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Is the idea of volcanoes, catching a wave, eating fresh pineapple, and attending a luau luring you to Maui? I don’t blame you one bit, but perhaps you are wondering if you can afford it. Although it can be expensive to fly all the way to the middle of the Pacific, it is still possible to visit Maui on a budget.
I used to believe that travel was expensive and out of reach. However, I realized over time that this is LIES. If you are crafty, patient, and willing to keep an open mind, it’s amazing what kind of cost savings you can find!
One year, my husband and I decided to branch out from our usual December trip to St. John to explore Hawaii. We knew people who had been to Maui and loved it, and I wanted to challenge myself to travel further than I ever had. I hadn’t even been to the West Coast, let alone the middle of the Pacific, so this felt like a true adventure.
Our Maui trip was after a few years of travels, and by this time we had learned a few money saving hacks. However, while planning this Maui trip, I learned even more new ways to save. Below, I am spilling everything so that you too can book the perfect Maui trip on a budget.
Here is an example of a Maui budget for two people:
This is what I would consider to be a low to moderate budget for a two person trip to Maui. No, it’s not on a shoestring, but it’s also not luxurious. You will be cutting in some areas in order to leave room for worthwhile splurges. After all, if you’re traveling all the way to the middle of the Pacific, you should be allowed to treat yo’self a little.
Travel Savvy Tip
Don’t look at this budget as a lump sum! That’s the quickest way to get intimidated and think you could never afford it. The truth is, you won’t pay the full amount at once. You’ll buy your flight and lodging right away, and then likely pay nothing for a few months.
Once it gets closer to your trip, you’ll start looking at tours you may want to do, as well as make restaurant reservations. When you get back home from your trip, you’ll pay off any remaining vacay expenses you’ve incurred.
Breaking it into chunks like this is a much more approachable way to budget and afford a dream trip like Maui!
Maui Budget Breakdown
Transportation
$35
You’ll need to get to and from the airport somehow. If you don’t have a friend or family member to drive you, just grab a taxi/Uber/Lyft. $35 is about what we paid to Uber to and from our local airport.
Flight
$900 (price for two people)
Flights to Maui can be pricey, depending on where you’re flying from. For example, from Cleveland to Maui, there is no direct flight option. The cheapest I could find was around $900 for late November/early December. And this actually isn’t that bad of a price from Cleveland to Maui.
Actually, this flight often costs over $1,000, especially if traveling during the high season (Jan to Apr and Jun to Aug). I recommend not paying this much, though, and think you should try to keep your Maui flights as much on a budget as possible. So how do you do this? Here are a couple ways to find cheap flights to Maui:
- Be flexible with your travel days. For example, weekend flights are typically the most expensive. Play around with searching different departure and arrival days, and you’ll be surprised what a difference that can make. We traveled from Wednesday to Wednesday for this very reason.
- Travel during the low season, when there is an overall drop in prices. In Maui, low season is the first couple weeks right after New Years, late April to early June, and late August to mid-December
- Last but not least, the tip that has helped me the most: Sign up for a credit card with travel rewards points. Even being total newbies at travel hacking before our Maui trip, we bought one $900 flight for free using points earned on every day purchases. At the time we were mainly using the Capital One Venture, but we have now added the Chase Sapphire Reserve to our repertoire.
Rental Car
$320 – Car, $75 – Gas
Renting a car in Maui is actually rather inexpensive. We paid $320 for a whole week, and were able to rent a small SUV. This was perfect for driving all over the island, including the Road to Hana.
The roads in Maui are generally flat and well-paved, and a four wheel drive car will not be necessary. However, do know that most rental companies will not want you to drive the full loop of the Road to Hana.
This is because, a little ways after you pass Hana Town, the roads narrow and are poorly paved. Any damage to your rental car will be coming out of your bank account, which is something nobody wants to deal with!
Lodging
$1,100
Lodging was the pricing that shocked me the most when planning this Maui trip. If you are trying to do Maui on a budget, I highly recommend choosing a vacation rental rather than a hotel or resort.
