Hawaii - Maui Island

Area: 694sq.miles/1887sq.km

Main town: Wailuku

Maui Island lies west of the Island of Hawaii and is separated from it by the Alenuihaha Channel. Maui lies about 68 miles/110km from Oahu as the crow flies. The second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, Maui covers an area of 694sq.miles/1887sq.km with a coastline of 120 miles/193km.

The island resembles Tahiti in shape. It evolved from two volcanoes - first, West Maui with the 5789ft/1764m-high Puu Kukui and later East Maui with the 10,026ft/3055m-high Haleakala. This latter volcano's crater, before it became extinct centuries ago, threw up so much lava over its slopes that a pass developed between the two parts of the island. The western old part of the island consists of a rugged mountainous landscape dissected by deep valleys. This area proves difficult to penetrate and has only been opened up by the coast road. Separated by the isthmus with its surrounding plains, the eastern part of the island joins it. This area, twice the size of the west, is dominated by the powerful Haleakala volcano.

The origin of the nickname "Valley Island" remains unclear. One explanation refers to the isthmus as the valley between East and West Maui, another links the name with the valleys of western Maui and especially with Lao Valley.

Maui's mountainous relief causes its weather to vary quite strongly but on the whole it is relatively in line with the other Hawaiian islands. It enjoys high temperatures of about 30°C and low temperatures of 15°C - apart from Haleakala where a temperature of minus 11°C (a record for the Hawaiian islands) was recorded in 1961. It seldom rains on Maui and the rainfall is scattered very unevenly. While it generally rains more in East Maui than in the west, Puu Kukui (with an average rainfall of 441in./1120cm a year) counts as the wettest place on the island. The old coastal port of Lahaina (only 6 miles/10km away as the crow flies) experiences only about 191/2in./50cm of rain a year, with none falling between May and September. In the impenetrable areas to the west of the island, some endemic plants have survived. The fertile, weathered lava plains of the pass offer good conditions for growing sugar cane and pineapples.

With the exception of Nihau Island, which is populated entirely by Hawaiians, the 15% of Kamaainas (natives) living on Maui make it the island with the largest percentage of resident Hawaiians. The largest ethnic group on the island is the whites (36%), followed by the Japanese (23%) and the Filipinos (17%). The remaining 9% comprises several nationalities.

The development of mass air travel in the 1960s led to the onset of tourism on Maui. Today, it is even possible to fly directly from the American mainland to Kahului.

Following Oahu, Maui (with about two million tourists a year and with more five-star hotels than any other island) is the most-visited island in the Hawaiian archipelago. However, no intensive building has occurred on Maui in comparison to Honolulu or Waikiki. One reason lies in the tough building regulations of the County of Maui, another is that Maui's many beaches have made concentrated building unnecessary. In most cases, the hotel complexes (with the exception of Kihei) are fairly far apart. Many experts on Hawaii prefer Maui to the other islands. Maui itself is not modest - its motto is Maui no ka oi (Maui is the best).