Maui four days Hana/volcano?

We are staying in Wailia for four days and are renting a car for one. We are thinking doing some of RTH and if weather permits going up to the volcano.

We are travelling the first of July and have visited the islands before but not these sights.

Is there a guide that is best to buy?

Do you mean Wailea?

Not much need for a guide book. The maps you get with the rental car will cover most every thing. It is pretty straight forward.

We spent 2 months this past winter in Maui and the brochures at the rental car are pretty extensive. The road to Hana is worth it but it will be a very long day of twisting and turning. There's a lot to do there. We had "Maui Revealed" book with us and it is in depth but for 4 days you will find more things to do than you have time.

If you are there on a Thursday evening and want something unusual that is purely local culture and free, there is a small church in Kihei, Keolahou Congregation Church, that has a ukelele evening (it's not a service but a secular event) and often times have hula performers dance-- all amateurs. Locals bring their ukeleles (you can bring one too if you have one) and everyong plays together, experienced and beginners. They also sing Hawaiian songs in native Hawaiian and in English. Starts at 7pm I think -- get there at least 20-30 min early because it fills up usually, and there no air conditioning so you may to be near a window or the back door. We enjoyed a taste of what the locals do. They are a friendly group of people.

We did a tour for Hana Hwy just so we could both enjoy the sites and not have to worry about trying to maneuver a car around busses on the narrow road. If you sit on the side behind the driver you will get better views. We also did a sunrise tour at the volcano but should have done that on our own. If you do the sunrise, dress warm!

We were only going to do part way on RTH and then go to the volcano as we have tour it on the big island.

You might consider a visit to the Bailey House Museum. Check their website as they often have events featuring traditional Hawaiian music.

http://www.mauimuseum.org/

We visited on a weekend and enjoyed a concert under the palm trees on the lawn. The museum is a fascinating glimpse into the early missionary period of the island. The onsite gift shop has locally produced arts and crafts.

A guide you might check out on-line to see if you would like to purchase it is, Driving & Discovering Hawaii, by Richard Sullivan. One of the guides is for Maui and Molokai. It is very detailed and the photography is beautiful. If wondering what waterfall you want to see on RTH, good spots to picnic, spots to turn around, etc, etc, etc, this is a great book. It might help with an itinerary for a day of including the RTH and Haleakala. We have used this guide for years. Have fun, Cherie

That sounds perfect thanks again all

We found a GPS based smartphone App to be helpful. You download the entire island sometime prior to your adventure when you have WiFi. As you drive with the app going, it will discuss what you are about to see, and sometimes offers choices about where to turn up ahead.

We brought a headphone jack to headphone jack cord to plug into the rental car radio from the phone. (all of our rentals had a plug.) Also brought a phone charger, since the GPS can use lots of battery, but the apps don't use data. Make sure to close the app when you are done, or the GPS will still be draining the battery.

We tried the GyPSy guides. We only tried them based on the reviews at the app store. We found the information to be very informative. The timing and pace of the directions were spot on. Never did we end up in an intersection and wonder which way to go. When there was a decision to be made, there was enough time to discuss which way to go. There was no need to tell the app, your decision, it just uses the GPS signal to know where you are and starts telling you about it.

A few things, best to just buy the guides for the whole islands, not individual attractions. I thought I had done that, but on the Big Island, I only had VNP guide, and had to navigate there on my own, and find the waterfalls, black sand beaches, etc on my own too.

On Maui, the guide seemed to just work any which way you chose to drive. On Oahu, we did the North Shore, but we chose to do it counter-clock wise and the app only worked clockwise...

Parts of the app were a bit dated, and sometimes repetitive between the islands, but overall they were well worth it. I did wonder if a different app would be better, but I went for vacation, not app testing!

BTW my trip was in Feb 2016. Perhaps they have already updated the app.

We were only going to do part way on RTH and then go to the volcano as we have tour it on the big island.

VNP on the Big Island is substantially different from Haleakala in terms of both scenery and weather. While it may be warm at the summit you would be well advised to bring a jacket as it can easily be windy and frigidly cold.

If you have the time, there is plenty on both the Road to Hana and the Haleakala area as well, to warrant dedicating a full day to each. If you are doing a partial "road" on the same day as Haleakala, I'd do them in reverse, heading out early toward Haleakala and exploring that area and then finishing the day with the "road". It can get cloudy at the top of Haleakala as the day progresses. Best to get up there while it's clear. The views, all along the drive up, are spectacular. Be sure to pull over on the way to take it in. This drive is my favorite in Hawaii.

We are leaving soon and I will tell DH to reverse our day of car travel unless it is cloudy when we start out.