What to do in Kahului?

[phabric]

Princess has changed Lahaina to Kahului from 8am-7pm Oct 5.

 

What is there to see in Kahului that is not a beach tour?

[CruiserBruce]

As frequently discussed here...Road to Hana, Haleakala, Iao Valley...

[Silver Sweethearts]

8 hours ago, phabric said:

Princess has changed Lahaina to Kahului from 8am-7pm Oct 5.

 

What is there to see in Kahului that is not a beach tour?

First of all, what are your interests - and will you be renting a car?  Do know that Kahului is a commercial/industrial area that is not set up for tourists, nor does it solicit them.  It would be best to have your activities set up before you get there.  

[princeton123211]

On 4/21/2024 at 11:56 AM, phabric said:

What is there to see in Kahului that is not a beach tour?

You basically have every drive thru fast food joint you can think of (except for In-N-Out Burger), you can do a Costco run, or grocery shop. That's about it in Kahului. As others have said-- industrial port and shopping area for folks that live on Maui that has zero places a tourist might be interested in. 

 

You need to give us a bit more about what you are interested in (besides not going to a beach, which is a shame because we have some nice ones!). If you are not a planner this would be a good time to take a shore excursion. If you can handle renting a car or hiring a driver there are a ton of things you can do on your own quite easily. 

[phabric]

Thanks for the ideas.

[Josie201]

Don’t want to hijack the OP but we are very interested in beach options.  What’s close by and are there rental facilities?  (Chairs etc ) 

[Silver Sweethearts]

3 hours ago, Josie201 said:

Don’t want to hijack the OP but we are very interested in beach options.  What’s close by and are there rental facilities?  (Chairs etc ) 

To be honest, nothing decent in that area that we would recommend.   You would be best to look at areas such as Wailea and Kihei on Maui's south side.  Rent a car and make your own personal itinerary!  

[wlbox]

We’re planning on renting a car. What’s the best beach to visit?  We’d like to snorkel when we visit in October. 

[CruiserBruce]

47 minutes ago, wlbox said:

We’re planning on renting a car. What’s the best beach to visit?  We’d like to snorkel when we visit in October. 

For snorkeling, check the Makena area beaches, or the northern Wailea beach areas. For beach time, any of the Wailea beaches...in front of Four Seasons (a little snorkeling there as well) or Grand Wailea.

[CRUISEWITHH]

If I do rent a car, how to get to the rental facility?   Uber?  Then when I have a car, can you suggest where to visit.  Do not want to go to the beach or Road to Hana.

Haleakala or Iao Valley..might be interesting but how far is it?  We are in port from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

[princeton123211]

28 minutes ago, CRUISEWITHH said:

If I do rent a car, how to get to the rental facility?   Uber?

Uber works well-- you are near the airport in Kahului so there is very little wait usually and the airport car rental facility is close by... 5-10 minutes max. 

 

29 minutes ago, CRUISEWITHH said:

Then when I have a car, can you suggest where to visit.  Do not want to go to the beach or Road to Hana.

Haleakala or Iao Valley..might be interesting but how far is it?  We are in port from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

I mean honestly if you don't want to go to the beach or drive to see Hana on Maui I might just say you might enjoy just staying on the ship more. Both would be the top things I would do with a day in Maui. Normally Lahaina would be what I would recommend to you based on what you said but obviously the town is gone now with the fire. 

 

Iao Valley is close-- like 20ish minutes. The top of Haleakala is a bit further-- a bit over an hour of driving and keep in mind there are mountain switchbacks etc going up and down. It also can be quite cold at the top of Haleakala so bring some layers accordingly. If you did that a stop at the Kula Lodge to sit out on the terrace could be quite nice for lunch. 

 

If you did have a change of heart about the beach heading down to Wailea or up and over to Kaanapali would be the way to go. There are plenty of resorts at both with lunch and drink options plus shopping. 

[Silver Sweethearts]

4 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

I mean honestly if you don't want to go to the beach or drive to see Hana on Maui I might just say you might enjoy just staying on the ship more. 

 

Good advice.  Maui - as with all of Hawaii actually - is expensive and tours costly.  If you don't have some activities in mind already, don't feel that exploring every island in depth is a must.  We have often enjoyed the relative peace and quiet of the ship while the other guests were ashore.

[josumello]

Is it fairly easy to get a taxi or an Uber in this port!! We would like to do a whale watch at PAC Whale Eco Adventures but not sure about transportation. 
TIA

[Silver Sweethearts]

13 minutes ago, josumello said:

Is it fairly easy to get a taxi or an Uber in this port!! We would like to do a whale watch at PAC Whale Eco Adventures but not sure about transportation. 

