With it's picturesque timber-frame buildings, and spectacular views across to the islands of Lanai and Molokai, the waterfront is irresistible.
Lahaina is now the center of the Pacific Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary. Lahaina is also full of art galleries. Some say that Maui sells more art than anyplace else except New York.
The largest living thing on Maui is Lahaina's Banyan Tree. Thousands of mynah birds engulf the tree come as it comes alive with their evening songs. The tree actually looks more like a park full of trees from a distance, but it is all one REALLY BIG TREE. It was brought here from India as an 8 foot tree in 1873. Now it is over 50 feet tall, and covers 2/3rds of an acre with 12 major trunks. On Saturdays local artists show their work under the tree. This amazing tree makes for great shade in the heat of the day.
Alohacyberian of Hawaii - Travels with Keith Martin:
Maui The Valley Isle
In spite of the fact that the Big Island has almost twice as much coastline as the other Hawaiian Islands combined, Maui has more swimmable beach than any other Hawaiian island. For example, Kaanapali's great beach continues, almost uninterrupted, for four miles. East Maui, which is really all a portion of the gigantic mountain called Haleakala (House of the Sun) and on a map looks like the larger of 2 eggs in a pan, is the largest inactive volcano in the world and the hardened lava of Haleakala rises over 30,000 feet from the ocean floor, making it one of the biggest hardened masses on our planet. The Hawaii Handbook says the island of Maui's silhouette looks like the head and torso of the mythical demigod bent at the waist and contemplating the island of Kahoolawe to the Southwest. Many say that Maui grows the best potatoes and onions in Hawaii. Lahaina has long been the center of most activity on Maui. In times past it was the vortex and playground for the oldtime royal Hawaiian alii and later became a hub for Yankee whalers. The "good-time" mystique lingers to this day. South of Lahaina lies Olowalu, where the lunatic Yankee trader, Simon Metcalfe, saw hundreds of curious Hawaiians paddling out to his ship, so he decided to slaughter them, just to let them know who was boss. From Olowalu, one can see Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and on a clear day a faint hint of the Big Island far to the south. The eastern shore of West Maui (the back Maui's head) is "an adventurer's paradise, complete with a tourist-discouraging rugged road posted with "Proceed no Farther" warning signs. In that area are breathtaking coastal views, like those on the road to Hana, bird sanctuaries, heiau and Kahakuloa, a tiny fishing village reported to be a favorite stomping ground of the great Maui himself. The road trip from Kahului to Hana and then back via the southern route is a world-class scenic drive whose hazards are sometimes exaggerated by timid drivers and the more tender city-slickers from the mainland. Some car rental companies admonish people not to attempt the drive. After Oahu, Maui is the second most popular destination for visitors.
Maui is the only island in Polynesia to be named after a god. Kumulipo, the ancient genealogical chant of the Hawaiians, sings of the demigod Maui who was a mythological half-human sorcerer known throughout Polynesia. "Maui was a prankster on a grand scale who used guile and humor to create some of the most amazing feats of derring-do ever recorded. A Polynesian combination of Paul Bunyan and Hercules, Maui had adventures known as 'strifes'. He served humankind by fishing up the islands of Hawaii from the ocean floor, securing fire from a tricky mud hen, lifting the sky so humans could walk upright and slowing down the sun god"* with a lasso from atop Haleakala, which in Hawaiian means, "House of the Sun".
