Maui is one of the most favorite destination to go when you have a holiday in Hawaii. But before you go there you must be asking do you need to rent a car in Maui? To know the answer there are a few things that you need to consider.
Do you need to rent a car in Maui? This is How You Decide
Renting a car in Maui actually necessary especially if you want to be able to go all around the island to see everything it has. Furthermore, Maui is also very large island so taking Uber or taxi will become a lot more expensive compared to driving rental car yourself.
In fact, just having two to 4 ride from wherever you stay to any of the top tourist attractions in the island actually make the rental cost worth it. Furthermore by renting a car you will have more freedom and flexibility in exploring the island.
During off season you can rent an economic car for around $60 for one day. But on the peak season then you need to spend more since the average can go around $185 for one day. Because the tourist attractions usually located quite far away from popular resort then renting a car actually cheaper compared to taking Uber or taxi. That way you can still stay at the best resource on the west area of Ka’anapali or the south area of Wailea without worry.
Furthermore, it is also faster than taking a bus since this public transportation only come once every hour. So, if you have limited time or stays on the island only for a week or less then it is best to rent a car. That way, you can maximize your time to explore the island than wasting it waiting for the next shuttle or bus.
However, if you only plan to have one big excursion to Hana for a day then you do not need to rent the car right away. Instead you can just rent the car when on the day of your excursion.
There are a lot of Maui car rental place that you can find around the hotel in Ka’anapali, Kihei or Wailea. The best thing is most of those car rental companies have places all around Maui island. So, you do not need to waste your time to pick up or drop off the car to the airport like the rental you find in airport.
Money Saving Tips When Car Renting
1. Get free park on your hotel
Before you book the hotel you need to make sure that they have free parking service when you stay in their hotel. This is important when you plan to rent a car so you do not need to spend extra money for parking.
Usually top hotels that you can find around the island all include free self-parking when you stay in their hotel. For example if you stay in Wailea then the Fairmount Kea lani offered this service. If you stay in Ka’anapali then The Westin maui also have free self-parking service.
2. Get Discount When Booking Your Car
Once you know the answer to the question do you need to rent a car in Maui and decide that you will rent then it is better to get discount when booking it. One of the best platform to use is discounthawaiicarrental.
This platform work together with a lot of rental companies so you can get various cars to choose from. Another platform that you can use is Costco Car Rentals which have huge discount for their members.
3. Best Place to Refill Car Tank
Gas price in Maui Island is very expensive with average of $4.9 for one gallon which is higher than the national average. If you want to save some money then you need to fill it first at Costco location in Kahului. Then you can find another Costco location at the beginning of the road that you can take to Hana. There is also a location near the airport.
4. Get Cheaper Car
If you like to have a little adventure and do not mind if the car might broke down on you then you can actually get cheaper car. There are companies that specialized in renting a car that previously have been rent by other companies.
So in a sense you will still drive rental car butt one that is older, have little dirt, come with a few dents or have less features. If you are not that picky then you can actually get cheaper car when renting from these companies.
And if the car actually does broke down they will quickly exchange the car for you. If you are interested then you can rent car from Kihei Rent a Car or Kahului Auto Rentals.
How to Determine if You Do Not Need to Rent a Car?
To help you determine if you do not need to rent a car then you need to see your itinerary. If you do not have anything that requires you to go out from your resort in your itinerary then you do not need to rent a car.
Furthermore, most popular resource or condo located in Kihei are actually near the beach or shopping center area. So you can reach everything that you need on foot. Meanwhile if you stay at Wailea then there are a lot of shops that you can find around the resort. They also have a nice dining place in the middle surrounded by the resorts. So, you can just walk along the ocean path to reach your dining place.
In Ka’anapali you will find beachfront footpath that actually connect every hotels that you can find on the beach. So you can go actually to Canoe beach toward Black Rock on foot if you want to.
Another thing that you can consider is most of the top resort also have free shuttles service that will take you from the hotels to the shopping centers around the area. So, if you do not plan to go very far away you can just use the shuttles. So you can determine do you need to rent a car in Maui or not through this.
