How To Go To Hawaii El Cheapo

A common Hawaii sight - crystal clear water smashing into and pouring off of black lava rock in white, frothy layers.

Our first morning, we drove back into the Iao Valley pictured below and found 5 church services going on - a great place to worship the Creator!

The cliff in the picture below is the favorite cliff-jumping spot of the famous Hawaiian King Kamehameha.

The Basics of Doing Hawaii on a Budget:

1) Plane Fare - We have a Delta American Express Card and charge everything on it and pay it off every month. We always sign up online for the double miles promo deals when they mail out invitations, so it took us 2 years to save the 70,000 miles required for two to go to Hawaii (Sky Saver). That's $170 ($85/year) for the credit card and $10 each in taxes for the tickets - $200 total for 2 tix to Maui!!! You can buy frequent flyer mile tickets 335 days (or something close to that) in advance, so we called pretty close to that, and May is low season. Dec-March and June-Aug are the busiest seasons, but we've heard it can be done!!! We'd love to go during Jan-early April next time (in five years :) to see the humpback whales!!! So, yes, this means starting to plan 3 years in advance - so worth it! And start buttering up the grandparents - Thank you SO much Mom, Betty, Dad, and Gail for taking such amazing care of Anna Rachel - I don't think they even missed us!

2) Lodging - Our favorite place is www.peaceofmaui.com It was $65 (including taxes and not cleaning fee) a night for a private room with a shared kitchen and shared bath. Everything was very clean, comfortable, and quiet, and the location is very convenient for the airport, Haleakala, and the road to Hana. Not as convenient for the island's best beaches (30-45 min drive), but what a deal!! We also stayed at the Banana Bungalow Hostel in Wailuku (not nearly as clean and much louder w/lots of pot) and Joe's Rentals in Hana (we were very glad we had our own sheets for one! - there were a few other places on the web for 30-40 more that we'll splurge for next time - but DO spend at least one night in Hana). Banana and Joe's were the same price. $390 for 6 nights for two people. Peace of Maui also has a small lodge you can rent for cheap if you're taking the family.

3) Car rental - I found a compact for a week with unlimited mileage for $115 including taxes through my insurance company - USAA. There are other similar deals out there. We spent $110 on gas and did a LOT of driving.

4) Food - Eating out is NOT necessary to have an AMAZING vacation on Maui. There are so many amazing views, waterfalls to play in, hikes to conquer, snorkeling sites to experience, swimming in olivine and venus pools, phenomenal drives, sunsets, sunrises, exploring the volcanic crater of Haleakala that you can go and cook simply for yourself and not feel like you're missing out. The kitchen/grill at Peace of Maui is very clean and well-stocked. We cooked twice and ate the leftovers for a couple day - oatmeal for breakfast and sandwiches/fruit/chips for lunches on the road. We sketched out a menu beforehand and brought all the non-perishable food from home (groceries are expensive on Maui).

So that's the $500 each version - a full-meal deal with gravy on top. Just do it!!! Over a 5 year period, that's $8.33 of savings per person every month.

Because we had already saved $1000 each for the trip and knew we wouldn't have the chance to do something like this for at least another five years, we splurged.

Once you set your date, go ahead and buy Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook online and put it by your bedside. Who has time to read guidebooks once you're actually on vacation. Read, mark, highlight, make necessary reservations (camping and Nat'l and State Park cabins require early reg), etc.

Items to Splurge On If You Can:

1) Upgrade to a convertible - Thrifty has the best deals - search for coupon codes online - there's so much to see all around you and above you in Maui! So the PT Cruiser part wasn't our first choice, but it was a steal of a deal, and who knew a PT was such a mega-adventure car?

2) Paragon sailing trip to Molokini crater to snorkel - the snorkeling is OK out there, but the sailing is SO fun and the views are fantastic! www.sailmaui.com

3) Fly an ultralight in Hana (a hang-glider with an engine and seats) - Armin - the website shows everything we saw from up there, but of course, the pics don't do the experience justice. www.hangglidingmaui.com - flying like a bird, touching the clouds - described in detail in Maui Revealed, the ultimate guidebook!

