Are you planning a family vacation to Maui? This blog post is filled with kid-friendly activities, beaches, restaurants, and tips to help your visit to Maui with kids be successful. There are so many things to do in Maui with kids – and a lifetime of memories to carry home with you.
- Is Maui kid friendly?
- The absolute best tip for visiting Maui with kids
- How to get kids ready to explore Maui
- How we did Maui with kids (the Busy Toddler edition)
- Best beaches for kids on Maui
- Best Beach Hack for Families
- Tips for snorkeling with kids
- Favorite restaurants on Maui
- Best attractions on Maui for kids and families
- What else would you add? Comment below.
Is Maui kid friendly?
Welcome, friends, to my little guide to Maui with kids.
We’ve visiting Maui twice as a family and each was a fantastic week of memories and magic. It’s Hawaii… how could it not be wonderful?
Actually, I know that it can be daunting to think about a beach, swimming pool, sand-filled vacation with kids to a destination that might feel a little adult-centered. But that’s not at all the case with Maui. Maui with kids is a dream and I truly hope this blog post helps you as you plan your visit.
I’ve learned on vacation with kids is that I don’t do great without a plan. I need to have an idea of what we are doing each day, even if I come up with those ideas just the night before.
For me, there’s nothing worse than being on vacation with hungry children staring at you while you try to figure out where/how to eat when it’s already lunch time. I’m not saying you need to have a military-esque schedule of events, live beholden to the clock, or run like a factory system on vacation… but when you have kids with you, having a plan of attack can be the difference between melting down and effortless fun.
More memories get made with a little extra planning.
The absolute best tip for visiting Maui with kids
Be prepared beforehand – and that goes for both parents and kids.
Orient yourselves with the island, read travel blogs, talk to friends, scroll hashtags on Instagram: do your homework before you go.
Make lists, take notes, and start understanding driving times, locations, and all the best places on the island.
One of the best blogs we found for our trip was The Hawaii Vacation Guide. This family lives on Maui and their videos on YouTube (like this one) were super helpful.
How to get kids ready to explore Maui
Along with parents being prepared, get the kids prepared too. Instead of the vacation being a surprise event, let kids learn about the location beforehand. Kids do best in situations where they have context. This doesn’t ruin the experience for them: it enhances it.
They know what to look for.
They know what to look forward to.
They know what’s important for them at the vacation – even toddlers and preschoolers will grasp onto something in your pre-trip learning that sticks with them.
Here are some things we did to prepare for our trip to Hawaii:
- Watched YouTube videos as a family
- Checked out Hawaii books from the library
- Talked to friends/family who had visited
- Looked at Hawaii maps together
- Did a deep dive into Polynesian culture and the settling of Hawaii to have context for things we would see/experience
Studying and learning about Hawaii beforehand meant my kids were looking for state birds, flowers, and fish. They had ideas of the food they’d see and eat, and knew beaches/adventures/tourist destinations they wanted or hoped to see.
This is one of my best tips for all vacations, new adventures, shows, movies, anything: Kids will get more out of the experience when they aren’t starting from zero on their knowledge of it.
RELATED: Curious what travel items we always take on vacation with us? Here’s a list of my favorite travel items.
How we did Maui with kids (the Busy Toddler edition)
Busy Toddler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about these links in my disclosure policy.
I’ll break down each category of travel, what went well, what we’d change, how things worked, etc., etc. I sincerely hope this gives you a great jumping off point for your Maui vacation, and gives you ideas for your family.
Both times we have visited Maui with kids, we have stayed in the Ka’anapali area. We prefer this location for its easy proximity to a variety of beaches and activities.
Here are the two places we have stayed – both were great and I’d stay at either again in a heart beat. We booked both through VRBO and picked ground floor units each time, which makes dealing with sand and wet clothes so much easier.
Aston Ka’anapali Shores
We loved how quiet and calm this condo was. The beach is steps away and was fantastic. There are two pools: one is a traditional rectangle and the other is a gorgeous space with waterfalls, a cave, shallow areas for babies, and fountains. The grounds were spectacular and the units are simple, but lovely.
Honua Kai Resort & Spa
This was a very cool spot that we stayed at in 2022. There’s multiple pools and hot tubs, a small water slide, and a Duke’s restaurant on site. The condo/hotel was beautiful and unbelievably well-kept.
Best beaches for kids on Maui
Here’s a list of the best beaches we visited with our kids, and a few notes about each. These are ones you’ll want to consider for your visit, depending on what your beach goals and need are.
Kapalua Bay
This is our personal favorite beach for covering a wide variety of family needs: it’s wind protected (it’s consistently windy on Maui), it’s fantastic for snorkeling and seeing turtles, and there’s no big shore breaks or currents here so it’s great for smaller swimmers. There’s also a rental hut here if you forget anything or want to try something new.
