Great Stops on the Maui Volcano Tour - Kula Lodge and Restaurant

With our Maui volcano tour, you get to to see a unique side of Maui – Upcountry! Along the slopes of Haleakala sits a uniquely beautiful world, bursting with crisp mountain air and amazing mountain to ocean views. This world is quite different than the golden beaches of Maui featured on postcards, but it’s just as beautiful and engaging.

Biking through Upcountry provides an opportunity to experience this gorgeous landscape up close. The great part about our Maui volcano tours in particular is that you can experience all of this beauty at your own pace. Because all of our biking tours are self-paced, you can stop and go as you please. Stop to pick a flower or shop at a unique boutique. You can pick where you want to stop along the biking route.

One of the most popular stops along the route is the Kula Lodge and Restaurant. At about 3,200 feet on the western slopes of this dormant volcano, the charming lodge provides an awesome place to stop and relax, take pictures, or enjoy a nice lunch.

Kula Lodge Garden Terrace

“Kula is the Undiscovered Maui, a place only the adventurous discover. You won’t find tourist traps or snorkel shops. Instead there will be birds singing from Jacaranda trees and flowers that grow to startling sizes and beauty,” Kula Lodge noted on its website.

This lodge sits amid a beautiful garden of flower farms with protea, carnations, and tropical flora. Panoramic views from the West Maui Mountains to the Pacific Ocean await you at this lodge. Situated on the hills of Haleakala, it is the perfect place to stop along the Maui volcano tour and snap a photo. But, you can also stop and enjoy a bite to eat too!

The restaurant at the Kula Lodge is open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This restaurant features an outdoor garden terrace “cradled” amid the trees overlooking the entire west side of Maui. On the garden terrace, a wood-burning pizza oven creates delicious pizza dishes. The Kula Lodge and Restaurant has its own Executive Chef that oversees all the culinary dishes at this delightful restaurant. The Kula Lodge really offers amazing views and an unforgettable setting to enjoy relax and enjoy a nice meal on your Maui volcano tour.

Kula Lodge filled with paintings by local artists.

Located in the heart of Upcountry, Kula Lodge is also a nice place to stay the night if you want to spend a few days in the Upcountry Maui. This “romantic hideaway” has 5 rustic lodges available for overnight stays. “Imagine spending a few days in a lush garden that overlooks an endless horizon,” the Kula Lodge noted.

If shopping is a must on your Maui volcano tour, the Kula Marketplace and the Curtis Wilson Cost Gallery, both located at the Kula Lodge, have a variety of unique island gifts available for purchase. These shops feature one-of-a-kind art by local Maui and Hawaiian artists and craftsmen as well as homemade jellies, jams, and pastries.

With its sweeping views of the lush green countryside to the ocean, the Kula Lodge and Restaurant is a hidden gem in Upcountry and definitely a must-see on your Maui volcano tour.

(Garden Terrace photo by Bill Abbott via Flickr)

(Last photo by Belindah via Flickr)

Why Its A Great Idea to Take A Maui Downhill Bike Tour On Your Island Vacation

When thinking about your island getaway, you may just envision lying around on the gorgeous beaches of Maui all day reading a book and soaking up the sun. That of course would be a nice vacation. But there are many reasons to add a Maui downhill bike tour to your island plans! Here’s a few . . .

Great way to see (or experience) Upcountry. Our downhill bike tour takes you through the mountainous landscape of Upcountry Maui. Starting out with a land tour of the Summit area of the volcano Haleakala, our bike tours offer a unique chance to really experience the scenery of Upcountry firsthand. Because our particular self-paced Maui downhill bike tour allows guests to ride at their own pace, on their own timetable, and without the unwieldy large groups of guided bike tours; you can stop to pick a flower or take a picture at a unique spot along the way. The world is yours! As you bike down, you can stop at one of the charming small towns or restaurants along the route. The quaint towns in Upcountry have a variety of unique shops, boutiques, and art galleries to explore. But more than just driving through Upcountry, taking a downhill bike tour through this picturesque countryside lets you be a part of the land, and really take in the distinctive beauty of this area – an area that many Maui tourists never get to experience.

