What to do on Maui with kids? The American state of Hawaii consists of many different islands of which Maui is the second largest. Maui is a volcanic island, which also created unusual beaches. The sea is also wonderfully warm and the atmosphere on the island is good. In addition, this island has a beautiful rainforest, numerous waterfalls and an impressive bamboo forest. Plenty of variety is possible on this island, making it an ideal vacation destination when traveling with kids. In this blog, we list the best children’s activities on Maui,
Best travel time Maui with kids
Due to Hawaii’s favorable location in the Pacific Ocean, Maui is always sunny with fine summer temperatures. In addition, Hawaii also has no real rainy season, so you can actually visit this beautiful island year-round with kids. The summer period there is from April through October.
You then have the warmest temperatures and the least rain. You can therefore say that the best travel time to visit Maui with kids is from April through October.
Transportation to and in Maui
Most families with kids who tour the islands of Hawaii start the trip on the island of Oahu and land at the Honolulu airport. From this island you can fly to Maui just fine and the flight time is just under an hour.
Unlike the main island of Oahu, you have very limited public transportation options on the island of Maui. Taking a cab is possible here, but cab prices are very high here, so it is not recommended. There is a lot to do on Maui and to get to the most beautiful places on the island you really need a car.
Distances are indicated in miles rather than kilometers, and otherwise you need not expect specifics. You drive all the way from the north of the island to the south of the island in about 2 hours, so most of the sights are not far apart. You can rent a car at the Maui airport.
This can be done at both Kahului Airport and the smaller Kapalua Airport on Maui. It is definitely advisable to rent a car in advance, as during the busy period there is a chance that there will be no cars available on the island, and so you will not be able to do much sightseeing on the island.
You can rent a car at these airports through Sunny Cars. For more information on how to rent a car at Kahului airport please check here and for more information on how to rent a car at Kapalua Airport please check here.
Children’s activities Maui
#1 Haleakala National Park
Hawaii, best known for its beautiful beaches, also has an amazingly beautiful interior. Haleakala National Park has beautiful nature where you can do several varied hikes with kids. This park is near the city of Hana, so we visited it as a stop during our drive on the “Road to Hana” (this is the famous 83-kilometer panoramic route with more than 600 turns and on this route you can visit many of the beautiful places from this blog).
You pay an entrance fee of about $30 for this park, but it can also be visited for “free” with a national parks pass. We went to other destinations in the United States after Hawaii, so we purchased our pass here that we needed later anyway. The other way around, of course, is also possible.
At the visitor center (Kipahulu Visitor Center, which is the right entrance) you can check out the different options in terms of hiking trails. One hike we wanted to do in this park was the Pipiwai trail (a 6.5 km round trip). The biggest reason for us to do this hike was the bamboo forest on the trail.
The trail is very beautiful and the path well maintained and even though you do some climbing, this hike is also doable with kids. You immediately walk through a tropical piece of Hawaii with beautiful trees, plants, flowers ánd beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.
After walking for a while, we arrived at a huge banyan tree, where our kids had some fun climbing and playing hide-and-seek. Immediately a nice break point during this hike. If you continue walking you first have a viewpoint over a beautiful waterfall and then you come to the bamboo forest.
You hear the forest even before you see it. The wind blowing the logs against each other makes a beautiful sound. Once you arrive at the forest, you do shoot some pictures. The trees are about 25 meters high and how you can walk through the forest is really a beautiful sight.
#2 Black sand beach
If you drive the Road to Hana, you actually have continuous beautiful views from the car, because the nature on Maui is really beautiful everywhere. It is also very diverse and the volcanic black beaches along this route are special to see. One of these black beaches is Honokalani beach in Waianapanapa State park.
This coastline has a rugged appearance and consists of lava rocks, black sand and beautiful palm trees. The colors all contrast nicely with the clear blue water, creating beautiful pictures. Our kids mostly had fun here building works of art with the stones on the beach. You don’t need to spend too much time here, but it is certainly a relaxing and appreciated stop during your winding route.
#3 Red sand beach
Another stop you can make while driving the Road to Hana is Red sand beach, also known as Kaihalulu beach. We really loved this little beach. It is a small challenge to get there, but that is what makes it so beautiful. You walk over the cliffs on a dirt path quite a ways above the ocean.
It can be quite slippery, so I recommend that you assess on a piece-by-piece basis whether it still feels safe to walk through with kids. My husband and our son (in baby carrier) walked to the end and my daughter and I stopped halfway at a nice viewpoint.
The water is super clear blue/green in color and a nice contrast to the colors of the rocks and beach. This is not a beach where you go to relax, but the beach is certainly beautiful to see. The short walk of about 15 minutes to the beach, makes it a fun activity.
Another name for this beach is “secret beach” and that’s because this beach is a bit hidden and also quite hard to find if you don’t know exactly where you start. This website explains exactly where to park your car and then how to walk. Without this explanation, I don’t think we would have ever found it.
#4 White beaches
Above I already wrote about a black beach and a red beach, but of course what you are visiting Hawaii for are the white beaches, and of these I would definitely recommend Big beach and Kanapali beach. Both beaches are great to hang out at when visiting Maui with kids.
Kanapali beach (5 kilometers long) is located in a bay near several hotels, and at this beach the sea is also a bit calmer, so you can enjoy bobbing in the sea and playing in the surf with kids. We had a lot of water fun here and the sea is also lovely and warm. Big Beach is an 800-meter-long beach where the sea is a bit wilder. On the beach at Big Beach, you have beautiful views of the typical mountains of Hawaii.
Other white beaches you can visit on Maui with kids are Kamaole Beach Parks (these are multiple beaches and you can also do some good snorkeling here), Hamoa Beach (this beach is on the Road to Hana and is considered one of the most beautiful beaches on Maui) and Ho’okipa Beach (here you can see surfers at work).
#5 Lahaina
We visited this super cute fishing village with numerous stores and cozy terraces in 2022. Among other things, the village is known for the giant banyan tree that stands in the middle of a square. It is a special tree because it looks like many more trees because new trunks keep growing from its roots.
Unfortunately, the name Lahaina may also look familiar to you from the news. In 2023, this village was completely destroyed by a huge fire. So why I am mentioning this now in this blog is because they are very busy rebuilding this area and I begrudge the people there to get back to business as usual once they get on top of this.
So keep an eye on the status of the recovery of this area before you travel here.
Family-friendly restaurants Maui
You can eat great food on the island of Maui with kids. You have plenty of fun and family-friendly restaurants on the island that you can go to. Below we list some of these family-friendly restaurants in Maui.
Polli’s Mexican restaurant: good Mexican food at a good price. Friendly service and prompt service.
Teddy’s bigger burgers: large variety of delicious burgers.
Foodtrucks: be sure to eat at a food truck with your family, too. Often there are several together and you can order something for each family member while you can eat the food at a picnic table.
Family-friendly hotel Maui
You have several nice family-friendly accommodations on the island of Maui that you can book. We list the top rated accommodations in Maui below. Click on the blue link for more information about the accommodation.
Budget accommodation: Maui Seaside Hotel
Mid-range accommodation: Aston Kaanapali Shores
Luxury accommodations: AC Hotel by Marriott Maui Wailea
For a list of all family-friendly accommodations in Maui, take a look here.
About the author: this adventurous family took a 5-month trip around the world in 2022 and have visited more than 20 countries together. You can follow their adventures on their Instagram page fouropeenreis.
