Maui Itinerary 5 Days OR 8 Days Plus Oahu 3 Days

The Adventure Itinerary: Maui Itinerary 5 Days or 8 Days plus Oahu 3 Days

Table Of Contents for Maui Itinerary 5 days, 8 days, Oahu 3 days

• Guide Book vs. Itinerary (Should You Buy The Book)
• Not Enough Detail
• Itinerary Information
• Budget Expenses
• Accommodations & Saving Money
• Time of Year
• Activities Included in Maui Itineraries
• Flexibility
• Save Yourself Time!
• Finally, Get The Adventure Itinerary to Maui

Hate having to sift through blogs, online articles, reviews, and guide books to plan your vacation? Make life easy with my detailed itineraries for vacationing in Maui and/or Oahu. You can choose from three itineraries! The 8 days in Maui is shortened down to Maui itinerary 5 days. Plus three days on Oahu. I spent hours and hours over the course of many, many months researching the best and most unique activities, the best way to spend time on Maui, the best bang for your buck accommodations, the cheapest transportation, and where to eat.

Why? Because I was vacationing there myself and I wanted to plan the BEST trip possible.

I had already vacationed to Maui and Oahu once before I started planning this trip, so I already had an idea of what was worth repeating and what was not. Even though I went overboard and really planned everything, you’ll have options and there is plenty of flexibility.

I painstakingly wrote out this itinerary in great detail and decided that I should put all that work and effort into something useful beyond my own trip. Now, since I have actually traveled through this itinerary, I tell you everything that worked great and give you my advice on what I would do differently if I had to do it over again. I went back afterwards to include additional notes for anything I felt could have been better. Please, save yourself the time and hassle with one of my itineraries to the Hawaiian Islands.

‘Maui Revealed’ vs Maui Itinerary 5 Days

Should You Buy The Book?

I did use (heavily) the “Maui Revealed” book that is extremely popular among tourists and visitors to Hawaii. While it is a great source of information and it can be a good companion guide along with the itineraries, you won’t necessarily need it with these itineraries. If you do buy the book there is some good general information about the Island, the weather, and it’s history. You can also find the activities from the itineraries in there, plus detailed descriptions of hikes and beaches. Even if you buy the book, I still highly recommend using one of my itineraries to plan your vacation. Why? Because it will save you so much time and hassle to actually plan it out. The book spits out a bunch of information but it doesn’t plan it for you.

Travel Guide vs. Maui Itineraries

I liked the book overall but it lacked a couple of things. The author gives a lot of straight forward information and at times he tells you if an activity is “a hoot”. Really, it’s another resource containing a lot of information that requires time to read through it and you still have to decide what you are looking for and how to piece it all together. In listing the endless hikes and viewpoints, he describes some particular adventures. But, he doesn’t say at all if it’s worth the time over something else you could be doing. His goal is to “reveal” Maui, not suggest what to do. The “Maui Revealed” book is written for a very wide audience from young families to retired vacationers. The way he slants his description is to take in account all levels of abilities and interests.

I read every single page of that book at least once, most of it twice, and sometimes more (remember, I said I got a little crazy in planning this trip!). The author’s judgement seemed pretty solid on the few occasions that he highly suggested an activity. But I have to say, my husband and I were badly disappointed with one particular activity that he recommended. We regretted it. It was a huge waste of time! We ran into others who also felt the same way.
But I’ll explain that in the itinerary. I would love to save you from that mistake.

Not Enough Detail

In other areas of the book, the author doesn’t go into enough detail. This is particularly true when deciding which boating tours to take and which companies to book with. Largely because of that, I still read through other sources online and probably hundreds of reviews on trip advisor for specific companies, tours, and random questions about what to expect.

In the “Maui Revealed” book you have to sift through hundreds of pages and sometimes read between the lines, to find what works and in what order. In the end, it’s easier to have an itinerary with good options already laid out.

Not enough detail given in the Maui Revealed book is particularly true with camping. If you want to venture out camping on the island there is precious little information I could find to piece together to plan my trip. Again, I will give you the best information in my itineraries.

Maui 5 Day and 8 Day Itinerary (Plus Oahu) Information

I have three separate itineraries and you can look at all of them. We stayed in Maui for 8 days and on Oahu for 2 full days. I separated the one, big itinerary into three containable ones. There is an adventure itinerary to Maui that covers 8 days. I paired that itinerary down to activities I would do if I only had 5 days on Maui- the Maui Itinerary 5 Days. This shorter itinerary still includes all the logistical information. Both of those trips are geared towards an adventure itinerary to Maui. They have lots of activities but still a good dose of relaxing on the beach. They also offer flexibility. And then there is an Itinerary for Oahu for three days. If you stay in Oahu longer than three days it’s easy to spend a little more time relaxing at the beach.