Napili Bay
If you have snorkelers, this beach is a must have. The drop off at the edge of the sand makes it a little harder for small swimmers, but the beach play at the immediate shore is fantastic.
DT Flemming
This is The Beach if you have someone who wants to really boogie board (it was my oldest’s favorite at age 9 and again at 11). The waves are pretty big here – they have life guards on duty each day. We found the right side of the beach is super fun for kids who want to play in real waves and filled with toddlers to big kids having a ball in the ocean. This beach can get waves that are too big for families so check the surf report before committing.
Airport Beach
Also called Kahekili Beach – this is another “full service” beach for families. There’s great snorkeling (but right close to the shore so you don’t need to go way out for the good stuff). There’s no big drop off or shore break – no high waves or rocks to deal with. From the free parking lot, enter the beach and hang a left. Put your family up against the bushes for A+ wind protection.
Best Beach Hack for Families
While this isn’t exclusive to Maui, I have to include my favorite beach tip for any beach travel with kids: bring a wagon.
Some airlines allow you to gate check a wagon like a stroller. We have done this in the past when our kids were stroller age. Now, we check it (using it as our “one free bag”). It is well worth it.
Beaches aren’t right along the road. You’ll be parking and walking all your gear. It’s really hard with little kids to carry everything: the wagon fixes that.
And, best part, you can fit the wagon fully loaded into a minivan. Doing this on our beach trips is my best travel hack, hands down.
Tips for snorkeling with kids
I am not a snorkeler, but my husband has raised a family of them. For our first trip to Maui, our then 7- and 9-year-old fell in love with it. This trip, all three of my kids were in the water snorkeling with Dad (not a bad gig for me getting to stay back in peace and quiet to “watch the stuff”).
Water safety is NO JOKE especially when snorkeling with kids. Having a good snorkel life vest for yourself is the right thing to do and life jackets for the kids too. These pack up easy in the suitcase and it’s 100% worth the space. Don’t forget the life jackets.
Snorkel Bob is the best place for rentals, but there one extra rental that’s not to be missed with kids: the clear bottom boogie board (called the Looky Board).
If you have kids who aren’t snorkel age yet but want to see the fish, rent a clear bottom boogie board to tow them out with you (you don’t even need to snorkel to tow them – just swimming near the reefs is enough).
Favorite restaurants on Maui
There is nothing that stresses me out more on vacation than getting to meal time with kids…and having no meal time plan. I sincerely hope these recommendations can help your family.
- Slappy Cakes: Tables have a griddle in the middle for “make your own” pancakes as one menu option. The kids loved this. I loved the Dragon Fruit Chia Bowl and my husband still can’t stop talking about the Banana Bread French Toast.
- Duke’s: Of course Duke’s is on the list! Duke’s is a vacation staple for Hawaii, and you have to get the Hula Pie. (Plus the activity book they have for kids was super long and engaging so that’s a win).
- The Gazebo: This place can have the most unreal line, but if you luck out like we did then you won the lottery. Kids get wiki sticks to play with while everyone has the most delicious breakfast or lunch (yes, the macadamia nut pancakes live up to the hype).
- Honoapiilini Food Trucks: This is walking distance from both places we stayed and it was perfect for our family to run wild, not make a reservation, and let every one get a little of everything.
- Monkeypod Kitchen: Make a reservation for this spot and you’ll be so glad you did. Great restaurant that’s nice but also really welcoming to kids, happy, and family friendly. It’s in Whaler’s Village so you can wander shops before or after your meal.
- Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop: Absolutely the best pies and sandwiches you will ever have. You need to do lunch and dessert here.
- Burger Shack: This spot is unbelievably expensive, but if you want a memorable milkshake to split – this is the place.
- Shave Ice in Paradise – Absolute hole-in-the-wall and the best shave ice my kids have had. Two of my kids had ice cream added to the bottom, and my 41 year old child did ice cream, shave ice, root beer, and sweetened condensed milk to make his own root beer float.
- Olowalu Farmer’s Market – Road side farmer’s market (in the same lot as Leoda’s). Get the fruit smoothies from the food truck and have one of the employees cut your open a fresh coconut. It’s all perfect.
- Papi’s Ohana – The best cinnamon roll! I will be thinking about this one for a while. It opens at 7 am to a line up every day, but it is well worth the wait.
Best attractions on Maui for kids and families
Without kids, I’m inclined to just stay at the beach or pool all day while I’m in Hawaii. With kids, we opted for a few adventures so they could have some amazing experiences and memories.
