We quickly learned that Hawaii isn’t your typical budget travel destination when we first started researching it, but that doens’t mean that you have to spend your life savings. There are lots of things you can do in Hawaii, and on Maui in particular, for free, or almost free.
Things to do in Maui on a budget
Any destination like Maui, where nature is really the main draw card, will have plenty of things to do for free (or cheap).
Halekala Crater for sunrise
You can not visit Maui and not experience a sunrise from the summit of Halekala. You will need to get up pretty early in order to make it to the summit in time, but trust me, this is one sunrise that is definitely worth all that effort. In order to visit the crater, you will need to either join a tour (more expensive) or reserve your sunrise permit in advance ($1.50) and have access to a rental car. Now having a rental car does attract a cost, but a car is pretty much essential to visiting the highlights of Maui, and I would recommend that you have one for your entire time on Maui.
Read more: Halekala crater at sunrise.
Cost: If you self drive the cost will be $1.50 for the sunrise parking permit, and $25 per car entry fee.
Drive the Hana Highway
This is another of those can not miss day trips. The road to Hana is an incredible trip through the jungle along ** hairpin bends. The trip will take you past incredible lookouts, serene waterfalls (some of which you can swim in), eclectic eateries, and stunning scenery. Leave early, because even though the road to Hana isn’t exceptionally long, you will find yourself inevitably running out of time as you stop to explore all the amazing sites.
Read more: A stop guide to the Hana Highway
Cost: Free, other than the cost of car rental and the delicious food you will want to buy along the way (don’t miss the coconut ice cream!).
Hang out in Lahaina
Lahaina was tied for our favourite town in Maui. It’s a beautiful historic town, with plenty of great restaurants and shops. Kids will love playing around the giant banyan tree in the town square, and if you are lucky, your visit might coincide with one of the many markets which is also held in the square. The shopping is excellent in Lahaina, I couldn’t resist buying multiple vintage style t-shirts during our visit. Strolling down the main street is definitely a treat, and if you need a break, why not stop for an actual treat? There are a couple really excellent shave ice places in Lahaina. In fact, we drove here almost daily from our apartment further up on the coast, just for the shave ice.
Cost: Free, as long as you can resist the cute shopping.
Day trip to Lanai
Lanai is the smallest inhabited island in the Hawaiian island chain, and one which can only be reached via ferry from Maui. The ferry departs from Lahaina to be precise. Lanai may be only 9 miles from Maui, but it could not be any more different. Lanai used to be almost entirely used as a pinapple plantation, but now it is home to a small resort, a small town, and, it doesn’t seem like much else.
Lanai is windswept and other worldly. In some particularly windy areas of the island, the trees were growing almost sideways. It is definitely very different from nearby tropical Maui.
There are some interesting hiking that can be done on Lanai, as well as a beautiful beach near the one main resort. However, if you are coming to Lanai, you probably want to explore, and for this you need to rent a 4 wheel drive. There are only a few roads on the island, and almost all require a 4 wheel drive vehicle to explore. There are not many car rental options on the island, so try to organize this in advance.
During our visit, there had recently been a lot of rain, so several of the roads we wanted to explore were shut. We ended up not having too terribly much to do on Lanai, but this would have been different if we had had more luck with the weather.
Cost: The ferry costs $30 each way and jeep rental will cost you around $150 – $200 per day.
Explore the beautiful beaches of the south
The beaches on south Maui are big, bold, and beautiful. We based ourselves in a holiday apartment in Kihei for a few days and used this as an opportunity to explore the south. There are tons of beautiful beaches and coves all along the south coast, but the biggest, and our favourite was Makena beach. Even though this is one of the more popular beaches, it was still not terribly busy when we visited, and there was lots of room for the kids to run around and lots of shade for us to relax in.
