Maui hotel and holiday facts

Ah, the magic of Maui… is it any wonder that the humpback whales choose Maui as part of their annual migratory route? Why not join them for the holiday of a lifetime!

With white sand beaches and crystal clear waters, Maui is ideal for a holiday of sunbathing, snorkeling and snoozing! But once you’ve gotten enough sun, Maui’s also a great place for shopping and sightseeing. The old whaling town of Lahaina is home to many quaint shops and eclectic art galleries.

On the opposite side of the island, the long road to Hana will lead you to the waterfall fed pools at Oheo Gulch, a perfect place to stretch your legs and take in the view. After touring the island, you may need to unwind in Wailea with a pampering spa treatment. It’s no wonder visitors return here year after year on holiday.

Maui, also called the Valley Isle, is just a small dot in the vast Pacific Ocean, but it has the potential to offer holiday makers unforgettable experiences: floating weightless through rainbows of tropical fish, standing atop a 10,000-foot volcano watching the sunrise color the sky, listening to the raindrops in a bamboo forest.

It can be bewildering to plan your holiday with so many options vying for your attention; to make your task easier, this section highlights what we consider the very best that Maui has to offer.

The "Magic Isle" produces sugar, pineapple, cattle and horses. The 10,023-foot Haleakala is the largest dormant volcano crater in the world. Lahaina was Hawaii's capital before 1845, and still has some of the atmosphere of an old whaling town. Nearby are the Kaanapali and Wailea resort areas and golf courses. Hana and Iao Valley draw many visitors.

Maui County, now four islands, was originally one land mass called "Maui-Nui." During the polar ice age, the glaciers thawed and the oceans swelled to separate the mountain peaks into the islands of Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i and Kaho'olawe.

Food and drink on your Maui holiday
On Maui a great lunch or dinner can lure a foodie halfway across the island. Whether it's haute cuisine, local-style diners, small mom-and-pops, or sunset appetizers in Kaanapali and Wailea, dining matters a lot on this island made for sybarites. Although Maui's restaurant kitchens are at the leading edge of Hawaii's maturing regional cuisine, the small-town charms remain, and countless gastronomic discoveries await the adventurous.

Nightlife on your Maui holiday
Centered in the $32-million Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Kahului, the performing arts are alive and well on this island. The MACC remains the island's most prestigious entertainment venue, a first-class center for the visual and performing arts. Bonnie Raitt has performed here, as have Hiroshima, Pearl Jam, Ziggy Marley, Tony Bennett, the American Indian Dance Theatre, the Maui Symphony Orchestra, and Jonny Lang, not to mention the finest in local and Hawaiian talent.

The center is as precious to Maui as the Met is to New York, with a visual-arts gallery, an outdoor amphitheater, offices, rehearsal space, a 300-seat theater for experimental performances, and a 1,200-seat main theater. The center's activities are well publicized locally, so check the Maui News or ask your hotel concierge what's going on during your visit.

Things to do on your Maui holiday
After a few days of just relaxing on the beach, the itch to explore the rest of Maui sets in: What's on top of Haleakala, looming in the distance? Is the road to Hana really the tropical jungle everyone raves about? What does the inside of a 19th-century whaling boat look like?

There is far more to the Valley Isle than just sun, sand, and surf. Get out and see for yourself the otherworldly interior of a 10,000-foot volcanic crater; watch endangered sea turtles make their way to nesting sites in a wildlife sanctuary; wander back in time to the days when whalers and missionaries fought for the soul of Lahaina; and feel the energy of a thundering waterfall cascade into a serene mountain pool.