156 thoughts on “Updated: Maui Travel Must Remain On Hold For Now”
Linda&Johnny
We are very sad to hear of the devastation because of the fire and winds in Maui:(. We stayed on Maui four times and loved going there every year for our anniversary. Old Lahaina Luau was our favorite! Love to the people of Maui😍💕💕
My sister was planning to visit Kihei on 8/13. She has requested a refund from VRBO, based on the govt request to avoid inbound travel. She is unable to get a refund. What recourse does she have?
Hi, thank you for this. Our thoughts and prayers are with Maui. At this time we are dealing with an Airbnb host who is refusing to refund us. We were supposed to stay 4 miles north of Lahaina starting 8/23. The host is telling us they will not refund us because everything is fine there and that we can still come.
The power is out all the way to Kapalua , and probably will not be fixed for a month. Yeah, I had similar situation during covid. Only got 50% back despite there was no way to even get to the islands.
We have been able to speak with our son via a neighbor’s Starlink connection, whose family lives in the Napili area. Everything there is fine, but they are without power, cell service and the market is limited in what they can do. It is operating limited hours, allowing only a few people in at a time and everything is cash basis as the electronics do not work. Residents are somewhat stuck due to the fact that gas stations are without power to pump gas.
Yeah, I have travel plans there in mid september. So far no refund from VRBO. Im staying in Kihei. Like other comments, I will wait it out and whatever the guidance is from Maui County. As of the press conf. last night, Maui mayor said the rest of Maui is open. But, I would still assume they would not want a lot of visitors for at least the rest of this month, including cruise ships. The power could be out in West Maui for a month. That is going to impact a lot of residents and business’s. There going to need help recovering. Should I complete my trip in September, I will see if there are any volunteer opportunities. I used to live there, so I know some people I can reach out to. Stay safe everyone !
What are you hearing from the local management companies? Quam, Parrish, KBM? We have a reservation beginning August 25 with KBM and reached out yesterday but they have not responded.
How staggeringly unprepared Maui was for a crisis! Where was the water in hydrants? What happened to the siren system that could have warned people to evacuate early.
Lahaina is my favorite place in the world. Devastated to see what happened. Hoping for everyone to be safe and for my lovely Lahaina to recover❤️
My thoughts are with you
My daughter has a trip planned Aug 31st thru Sept 7th staying in Kihei. She wants to switch her trip to a different island feeling time is not right to visit — understanding island economy needs visitor dollars, but area resources need to be focused on residents dealing with lives turned upside down. Airline and Airbnb host at this time are not being flexible in any way shape or form — saying travel arrival after Aug 15th is no issue and cancellation or changes are not warranted. No doubt Airbnb hosts unwilling to allow cancellations/refunds because unlikely they can rebook someone else so they “loose” $$$ — but come on, betting most of these hosts don’t even live on the Island so completely unconcerned about already stressed resources being stretched further by their bringing travelers into the area.
Thank you for the update, so if we have reservations in January 2024, in Ka’anapali, you are asking us to cancel? Just being sure I understand as you didn’t state when reservations could resume.
What a tragedy. Keep us posted. Thank you for the update. Thoughts and prayers are with your residents of Maui and your beautiful island. I had my honeymoon there 30 years ago. I remember seeing whales breach from the Westin. Beautiful memories!
We are supposed to be staying at the Papakea Resort on 8/30. The VRBO property owner said absolutely not to a refund because the condo is still standing. Also a off island owner.
We are praying for the residents of Maui. In response to the question about experiences with Airbnb hosts, I had a reservation with an Airbnb in Wailea beginning on 8/17 and felt I had no choice but to cancel. The host (who is not a resident and not currently there) did not allow a full refund stating that it was still safe to stay there. This conflicts with other guidance about travel to Maui given the state of emergency.
We had 2 condos reserved through VRBO, both in the West Maui/Ka’anapali area for 8/11-8/20. One host refunded us in full, the other was willing to move our dates.
When trying to cancel a few other things, we have run into businesses saying it’s just Lahaina and we should still come. It Is frustrating hearing different things from different places. We ultimately decided to heed the governor’s request to cancel our plans for time being. Hopefully we will be able to come back when Maui’s infrastructure can handle tourism again!