There are tons of options on VRBO and Airbnb, with many of them being under $200 and even $150/night. In fact, if you are new to Airbnb, you can use this link to save $20 off your first trip!
I’m not gonna lie: sometimes you get what you pay for. For example, we paid around $150/night for a beautifully renovated condo, which ended up being in a retirement community and desperately needed a new mattress.
That said, I’d rather be the youngest person on site than overpay for lodging. That way I can spend more money on what I travel for – amazing food and fun experiences. It’s all about making trade-offs to spend your money on what is most important to you.
Food & Drink
$750
If you are going to splurge anywhere in your Maui budget, spend it on food! If you’re tight on cash, simply keep drink orders to a minimum. You’d be surprised how much this’ll save you!
Maui has a nice range of restaurants, and you can definitely find good food that won’t drain your bank account. My food budget above is for two people, and does account for a couple splurge days (which you can definitely skip if you want!). Here are our favorite places where we ate in Maui, rated by how affordable they are:
- Miso Phat Sushi (moderate and also our favorite place!)
- Maui Fish’n Chips (budget)
- Maui Brewing Co. (moderate)
- Morimoto Maui (expensive)
- Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop (budget and yummy takeout pie)
Groceries
$150
An easy way to save on eating out when traveling to Maui on a budget is to buy your own groceries. My husband and I almost always eat at least one of our meals in each day while on vacation; typically both breakfast and lunch.
I also highly recommend buying cocktail ingredients at the store to make your own. This will make you feel less tempted to buy drinks at bars and restaurants, and will save you so much money! We honestly loved chilling on the balcony at our place, while enjoying an afternoon cocktail.
Shopping
$100
Truthfully, my husband and I spent twice this amount shopping in Maui. We bought awesome tiki glasses from a local restaurant, as well as some gifty items on the Road to Hana. These are things we still love to this day.
However, shopping is a very easy area to cut if you are trying to save money. Your memories and photos are the ultimate souvenirs anyhow!
Activities
$250
You’ll definitely need to squeeze in some fun activities while you’re in Maui. Three things in particular come to mind:
- Go to the beach
- Attend a luau
- Drive the Road to Hana
Those items should be the top priorities on any trip to Maui, and only the Luau will cost you money (we did the Old Lahaina Luau and it was a great show!). The other two only require a mode of transportation, which should already be covered by your rental car.
Any extras you’d like to do while in Maui will depend on what your budget is. If you can’t stretch your spending any further, you’ll be completely satisfied only doing what I mentioned above.
Travel Savvy Tip
Take advantage of anything “free” you can to keep your Maui trip on a budget. For example, we found enjoyment walking the grounds of our rental, as we were able to get near the water to see some sea turtles. Walking trails and parks can be quite scenic, are something to do besides eating and drinking, and are normally free. Finally, you never have to pay anything to watch the sunrise or sunset over the water.
Pet Boarding
$320
Do you have a fur baby like us? If so, then you probably know all too well about the cost of pet boarding, unless you’re lucky enough to have a pet that travels well. Even better if you know someone who can watch Fluffy while you’re gone.
Unfortunately, neither of those things apply to us, so we have to board our puppy. Prices for this where I live in Northeast Ohio tend to run about $40 a night, but vary wildly in quality and services included.
We choose to drive our puppy about 45 minutes away from our house to Wellington, OH because our doggy likes it there, and he gets his own little “suite” with an outdoor space he can run around in. It is such a hassle to drive that far, but whenever we stray, we always regret it and end up back at Wellington again. It’s a good thing we love our fluff…
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That about covers all the ways you can do Maui on a budget. Obviously, if you split any of these costs with other people, it will get even cheaper. However, for purposes of this post I wanted to keep it simple and focus on expenses for one couple. I truly hope this helps you to see how paradise is accessible to you.
Mahalo for the info! Your article put things in perspective for me and reminded me to be sensible with money. have a nice day. Aloha! ~~~~~~~~~~
Of course! Same to you!