Travel to Maui: is it safe to go to Maui Right Now?

On the night of August 8th horrendous fires, fuelled by driving dry winds from the distant Hurricane Dora, ripped through the historic town of Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. It’s pretty hard to get your head around, but approximately 80% of the town is just GONE. Around 97 lives have been lost, with thousands homeless, and even more jobless.

This is just utterly devastating for all involved. Maui is our second home and a place we love more than any other in the world. West Maui is our favorite spot on our favorite island and we spend so much time in Lahaina, it’s just unimaginable that it is now gone.

This devastation has seriously left us heartbroken and the communities on Maui devastated. It really is unimaginable and hard to fully come to terms with the impact on this really small and tight community.

Naturally, people had trips planned for the coming days, weeks, and months to both Maui and other Hawaiian Islands, and are wondering how their trip will be affected. It might feel crass to some to worry about your “vacation” while people’s lives are in tatters and others are lost, but it’s an important consideration.

This is a very fluid situation and we don’t have all the answers and won’t for quite some time, but we will keep this updated as the situation evolves. Read on to find out more about the current situation on Maui right now.

Donate

#MauiStrong

Before we go any further, we would just like to point out places you can donate to and give support to those on Maui. The Island is still hurting, there are issues with displacement, loss, joblessness, and all kinds of sadness. There are several funds set up to allow you to donate and help out, we have a full list of the funds we feel are most valuable and reputable. It is going to take years for the residents of Maui to recover so any help you give will be gratefully received.

Maui Recovery Funds List

Is it safe to go to Maui right now?

On the 8th August, the Governor of Hawaii said No. Any travel to Maui in the next few weeks needed to be canceled.

HOWEVER, further updates since that fatal day have added to the traveler’s confusion. The message that ‘Maui is not closed‘ has led to must debate between tourists alike and locals. The whole island of Maui (and the other Hawaiian Islands) is doing everything they can to support the displaced people of Lahaina. This takes a lot of resources and time but officials are now encouraging travelers to visit other parts of Maui that were not directly affected by the fires. The simple argument is that the rest of Maui needs the tourism to continue, so if you are booked to visit anywhere in Maui that is NOT Lahaina you are being encouraged to visit. West Maui will be officially open from October 8th 2023.

Lahaina is almost all gone and what is left is NOT Safe to go near and workers are tirelessly examining the damage. We cannot be any clearer, Lahaina will not be accessible for a very long time. If you are booked to visit Lahaina then you are officially advised to try and rebook your accommodation in another part of Maui.

There are strong urges from some people on Maui that the rest of Maui is OPEN, it is just Lahaina that is CLOSED and they need your tourism on the rest of the island, especially West Maui which is due to open on October 8th after 8 weeks of closure. Those who work in tourism and rely on visitors to the island are fully supportive of visitors coming back to the rest of Maui and West Maui when it is open. When the fires first happened there were reports that hotels in South Maui were practically empty, Restaurants closing early on what should be a busy evening, and hire car parking lots full of cars that no one had hired. For the residents of Maui whose income relies on tourism, this was starting to feel the way it did at the beginning of the Pandemic with job losses also starting in areas not directly affected by the fires. Tourism is Maui’s main source of income and on top of the disaster that has already happened, this is adding to scary times for people ahead.

There are also some people who live on Maui who are not ready for tourists to come back and for them, opening West Maui on 10/8, just 8 weeks after the disaster, it feels too soon. All we can advise is that if you choose to travel to Maui over the next few months you do it with love, aloha, and a lot of consideration. People are still mourning their loved ones, grieving for their homes, and their lives from before the fires, it is a double-edged sword that the island relies on Tourism so much while some people feel that it is all too soon to ‘get things back to normal’.

All we can say is to be respectful of what has happened to the people on Maui and what they have lost because of it. There are strong arguments and feelings towards both sides of tourism on the island right now but Maui is going to need support for many months and years to come so even planning a trip for 2024 or keeping an existing booking for next year will still help the island! We ourselves have plans to visit Maui next year and we are 1 Billion % keeping these plans, with ideas already on how to support the people and businesses over there however we can and will visit with kindness, respect, and love for the people and the place.

Are the Fires under control?

Most of the fires currently on Maui are mostly contained, under control, and do not pose any threat to life. Wildfires can often be unpredictable but the Maui Fire Service are working hard to keep all existing fires contained and under control.

Can we Travel to Maui Next Year?

Again, travel to Maui is open and largely encouraged for the rest of 2023 and next year, and the years after that! However, No one knows just how long it is going to take people to recover from the fires in Lahaina. Everyone’s grieving process is different and takes time. Sadness often turns to anger and is often aimed at others for no logical reason which means some people’s feelings towards tourism may be negative for a while. Be mindful of what the people of Lahaina have been through and visit Maui with respect and kindness now, next year, and many years after. Logistically, it is too soon to know when or how the rebuild of Lahaina will even begin let alone finish.

AirB&B and VRBO

Proclamation – Governor Of Hawaii

While airlines and Hotels are being fantastic with rescheduling and cancellations, we were hearing a few horror stories about Airbnb hosts and VRBO hosts refusing to cancel. We hope this was earlier on in the news cycle before people really realized how bad things were, but still, if you have any issues, do not accept anything but a full refund or reschedule, especially if your rental is in West Maui. Yes, many places in West Maui were not damaged but the fires but officials say West Maui is closed until 10/8/23.

What about other Islands?

On the whole, the other islands were largely unaffected.

Expect things to be VERY busy for the next few months as Maui’s visitors relocate to the other Islands.

Hawaii

The Big Island of Hawaii was lightly damaged by Wildfires at the same time as Maui but on a completely incomparable scale. You should be okay to honor an existing booking or to book to stay on the Big Island.

Kauai

Kuaui is the most distant island from Maui and has been pretty much unaffected in any way and on the whole things in Kauai have continued as usual.

Oahu

Oahu is the administrative hub of the State, and things are going to be a little strained over the next few months. Many Hotels are full, as people have relocated from Maui. But this will mainly affect Honolulu and this is a BIG city and can likely cope very well with the additional influx. If you are standing out of town, on the north shore, or in Kapolei there is likely to be little impact.

For travel to the other Islands for the rest of the Year and Beyond, there are likely to be very few impacts and you can expect your trip to go as planned.

Donate

Just a quick reminder You can help out by donating to the following funds and of course when the time is right heading back to the Island and helping out the businesses and people directly with your money. Maui will rise again, she will undoubtedly have scars, but still be just as mighty and impressive!

‘Our hearts are always with the residents of Maui, especially through this continued challenging time‘

Have Your Say

Let us know your thoughts on heading back to Maui and if you have any questions just pop them in the comments below.