I am hoping someone can cover what the emergency response system process was for this crisis. When did they alert the public to evacuate? By what means were they alerted and when? Did they sound the emergency alert sirens ? Although I know it was an unprecedented circumstance, I have not heard much about this, and suspect the authorities may have severely dropped the ball on this one. Aren’t fire chiefs trained to know that brush fires + strong winds is extremely dangerous?
I am a timeshare owner in maui for the last 20 years. Many times I would ee brush fires in the hills above Lahaina and hoped that the flames would be able to be controlled before they reached the highway and town. Now it happened. If Maui Fire abatement program was on top of it there would not be that brush on the hill. There would be a fire break there. Yes the winds were high. But all systems were overwhelmed and like Lt. GIVENIR Luke Saud not ready. SHE said itvwas not anticipated that a hurricane would cause such winds to cause such conditions for the tragedy. Sge is right. Maui did not anticipate. Not prepared.
Mary, I read an interview Thursday of a priest at Maria Lanakila church. He said the Church was not burned. Praise God! Part of Sacred Hearts school was damaged; roof blew off. Most importantly, he was asking for prayers. They are working full time with kokua (help) for all who live there.
People . . . please take a step back to look at this.
You/we have had vacation plans disrupted. Poor us.
Lahaina is reduced to rubble. So many Maui residents have lost every single thing that was precious to them–people, home, pets, possessions, family heirlooms, local history, livelihoods.
Maybe your/our condo and flight reservations for a vacation in paradise should just be put on the back burner for a while.
My heart breaks for what has been lost on Maui.
I don’t know the Hawaiian word for “blessings,” but I send them just the same.
We are very sad to hear of the devastation because of the fire and winds in Maui:(. We stayed on Maui four times and loved going there every year for our anniversary. Old Lahaina Luau was our favorite! Love to the people of Maui😍💕💕
My sister was planning to visit Kihei on 8/13. She has requested a refund from VRBO, based on the govt request to avoid inbound travel. She is unable to get a refund. What recourse does she have?
Our thoughts & prayers are with the people of Maui who have lost everything. I know it will take a long time to heal. God bless everyone.
Hi, thank you for this. Our thoughts and prayers are with Maui. At this time we are dealing with an Airbnb host who is refusing to refund us. We were supposed to stay 4 miles north of Lahaina starting 8/23. The host is telling us they will not refund us because everything is fine there and that we can still come.
The power is out all the way to Kapalua , and probably will not be fixed for a month. Yeah, I had similar situation during covid. Only got 50% back despite there was no way to even get to the islands.
We have been able to speak with our son via a neighbor’s Starlink connection, whose family lives in the Napili area. Everything there is fine, but they are without power, cell service and the market is limited in what they can do. It is operating limited hours, allowing only a few people in at a time and everything is cash basis as the electronics do not work. Residents are somewhat stuck due to the fact that gas stations are without power to pump gas.
Yeah, I have travel plans there in mid september. So far no refund from VRBO. Im staying in Kihei. Like other comments, I will wait it out and whatever the guidance is from Maui County. As of the press conf. last night, Maui mayor said the rest of Maui is open. But, I would still assume they would not want a lot of visitors for at least the rest of this month, including cruise ships. The power could be out in West Maui for a month. That is going to impact a lot of residents and business’s. There going to need help recovering. Should I complete my trip in September, I will see if there are any volunteer opportunities. I used to live there, so I know some people I can reach out to. Stay safe everyone !
Aloha !
What are you hearing from the local management companies? Quam, Parrish, KBM? We have a reservation beginning August 25 with KBM and reached out yesterday but they have not responded.
How staggeringly unprepared Maui was for a crisis! Where was the water in hydrants? What happened to the siren system that could have warned people to evacuate early.
