5 Reasons Why Maalaea Is The Best Place To Stay On Maui
If you’re planning a trip to Maui soon, make sure you read this first.
After finally deciding on Hawaii for our honeymoon, the next step was figuring out exactly which Hawaiian island(s) Marcus and I wanted to visit. If you've ever considered visiting Hawaii or planned a trip there, I'm sure you can appreciate how difficult that task was.
Eventually, we chose Maui and Oahu.
From the initial research, Maui seemed like the perfect mix between romance and adventure. And Oahu offered a lot more options for nightlife.
After narrowing down our locations to Maui & Oahu, the next step was figuring out exactly where to base ourselves on those islands.
And choosing our base on Maui was almost harder than choosing Hawaii as our perfect honeymoon destination in the first place.
Choosing a specific base location was difficult for several reasons.
One reason was just the fear of choosing the wrong side of the island and being "stuck" there for the rest of our vacation.
Also, it's hard to really know what you're getting into it if you've never been. Since this was going to be Marcus and I's first time in Hawaii, I put even more pressure on myself to choose the perfect place for our stay.
The first step to narrowing down our Maui base was to figure out the type of vacation we wanted.
Did we want to just lay on the beach or by the pool all day? Did we want to explore the small towns? What activities did we want to do?
Ultimately, we decided on a gorgeous condo rental in Maalaea, and we couldn't have been happier.
I created this post so I could help you keep your sanity and make it easier to find the best place to stay on Maui.
If Marcus and I had to choose all over again, Maalaea would still be our #1 pick. I’m 100% confident that we chose the absolute, best place to stay on Maui.
So, here's to your future Hawaii vacation and making priceless memories with your loved one(s).
The Best Location To Stay In Maui
#1 - Central Location
If you're looking to base yourself somewhere that makes it easy to explore the whole island, Maalaea is your best bet. Its convenient proximity makes it easy to get to almost anywhere on Maui within 20 to 30 minutes, including Lahaina, Kihei, Paia, and Kahului. It's also only 15 minutes from Maui's main airport. And if you're anything like me, I'm sure that you'd much rather spend your vacation or holiday exploring and not stuck driving around in a car.
#2 Great Rental Options
After researching every option for our honeymoon ranging from 5-star resorts to wellness lodges to AirBnb's, I ultimately decided on a condo rental from VRBO primarily due to cost. And guess where the majority of beautiful homes were located? Maalaea! So that was a no-brainer. And although this was my first time ever renting from that platform, I felt pretty confident based on the numerous positive reviews. After staying in our condo rental, I can definitely vouch for ours and say that it was even better than I expected.
#3 Gorgeous Views
I'm confident that you can catch a fantastic sunset or sunrise anywhere on the island, but the scenic views from our condo balcony were impeccable. We were also able to see the island of Lanai nearby and tons of sea turtles popping out of the water, which was probably one of the biggest highlights from our trip.
#4 Excellent Snorkeling Location
Snorkeling is officially one of my favorite things to do on vacation now! And I can thank Hawaii for that! I've never seen as many sea turtles or beautifully colored fish and coral in my life! If swimming with turtles is on your bucket list, Maalaea definitely has no shortage of them. This was a welcome surprise because I didn't know that before booking our stay.
#5 Peaceful, Relaxing, & Low-Key
When I envisioned our Maui honeymoon, peace and relaxation were the two words that came to mind. I knew we didn't want to be surrounded by a bunch of other tourists and definitely not a ton of kids. Maalaea encompassed all the key features we wanted including being very low-key and quiet. Disclaimer: I'm sure we'll bring our future kids with us to Hawaii one day but that just wasn't that type of trip this time around.
If you're still debating if Maalaea is the best place to stay on Maui, you can leave your questions below.
I'll try to help clarify or answer any of your concerns. But for my husband and myself, I have no doubts that Maalaea will provide you with everything you're looking for in a dream Hawaiian vacation.