South Maui
On Friday of our vacation we felt an exploratory day trip to see where the real money on Maui was, would be worthwhile, and we were not disappointed. We headed to the southwestern part of the eastern half of Maui along route 310 also known as South Kīhei Road. The road runs along the coast and through the towns of Kīhei, Wailea, and Mākena. We stopped for breakfast at the Kīhei Cafe located on route 310 across the street from Kalama Park. Kīhei Cafe had high ratings in the travel books and it lived up to the reviews.
We met an interesting couple from California, who operated a fast
food restaurant back in California. The couple had been vacationing in the Hawaiian Islands, over the course of years, and were very knowledgeable regarding the islands. We discussed sights related to Maui and found them to be a wealth of information. It has been reported that Oprah Winfrey has a house in a nearby town and along with some of her neighbors built a private road linking South Maui, along route 31, with the Kula Highway creating a short cut to Haleakala National Park. The islands governing authority tried several times building the road; ran into difficulties and quit in frustration.
Kīhei is a middle class town although the adjacent towns of Wailea 
and Mākena have some of most opulent of resort hotels and private homes. Wailea and Mākena are high end communities that remind one of Beverly Hills California in both dollar value and visual sense. To be sure we didn’t miss anything we traveled about a mile south of Mākena State Park until the road got very narrow with blind hills, at that point we made a U turn and headed back. To see a short slideshow of our day trip click here.