Overview
Powerful search engines like Google and Yahoo have made finding things online so easy these days, right? Well, that's true, but do a Google search for Maui and you get over 50 million results. You can surely find everything you could possible want on the web, it just takes a little extra work with so many sites out there. When you filter out all the pop-up sites and spammers, there are still quite a number of valuable and attractive Maui sites awaiting your viewing pleasure.
What we wanted to do in this section is feature and review some of the sites that we've found and return to often. We feel these sites truly capture the Aloha spirit and do justice to the beauty and magic of Maui and the other Hawaiian islands. They vary in purpose and scope, but each have their own special feel to them that makes them worth sharing.
Our Favorites
Below is the list of websites that we visit frequently and recommend.
HawaiiWeb.com - http://www.hawaiiweb.com
A very comprehensive guide and resource to anything and everything about the islands of Hawaii, inlcuding Lanai and Molokai. While much of the sites navigation is Flash based, it is still a very clean and well designed site. There is little you can't find or do on this site.
There are so much to cover on the islands, yet this site seems to list even the obscure stuff that most books and sites leave out. Parts of the site that we've used in the past are the Waterfalls and Beaches pages for Maui, both in helping us plan where we want to go but also what we had seen while we were there.
Maui Information Guide - http://www.mauiinformationguide.com
A good online reference for finding out just everything about the island of Maui. It's not just geared towards your average tourist, either. There are quite a few sections to browse through (maybe a few too many for the current navigation). It may seem a little bloated or intimating with all the choices to choose from, but if you're looking for something specific, odds are you'll find it here.
Maui Beach Guide - http://www.mauibeachguide.com
Now, for one of our favorite parts of Maui, the beaches. This site is my favorite resource finding everything about Maui's beaches before, during and after a trip to the island. We try to visit at least 3 beaches each trip, so I'm always coming back here to scout out where are next stops will be. A must-see website for any serious Maui beach fan.
Aloha-Hawaii.com: Maui Portal - http://maui.aloha-hawaii.com
This is the Maui Portal of the Aloha-Hawaii.com website, and in web terms, Portal is a good description of this site. There is quite a range of information available here, however, it does have that portal feel to it, which is less personal that we prefer and the info provided is usually in little chunks versus more details. A better resource for someone still deciding if Maui is right for their vacation.
Lahaina Town Action Committee - http://www.visitlahaina.com
Not the most modern looking of these Maui websites. There are still a few good items on this site that we couldn't leave it off the list. Namely, the Events Calendar is what we refer to this site for the most. We usually spend time in Lahaina about every other day or every third day on our trips, so we like to know if there's anything going on that we're interested in. Was a big help in 2007 when we wanted to go to the Taste of Lahaina and the dates kept changing.
MauiToday.tv - http://mauitoday.tv
I will admit, I somehow dodged the YouTube fever that transformed how many people enjoy the web. I prefer text over video, but if you like watching the web like you do your Tivo, this site is for you. MauiToday.tv is billed as a Video-on-Demand Internet TV station, and it truly lives up to that title. Everything from news, sports, current events and local coverage is all brought to you in high quality video.