Nature lovers hike, birdwatch, snorkel, and whale watch. Less active outdoors adventurers sail, fish, play golf, or just drive around taking pictures. In between, there is swimming and walking on the best beaches in the world, shopping for a world bazaar of crafts and art, and touring several good museums. Tour a winery, ride a horse, or just curl up in a hammock by the beach and read. Visitors to Maui may be rested or exhausted at the end of their stay, but they are seldom unsatisfied with the experience.
Accommodations have a lot to do with it, too.
Maui resort hotels consistently rank above other Hawaii resort destinations and in 1996, little changed. Maui is attracting more Japanese visitors and catering more to their spending tastes. Hotels report more Japanese families traveling to Maui and more repeat Japanese visitors. Lahaina's greater geographic concentration of shops and restaurants and the concentration of resorts in Kaanapali are luring more Japanese away from Waikiki and to West Maui. Whaler's Village in Kaanapali has recently expanded its retail space and reports that about 27 percent of its visitors and more than 50 percent of its revenues come from Japanese tourists.