What to do in town of Lahaina?

Besides restaurants, what is there really to do in the town of Lahaina? We are trying to decide if it%26#39;s worth staying in one of the condo complexes near the town so we can walk to town, but it seems we would be forgoing a big nice beach and pool (which is one aspect of the Kaanapali resports we really like) for proximity to town. Any opinions?

What to do in town of Lahaina?

I wouldn%26#39;t stay there. Lahaina is a fun place to check out. The buildings are historic and left over from its whaling days. There is lots of shopping, good eating and people watching. But you%26#39;ll want to escape the town after several hours because it is really busy with cruise ship passengers, regular tourists, drug dealers and buyers and prostitutes. Okay, there are not crowds of prostitutes and drug dealers but the longer you spend there, the more they may stand out. If you want to stay in West Maui, Kaanapali will help you relax rather than make you put your guard up. There is lots of great shopping at Whaler%26#39;s Village in Kaanapali. You won%26#39;t want to miss visiting Lahaina though. The only time I would recommend staying in Lahaina is if you only need a place for 1 or 2 nights.

What to do in town of Lahaina?

I would have to agree that Kaanapali is a nicer place to stay. Especially if beaches are important. In Lahaina the beaches are very small spots of sand. There are nice beaches from Kaanapali up to Kapalua. As for the ';element'; in in Lahaina and keeping your guard up I have never felt unsafe there or had my guard up anymore than any other town. We even spent the 4th of July there on Front St. from around 11:00AM to 9:00PM and didn%26#39;t see one thing that could be considered shady. And there was one heck of a lot of people there. The only bad aspect was upon leaving, with that many people trying to get out of town was very slow. And except for the occational rude person not letting others into traffic it went smoothly. Slow but smooth.

As for the original question of what to do in Lahaina. Of course the great shopping, and some nice restaurants. You also have the museum, people selling different types of art under the Banyun tree, art galleries, and such. You can kill a whole day or more just checking out the different shops. Also check event calenders for the time you%26#39;ll be there to see if anything special will be happening. You also have Warren %26amp; Anabelle%26#39;s show. Never been myself but have heard rave reviews here on the board. I%26#39;m sure others will add more to what to do in Lahaina. Hope some of this helps.

I should correct myself. I have never felt unsafe in Lahaina and it is so much fun to go there just for the atmosphere. If you stay in a condo, the Safeway in Lahaina is where you%26#39;ll go for most food and the Cannery Mall has some more shops. Old Lahaina Luau is there. Sometimes parking is tough to find - free parking that is but we have never paid for parking. I could never go to Maui and not spend a couple of evenings or mornings on Front Street. I just happen to be the type that notices everything ';why%26#39;s that guy carrying a paper bag through the alleyway';, ';why is that girl with the short skirt pacing up and down the block in front of such and such bar talking on her cellphone';. We like to go up to Kahana for our accommodations because it is quiet at night and we have a stretch of beach to walk on in the morning. Kaanapali has such a beautiful beach and walkway, I wouldn%26#39;t pass that up if it was a toss up between K%26#39;pali and Lahaina.

For several years, we stayed in Lahaina Town on vacation. We loved it. Came back from exploring. Took a dip in the pool and walked downtown to dinner. So many places to see in town. Could walk to the harbor for our Trilogy trip. We decided to try oceanside this past year and stayed in Kihei but we might pick either Lahaina Shores or what used to be the Maui Islander again.

Hi there

We spent about 3 hours wandering around it is really nice and quaint. I enjoyed my visit but would not want to stay there. We arrived for lunch and def did not see any sign of drug dealers or hookers........ I can%26#39;t even imagine them being there!! (it is a real olde worlde type place). We had lunch in Bubba Gumps at the far end of Front St - it had all open windows with fantastic views and you could hear the waves.

There are too many nicer places you could stay. We stayed in the Maui Prince in Makena which was lovely. It was good to go out and about but always lovely to come back. (see review)

Have a great trip.

I liked it and would definitely return. Stayed with my family (an adult group of 9 people) at Lahaina Shores. Why it worked for us, is people could go off on their own, not needing a car, so it gave us freedom. The lawn and pool area there is very nice, and the narrow beach behind serviceable.

I%26#39;ll make the disclalimer now: I am partial to ';honky-tonk'; kind of beach towns, and Lahaina fits this description imo. Lots of great shops, galleries, bars, and restaurants to poke around in. Interesting local characters.

The self-guided historic walking tour around town you can get a pamphlet for was fun and %26#39;educational%26#39;. I very much enjoyed the show called U%26#39;lalena at the Myth and Magic Theater. Plus the Old Lahaina Luau was great.

The hooker we saw in Hard Rock made for an interesting time. It was kinda fun watching her try to get the attention of unsuspecting (or not!!) tourists.

Den

We love Lahaina! There is so much to see and do....long walks on the beach, take a picnic lunch down to the rocks at the marina and watch the surfers, learn to surf with Goofy Foot surf school, snorkeling....great restaurants, lots of shopping, some historical walking tours, the banyan tree park, craftspeople.....we walked through town almost every evening and truly enjoyed ourselves.....we happened to be there in June during the King Kamahamaha festival/parade. We really enjoyed the floats (boy it was hot that day though).