 

Do remember that the tours are only offered November through April.

[josumello]

15 minutes ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

Do remember that the tours are only offered November through April.

We will be there in February 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

11 hours ago, josumello said:

We will be there in February 

 

Yes.

 

A LOT of them. We were anchored at Lahaina in Feb 2020. Just sitting on the lanai in our stateroom we saw dozens and dozens of whales in Lahaina Roads and very close to the ship.

[princeton123211]

13 hours ago, josumello said:

Is it fairly easy to get a taxi or an Uber in this port!! We would like to do a whale watch at PAC Whale Eco Adventures but not sure about transportation. 

Getting an Uber from the area where the ship docks in Kahului is fairly easy since you are nearby the airport. PAC Whale departs from Maalaea Harbor (as do a lot of them now that the normal departure points around Lahaina are not available). Getting an Uber back can be hit or miss (with limited availability in the morning and better availability coming on as you head into the afternoon/evening). They can always call a taxi for you-- I would just build in some waiting time. 

 

Alternatively renting a car might cost as much. 

[josumello]

Thanks. Good info. We are in port until 8:00pm which eases the stress!!

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, josumello said:

Thanks. Good info. We are in port until 8:00pm which eases the stress!!

We're also talking about a VERY small distance to Maalaea Harbor. Like 20 minutes max. 

 

Frankly you'll have more time unless getting back to the ship is a priority-- I would consider renting a car and headed down to Wailea or up to Kaanapali for some beach time. Either of them are easy from Maalaea Harbor. 

[josumello]

27 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

We're also talking about a VERY small distance to Maalaea Harbor. Like 20 minutes max. 

 

Frankly you'll have more time unless getting back to the ship is a priority-- I would consider renting a car and headed down to Wailea or up to Kaanapali for some beach time. Either of them are easy from Maalaea Harbor. 

We have been to Maui many times and basically done it all!!  Beautiful island. However we have never done a whale watching trip there so thought it would be a change even though we live in Massachusetts and have seen many whales off Cape Cod. It never gets old. 
Thank you for all your input. 

[Silver Sweethearts]

7 hours ago, josumello said:

We have been to Maui many times and basically done it all!!  Beautiful island. However we have never done a whale watching trip there so thought it would be a change even though we live in Massachusetts and have seen many whales off Cape Cod. It never gets old. 

 

If you happen to be on HAL's Koningsdam in Maui next February, you may want to check Cruise Critic records from earlier this year when they did the same cruise.  The whale watch was spelled out in great detail on their roll call.  Valuable information about transportation, UBER, public bus, etc..  Do check it out.

[latebloomer56]

We wanted to go on the road to Hana again we loved that tour several years ago even though hubby was having knee issues. Princess doesn't have any tours for Oct. at this time. Would you know if there is a tour company that runs this?

Thanks

[KeepCalmBearOn]

5 hours ago, latebloomer56 said:

We wanted to go on the road to Hana again we loved that tour several years ago even though hubby was having knee issues. Princess doesn't have any tours for Oct. at this time. Would you know if there is a tour company that runs this?

Thanks

 

I would not do the road to Hana with a private tour operator or drive myself, if I were on a cruise, in port for just one day. There is a lot of construction going on and you never know what delays can be added. If there is no tour from the cruise line.... well there is your reason to return to Maui.                        

[mikjr]

On 4/21/2024 at 8:56 AM, phabric said:

Princess has changed Lahaina to Kahului from 8am-7pm Oct 5.

 

What is there to see in Kahului that is not a beach tour?

It appears there are some nice, but probably small, museums not far from the ship.  

Maui Nut Botanical Gardens
Baldwin Sugar Museum
The Bailey House
Maui Arts & Cultural Center

[princeton123211]

11 hours ago, latebloomer56 said:

Would you know if there is a tour company that runs this?

 

3 hours ago, KeepCalmBearOn said:

I would not do the road to Hana with a private tour operator or drive myself, if I were on a cruise, in port for just one day. There is a lot of construction going on and you never know what delays can be added.

In agreement here. We were driving back from Hana about a month ago and one of the bridges was being worked on after getting partially wiped out by a landslide. It was down to one lane but even then there were times where the road crew needed the entire bridge to work so you just sat there. We were stuck for about an hour and a half before allowed to proceed. 

 

The back end of the road, where you could have driven all the way around, is currently closed as well because of a landslide that took part of the road out so you are stuck going back in the same direction you came. 

 

Totally doable and enjoyable with an overnight in port but rolling the dice on a one day port stay.