My mom has cancer and does not have many years left and would like to go to Hawaii. She has a friend who has a second home in Maui. I have never been to Hawaii and we are planning to go to Maui the last week of September and we will stay at their house with them. We will just need to get a rental car and travel on our own.

We will have 5 days to sight see not including the two travel days. I will do research, but what do you recommend doing or seeing on the island while we are there?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: StorminNormin,

There's the standard sights/attractions (Lahaina old whaling village, Haleakala Crater, Ka’anapali Beach, the road to Hana/Seven Sacred Pools), but to them I'll add the Old Lahaina Luau, consistently rated the best luau anywhere in Hawaii.

road to hana. then circum-navigate island

waterfalls in the nat park past hana, and cool churches, if she can walk... def go past hana

Don't wait to find a rental car. I'd start looking for that now, as they have been scarce.

Sunrise at Haleakala National Park

A couple restaurants in Lahaina: Kimo's (home of the world famous Hula Pie), and Hula Grill (locally caught/farmed fish and produce).

Sunrise, sunset at the beach. A catamaran cruise to Lahaina- dinner at Mamas Fish House ($$$).

Walks on Sugar Beach.

Enjoy your time - no getting it back.

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Originally posted by SR025:
Sunrise at Haleakala National Park

Spectacular view but take a coat. It can be cold.

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Originally posted by CA DuckHunter:
Sunrise, sunset at the beach. A catamaran cruise to Lahaina- dinner at Mamas Fish House ($$$).

Walks on Sugar Beach.

Enjoy your time - no getting it back.

Best Catamaran is the Ali’i Nui out of Ma’alaea. Nice boat and they don’t pack people in like most others, plus the food is good. Avoid Pacific Whale Foundation. Mama’s is pricey but an amazing experience which I also recommend. If you decide to go make reservation now as it’s generally booked months in advance. If you have no luck let me know and I’ll call in a favor but I need at least a couple days notice to make it happen.

I'm assuming your Mom will have some mobility issues. If that's the case then some of Maui's tamer attractions might be more suitable.
I always recommend the Maui Ocean Center--fabulous aquarium of local fish.
Lahaina has a number of shows of potential interest; and of course one must do a luau with Hawaiian entertainment.
"Upcountry" Maui is lush and green with cattle ranches, a winery, restaurants, and a lovely drive up to the top of Haleakala with splendid views.
I'ao Needle State Park is an easy walk from the parking lot.
The Road to Hana is classic; there is always traffic though, so plan to spend a whole day getting there and back from Kahului.

September is not humpback whale season, but one can take dinner sunset cruises as noted by P210; and boat rides to Lanai that include seeing spinner dolphins.

Get a copy of Maui Revealed for a full view of what Maui offers.

How is your mom feeling physically? Some others mentioned the road to Hana. It’s a great day trip but I would recommend Dramamine. The constant switchbacks made my wife really carsick. Download Shaka tours to your phone, you get a gps based tour guide with stories and a little history along the way. As far as food, everyone already hit the highlights. Kimos, Mama’s, Hula Grill. I’d also recommend stopping at Leodas for lunch and a pie. I found a breakfast place called slappycakes that was pretty good. I would also suggest making reservations now for dinner. Look up the travel regulations, we went in May and had to get a special covid test no more than 72 hrs before we arrived and you had to upload the info to a safe traveler profile. Don’t forget to take your vaccine cards with you. Enjoy your trip!

We did a helicopter tour of the island including hovering just in front of the waterfall in the opening scene of the first Jurassic Park movie. A submarine ride 150’ down to the coral reefs. That was amazing. Top of Haleaka by bus. Whale watching trip. There is no lack of spectacular things to do.

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Originally posted by Bytes:

quote:

Originally posted by SR025:
Sunrise at Haleakala National Park

Spectacular view but take a coat. It can be
cold.

I wish I had been warned before I went, I froze my as off!

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Originally posted by Bytes:

quote:

Originally posted by SR025:
Sunrise at Haleakala National Park

Spectacular view but take a coat. It can be cold.

Legit Winter coat, gloves, hat. If you do this your first day, you won’t have to work so hard to wake up, as your body will be thinking it’s time to wake up when the bus leaves for the crater at like 2 or 3am.

You used to have to sign up tho because they don’t allow tons of people up there at a time for sunrise.

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Originally posted by kkina:
There's the standard sights/attractions (Lahaina old whaling village, Haleakala Crater, Ka’anapali Beach, the road to Hana/Seven Sacred Pools), but to them I'll add the Old Lahaina Luau, consistently rated the best luau anywhere in Hawaii.

We did all of this. Depending on ability, there are pull outs on the road to Hana that have trails to walk. There is magic and paradise on those trails and where they lead. Just be aware that the rocks get slippery as wet ice if it rains.

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Originally posted by SR025:
Sunrise at Haleakala National Park

Best done on the first day or two after arrival as you need to leave at 3 am to get there in time, and that will seem like a normal time of day when your body is on mainland time. I'd suggest visiting at sunset also as it is just as spectacular and not crowded. Also, for sunrise, take warm clothes as it is near freezing at dawn.

I love all of the suggestions so far and this will really help me plan and start making reservations now. My mom is mobile but she can’t handle walking for too long as she doesn’t have a lot of strength anymore. There will probably be a day she will just spend time with her friend and her husband and I can go see some of the more strenuous stuff that day. Unfortunately the friend’s husband has cancer and he is apparently doing really bad and won’t be around much longer.

Freezing your butt off to watch sunrise on Haleakala now requires advance reservations which get scooped up as soon as they’re made available so plan accordingly if you think it’s a must. I don’t. If you wake up before dawn on your first day due to time zone and have a need to do something, Kihei Caffe opens at 5am and how often do you get breakfast at a Quonset hut left over from WW2, which you’ll only notice if you look at it from the side.

I doubt your Mom will be able to do any of the hikes but if you take any, rain higher up the mountain flows down and often makes trails impassable, so just because it’s not raining where you are doesn’t mean you won’t end up stranded. Helicopter rescues of people who disregard this are more common than they should be.

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Originally posted by P210:
Freezing your butt off to watch sunrise on Haleakala now requires advance reservations which get scooped up as soon as they’re made available so plan accordingly if you think it’s a must. I don’t. If you wake up before dawn on your first day due to time zone and have a need to do something, Kihei Caffe opens at 5am and how often do you get breakfast at a Quonset hut left over from WW2, which you’ll only notice if you look at it from the side.

I doubt your Mom will be able to do any of the hikes but if you take any, rain higher up the mountain flows down and often makes trails impassable, so just because it’s not raining where you are doesn’t mean you won’t end up stranded. Helicopter rescues of people who disregard this are more common than they should be.

I saw that the sunrise requires reservations. There was only one day available that week with only 3 tickets left so I went ahead and got one. That Mamas Fish House is booked through November. I will have to see if it is something she would want to do or not. It is pricey, but I am sure it is good.

Sunsets from atop Hale'akala (or rather on the way down) are also spectacular. No reservations required.
Mama's is great but there are plenty of good fish restaurants serving local Hawaiian fish.
Just for fun go to Coconut's Fish Cafe in Kihei and have their famous fish taco (Zagat rated).

If you really want to go to Mama's take up P210 on his offer.

One of our favorites not mentioned: Hosmer Grove, just after the entrance to the National Park on Haleakala has a short walking trail to an overlook where one can see native Hawaiian birds: i'iwi, apapane, and amakihi. It's very peaceful and never crowded.