One of our favorite kid activities is the Sugar Cane Train in Lahaina. We used to come here every Maui trip with the kids, sometimes to take the train ride on the historic steam train, sometimes just to let the kids climb around on the real steam engine play area. They also have a store packed with train toys! Both the play area and the train ride are hits with the kids - honestly, the play area may be more of a hit than the train ride (it can be a little long for little ones).
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| steam engine play area - there are also picnic tables and washrooms |
Lahaina is a small former whaling town in West Maui, a scenic 45 minutes from South Kihei (30 minutes from our Sugar Beach condo). The road takes you along the beach, you can often see whales jump and admire awesome sunsets (but not if you're the driver, okay??). It is the only road to Lahaina and Kaanapali and continues all around West Maui ending up back in Wailuku/Kahului (this will take you about 4-5 hours plus breaks, a breath-takingly gorgeous drive on an at times dangerously narrow road with steep cliffs and the ocean on one side). This is a two-lane road (one lane in each direction), traffic gets quite backed up in case of an accident (maybe don't do this trip just before leaving for the airport, just in case)!
But back to the Sugar Cane Train - you can take a ride on this train from West Lahaina up to Kaanapali, either one way or return. If you choose the one-way option, you will want someone to meet you at the other end with a car (there is no manned train station at the Kaanapali end, an employee will show up shortly before the train arrives to sell tickets, I'm not sure if they take credit cards on the Kaanapali end). The train ride is narrated (though sometimes hard to hear, depending on how full the train car is).
Unfortunately for us, we didn't see the 'open Monday-Friday' part on the website. We didn't get a train ride today - we'll have to come back on a weekday! Thankfully the steam engine play area saved the day!Labels: kids, Lahaina, Maui to-do