If you continue driving south from Makena beach, you will enter an old lava flow area. Suddenly the landscape changes, and all you can see is twisted black rock all around you. Follow the road to the end, where there is a small parking area. Here you can either set off on some of the walking trails nearby, or you can visit La Perouse Bay. This small rocky cove is a popular spot for snorkeling. Just make sure you follow the signage on where it is save to enter the water, and which areas to snorkel in. This is a great spot to see turtles.
If you are looking for something a little bit different, just north of the headland from Makena (Big) beach is Oneuli beach. The difference here being that suddenly the sand changes colour from white to black. Maui definitely packs a lot of diversity into a small area!.
Cost: Free.
Image may be NSFW.
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Drive the northern loop of Maui
Sometimes described as the northern road to Hana, the northern loop of Maui is another epic road trip for those who want jaw dropping scenery, and narrow winding roads. Like the road to Hana, the northern loop has scenery of epic proportions, with probably the best known stop the Nakalele blowhole. But unlike the road to Hana, on the northern loop you are much more likely to have peace, quiet and serenity. The northern loop is much less traveled than the road to Hana which means you might feel like you have it all to yourself. Of course, that also translates into less stops and services, so make sure you have a full tank of petrol and lots of snacks.
The northern loop is also a little more intense in terms of the driving than the road to Hana. The winding mountain roads can be extremely narrow in places, with barely enough space to squeeze past oncoming traffic. Drive slowly, and be aware if other vehicles are approaching, as there are only a few designated areas where it is safe to squeeze past each other.
The northern loop starts around Honolua Bay, which is famous for it’s epic snorkeling. It then continues on to the Nakalele blowhole. The views from the blowhole are incredible. I actually enjoyed the views more than the actual blowhole. Just be careful around the blowhole and do not get too close. Obey the signage! People have been sucked into the blowhole never to be seen again. Don’t risk your life for instagram please.
After the blowhole there are a few lookout spots, but mostly it’s all about the drive and the scenery. At about the halfway point you will come to the tiny village of Kahakuloa, where there is pretty much…. not much. There is a little shave ice and snack shop at Lorraine’s shave ice. It’s great for a stop and a snack, but it doesn’t really come close to the gourmet shave ice that you will find in other areas of Maui.
If you have time and feel like a hike, then the Waihee ridge trail is a good option. We had sleeping kids by the time we reached this point, so we opted to skip it and instead continued on to the Iao needle state monument. To get the the needle, follow the signs through the not so pretty town of Kahului. There is a short walk up to the needle viewing point, and there is a river that you can swim in. The park is nice and shady and cool, and it’s a nice spot to stop. It can be busy though, so be prepared to enjoy the views with a lot of other people.
From this point you are back in civilization, and you can simply rejoin the main highway and continue back to which ever part of the island you are staying on.
Cost: Free, but requires a rental car.
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Eat all the shave ice
We got fully addicted to shave ice while on Maui. There is nothing better than light fluffy snow, topped with delicious flavours and sitting ontop of some creamy coconut or vanilla ice cream to satisfy your sweet tooth on a hot day. There are some pretty amazing shave ice vendors on Maui as well. Of course, there are the big players, like Ululani’s shave ice, which always has a massive queue, or Local Boys shave ice… which also always has a massive queue. But then there are some pretty incredible smaller shops as well. The thing is, with shave ice, you don’t need to have a massive flashy set up to have a good product. The product it simple. What makes it awesome is the care that goes into creating it. A well calibrated machine with a nice sharp blade, and fresh flavours are all you need to make an awesome shave ice. So don’t hesitate to try the little shops as well. In fact, one of the best shave ices that I had in Maui was from a little shack set up in the middle of a parking lot in Kihei. She had freshly prepared Thai iced tea, which she used to cover the ice, which sat on top of some coconut ice cream and then was topped with sweetened condensed milk. It was so unique and SO delicious. Of course, you might come across some places with less than amazing shave ice. Maybe they blade isn’t quite sharp enough or calibrated well enough to give that super fluffy snow texture, but please, don’t just stick to the big players because of that.
Cost: $4 – $6 on average per shave ice
Image may be NSFW.
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