Inexpensive Maui Activities
Are Usually The Best

BY BUCK QUAYLE

If you're looking for inexpensive Maui activities you're not alone. But first let's go back to birth to consider this, shall we. Being born poor or middle-class broke has something to be said for it. If nothing else, it tends to give you a real sense of the value of money. Being a high school and college student also helps. Most students are always broke.

You can also have a certain amount of money, but spend it all-traveling around the world for instance. Then arriving in Hawaii with only a sense of adventure and your youth. Kind of a nice position to be in.

Even when being broke gets old, and you do something about it, and start earning some real money, even then, staying frugal, living simply and cheaply, is the way most millionaires become that way. Live on, say 1/7 of what you earn, save and invest and reinvest and let interest rates work in your favor.

Well if you're simply broke, or if you're living as though you were while accumulating wealth (and I congratulate you for it) or you're not easy with the idea of wasting money-you can still have an excellent time with inexpensive Maui activities.

Consider camping, buying food at supermarkets, living on fruit and salads and cheese-all of which you prepare. For inexpensive Maui activities hike the entire island, if you have time and interest. Swim and surf almost for free. Sail with friends, if the case.

Read for free at the Lahaina library. Enjoy the free sunrises and sunsets and stars beyound belief (at the top of Haleakala volcano). Basically, everything that exists elsewhere in the world, you'll find here. Read the newspapers and search the internet for free lectures and movies and dances.

Like to play chess. You'll find chess players for free. Like music-make friends and play for free. If you live here or have time of course. You'll find free entertainment at cultural centers and shopping centers.

You'll find professors who like discussing their areas-the plant life, island history, weather, wave creation, clothing and on and on. I know I'm stating the obvious. But this is just something of a reminder-good conversation is free. Look for those with simular interests.

This page is newly planted-please come back and watch for growth.

Came back? Never left? We're growing already. Here, from the Old Lahaina Sun newspaper in the early 1970's are three one-day tours from Lahaina. Take your food. You spend, basically, on car rental and gas.

Inexpensive Maui activities:

West Maui

For an easy, sightly day's drive, head north from Lahaina. Attractions on the way include a stretch of beautiful beaches: Kaanapali, Fleming, Oneloa, Honokahua, Makuleia. For the beaches past Napili, keep your eyes open for little roads heading off toward the ocean; don't expect much in the way of signs. Just before the bridge at Honokohau Bay, a dirt road turns right, for a beautiful side trip into an old Hawaiian valley.

The rest of the road to Wailuku (which,unfortunately, may be closed some days due to construction) takes you through uninhibited country along the ocean and through the little village of Kahakuloa. In Wailuku, turn right on route 32 (Main Street) and drive the few miles into Iao Valley for a look at the impressive green Iao Needle and the cultural gardens at Kepaniwai Park. Return to Lahaina via Waikapu and the scenic coastal drive from Maalaea to Lahaina.

Inexpensive Maui activities:

Hana

This is not an easy day's drive, but it is a magnificent one. Leave early (6 a.m. if you're up to it) for the trip from Lahaina to Hana. Start with a full tank of gas. Drive past Maalaea, down Kuihelana Highway, and out along the main road toward Hana. You're into a new Maui as you get beyond Paia: fewer and fewer people, more and more greenery, a narrower and narrower road.

Be prepared to stop often for parks, waterfalls and spectacular scenery. Swim in at least one of the cold fresh-water pools beneath one of the waterfalls along the way. And be sure to drive through the villages of Keanae and Wailua. The drive beyond Hana to the Seven Sacred Pools gets even nicer, and you should try it if you have time. Then prepare for a long ride home.

Inexpensive Maui activities:

Haleakala

Haleakala- House of the Sun -is an immense dormant volcano, a national park, and deservedly a premier attraction on Maui. Again, start off with a full tank of gas. It's some 60 miles from Lahaina to the 10,025-foot summit of Haleakala, where a clear day will provide views of the hugh crater bowl, the Maui coastline and the neighboring islands of Hawaii, Lanai, Kahoolawe and Molokai. Bring along warm clothes. On the ride home, try cutting off at Pukalani for a ride through the countryside to Makawao, down through Haiku, and then back to the main highway for the return drive to the Lahaina area.

Inexpensive Maui activities:

Maps and detailed tourist information about Maui are available from the office of the Hawaii Visitors Bureau at 2133 Main Street, Wailuku, Maui. Phone number: 244-9141.

Free Hula Shows-Present Day

Lahaina Cannery Mall, Lahaina- Tues. & Thurs. evenings at 7 p.m. Sat. & Sun. afternoons at 1:00 p.m.

Lahaina Center- Wed. at 2 p.m. Fri. at 2 p.m. & 6 p.m.

Kapalua Shops- Thurs. from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Whalers Village, Kaanapali- Mon. Wed. Fri. from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Whale Watching: From late November through April you can watch whales from the shore.