Maui rewards a full day of exploring beyond the resort zones, whether driving the island's most famous highway or ferrying to a quieter neighbor island.
This legendary 64-mile highway winds along Maui's northeast coast through roughly 620 curves and 59 one-lane bridges, passing waterfalls, black-sand beaches, rainforest lookouts, and fruit stands en route to remote Hana town. Popular stops include Twin Falls, Wailua Valley lookout, and Waianapanapa State Park's black-sand beach. Most drivers leave before 7 AM to beat traffic and allow a full day for the round trip.
A passenger ferry crosses the Auau Channel from Lahaina Harbor to the small, laid-back island of Lanai in about an hour, offering a taste of a far less developed Hawaiian island. Highlights include the eerie rock formations of Garden of the Gods, Hulopoe Bay's protected snorkeling beach, and Lanai City's plantation-era main street, best explored with a rented 4x4 given the island's mostly unpaved roads.
Rather than a pre-dawn sunrise run, this daytime version of the Haleakala trip climbs through Upcountry Maui's ranchland and farm country, stopping at Kula's lavender and protea farms, Ulupalakua Ranch's MauiWine tasting room, and roadside stands selling Maui-grown produce, before reaching the crater itself for hiking or a sunset viewing. It's a more relaxed, less crowded alternative to sunrise visits.
A narrow, cliff-hugging road circling the remote back side of West Maui, the Kahekili Highway connects Kapalua to Wailuku past blowholes, sea arches, and the tiny artist town of Kahakuloa, largely bypassed by tour buses. Far less traveled than the Road to Hana, it rewards confident drivers with dramatic coastal scenery and a genuine sense of discovery, though narrow sections require caution.