How to spend a Hawaiian inter-island travel day is pretty important. You’ve spent a considerable amount of time and money to get to Hawaii to enjoy the beauty, so of course you want to maximize your time on one island before setting off to visit another. Your options are, of course, limited by your flight schedule. If you can book a later flight, say 2 pm or later, that opens some interesting options. Hotel check out is typically 10 or 11 am, and most will offer services to let you stay on the premises, so of course that is an option. However, sometimes you just want to get out and see a little more. If that sounds like you, then maybe our experience will help you decide what you want to do.
How to Spend a Hawaiian Inter-Island Travel Day
Visit the Central Valley
Visiting Maui’s Central Valley is an excellent decision for how to spend a Hawaiian inter-island travel day. We deliberately planned our stay on Maui to include this easy to visit area on our travel day to Kauai. Our flight left around 3 pm, so we figured we had 3 hours to tour the Central Valley.
The Central Valley area is beautiful and amazing. It felt completely different than anywhere else on Maui and we would have loved more time to explore. But we had planned for this to be a shortened day with just the highlights.
‘Iao Valley State Monument
Knowing we had shorted ourself on time, we headed straight to the prime attraction, the ‘Iao Valley State Monument and The Needle. This beautiful and historically important site is relatively compact, hence the need for a paid timed entry reservation. While the parking is limited they did a good job of managing the times so we didn’t have to wait for a spot. A short walk on paved paths, and a bit of stairs, will allow you to see the formation and learn more of the area’s history. There are also restrooms so that was nice to have available.
Kepaniwai Park
This little park is on the left, just before you get to ‘Iao Valley State Monument. A popular picnic and gathering spot, it has many sections honoring the diverse background of Maui. There are pavilions, gardens, statues, and other small monuments inspired by the Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, and English cultures that have contributed to Maui over the years. It is free to enter, as are the bathrooms.
Travel Time
Of course you’ll eventually need to decide when to head back to the airport. As you know from flying in, OGG is fairly compact and easily walkable. Return your rental and make the short walk to check-in and security. If you are like us and didn’t want to risk missing your flight, perhaps you didn’t eat lunch before heading to the airport. If that is the case, then we have a surprising recommendation.
Sammy’s Beach Bar and Grill
Located inside security at Maui (OGG) airport, this decently priced restaurant was a pleasant surprise. The staff were friendly and the service was fast. I had the Cuban with kicked up fries (which means canned Hormel chili on top) while my wife had the cheeseburger (no bun). And I have to tell you we were surprised by the quality and taste of the food. It wasn’t 5 star awesome, but a heck of a lot better than what we expected to find at the airport. We did not have any alcoholic drinks as those prices were outrageous. Like, stupid expensive. Water is better for you anyway.
And that is it! Board your inter-island flight for the next phase of your Hawaiian travel adventure. We visited Kauai; where did you go? Let us know in the comments.
Wanderlog Guides
We maintain Guides for all our Trips over at our Wanderlog website profile page. You can find the guide for this trip, and others, on that page. If you want more about our travels in Hawaii, or other places we’ve been, click HERE. If you enjoy, give us a like and follow. Thank you, and Happy Traveling!