Mary's post-flight smile

4) Go see Warren and Anabelle's magic and comedy show in Lahaina - good food, fantastic show, clean humor and magic tricks that'll keep you awake at night! www.warrenandanabelles.com Book in advance as it usually fills up. Bring a sweater and you don't need to be there right on time.

5) Eat out some - we did have any amazing meals, but several good ones - a fun one was Sushi Go! where little plates of sushi mover around the restaurant on a conveyor belt and you just grab what you want - hard to stop!! Listed in Maui Revealed.

6) Oh, and how could we forget Sommer - a hippie at the Banana Bungalow who gives beach-side massages for $25 an HOUR!!! Wow!! This was the focus of our last day - recovering from all that adventure! boundbysommer@hotmail.com

The best things in life are FREE!

1) Hike to the "Fishbowl" to snorkel (you can Kayak there to for $60 for a two person) - we had the whole place to ourselves and were blown away by the diversity of fish - described in detail in Maui Revealed - the trailhead is a little tricky to find, but keep looking - it's there behind a low wall of rocks next to yellow markers. We also loved snorkeling at Black Rock - crowded, but we saw a sea turtle! and Molokini - we saw a moray eel and beautiful fish - but really, the BEST snorkeling was the free stuff at Fishbowl - so worth the trek over the lava field.

2) Pipiwai Trail (the whole 7 sacred pools hike) - This is why you want to spend at least one night in Hana - so you have time to do this whole hike early in the morning when no one else is around and after you've rested up from your Road to Hana adventures.



There a multiple amazing waterfalls and swimming pools along this trail along with the lush and varied vegetation including a large bamboo forest. The pic above is infinity pool - Adam is looking down over a 100ft waterfall that has an amazing ocean view beyond. Again, we had the whole place for ourselves - start early and go in low season.

The view out into the ocean at the bottom of the 7 Pools hike.

3) Swim the Venus Pool on the way back - again hard to find, but it's there, and so worth it! A crystal clear spring fed pool that meets the furious ocean, but is completely protected by a wall of rocks below the water's surface - so you're swimming in a deep, calm pool looking out at the raging ocean crashing on the rocks right on your level. Wow! I got stung by a man-o-war here (very uncommon for Hawaii) and it's still one of my favorites.

4) Taking a whole day to do lots of mini-hikes and waterfall swims along the road to Hana - Next time we want to take 2 days to do it - there's so much we missed!



Black sand beach near Hana.

We kept our swimsuits on at all times - always ready for a quick frolic in a deep, clear pool under a refreshing waterfall!

5) Driving around West Maui (past the resorts!) - snorkeling with a sea turtle at black rock, hairpin turns overlooking rocky cliffs, swimming in olivine pools.

Mary with unique wind-swept, salt-sprayed lava formations called the Dragon's Teeth.

6) Sunrise on Haleakala - 10,000 ft up. At Maui Revealed's suggestion, we passed on the bike-ride down, so we'd have time to hike down into the crater some - such a unique landscape - and really enjoy the views at our own pace (we've heard the bike tours can rush you and are pretty expensive).





Our Hope-To-Do List for Next Time

1) Explore Molokai and Lanai - nearby islands - Maui Revealed describes affordable ways to do this - Check out www.molokai-outdoors.co

2) Horseback ride down into the Haleakala Crater - www.ponyexpresstours.com - I'm not into horses, but the trail is so amazing, but really hard to hike out of - we only did a very small fraction of the available trail (you can actually camp inside the crater is you're tough enough!)

3) Poli Poli state park and the South East Part of the island were closed due to danger from earthquake damage to the rock walls along the road - hopefully it'll be open next time we go!

4) Sea Kayak to an Unnamed Beach - Adventure listed in Maui Revealed - only $60 for a kayak for 2, but it was too windy on our last day, and we were exhausted, needing a vacation from our vacation :)