Lahaina is my favorite place in the world. Devastated to see what happened. Hoping for everyone to be safe and for my lovely Lahaina to recover❤️
My thoughts are with you
My daughter has a trip planned Aug 31st thru Sept 7th staying in Kihei. She wants to switch her trip to a different island feeling time is not right to visit — understanding island economy needs visitor dollars, but area resources need to be focused on residents dealing with lives turned upside down. Airline and Airbnb host at this time are not being flexible in any way shape or form — saying travel arrival after Aug 15th is no issue and cancellation or changes are not warranted. No doubt Airbnb hosts unwilling to allow cancellations/refunds because unlikely they can rebook someone else so they “loose” $$$ — but come on, betting most of these hosts don’t even live on the Island so completely unconcerned about already stressed resources being stretched further by their bringing travelers into the area.
Thank you for the update, so if we have reservations in January 2024, in Ka’anapali, you are asking us to cancel? Just being sure I understand as you didn’t state when reservations could resume.
Hi Debbie.
Please check back with us in a few weeks time as more becomes known.
Aloha.
What a tragedy. Keep us posted. Thank you for the update. Thoughts and prayers are with your residents of Maui and your beautiful island. I had my honeymoon there 30 years ago. I remember seeing whales breach from the Westin. Beautiful memories!
We are supposed to be staying at the Papakea Resort on 8/30. The VRBO property owner said absolutely not to a refund because the condo is still standing. Also a off island owner.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the island of Maui and its peoples. May God bless you and take care of you 💔🙏
#staystrong
Any word on cruise ships?
The banyan tree will live, the the kingdom will live, the aina will recover, kanakas will remain, kahunas will return, imua!
We are praying for the residents of Maui. In response to the question about experiences with Airbnb hosts, I had a reservation with an Airbnb in Wailea beginning on 8/17 and felt I had no choice but to cancel. The host (who is not a resident and not currently there) did not allow a full refund stating that it was still safe to stay there. This conflicts with other guidance about travel to Maui given the state of emergency.
We had 2 condos reserved through VRBO, both in the West Maui/Ka’anapali area for 8/11-8/20. One host refunded us in full, the other was willing to move our dates.
When trying to cancel a few other things, we have run into businesses saying it’s just Lahaina and we should still come. It Is frustrating hearing different things from different places. We ultimately decided to heed the governor’s request to cancel our plans for time being. Hopefully we will be able to come back when Maui’s infrastructure can handle tourism again!
Hi Natasha.
With what we are learning just today, may we suggest that your decision was very wise. We look forward to welcoming you again.
Aloha.
I am hoping someone can cover what the emergency response system process was for this crisis. When did they alert the public to evacuate? By what means were they alerted and when? Did they sound the emergency alert sirens ? Although I know it was an unprecedented circumstance, I have not heard much about this, and suspect the authorities may have severely dropped the ball on this one. Aren’t fire chiefs trained to know that brush fires + strong winds is extremely dangerous?
I am a timeshare owner in maui for the last 20 years. Many times I would ee brush fires in the hills above Lahaina and hoped that the flames would be able to be controlled before they reached the highway and town. Now it happened. If Maui Fire abatement program was on top of it there would not be that brush on the hill. There would be a fire break there. Yes the winds were high. But all systems were overwhelmed and like Lt. GIVENIR Luke Saud not ready. SHE said itvwas not anticipated that a hurricane would cause such winds to cause such conditions for the tragedy. Sge is right. Maui did not anticipate. Not prepared.
With prayers 🙏
Would love to know the status of the Catholic Church in Lahaina . May God provide hope and strength to all who are suffering
The Maria Lanakila Catholic Church was destroyed along with the rest of downtown Lahaina.
Sadly as with all of Lahaina town it burned down.
From our son, we heard that the school at Sacred Heart survived, no word on the church itself. As always early reports can be wrong.
Mary, I read an interview Thursday of a priest at Maria Lanakila church. He said the Church was not burned. Praise God! Part of Sacred Hearts school was damaged; roof blew off. Most importantly, he was asking for prayers. They are working full time with kokua (help) for all who live there.
People . . . please take a step back to look at this.
You/we have had vacation plans disrupted. Poor us.
Lahaina is reduced to rubble. So many Maui residents have lost every single thing that was precious to them–people, home, pets, possessions, family heirlooms, local history, livelihoods.
Maybe your/our condo and flight reservations for a vacation in paradise should just be put on the back burner for a while.
My heart breaks for what has been lost on Maui.
I don’t know the Hawaiian word for “blessings,” but I send them just the same.