An unmatched biking experience. If you enjoy biking or want a little adventure on your trip (but not too much), then the Maui downhill bike tour is the activity for you. It’s really the ultimate biking experience. Think about it, what could be a more exciting biking adventure than to bike down a volcano? What a great story to tell! Plus, while this bike tour offers a great sense of adventure, it is downhill so you don’t have to be a professional cyclist to go on this bike tour. The adventure is really in the incredible scenery of Haleakala and Upcountry.

See an unforgettable sunrise – a great bucket list item. One of our Maui downhill bike tour options is the Haleakala sunrise bike tour. On this tour, you’ll see the sun rise above the clouds at the peak of Haleakala. This is definitely something that should be on everyone’s bucket list! Everyone agrees that seeing this sunrise at an elevation of 10,023 feet above sea level is really one of the most unforgettable moments of their entire vacation. Instead of driving up to Haleakala only to view the sunrise, our Haleakala sunrise bike tour combines this unforgettable experience with the opportunity to see more of Upcountry, up close and personal!

Easy and fun exercise on vacation. Many like to get some exercise in while they’re on vacation. So instead of just riding a recumbent bike in a hotel gym, why not ride down the captivating Haleakala volcano? You’ll be able to get some light exercise in the fresh mountain air and beautiful hillsides of Upcountry.

Really, there are so many benefits to taking the Maui downhill bike tour while you’re here on vacation! Our bike tour will definitely be one of the highlights of your trip. Book your downhill bike tour today!



(First two photos by PV Photography)

See Paia After Your Maui Bike Ride!

The Maui volcano bike ride from the peak of Haleakala down to our little shop in Paia offers bike riders the chance to explore even more of this beautiful area. After their Maui volcano bike ride, many guests stay in Paia for the rest of the afternoon to see all that this unique town has to offer.
As one of the “Coolest Little Towns in Maui,” Paia is full of exciting and unique shops, art galleries, restaurants, and boutiques that have something for everyone. In this “shopper’s paradise,” you can stop into the Biasa Rose clothing store or Moonbow Tropics for some of the latest fashions or browse through the Paia Trading Company for some eclectic antiques to take home. For some great home décor pieces, you might visit Pearl, a lovely home furnishings boutique located in the same shopping area as us on Baldwin Ave. So after your Maui volcano bike ride, you can quickly get to shopping and sightseeing in our fascinating little town.

Over the years, the art scene has really grown so much that it has attracted some big name attention. The New York Times did a piece on our little surfing town a few years back, “Where Wetsuits and Art Meet in Maui.”

“. . .the chill surfer vibe has been joined by a buzzing art scene, with a half-dozen new galleries representing artists like Mary Mitsuda, David Ivan Clark and Udo Nöger,” the NY Times wrote. “Their works have not only attracted the attention of the international art-collecting crowd, who come here on spending holidays, but also that of major institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.”

So if you want to check out some of these great artists, you might visit the Art Project Paia or the Paia Contemporary Gallery located along the Hana Highway.

And of course, you will probably be looking for somewhere to eat after your Maui volcano bike ride, so there’s some delicious places to eat along the town’s shopping district. The Paia Fish Market is always a fan-favorite with its large-portioned seafood plates. Café Des Amis is renowned for its great Mediterranean and Indian cuisine. And for a fun and interesting dining experience, try the Dazoo Restaurant where you can pick your own flavors, mixing and matching, to add to the main dish along with having one of their award-winning cocktails.

While the in-town shops and restaurants of Paia have much to offer, the beaches near Paia also boast some exciting attractions. Known as the “windsurfing capital of the world,” Paia attracts professional windsurfers, kitesurfers, and board surfers from all over the world. So stop by Ho’okipa Beach to catch a glimpse of some pro windsurfers testing out their latest tricks.

This once bustling plantation town is now a laid back venue for local residents and visitors to enjoy the more authentic Hawaii. Here, away from the more crowded resort areas, you can relax and enjoy this charming little village still surrounded by fields of sugar cane and the gorgeous beaches of Maui.