This is our first post on Discover Garden since moving to Maui. Jana and I have officially been residing on the Valley Isle for over a year, and we would like to share the experience. An honest account of our time here.

First of all, Maui is great. Do we prefer life on Maui over our previous island of Oahu? Some days we do, but most days Oahu still holds favor in our hearts. Many locals are very opinionated about their island of residence. For the most part, Oahu is the black sheep. Some residents of the other islands harbor disdain for Oahu’s crowded streets and commercialization. While we don’t share those sentiments, we would like to share what we love, and what we don’t love about Maui.

What We Love

Less Crowded Surf

Empty waves are a little easier to find on Maui. The hot spots like Honolua and Ho’okipa are still littered with hundreds of surfers on epic days, but there’s always an uncrowded break somewhere.

No Traffic

At least by comparison to Oahu. Traffic is almost always flowing smoothly on Maui unless fires are breaking out, which happens fairly often on the south and west sides.

More Diverse Land

Traveling between Hana, Kula and Lahaina is like visiting different planets. Imagine driving from an Amazon jungle, to the wild west to a sleepy harbor town — all within a day (a very long day). The only thing missing is a metropolis, and we can’t blame the residents for wanting to keep it that way.

Haleakala

Haleakala is a magical landscape above the clouds of Maui. It can be freezing and scorching hot within a few hours time. When we wrote our first article on Haleakala we had only visited the summit. Now, I have backpacked through the crater on multiple occasions. Each time has been a unique and unforgettable experience.

Farms and Local Produce

There’s no shortage of open land on Maui. Much of it is filled with farms, which makes finding great local produce a breeze. Personally, we buy most our veggies and fruits from Lahaina Produce and highly recommend them, www.lahainaproduce.com.

Whale Season

It’s awesome. When the whales are in season on Maui, you can’t glance towards the ocean without witnessing a spout or breach. I’ve been surfing 100 yards from them here. It’s an amazing experience to share the water so closely with such an enormous creature.

Paia and Front Street

Our personal favorite hangouts of Maui. Both offer plenty to do within walking distance, and both have their unique flavors.

Wide Open Spaces

As previously mentioned, Maui is a big island, and much of it is undeveloped. This leaves lots of open land and empty beaches to be explored. Not as much as you might think, considering most of it is private land. Nonetheless, there are plenty of spots to explore on the island without ever bumping in to another person.

Hawaiian Ruins

Okay, so there are Hawaiian ruins on every island. However, in comparison to Oahu, these ruins are untouched and scattered across the island without any hint of commercialization. Stumbling on to Hawaiian ruins while exploring a rugged coastline or an offbeat trail is an awesome experience.

Opportunity

Maui is a small community, and there are a lot of opportunities available here for entrepreneurs. It’s been particularly great for Jana’s wedding photography business here.

What We Don’t Love

A Lack of Young Professionals

Jana and I are still in our twenties, and we work very hard for success. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of people our age in Maui that share similar life goals and motivation. There is an abundance of young adults here that are burn outs, hiding from civilization or running away from something. This makes it hard to find friends and connect with couples our age. Most our friends on Maui are several years older than us, or have families of their own.

Lots of Driving

Maui is a big ass island. Driving to “the big city” of Kahului for errands is an all day event. With the extra driving comes extra gas, and it’s more expensive in Maui — which brings me to the next point.

More Expensive

Milk still isn’t $8 a gallon, but it is more expensive here in comparison to the island of Oahu. Food, electronics, gas, rent… it’s all more.

Less Food Options

Maui’s restaurant selection is slim. There are a few great restaurants on the island, but not many. Some of them are over an hour away from us (See Lots of Driving). Being forced to choose from about 3 decent restaurants on our side of the island sucks.

Tourists Everywhere

I’m all for tourists having a great time in the islands — but they outnumber residents on Maui 3 to 1. Frankly, I get a little sick of seeing convertible Mustangs everywhere and being asked “Where are you visiting from?” every time I walk in to a store.

Shopping

I’m not a big shopper. Jana really isn’t either (unless given the opportunity). But we like to have options if we want to buy something. Maui doesn’t leave you with many options. We miss the Apple stores of Oahu, or hanging out at Ala Moana and people watching.

Lack of Entertainment

The whole island of Maui closes down at 9pm. I’m not saying I want to dance the night away every night, but sometimes it’s fun to go out late and see a midnight movie, a rock concert or just have a drink. Also, it’s nothing short of a miracle for a popular mainstream musical act to play in Maui. There are a few entertainment options outside of hokey tourist attractions, but relatively nothing in comparison to Oahu.

Less Jobs

While there’s more opportunity in Maui for people willing to risk starting their own business, there’s less day jobs available in Maui. And there’s far less opportunity for career advancement.

It’s Really Windy

Man, the wind can get out of control in Maui. The valley creates a funnel effect, and it chops up the waves and spreads wild fires with a quickness. Ma’alea Harbor in Maui is the second windiest harbor in the world.

Wave Quality

The waves are less crowded here, but there’s not as many — and they’re not as good. I ride my longboard 90% of the time in Maui. I rode my shortboard 90% of the time on Oahu. There are a few great shortboard waves here, but they can get really gnarly and crowded. Personally I prefer the plentiful head high shortboard waves of Oahu’s south shore.

The past year in Maui has been great. Our dogs have more room to run, our businesses have been booming, but the lack of people and real human interaction leaves something to be desired. For all of Maui’s charm, we have actually found the Aloha spirit to be much more alive on the crowded streets of Oahu. It seems more people in Maui want to carve out their own piece of paradise and keep to themselves. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we prefer the close quarters of Oahu — forcing people to interact much more frequently.

We don’t regret our time on Maui. It’s a beautiful island, and there are things to be missed and desired here. However, we are longing to be back on the island of Oahu. For all its crowds, congestion, commercialization and bad neighborhoods, it still holds favor in our hearts. Maui is almost too clean and perfect for our taste. It feels like a perpetual dream state where nothing is really progressing. Which is why I think it’s the perfect vacation destination, but it’s not a place I want to sink my roots.