Former San Francisco resident Dan Hutchins was the focus of attention for a standing-room-only crowd of more than a hundred who packed Maui's Seascape Maalaea Restaurant earlier this month. The Maui AIDS Foundation organized the event for World AIDS Day, and Hutchins was the featured speaker. For the first time publicly, he told the compelling story of his struggle living with HIV since the early days of the epidemic in the 1980s, when at one point, doctors told him he had only months to live.
Hutchins successfully fought through stigma and later, HIV drug resistance. His health is good now and he works for the Maui Sunseeker LGBT Resort.
The warm reception Hutchins received that night and the supportive work of the Maui AIDS Foundation are very much reflective of the tight-knit LGBT community on Maui. Undoubtedly the warmth of the island's people, mirrored by Hawaii's pleasant climate, are a big part of the reason Hutchins and others call Maui home and thousands more from the Bay Area visit Hawaii's second-biggest island every year.
With a population of 163,000, Maui has no full time gay bar but it has Hawaii's largest gay resort, Maui Sunseeker, and a popular unofficially gay clothing-optional beach, Little Beach. Maui's LGBT Pride is held in October but the organization (http://www.mauipride.org) runs regular get-togethers, parties, and special events year round.
A gay-popular section of Maui is the town of Kihei in the dry and sunny South Shore, about 20 minutes from the airport. It is also where you will find the Sunseeker and many of the island's LGBT events. The weather is sunnier and drier in the South Shore area and in West Maui, where the big resorts and hotels are. The North Shore, East Maui, and Hana get much more rain and are densely forested with abundant streams, waterfalls, and rainbows.
Although Maui is much smaller than the Big Island of Hawaii, it has more accessible beaches than any of the Hawaiian Islands. It is situated northwest of the Big Island and on a clear day you can see that island's famed Mauna Kea Volcano from Maui's beaches. Maui boasts a wide variety of resorts and restaurants directed toward the more than 2 million tourists who visit each year while maintaining its charming smaller towns that can be found off the tourist-beaten path.
Attractions
For many gay visitors, the favorite attraction is the aforementioned Little Beach, part of Makena Beach State Park. The main beach in the park more than lives up to its nickname, Big Beach. It is 3,000 feet long and 100 feet wide. Even during the busiest times in Maui, the beach never feels full. Little Beach is just north of Big Beach but separated by a huge wall of lava rock. To get to Little Beach, you have to walk over the rock. The climb looks intimidating from a distance but it is easy, just take it slow and crawl up the steepest part so you don't fall. Little Beach is gay-straight mixed but gay men tend to gather at the north end of the beach. The waves there are generally high enough to be fun without being overpowering. If you didn't bring an umbrella, you can enjoy natural shade in the wooded area in the back of the beach. People there are very friendly, so it is a good place to meet locals and visitors alike. Parking is free at the Big Beach parking lot and it is about a 15-minute drive from Kihei.
Haleakala National Park is one of Maui's most popular mainstream attractions. The summit of the dormant Haleakala Volcano is Maui's highest point. It rises to 10,023 feet. The drive from sea level to the peak is 38 miles and takes about two hours. Nowhere on earth can you drive so high in just 38 miles. The summit offers a spectacular view of the volcano's 3,000 feet deep crater, although technically it is classified as an erosional valley because water erosion eventually caused a couple of gaps in the crater wall.
Haleakala Bike Co (http://www.bikemaui.com) offers a good sunrise bike tour that takes visitors to the summit in a van to watch the sunrise, then lends bikes to riders to glide 23 miles down the volcano just outside the national park boundaries. If you want to drive up on your own, it costs $15 per car to get in. And be ready for long winding roads. Be sure and pack a jacket, it is cold at the summit, sometimes dipping below freezing overnight.
For a change of scenery from the resorts in the South Shore and West Maui, take a tour to Hana. It is about two hours from Kihei and the journey is as beautiful as the destination. And it is best to do it with a tour or a very good guidebook so you don't miss the hidden waterfalls, lava caves, and beaches along the way. Wade Holmes runs the No Ka Oi Adventures tour company (http://www.nokaoiadventures.com). As a longtime Maui resident and a gay man, he can perfectly tailor a tour to take in all the highlights on the road to Hana and fill you in on the LGBT scene on the island.
