily, but also have some restaurants we can go to nearby as well. Plus, of course, places within stumbling distance for cocktails.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
KJS
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I'd definitely stick to either West Maui or the west coast of the Southern part of the island. I thought West Maui was perfect for a first-timer. It's about 45-minutes from the airport. Lahaina is the main "going out" locale on the west side, but you probably want to stay a bit north of there. Check out towns (areas?) called: Kaanaapali, Kahana (where we stayed), Napili, and Kapalua. They all are right on the coast, and close enough to civilization (there are some really remote spots on Maui.) I'm not the right one to ask as far as recommending a specific condo. The southern towns you'll want to check out are Kihei and Wailea - I didn't spend much time there though. Wailea appeared to be a slightly more upscale Lahaina. Anything in a more remote area (i.e. Hana) seemed to be more suited for return visitors that wanted a different experience. And don't pick a condo because of a specific beach. They're mostly all easy to get to, and you'll want to see a bunch of different ones anyway.
Grocery shopping is expensive (maybe 25% higher than the prices I'm used to in the DC burbs.) There aren't a lot of choices either - there was a Safeway in Lahaina, something called Star Markets, and one other one I saw. There's a Costco near the airport too - not sure how much you're planning on buying.
You'll have to rent a car. I didn't notice many cabs now that I think about it, but I'm sure they're around. Also, book your activities in advance. Not necessarily all your restaurants, but if you're going to do a luau or a bike trip or boat cruise, book them in advance. The "good" ones won't be available the while you're there. We had three reference books - one little one I don't remember, the Fodor's one, and
Maui Revealed. Fodor's was good, but I highly recommend picking up the third one in advance of your trip (and it's very helpful there as well.)