1. Watch whales
Approximately 5,000 endangered Humpback Whales make the waters off of Maui their winter mating and birthing grounds.

Almost the entire area of ocean between Maui, Lana'i and Molokai'i is designated as part of the Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary.

From November through April the giant endangered humpback whales make their winter home in Maui's offshore waters, favoring this shallow area over any other. They come here to mate and give birth to their young and are absolutely amazing to watch. Humpback whales have complex courting behaviors which include gymnastics of all manner both below and above the water. Spectacular to watch, these mammoth creatures are incredibly graceful and playful. Newborn calves are common sights exuberantly leaping, splashing, frolicking and exploring under the watchful eye of their mother.

The Pacific Whale Foundation conducts whale watching excursions aboard several boats which dock in both Ma'alaea (Central Maui) and Lahaina (West Maui). The PWF offers a 10% discount to Smart Maui Travelers and 100% of the PWF's profits are used to support research, education and conservation programs on behalf of the ocean. There are also a number of other companies who offer whale watch outings, including snorkel trips, dinner cruises and pleasure sails - and even if not specifically included in the package, whale sightings are almost a certainty during the peak season.

You can also whale watch from the beach and some of the many lookouts scattered along the shoreline roadways. A pair of binoculars, while not a necessity, will bring the action even closer. Chances are, if you see a bunch of people parked at a lookout all looking off into the ocean, they're watching some whales! (Please be careful to pull over before you start watching - you'd be surprised to learn how many traffic accidents have been caused by rubber-necking whale watchers!)

There are also several places to learn about whales and whaling. The Pacific Whale Foundation, The Lahaina Whaling Museum, and the outdoor museum at the Whaler's Village shopping complex in Kaanapali. And from January to March, Maui is home to the largest annual marine art show in the world, held in Wailea.

2. Windsurf & Kiteboarding
The North Shore of Maui is a world-renowned windsurfer's mecca. Professional windsurfers can be seen at Ho'okipa Beach while going closer to Paia is a better idea for beginners. The North Shore is known for perfect wind and waves that bring fleets of neon-bright sails streaking across the waves. Spectators can watch from several hillside lookouts at Hookipa.

Rentals and instruction are available in Paia and other locations around the island. Conveniently located in Central Maui is Second Wind Sail & Surf which has an excellent staff and reasonable rental rates. As if the rates weren't already reasonable, using your Smart Maui Traveler card offers an additional 10% discount. Ask them where the best place to surf is that day based on your skill level.

Kiteboarding School of Maui and HST Windsurfing and Kiteboarding Lessons are great places to learn, both offer 15% discounts to Smart Maui Travelers and come highly recommended.

3. Hike
Walk into a rainforest echoing with the songs of birds found no place else on the planet, or along a rugged lava shoreline spewing giant geysers, or into mysterious sea caves steeped in ancient legend. There are trails to waterfalls with pools for swimming and jumping (please be sure to consult an expert on where to jump - don't assume that because someone else is jumping there that it is safe!)

here are trails and nature walks for every level of capability. Free hiking maps are available from Maui's Department of Land and Natural Resources. Park rangers at Haleakala National Park, both at the summit (close to the crater) and all the way in Kipahulu at Oheo Gulch (aka "Seven Sacred pools") close to Hana, offer nature walks and guided hikes. The Hawaii Nature Center provides free trail resource maps of `Iao Valley, and conducts daily nature hikes.

If you love nature and really want to see unique places that most people miss, you should skip relying on your guidebook and seriously consider a professional guide. Open Eye Tours offers the most tailor-made tour you can get. Open Eye is a small personal operation, and Barry will listen to what you want to see and tailor design the tour to your needs and desires. Open Eye Tours offers Smart Maui Travelers a 10% discount. Hike Maui is a bigger operation that offers less personalized (and presumably more affordable) tours. They hire skilled naturalists and come highly recommended. Unfortunately, they do not yet currently offer a discount for Smart Maui Travelers (but we have heard that asking for the Smart Maui Traveler discount can actually still get you a discount based on how booked they are!)

There are so many places to hike and explore that I couldn't give thorough advice without writing an entire guidebook on the subject. You could literally spend a lifetime exploring all the natural wonders of Maui. Two easy self-guided hikes that highlight two extremes of the many micro-climates found on Maui come to mind as a must when friends and family come to visit us from the mainland, so I will share them with you. Both can be made into what you want of them - from short and easy to long strenuous (and anything in between.)

1) Haleakala Crater
If you're looking to make this an easier hike, beware that hiking out is much more difficult than hiking in. Once you've exerted about 20% of the energy you're looking to spend, it's time to turn around!

Although this looks like a huge crater, it actually isn't a crater at all. The place we call Haleakala Crater is actually a large valley with countless small volcanic craters inside.

