MauiGuidebook.com 
General Geographic Area: West Maui
In a nutshell: West Maui is home to loads of beautiful beaches, and the towns of Lahaina and Ka’anapali. To the north of this region, Ka’anapali and Kapalua boast plenty of higher-end condos and resort hotels, plus four world-class golf courses. Lahaina, the most-visited spot on Maui, is midway around the head and where you’ll find lower and mid-range lodging options.
Minuses: Only one narrow two-lane road in and out makes for the most congested traffic in Maui.
Sound-bite: “Today: Golf lessons, shopping, then some beach time to rest up for party-time tonight in Lahaina!”
West Maui is a large area which has seen the majority of Maui’s hotel and resort development. Ka’anapali Beach Resort is Maui’s largest (and first) master-planned resort, boasting 11 hotels and condos. Lahaina, known as Maui’s old whaling, party and shopping town also boasts loads of history and is home to one of Maui’s two main recreational ports. West Maui has four world-class golf courses, including the world-renowned PGA championship Plantation Course at Kapalua.
West Maui has only one main thoroughfare: the Honoapiilani Highway (Hwy 30.) The Honoapiilani Highway runs right along the scenic shoreline, and in some places, right up to the shorebreak. It makes for fantastically unique drive. The highway continues all the way around the scenic West Maui Mountains, finishing up along a precarious cliff-edge drive that emerges back on the other side of Central Maui from where you started.
Being the most densely populated tourist area, and having only one narrow road in and out makes for heavy traffic. When there is an accident, forget about it – the road can be closed off entirely, cutting off access in or out of this side of the island for many hours at a time.
There are many opportunities for shopping and dining and new condos, hotels, time-shares, shopping centers and strip malls continue to spring up year after year.
For more specific information on West Maui, browse the West Maui category.
Miloan Moravec says:
Bring lots of cash and credit cards. Breakfast at a hotel on the beach $40+ for two. Dinner in Lahaina at a restaurant on the ocean front for two $120 +. Plan to spend hundreds more for activities. The American Automobile Association rated Maui as the most expensive island vacation spot in the world. Prices have increased during the greatest recession in Maui in modern times. No relief for mainlander (sometimes called ‘transients’ by the Mayor of Maui) visitors who have supported Maui for years and years.
West Maui however is a beautiful spot!!!