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Hawaii

An island of sweet surprises: Maui for honeymooners

  • Rachel Berg
  • Lonely Planet Author

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Secret Cove, South Maui

 

A Hawaiian honeymoon has all the storybook ingredients to make couples swoon: sherbet-coloured sunsets, songbird serenades and palm-tree hammocks shimmying in the trade winds. But the island of Maui has more than a few surprises up its aloha-shirted sleeve, with something unique to offer every type of couple, be you food lovers, thrill-seekers or traditional lovebugs.

Maui for decadent foodies

First there are all the local aphrodisiacs: you’ll want to try oyster shooters at the Honokowai Fish Market near Kaʻanapali, dragon fruit plucked straight from the lush forests off the fabled Hana Highway or a dark chocolate bar provocatively scented with Aliʻi Kula lavender grown on the cool slopes of Haleakalā.

Take your Maui foodie experience upcountry to the island’s own winery at Ulupalakua Ranch, where you can sip on sweet vintages made from Maui-grown grapes and pineapples. There, you can toast to the island and your commitment to each other amid blooming jacaranda trees and sweeping views.

After that, any foodie couple worth their lava salt will definitely want to try the island’s uniquely sweet onions, a direct result of Maui’s rich-red volcanic soil. After all, nothing says ’I love you’ more than still wanting to kiss your main squeeze even after you both have onion breath, right? So pile as many as you can on top of a Ulupalakua beef burger with a side of Maui potato chips (we’re talking the real deal, not the ’Maui-style’ imitations you see in your hometown grocery store). Finish your meal with a kiss and a Mauicello (think limoncello, but made with Maui-grown lemons and local sugar), and you’ll have an only-in-Maui foodie experience fit for the lovebird gods.

Followers of the US show Top Chef should also seek out ahi belly, pork buns and kim chee ramen at Star Noodle, the creation of this past season’s runner-up, Chef Sheldon Simeon. He infuses his dishes with island flavours while utilising local ingredients such as Hana fiddlehead ferns and Waipoli mixed greens, making Star Noodle one of the hottest food spots around.

Maui for free-spirited adventurers

Your time in Maui can easily be tailored for maximum heart-fluttering thrills. Take Haleakalā, for example. Pair up with a local tour operator, such as Haleakalā Bike Company, to embark on one of the planet’s longest all-downhill bike tours. You’ll start at the top before sunrise amid a lunar-like landscape and – as day dawns spectacularly over the entire Hawaiian island chain – you’ll go through several eco-systems while coasting down steep volcanic slopes. As you and your honey pedal side-by-side, be on the lookout for the otherworldly Haleakalā silversword plant, along with the nene bird – the rarest goose in the world.

If that’s too earth-bound for you, take your love to new heights during a tandem parasail ride with West Maui Parasail, which allows you to soar with your sweetie above the waves, perhaps catching a glimpse of a leaping spinner dolphin beneath you (note that parasailing isn’t available during whale-watching season, when motor boats may scare the whales from shore). While in the air, or even from land, you may notice the green outlines of nearby islands Lanai and Molokai emerging from the water. If it suits your fancy, you can pick up the inter-island ferry at Lahaina Harbor to experience either of these two islands first-hand.

Boats moored in the Lahaina Harbor. Image by Ann Cecil/Getty Images.

Somewhere between earth, sea and sky, you can zoom your way down the mountains while shouting your love from above the treetops on a zip-line adventure.  If you go with the Piiholo Ranch Zipline, you and your better half can ride the side-by-side ziplines over lush valleys and gulches while taking in breathtaking ocean and mountain views.

Maui for hopeless romantics

Perhaps, however, you’re more the type of couple to steal kisses beneath a poolside lanai while sipping mai tais and playing footsie. If so, Maui has much to indulge your classic romantic fantasies. Like all Hawaiian islands, you’ll find plenty of spas offering steamy treatments for two, but be on the lookout for Maui surprises on the spa menu, including scrubs made from Maui coconuts or locally-made papaya enzymes that leave your skin feeling fresh and imminently touchable.

Feeling all loose and limber, you’ll be primed and ready for a horseback tour with Maui Stables through the enchanting Kipahulu Valley. Along the way, you’ll listen to your guides pass along local legends and be able to sample some of the fruits of the jungle. You’ll also pass tumbling waterfalls and the storied ’seven sacred pools,’ which you can return to after you dismount for a sunlit swim when the weather is favourable.

Seven Sacred Pools. Image by Sean Caffrey/Getty Images

When evening starts settling in, the trade winds begin dying down and Maui’s waters become calmer. Cue the curtain for the island’s legendary sunsets. Head to the harbour in the historic town of Lahaina where among the sunset-sail outfitters you can choose whatever floats your boat, from catamaran to luxury yacht. As the sun slips below the horizon and sparks off the famous green flash, you can feed each other nibbles of fruit and clink glasses overflowing with rum punch.

Of course, nothing is more hopelessly romantic than dancing, even if you can’t get all the moves exactly right. Deck yourself in plumeria leis and arrange for a private hula lesson or join in a group class. Many Wailea and Kaʻanapali hotels offer classes on-site where you can learn to shake those hips to the sounds of the slack-key guitar, a skill you can bring with you back home.


Maui is known as the place where love flourishes and romance reigns. To plan your destination wedding and honeymoon, go now to www.VisitMaui.com.
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