Concierge's choice: Easy to fall under Maui's spell

BY COLIN MOORE

Perhaps it is because it is the home of Maui, the Polynesian demi-god and noted trickster, that the Hawaiian island of Maui casts a spell on people. In the 18th century, the first Westerner to set foot on Maui, Jean Francois La Perouse, was so smitten that he declined to take possession of it for France.

And when Mark Twain visited 100 years later he wrote: "I went to Maui to stay a week and remained five. I never spent so pleasant a month before, or bade any place goodbye so regretfully. I have not once thought of business, or care or human toil or trouble or sorrow or weariness ... and the memory of it will remain with me always."

La Perouse did leave his name to a bay, near Makena, where lava flows into the sea from the last eruption of Haleakala about 200 years ago. The lava field remains barren but the waters of the Ahihi-Kinau marine reserve are thick with colourful fish.

Makena has the last golden sand beach on the coast road and the last resort before the road peters out. The Maui Prince Hotel has a new golf course and a tennis centre. All 300 rooms have at least partial ocean views, and the resort has its own sandy beach and fine stretch of snorkelling coast.

Concierge Stacy Nakaso is enthusiastic about the sunsets on the Makena coast, particularly from the sweep of Big Beach.

If you want to dip into your pocket, Nakaso recommends a dive cruise or a tour to the summit of Haleakala to watch the sunrise.

At Lahaina Town there is a Hard Rock Cafe and a Planet Hollywood but Nakaso suggests the buffet dinner and Hawaiian music at the Old Laihaina Luau, reputed to be the best luau in Maui.