One of the first things that you'll notice about Maui is that right after you leave Kahului, you're in the "country". Maui has very little industry other than two sugar mills and the only pineapple cannery in the USA. Most of the island's land away from the beaches is used primarily to grow sugarcane and smaller amounts of pineapple.

Most resort hotels and condos are located in West or South Maui, anywhere from 15 to 30 miles from the airport. Don't be alarmed! Driving is a pleasure in most areas of Maui. The roads are mostly good and most people (except the tourists) are not in a real hurry, so sit back, turn your radio to KPOA 93.5 FM or KNUI 900 AM and enjoy the ride right down through the middle of the HC&S sugarcane fields with Mt. Haleakala on your left and the West Maui Mountains to your right. There is around 17,000 acres of sugarcane across the middle of the island and used to be more over on West Maui until two years ago.

The main resort areas situated in West Maui are Lahaina, Ka`anapali, Kapalua and Napili. To reach these, take Keolani Place from the airport, which turns into Dairy Road (Hwy. 380) and drive down the center of the island to the junction of Hwy. 30 (Honoapi`ilani Hwy.). Turn left onto Hwy. 30 and continue on around by the ocean to the resort areas. Surprisingly, you'll go through a tunnel in about three miles on Hwy. 30.

The main resort areas in South Maui are Kihei, Wailea and Makena. To reach these, take Keolani Place from the airport, which turns into Dairy Road (Hwy. 380) and go about one mile to the fifth traffic light at the junction of Hwy. 350 (Pu`unene Ave.) and turn left. Hwy. 350 will turn into Hwy. 311 after the hard right turn at the Pu`unene Sugar Mill and stay on Hwy. 311 (Mokulele Hwy.) down across the middle of the island to the junction of Hwy. 31. To go to Kihei, go straight thru the traffic light, which will turn into S. Kihei Road. To go to Wailea or on to Makena, at the junction of Hwy. 311 and Hwy. 31, turn left onto Hwy. 31 (Pi`ilani Hwy.) and turn right where the road ends onto Wailea Iki Dr. and then turn left at the bottom of the hill onto Wailea Alanui Dr.

Once you get to your hotel and get settled in, you probably should consider eating dinner. If you didn't sleep a lot on the plane, you'll probably be more tired than you realize with the time zone difference (Hawaii doesn't observe Daylight Savings Time). You may want to check out your hotel's restaurants for the first evening. Many of the larger resorts have more than one on the premises and this will allow you to visit the beach before dark (and not have to drive again!).

Go see what you shouldn't miss!

Driving Times from Kahului Airport

Mt. Haleakala - 1 hour 45 minutes

Ka`anapali - 50 minutes

Kihei - 20 minutes

Lahaina - 45 minutes

Wailea - 35 minutes

Hana - 2 hours 30 minutes

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Last modified on Aloha Friday, May 25, 2001