The scenery as you descend into the crater is amazing and gets more rewarding the further you go in. After you get past the bulk of the visitors (you don't have to go that far before most have turned back) the silence inside the crater is notable. The views are out of this world. It is as if you stepped off of a space ship on to the planet Mars. Check out the Silverswords and Nene. Silverswords are a plant found nowhere else in the world and shoot off an incredible stalk of flowers an the glorious end of their life cycle (some live 50-years or longer before displaying their one-time show.) Nene are an indigenous and endangered bird. Once prevalent in lower elevations, over the years of being hunted and displaced they have only survived in the most of remote areas in and around the crater. The Nene is making a comeback after many years of being protected. It has even been recently spotted occasionally where it belongs in lower elevations.

4. Bike
There are guided and unguided downhill bicycle tours from the summit of Haleakala Volcano through the flower farms and small towns of Upcountry to the beach at Pa`ia. In 38 miles the elevation drops 10,000 feet.

Take it from someone that lived on Crater Road for some time and saw thousands of cyclists both zipping by and from the aspect of many a frustrated driver: it is a ton of fun, but is is somewhat dangerous. I would strongly suggest that if you haven't been on a bike for a decade, go with one of the guided tour companies. It is more expensive, however it is much safer. With the guided tours you are buffered from aggressive drivers by a van that follows slowly behind you and only allows traffic to pass when it is safe.

Several reputable downhill biking companies are listed with Smart Maui Traveler saving you up to 25%.

Bicycle rentals for downhill, mountain, and street biking are also available on the island.

5. Drive
The all-American romance with the road takes on another dimension when the road has 54 bridges in 56 miles -- the Hana Highway. Maui's roads wind along lava shores, through old plantation towns, past miles of beaches and up through towering forests to the top of a volcano. They are well maintained and well marked, making driving a pleasure.

Dollar Rent-a-Car consistently has the best rates on Maui. Smart Maui Traveler currently has no rental car discounts.

6. Dive
Dive and snorkel sites are world class. There are two marine conservation areas, one at Honolua Bay on West Maui and the other at Molokini, a partially submerged volcanic crater offshore at Wailea. Because of the contours of the crater, it's like swimming in an aquarium. Certification is available in PADI, NAUI or NASDS. Boats at Lahaina and Kihei offer a number of snorkel and dive excursions. The nearby Lana`i Cathedrals is considered to be one of the most beautiful dive sites in the world. There is also a sunken US submarine to explore. Glass bottom boats and even a pleasure submarine open up the wonders of the Hawaiian reef to non-swimmers.

7. Ski
In season, jet skiing and water skiing are both available.

8. Parasail
In season, drift above the island, floating in a parachute drawn by a powerboat.

9. Fly
See Maui from the air, helicoptering through circular rainbows and into inaccessible valleys streaming with waterfalls. Fly above the crater of Haleakala and soar over the serpentine Hana Highway.

10. Dine
There are approximately 200 restaurants on Maui. They offer every experience from lavish hotel dining rooms to lunch counters serving saimin, the ubiquitous noodle soup many Mauians savor. There are excellent Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Mexican places among the specialty restaurants. Pride of the island is the exciting Hawaii Regional Cuisine served at many award-winning restaurants. The seafood is fresh from the ocean and much of the vegetables and herbs come from Upcountry farms.

11. Dance
Try cheek-to-cheek on a sunset terrace, or rock wild in a chic nightclub or disco. Take hula lessons. Dance at a lu`au, lessons or not. Dance barefoot on the beach to the sound of the sea. Maui is made for it.

12. Fish
In Lahaina, Ma`alaea and Kihei, charter boats are available on a private or share basis to go after the plentiful big game fish in Maui's waters.

13. Hunt
Go after game birds, mouflon sheep, and wild boar. Do it armed with a rifle, bow and arrow or knife. One- to-three-day expeditions with qualified guides can be arranged. Guides will arrange a license, rent arms and equipment, and provide meals. A taxidermist is available on the island. Information on licenses, laws and seasons may be obtained from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

14. Camp
There are campsites in Haleakala National Park, both in the mountains and on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Bargain-rate cabins are available if you make reservations far in advance. There are also cabins at two state parks, one at Waianapanapa on a black sand beach and the other at Polipoli Springs in a high-elevation forest preserve. Camping is allowed at some beach parks. Rental equipment is available.

15. Sail
The breezy offshore waters of Maui, sheltered by Lana`i and Moloka`i are ideal for sailing. Try a sailboat charter, a speedy catamaran, sailfish or even a sunset cruise. There are family-run picnic sails to Lana`i. Most resorts offer sailing lessons and small-boat rentals.

16. Island Hop
Go to Moloka'i and see the flora and fauna. Family-run sailing cruises offer picnics on Lana'i, or just take the ferry service over for the day. Boats leave both Lahaina and Kihei for snorkel and dive trips to tiny Molokini island.

