Guide
Do You Need a Car on Maui?
Almost everyone needs one. The island is 727 square miles with a volcano in the middle, and the public bus does not go to a single thing you flew here for.
10 min read
Kealoha Nakamura
Senior Editor
Beat: Getting Around, Best Time to Visit, Things to Do
Kealoha edits everything on this site that touches permits, closures and West Maui. Fifteen years on Hawaiʻi visitor coverage taught him that the useful sentence is usually the one about a reservation window, not the one about a view. He checks county notices and state park releases before he checks anyone's marketing, and spells place names the way the people who live in them do.
4 guides · 3 news posts
Last updatedKealoha's most recent update to this site was .
Long-form
Guides by Kealoha Nakamura
Reported guides to Maui, each with its own publication and last-updated date.
Guide
Maui with Kids: Which Beaches, Which Boats, Which Drives
FeaturedOn Maui the family variable is water. Some of these beaches are a bathtub and one of them has sent more people to hospital with spinal injuries than any beach in the state.
10 min read
Guide
Driving the Road to Hāna: Timing, Etiquette and What to Skip
FeaturedSixty-four miles, around 600 curves and 59 bridges, most of them one lane. The road is the destination, and the people who live along it are the reason to drive it well.
10 min read
Guide
A First-Timer's Guide to Maui
FeaturedMaui is bigger than the map suggests and three of its headline sites now need a reservation booked before you leave home. Get those two things right and the rest of the week arranges itself.
10 min read
News desk
News under Kealoha Nakamura's byline
Shorter, dated pieces about what is changing in Maui.
How this was written. News published under Kealoha Nakamura's byline was drafted by machine from primary sources — operator notices, government and municipal releases, published schedules — and every factual claim in it was matched to one of those sources before it published. A Maui Guide editor can change or pull any of it. Our editorial standards.
Travel alert
Hurricane Season Runs June 1 to November 30. What It Means for a Maui Booking
Direct hits are rare. Near misses that bring surf, rain and flight disruption are not, and they cluster in the back half of the season.
Travel alert
Waiʻānapanapa and ʻĪao Both Need Booking, and Neither Sells at the Gate
FeaturedTwo of Maui's best-known state parks require non-residents to hold a reservation booked in advance. Turning up without one means turning around.
Seasonal
When the Trades Drop: Kona Winds, Vog and the Hazy Week
Maui runs on northeast trade winds. When they stop and the wind swings round from the southwest, the island gets muggy, hazy and occasionally stormy.