There is a direct flight from Orlando to Honolulu now available through Hawaiian Airlines. Our trip started out in Maui, so we had to take a connecting flight from Honolulu, O’ahu to Kahului, Maui. Looking back, we would first stay for a night or two in Oahu to get acclimated before island hopping.

We spent time in Maui twice during our trip. The first time, we stayed in Paia and the second time, we stayed in both Lahaina and Wailuku. Maui was a great introduction to life in Hawaii and our hostel was fantastic which allowed us to enjoy our time a bit more.

Aloha Surf Club Hostel

We enjoyed this hostel so much. The people were kind. The provided tours were fantastic. They had pancakes and coffee. It was a quick walk into Paia. The room (private room) was clean and large. The bathrooms and common areas were kept clean as well. The other guests were welcoming and great for conversation. We learned about people from all over the world. The only downside was the early quiet hours.

Paia Town

Paia is a sleepy town. There is a small downtown with a few restaurants, dessert shops, stores, and boutiques. It is cute and we walked into town many times. We liked the basketball court with the beach in the background. We also had a delicious acai bowl from Paia Bowls.

Iao Valley

We went for a guided hike with the hostel. It was beautiful! We learned about some common fruits, trees, and plants. We also heard some stories along the way while taking in views of distant waterfalls. It was a fairly easy hike, minus the way back down with so many scratchy plants. We survived and relaxed by the water at the end of the hike.

Musubi

Musubi is a common snack for locals. It is sold in convenience stores, grocery stores, and many little shops. It is usually rice topped with a meat and wrapped in seaweed. Of course, we tried the spam variety because we never eat spam on the regular. It’s worth trying but it’s nothing special in our opinion.

Zoa

This isn’t really a Hawaiian specialty but we still have to share. We tried ZOA while in Hawaii because it’s from the one and only, Dwayne THE ROCK Johnson. We like the zero sugar version and it’s pretty tasty!