The Maui Upcountry is along the slope of the Haleakala Volcano. Because of the higher elevation, the weather is cooler there and is better suited for some crops. A number of agricultural tours cover the upcountry well. Be sure to stop by the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm. You can take yourself on a free walking tour of the picturesque property's lavender and other flowering plants and stop by the cafe for the specialty of tea and scones. It costs $3 to park there and you can pay extra for a guided walking or tour in an open golf cart.
Hawaii is still famous for its pineapple but competition from Costa Rica and other countries where land and labor costs are cheaper has meant that Hawaiian pineapple has become an increasingly rare treat. The state now produces less than .2 percent of the world's pineapple crop. Maui Gold offers tours (http://www.mauipineappletour.com) of Maui's largest pineapple farm where you can taste the different varieties in the field and go home with one as a souvenir. The sweet pineapple produced in Maui has a deserved reputation for being among the best in the world.
Accommodations
Maui offers a wide range of accommodation choices from charming bed and breakfasts to luxury beachfront mega-resorts. You will generally find lower rates during the less busy times that include the late spring and early fall. The gay home-sharing site http://www.misterbnb.com offers some inexpensive home share options if you don't mind giving up hotel amenities.
The aforementioned gay-owned and -operated Maui Sunseeker LGBT Resort (http://www.mauisunseeker.com) is a great place to stay. It is perfectly situated in Kihei, across the street from a six-mile long beach and about a 15-minute drive to Little Beach. It has 26 rooms and suites spread out in five buildings. The resort's pool, hot tub, and sundeck are clothing optional. The Sunseeker's wonderful, friendly staff can clue you in on any special LGBT events on the island and they even have a handy sheet they can give you with great directions on how to get to Little Beach.
Through their concierge service, they can also set guests and non-guests up with a number of tours. The Sunseeker is very much part of the island's LGBT community, hosting and promoting charity events year round. Everybody is made to feel comfortable at Sunseeker. The hotel estimates that about half of its guests are gay men, about 30 percent lesbian, and the remainder mostly heterosexual couples who prefer the clothing-optional and adult-only policies of the hotel. Rates start at $149 for the smallest room during a less busy time of year up to $600 for a spacious oceanfront penthouse. Wi-Fi is included, as is free parking and free rental of beach chairs and umbrellas.
The Tutu (Two) Mermaids on Maui Bed and Breakfast (http://www.twomermaids.com) is another great option in Kihei. It is owned by a lesbian couple, Juddee and Miranda Kawaiola, who are well known for their work in the community. Juddee is also an ordained minister, in case you wanted to get hitched in Maui. The property has two colorfully decorated units, each complete with a private entrance and an option to use an additional adjoining room if you are traveling with children or a relative. It has a pool surrounded by fragrant flowering landscaping.
Breakfast foods are provided for each room so you can eat when you want. Rates start about $135.
If you want to live it up in Maui, you would be hard-pressed to do better than to stay at a brand very well known to the Bay Area. The Fairmont Kea Lani (http://www.fairmont.com/kea-lani-maui) is in the tony resort community of Wailea. The Fairmont includes 413 spacious suites and villas with three pools, including an adult-only pool, and a 40-foot water slide. The resort is on a beach and has a spa, fitness center, and high-end restaurants. You never have to leave but if you want a change of scenery, the Little Beach is just a five-minute drive away. Rates start at $459, plus a $35 daily resort fee. If the Fairmont is out of your budget, you could stop by and splurge for lunch, dinner, or its fabulous breakfast buffet. The 22-acre property first opened in 1991 but looks new, probably because of the $70 million renovation that it underwent last year.
Getting there and around
Earlier this month, Burlingame-based Virgin America began nonstop service to Maui from San Francisco International Airport. You can fly nonstop to Maui on various airlines from all three Bay Area airports but Hawaiian Airlines is the only airline that still offers free food and an alcoholic drink in economy.
It is a good idea to rent a car on Maui. You will need one if you plan to hang out at Little Beach and drive yourself to the island's attractions. If you can travel during the slower times of the year, you will find bargain car rental rates. In some parts of the country car rental companies shift their cars around to nearby cities to meet the demand but that's not a practical option in Hawaii, so the companies are left with an oversupply of cars and consequently lower prices during the slower times of the year.
For more information, visit the island's official visitor website, http://www.visitmaui.com.