Maui Ocean Center, The Aquarium of Hawaii
This was a truly magical and lovely aquarium (and I’m from Seattle: we know aquariums!). This especially pairs well with books you read at home before the trip on the ocean life of Hawaii.
If your kids need a break from beaches and pools, this is the right call.
Also: the 15-minute 3D movie in the aquarium’s Sphere on humpback whales was one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time.
The Maui Butterfly Farm
This is a 45-minute up close and personal experience on butterflies and their life cycle. If your child has any background knowledge on butterflies (from preschool, elementary school, or a home butterfly kit), and it was excellent.
Reservations are required.
It isn’t a cheap experience, especially given that it’s “only” 45 minutes, but we viewed it as a donation to saving the endangered butterflies on Hawaii (they really are endangered!).
We loved this experience so much that for our second trip to Maui, we did it again!
Maui Golf & Sports Park
Mini golf, bumper boats, and rock climbing isn’t something our kids get to experience in our hometown/state so when they saw this fun park from the highway on our first day, it went to the top of their list.
We did this the same day as the aquarium (they’re almost next door to each other) and everyone had a blast. We also came back on our second trip which happened to overlap on my son’s 11th birthday.
Old Lahaina Luau
Old Lahaina was devastated in a fire August 2023, but The Old Lahania Luau reopened in Spring 2024.
I’ve been to a few Luaus in my life and they’re always such a disappointment. Even still, I figured for our first trip, we should take the kids to one… and IT WAS INCREDIBLE. I would totally do it again.
The style, service, food, and atmosphere: it was all spectacular.
The show also aligned with the learning we’d done of Polynesian culture and the settling then colonizing of Hawaii. It was very well done.
What else would you add? Comment below.
What other Maui stops are tops on your list? Add them to the comments since we definitely didn’t do everything (there’s still so much on our list for next trip) and I’d love to make this as comprehensive a list as possible for others preparing for their trips.
Share other family friendly spots below.
Susie Allison, M. Ed
Owner, Creator
Susie Allison is the creator of Busy Toddler and has more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram. A former teacher and early childhood education advocate, Susie’s parenting book “Busy Toddler’s Guide to Actual Parenting” is available on Amazon.
Subscribe to my free newsletter and I’ll send you “35 Easy Toddler Activities to Break Up the Day!”
Christina says
We went in early March 2024, and found a hidden gem called south Maui gardens in Kihei- food trucks, a cultural show, beautiful gardens, small coffee shop, weekly art activity for kids in the garden, live music near the coffee shop garden, they host a weekly farmers market – it was a GEM.
kristen says
This is probably a dumb question, but it’s my first time traveling with a young kid, so bear with me. What do people do about car seats if they aren’t using rental cars? I’m planning to mostly stay at the resort during our trip (yay!), but still need to cab/Uber from airport and back, and maybe one or two other outings. Do I need to bring a car seat from home? (And then do I just carry it around with me at the aquarium…?). Or do people just go rogue and pray for no trouble? Any tips would be appreciated. : )
Susie says
Hey Kristen, this is a great question. We did a vacation once to Palm Springs where we stayed at the resort the whole time just so we wouldn’t have to juggle with three car seats. But if you plan to ever leave, then yes – you need to bring a car seat with you. Depending on the age of your child, having a seat on the airplane for baby and toddlers especially is a really safe, awesome option and advised by Car Passenger Safety Technicians (my favorite person to follow is Michelle from http://www.safeintheseat.com). For older children, there are travel booster seats that can fold up into luggage (we have those for our kids). Most states have laws around car seats in a cab or uber, and the drivers will not allow an unrestrained child in the vehicle. I hope this helps!! I know it’s not easy and it’s an added piece to the travel puzzle.
Keely Welder says
Surfing goat dairy farm tours was so fun when we went.
Marissa says
Thank you so much for making this post! We have also always loved The Gazebo for breakfast. Fun service and delicious macadamia pancakes! There is typically a wait so if you can, get there before open to queue. They used to provide coffee while folks wait, I’m not sure if they do that anymore.
busytoddler says
The GAZEBO is the BEST!!! Great add to this list! We didn’t go this time but I went so many times as a child. I think they do still do the coffee while you wait.
Melissa says
Love this resource! I would add checking out “Maui Baby Rentals” for all the gear you want to rent, including wagons and strollers! The prices are great and the people are so kind.
CM says
Next time try the Fish Market Maui! It’s about a 15 minute walk from Hanua Kai- very casual amazing food/fish market!
Ashley says
Loved this list! We traveled to Maui with a 3.5 year old and 6 month old in 2021! A must do for us was the Makawao Forest Reserve. It’s incredibly beautiful and an easy hike for even the littlest of legs. There was so much to explore, we could have easily stayed there all day!