Budget Expenses for Maui Itinerary 5 Days

Our trip cost for two people on Maui and Oahu for 11 days was $2,451.32. This includes airfare, car rental, accommodations, hang gliding, a sailing and snorkeling trip to Molokini, the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu, and a whale watching tour among other activities. I’m not kidding! I spell out for you exactly what we spent our money on. You can get a sneak peak here on how I kept that cost so low.

We did spend an additional $565.22 on eating out, gas, and a couple of trips to the store. I also have that broken down to each transaction and what we bought. There is enough flexibility built into the itineraries for budgeting too. So, if you decide you don’t want to Hang Glide for $500 (this isn’t your typical hang gliding!) you can easily cut it out.

Accommodations & Saving Money

I’ll also tell you that part of where I saved money was camping for 4 nights (only 2 nights in the Maui Itinerary 5 Days). Mainly I thought it would be cool to camp on the beach while listening to the waves crash and walk out of my tent to see the sunrise over the ocean. And it was cool! The days that I camped were the only days that I actually got out to see the sun rise. But don’t fret. If that cramps your style there are hotels and AirBnB options close by.

I saved money by staying in a condo through AirBnB. The one bedroom condo was very nice and we had to ourselves. It was important to me that we stayed in a nice place that didn’t feel like we were budgeting. It was also very convenient and right off the beach! I researched the difference of staying in a hotel but AirBnB won out every time. The hotels that were closest to the cost of the AirBnB were budget type hotels or ones that needed major updating.

Time of Year

This time that I went to Hawaii was in the beginning of January. The weather changes slightly from summer to winter but both seasons are warm and tropical. The winter can be a bit wetter but it’s still balmy and beautiful. The crowds are a bit less in the winter. The waves can be higher and rougher at times which may make snorkeling a hit or miss, but I snorkeled plenty while I was there without problems. A great perk at winter time is whale watching season. It’s a unique activity, running from December to May. Most activities are available any time of year and will be the same aside from whale watching. You can use these itineraries at any time of year that you plan on going.

Activities Included in Maui Itineraries

I packed a lot of adventure into this trip. It truly is an adventure itinerary. I wanted to go back to Maui, after already going before, because there is so much adventure on Maui. Plus, Maui feels laid back and has that resort feel.

In My Itineraries you will find:

• A variety of hikes
• Waterfalls
• Best Beaches
• Powered hang gliding
• Sailing
• Snorkeling at Molikini
• Haleakala volcano sunrise and sunset
• Mountain Biking
• Finding sea turtles
• The best of driving the road to Hana
• Whale watching tour (with a different option if you are going in the summer)
• The black sand beach at Waianapanapa and too many viewpoints to mention.

The itinerary is easy enough to plug and go while still making the activities optional if you don’t want to do everything. The Maui Itinerary 5 Days still includes the best of the activities.

I also vetted out the best beaches! You can’t go wrong with any of the beaches in Hawaii, but why spend your time at an inferior one, right? Listed are the beaches by area that have the highest ratings, and the best places for snorkeling.

I include all the details you need for each activity- hours, addresses, phone numbers, expense, when you need a credit card for an entrance fee, what paperwork is required for permits, etc. I note how many miles and how long you drive while traveling, why I recommend it, when you should go early, why I wouldn’t recommend something, why I put certain activities in a certain order, and any other pertinent notes, all in a neat and orderly format for reading and glancing through.

Flexibility

With each of the three itinerary options you get flexibility. These have detailed steps that you can interchange with options. You can choose which activities you want and see exactly where to go and how to get any permits that are needed.

I built and included an excel sheet where you can pop in your personal travel information with flights, accommodations, car rental, etc.

Save Yourself Time!

For less than the cost of your lunch, save yourself hours and hours of research, planning, and hassle when you get these ready made itineraries. You now have the benefit of taking all that planning and knowledge in a simple and easy itinerary you can follow for your own trip.

In planning these itineraries, I read through the “Maui Revealed” book, the “Oahu Revealed” book, many other sources online and probably hundreds of reviews on Trip Advisor for specific companies, tours, and random questions. As I traveled through all the plans personally, along with my husband, I noted what I would do to make it even better and smoother. I carefully and meticulously pieced each activity together along with options that you can now choose from.

The itineraries are by step with activities, transportation, accomodations, and restaurants carried out. You are still the only one in charge, you decide and book yourself. There is no intermediary and no extra charges. And, it’s better than a travel guide because it’s straight forward with step by step. No going back and forth through pages to find what you are doing next. Plus, it’s accessible in digital or paper if you print.

An added perk is that you can contact me with questions. I want these itineraries to be helpful and with your feedback I can update them if there is anything I should add.

The Adventure Itinerary to Maui

---

save one of THESE PINS below to your Pinterest Hawaii Vacation board for later!