How is Maui Living? (Honolulu, Kahului: rental, condo, hotels)
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Aloha. HisDudeness here. My family and I are considering moving to Hawaii, and more specifically Maui. I would just like to ask those of you living in Maui, or anywhere in Hawaii for that matter, what can be expected when living in/on Maui? I'm a little worried about everyday conveniences such as running errands to the grocery store, the post office, the bank, general shopping, etc. and the cost of living. What sort of popular establishments can be found on the island of Maui (that are common on the mainland)? Also, how are the schools? My wife and I prefer private schools so we're looking for some insight to those specifically on Maui. To get even more specific, the city we're considering living in is Wailea-Makena. Any and all information you can give us about the way of living in this area would be very greatly appreciated. Nothing is too small or insignificant to let us know about. Thanks in advance to all of you that help us out. God bless.
I'm a little worried about everyday conveniences such as running errands to the grocery store, the post office, the bank, general shopping, etc. and the cost of living.
I mean, we're talking about Maui -- not Pago Pago. [No offense to American Samoa, BTW.] Wailea is a major resort area here. While the permanent population is only around 6,000, it probably has another 6,000 hotel and rental condo rooms. It's also adjacent to Kihei, one of the larger towns on-island.
Maui is small and remote, but we get by. Since you specifically mentioned grocery stores, we have Safeway from the mainland and Star Market and Foodland which are more local. Not to mention a number of other local and specialty markets. For drug stores, our Longs are converting over to CVSs, and there are a few Walgreens that have opened. On the big-box side, we have Costco, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. You might have to do some driving, though, there's only one of each of those and they're in Kahului. Day-to-day retail is kind of limited, depending upon where you're coming from, but there's a Macy's and tons of shops and boutiques for locals and tourists alike. Here's a link to the Shops at Wailea for a sample: The Shops At Wailea
You didn't mention restaurants, but we have more fast food than we need even though we don't have every "flavor" that's available on the mainland. Our television is broadcast from Honolulu, so we see commercials for brands that are only on Oahu. And we have an array of mainland restaurants from Outback to Spago. And more. I have to say, though, that the local places are pretty interesing and some are even fairly sophisitcated.
There is a TON of info on this forum about cost-of-living and schools (public and private). Use the Search feature at the top of the page to search for both threads AND keywords. Then you can ask more specific questions and get meaningful answers.
If you have pets that you're planning to move, you'll also need to become very familiar with our rabies quarantine -- and how to avoid it. There are a lot of steps, they must be followed, and it takes several weeks. Here's a link to the Department of Agriculture's general quarantine page: Animal Quarantine Information — Hawaii Department of Agriculture There area links there to FAQs, checklists, etc.
And I strongly suggest that you visit before you move to far along in your planning. In addition to your concerns above, the economy here is very slow, jobs are very few. Not to mention that it's in the middle of the Pacific and likely very different from any place you live right now. It is "paradise," but only if it truly calls you.
Best of luck.
Last edited by whynot?; 03-04-2009 at 01:42 PM..
Reason: Added restaurant comments.
[quote=whynot?;7733237]I mean, we're talking about Maui -- not Pago Pago. [No offense to American Samoa, BTW.] Wailea is a major resort area here. While the permanent population is only around 6,000, it probably has another 6,000 hotel and rental condo rooms. It's also adjacent to Kihei, one of the larger towns on-island.
Thank you whynot?. I re-read my post and you're right, I did make it sound like its some remote island, haha. That wasn't what I was meaning to say. I was just more concerned about what all is out there and what we can expect to see as far as grocery stores, banks, etc. Although I have never been, my wife has been several times so its not like we're totally clueless here. I was just asking the specifics of Maui and what we can expect. Thanks so much for your reply. It was very helpful.
you have to ask yourself first-why is it that you want to move to Maui? what is the reason? then maybe we can answer better. Wailea is an exclusive resort area with 5 star hotels, there is a small mall with brands like BCBG and Gucci, restaurants are in hotels, and are pretty pricey. Bank, groceries, post office are in Kihei nearby. if you have money, you will be ok, otherwise Maui is very expensive, a gallon of milk in regular grocery store is $10. there is Costco, walmart, kmart. you have to be into beach/nature, because otherwise there is really nothing to do. Restaurants are expensive and not that good, no night life, no shopping, there is not a single children's store on the island-not even baby gap or gap kids, no children's place, no ikea, so furniture is also not cheap. you either do your shopping online, or go to Honolulu.
Welcome back, Julia! Tell us, how are you coping with living on Maui? Have you made peace with the island yet or are you still counting the days until you can get away? Were you able to ship your cat over or is it still living in Manhattan?
bob, I am not coping at all, it is just way too expensive, and getting more and more expensive, I cant believe milk is already over $10. we are doing baby shopping, and the prices just make me cry. We did not ship our cat here, because we are leaving as soon as the baby is born. we cant afford to live here, there is no point, we'd rather be in a cheaper state where we can save and afford more.
My mother is coming to help with the baby, round trip from russia is almost 3 K, plus for us to go to Russia to see the family and show them the baby-$3K for each of us. we are talking about almost 10K in plane tickets alone. there is no point. there are no jobs here for me, and my husband can find a job anywhere, with the same salary he has now. We are having a kid, so we want to live in a state where we can afford to save for our kid's education, retirement, and just in general not having to pay $10 for milk and $7 for 4 little bottles of pediolite.
Yeah, you can survive here, but is it worth it? no, not really.
we just want a normal life, where we dont have to shake each time we go to grocery store....even Texas sounds very appealing to me right now.
Julia - I'm sorry to hear you are still unhappy with Maui/Hawaii. I've followed your many posts with interest and appreciate your viewpoints. We are planning a 6-12 month Hawaii visit (strictly as tourists, we're retired and just bumming around) in late 2009/early 2010. We were enchanted with Maui and hope to explore the other islands more closely. I would agree that living in Hawaii day to day is not something we would ever contemplate, the mainland is much easier to deal with, however it's not Hawaii. Take care and best regards.
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