17. Shop
The island abounds in world-class galleries, international shops and a wide range of boutiques. Many carry items unique to Hawaii and specific to Maui. Look for bowls and objects carved in beautiful native woods such as koa, milo and ohia; baskets and hats woven of lauhala; handpainted resort fashions, jewelry; art; and anything with a gecko on it.

18. Swim
There are more than 80 beaches on Maui. They come in sands of gold, black, green, red and purest white.

19. Surf
Try the ancient sport of kings. "Hot-dawg" surfers can test themselves at Slaughterhouse, Ho'okipa and Sand Box. Novices can sign up for surfing lessons at the hotels and usually end up riding those long rollers the first time out.

20. Golf
There are 16 courses on Maui. Most of them are championship courses designed by golf's biggest names, and tended by the sport's leading professional players.

21. Tennis
Approximately 100 courts, both public and private are open to the public. Most are lighted for night play. Leading professionals conduct tennis clinics with state-of-the-art teaching aids.

22. Parks
The island abounds in beauty. Making Maui's spectacular natural heritage accessible to the public are a network of 94 state and county parks, and Haleakala National Park.

23. Smell the flowers.
They're everywhere. Many hotels offer guided tours of their lavish tropical gardens. There are also many botanical gardens, with a dazzling array of native and exotic blooms including magnificent orchids and protea. Flower farms along the Haleakala and Kula Highways offer flowers by the acre, millions of them, wafting their perfume over the island. Many flower farms welcome visitors and will ship flowers home.

24. Catch a train.
The Lahaina Kaanapali and Pacific Railroad, the old sugarcane train pulled by a vintage steam locomotive, has been refurbished and carries passengers between the resort of Kaanapali and the town of Lahaina, chugging through plantation fields, past old homes, across a trestle and along a golf course. Music and panoramic views add to the fun.

25. Get down on the farm
Agriculture has always been Maui's business. There are vast pineapple and sugar plantations, along with small farms growing the famous Maui onion, designer vegetables for gourmet chefs, and the newest crop -- herbs. It's been discovered that both Asian and European herbs grown in the Islands have a more intense flavor. Chefs around the country are beginning to demand them. Maui Tropical Plantation in Waikapu has turned farming into a tourist attraction. A tram ride tours the plantation while guides show how sugar, pineapple and other Maui crops are grown. The colorful story of Maui's sugar barons and plantations is chronicled in the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum in Pu`unene.

26. Get fit
It's the perfect place. Several resorts have complete European-style spa facilities along with Japanese baths. They offer everything from computerized fitness profiles to ancient Hawaiian lomi-lomi massage. Many hotels offer free aerobics and aquanastics. There are gyms around the island. Several community centers offer free classes in aerobics and fitness. There are miles of jogging paths and three major races, the Maui Marathon held in March, and the Run to the Sun (a rugged 36.2-mile race up the slopes of Haleakala), and the Hana Relays are both in September.

27. Love a lu`au
The traditional feast of the islands is still held on Maui. Many hotels stage authentic beachside lu`au featuring traditional Hawaiian foods such as kalua pig, cooked in an earthen oven, poi and haupia coconut pudding, along with a buffet of more familiar foods. There is singing, hula, fire dancing and laughter. There is also a traditional lu`au held in Lahaina.

28. Sightsee
For an island in the middle of the ocean, Maui manages to cram in a lot of sightseeing potential. Visit old plantation towns, tour the historic preservation district of Lahaina, see the biggest Buddha outside Asia, stop at old Hawaiian churches (don't miss the Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Kula with its magnificent altar shipped around the Horn by the king and queen of Portugal), walk into a huge dormant volcanic crater, see whaling museums, and marvel at natural wonders such as `Iao Needle, the pools of 'Oheo Gulch, a forest of giant redwood trees, the geysers of Hobbitland, the rainbow-covered West Maui mountains, and just miles and miles of some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet.

29. Make the art scene
Maui has more than 40 galleries carrying both the best of well known local artists, and internationally acclaimed masters such as Dali, Erte and Gorman. On Friday evenings in Lahaina, art becomes a party. Browsers are encouraged to wander from gallery to gallery. Complimentary food and wine are served. There are art tours that visit the homes of local artists. Lahaina is the biggest marketplace in the world for scrimshaw, the art developed by the whalemen. Traditional Hawaiian arts such as featherwork, kapa (decorated fabric made from tree bark), wood carving and shell work can be found. The Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center on the grounds of a gracious old Upcountry estate, has continuous shows and a full schedule of lectures and workshops. The spectacular Maui Arts & Cultural Center has two theaters, exhibition space, and outdoor presentation facilities.

30. Horseback ride
Where else can a rider descend into a volcanic crater and picnic in a landscape that looks like the moon? Guided horseback rides explore Maui's ranches, rainforests, remote beaches and high meadows. There are moonlight rides across the lava, breakfast and lu`au rides -- even a wine tasting ride. Equestrian action includes rodeos and the Maui polo season which runs September through November.