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Spot: Honolua Bay, HI
Places to stay
There is camping on Maui, fairly close to Honolua Bay.
Click here for a list of State, National, County and Private Campgrounds.
The two State campgrounds have cabins available for $46 a night, which is a great deal, but neither of the campgrounds are close to Honolua Bay. Waianapanapa is located three miles north of Hana and has tent camping and 12 cabins, while Polipoli is 6200 feet up the side of Haleakala and only has one cabin, but lots of tent camping.
The Kanaha Beach Park in Kahului is “windsurfer’s haven” but they probably allow normal surfers in there too. They have restrooms, showers and picnic tables, but no drinking water, which makes you wonder what is coming out of the showers.
The Papalua Wayside Park is on Honoapiilani Highway in Lahaina, four miles south of Olowalu.
Haleakala National Park has four campgrounds, but space is limited. Call 808-572-4400 for more information.
For information on County camping, call (808) 270-7389
The ResortQuest Paki Maui on the beach at Kaanapali is considers a “budget” property. The one bedroom places will sleep four and the two bedrooms will sleep six, and they all have full kitchen facilities, but a week in these rooms in December will cost you anywhere from $1500 to $2500.
Coming from the west side of Maui, the closest towns to Honolua Bay are Lahaina, Kaanapali and Kapalua. Fortunately, there are dozens of hotels, bed and breakfasts, cabins for you to rest your weary bones and muscles: Garden Gate Bed and Breakfast, Sheraton Maui Resort, Outrigger Aina Nalu, Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, Mahana at Kaanapali, Marriott-Maui Ocean Club, Kaanapali Beach Hotel, Lahaina Shores Beach Resort, The Westin Maui, Resort Quest at Papakea.
Closer to Kahului, the Banana Bungalow Maui is a youth hostel that seems reasonable, and is only a little farther away from Honolua than Lahaina.
Food
Lots of fancy restaurants and sandwich shops and sushi restaurants from Lahaina up to Kaanapali. You can get cheeseburgers in paradise and pizza and Subway sandwiches and all the mainland haole kine stuffs. But if you are in Hawaii, fish is the dish. And if you want to do it local style: try something from the plate lunch trucks which are anywhere and everywhere.
Parking, access and directions
Coming from Lahaina, drive the Honoa'pii'lani Highway for about 15 minutes. Pass the Kapalua golf course and look for a large dirt parking area. The warnings about not leaving anything valuable in your car or hiding your backpack still apply today. There are thieves operating in the area, preying on a steady stream of unwary tourists.
Surf Shops
Chee, there’s a whole bunch of surf shops on the Lahaina side:
Honolua Surf Company has not one, not two but five shops in Lahaina: Two at Whaler’s Village, but one is for wahine. There is one for accessories in Whaler’s Village, one on Front Street and one in the Lahaina Cannery Mart.
Local Motion also has a shop on Front Street.
Honolua Underground has a shop on Hoapili Street.
Roxy has a shop in Whaler’s Village on Kaanapali Parkway.
Attractions
None. Well, actually, if Honolua is off its rocker and you don’t want to paddle out and drown, take the time and drive about 50 or so miles to Jaws, and watch the greatest show on earth from the cliffs.
Maui has beautiful gardens, natural and manmade, and just driving through the neighborhoods and checking out the competition is worth doing.
If the surf goes flat, take a hike into Haleakala National Park. This is a huge volcano that is seven miles across and 10,000 feet high and it’s odd to drive up out of the humid tropics and into an area that is either desert, or covered in snow. Despite a couple of deaths in the last few years, they are still allowing bike tours, which allow you to descend from the top of the volcano to sea level in a couple of hours.
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