The island of Maui changed forever following the tragic fires that obliterated the historic town of Lahaina. Unfortunately, that has had a negative effect on the island’s primary economic driver—tourism. So, what is it like visiting Maui post-fire? Honestly? The negativity isn’t there, but there are deep wounds and challenges.
There’s a lot of uncertainty about visiting Maui, and I get why. In the aftermath of the tragedies of August 8, 2023, there was a strong call by officials and residents to stay away to give the island a chance to recover and heal. However, that stance quickly became convoluted, as officials began to realize that Maui’s economy, including residents that needed and wanted to work, depended our tourism to survive. Unfortunately, the tragedies emboldened anti-tourist voices and gave them a spotlight. So much so, in fact, that many prospective visitors still believe that they should stay away from Maui out of respect.
The confusion around Maui’s tourism status is further layered with the fact that Lahaina itself was a major tourism draw. Yes, the real tragedy here is the loss of homes, livelihoods, and lives, but there’s no denying that the area’s disappearance also took away some of Maui’s draw. Further, the loss of residents in the area means that there is a labor shortage, something we experienced firsthand during our time on the island. Also, thanks to the absence of thousands of residents and reduced visitor numbers, many restaurants – even those that had survived the fires – remain temporarily closed or have disappeared for good.
I knew a lot of this going in, so visiting Maui post-fire wasn’t a complete shock. But, still, it did make our visit more difficult, especially as we sought to support local businesses. Nevertheless, Maui does need visitors to keep its economy going, which will be critical to helping everyone on the island rebuild. So I encourage anyone that can and want to to visit. Just be sure to do so in a respectful way. Hopefully, my recent experience will help those of you that do decide to go.
Visiting Maui Post-Fire
That was a long-winded introduction to this post, but my visiting Maui post-fire trip report is, well, complicated. Things are and aren’t back to normal. But if you know what to expect going in, you can still have a great time while supporting the islands and its residents. But, anyway, throughout my visiting Maui post-fire series, I’ll be covering the following:
Flights
As is usually the case for my intra-Hawaii travel nowadays, I chose to fly Southwest Airlines from Honolulu to Kahului and back. Why? Because it’s easy to earn and burn Rapid Rewards points, and the value proposition for doing so is better than HawaiianMiles. Plus, thanks to my Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority card from Chase, I get bonus miles every year and get to enjoy Early Boarding when available. This time around, that meant receiving single-digit Group A positions. But I’ll get into the details in these individual reviews
Car
With visitor arrivals down, car rentals on Maui aren’t as expensive as they used to be. Booking via Costco Travel allowed me to save even more money! You know what’s even more wild? Over the last nine months, I probably rebooked my reservation nearly a dozen times, slashing my initial booking price in half. Moreover, I was able to score a luxury vehicle for just a smidge more than a standard vehicle would’ve cost.
Hotel
When visiting Maui post-fire, one thing that hasn’t change is hotel pricing. In fact, Maui remains the most expensive hotel market in the state! As such, the only way I can afford to travel to Maui is via points. Regular readers may recall that when I originally booked this trip for September 2023, I did so to check out the Hyatt Regency Maui in Ka’anapali. Last year, the hotel’s reward category jumped up, meaning an award night increased from 25k points to 30k points. Thankfully, Hyatt was understanding of he situation and made me whole, allowing me to move my reservation to another date without cost me any additional points.
Activities
Aside from wanting to check out the Hyatt Regency Maui, my other reason for visiting Maui even before the fires was to go birding in Haleakala National Park with my newish Canon RF 100-500 mm lens. While I caught some decent photos of Hawaiian Honeycreepers last time out with my old EF 70-200 f2.8, the extra reach really helped me out this time around, even though the birds were far less cooperative. We also went on an actual hike in Haleakala to varying degrees of success.
Beyond that, part of my focus for visiting Maui post-fire became ensuring we supported local companies as much as possible. As I mentioned earlier, this feat became more difficult than I thought it would be, due to many places just not being around anymore or remaining temporarily closed. Traveling during a holiday weekend exasperated this difficulty, as many businesses on the island are closed on Sundays, Mondays, and/or all holidays.
Dining
Finding places to eat was shockingly difficult on this trip, especially when looking in Ka’anapali and trying to avoid tourist-oriented restaurants. What do I mean by tourist-oriented restaurants? You know the type. Their menus are all kind of the same sounding, while their pricing are all similar. These restaurants could be in hotels, or they could be in tourist-centric areas.
While I mostly succeeded in finding places to eat, it was a slog, especially since one of the places I wanted to dine up ended up canceling my reservation for a family emergency. I don’t fault them for that, as family comes first, but it was disappointing.
Interacting with Locals
I don’t usually talk about interacting with locals, but visiting Maui post-fire isn’t like any other trip I’ve ever done before. That’s not to say that we encountered any issues or had to act any differently, but you just have to be sensitive to what’s going on around you. For example, we never spoke about the fire and the devastation it left in its wake when outside of our vehicle or our room. Why? Because you never know what kind of traumas people around you – people serving you – might have related to the fires.
All that said, every local we interacted with was kind and seemed to genuinely enjoy interacting with us. Sure, we often waited a while for our car at the valet because of employee shortages, but that’s not the people’s working fault. So, if you decide to go to Maui, please reciprocate people’s kindness and be patient.
Now, one thing that was a bit ambiguous leading up to our trip was whether there would still be survivors in hotels. Yes, that is still the case. Specifically, the Hyatt Regency Maui (our hotel) and the one next to it continue to house survivors. We didn’t see any of them, but it’s just another thing to be mindful of when visiting Maui post-fire and why it’s crucial to not speak of the fire when not in private. It’s worth noting, though, that officials stated that they want to get all survivors into more long-term housing by sometime in July.
Visiting Maui Post-Fire, Final Thoughts
Overall, we had a great time on Maui, and visiting Maui post-fire really wasn’t an issue. Yes, there’s visible devastation if you stay in West Maui; things on that side of the island aren’t normal, and you can’t go into Lahaina. But if you want to go to chill at your resort, explore Haleakala, dine around central Maui, take jaunts around Up Country, etc., Maui is still a great time. There’s no reason to stay away so long as you’re mindful and sensitive. In fact, I encourage you to go to Maui. The economy and the people who rely on Maui’s visitor industry need you to visit, spend, and enjoy. Just, again, be sensitive, be kind, and be patient.
Note: I will not be displaying, nor have I taken photos of burn areas. If you’re curious about how things stand today, please see this gallery from the Honolulu Civil Beat.