Ditch the dive gear bike Maui?

Im arriving in maui end of april(never been there before), I plan on many weeks of diving. However, for trip elongation(budget reasons)does anyone think its feasible to pick up a mt bike there and cruise around the island, going from one hostel/camp ground to another? I think it would be really cool to see more than I might normally beable to.

Also for the case of ditching the dive gear, I would likely want to keep it in hawaii with me, just not right on me. Is there monthly lockers or anything like that at the airports or bus stations??

Another big concern is traffic, hazardous roads. Is it feasible to bike one town to another around the island, 1 lane roads too dangerous? If yes, is the road situation better on big island or kauai?

Thanks,
Zach

I am not aware of any storage lockers at airports or bus stations since 9/11.
That was ruined probably forever.

Your best bet would be to get friendly with a dive shop when you arrive and ask nicely if you could work out a storage deal with them.
After all you're gonna need to rent tanks etc, so its a win-win deal. Your gear is where you need it to be. You'll get some ideas for dive shops from the Maui scuba boarders here. Camping is kinda hard in Hawaii. Most of the campgrounds, if not all, are under County jurisdiction and require advance permits. There is a limit to how long you can stay, but I would do some research, google Maui County Government and try to find the links to the county parks & camping options so you know the rules. There is a campground up on Haleakala (national park) and I think also down by Hana.

Biking the islands is possible and I don't see it as a problem, just the hills. Traffic is terrible on Maui during commutes. But thats when a bike is an advantage. Just be careful of the cars.

Thanks for the post don,

What is the biggest problem with the hills? Extreme up and down or crazy drivers barreling down them?

Also what exactly is expected from maui traffic? Is it hella congested in the cities and to like 1-2 miles outside of the main cities? Does it generally free up inbetween towns?

Also is the road to hana not a death run on a bike? Ive heard it is 1 lane and filled with crazy drivers barreling around blind corners.

I was also wondering for accessing dive spots before I take off on a biking trip what is the cheapest transportation. Should I think about just buying a beater and reselling it x weeks later?

Thanks,
Zach

Zach:
All good points & questions. I live on the Big Island. Compared to here, Maui is busy with traffic. But compared to a mainland city, its probably not that bad. The traffic is very congested (stop & go) around Lahaina, Kihei, and Kahului during rush hours and even beyond in the evenings. Otherwise its not that bad. But the roads in many places are indeed narrow, curvy & not much room for bikes. The hills are not terrible, with the exception of Haleakala, which is extreme as you know. The road to/from Hana from the North is very curvy and would be risky, but I have seen people biking it. Lots of blind curves as you describe, car passengers have been known to get carsick. More scary to me is the "locals" who pass on the curves.

The route to/from Hana on the south side is remote/desolate but scenic, and very few cars around. Some blind hills & curves but you could hear em coming if on a bike.

Cannot comment on access to dive spots, I have always gone on a day charter boat, which you meet at the harbors. There is shorediving but you'll have to get that info from the Maui posters.

Here on my island I have seen some "beach bombers" that run good for about $1700, not sure if it would be worth it unless you are staying a long time.

Although I do know one fulltime resident of Kihei that does not have a car and uses a recumbent bike to get around the island, he's a real hard core biker and I wouldn't recommend it. The really cheap hotels and youth hostels are in Wailuku, near Kahului in the central valley. Most scuba diving is on the west coasts of South Maui (Kihei/Wailuku/Makena) and West Maui (Lahaina/Kaanapali/Kahana/Kapalua).

There is some public transportation Maui. Mostly on about 1 hour intervals between buses. Some of it is provided by MEO. http://www.meoinc.org/Rural_Shopping_Shuttle.htm has some phone numbers at the bottom for more info. Not really convenient, but probably better than biking it.

You could also call up some youth hostels and inquire about transportation alternatives. Hitchhiking is fairly common. They are probably also a good source of info about locker storage alternatives. There are a number of storage facilities, but they are oriented towards monthly storage of stuff in 10'x10' enclosed stalls/garage type enclosures.

Overnight stays in most parks are prohibited, but this rule is widely ignored.

Most of the beaches that are not actively maintained by the county/state allow (though I don't know if it's legal, or just "allowed") fishermen to stay overnight... so a lot of campers will just toss a line in the water, and call it a fishing trip - some even put bait on the hook in the hopes of catching dinner

There are a lot of beaches like this along the west shore outside of Lahaina (mostly around Ukumehame about 7miles south of Lahaina) there is also some decent diving in that area...

I used to bike a lot here and really enjoyed it. My first 6 months on Maui I rode my bike everywhere - most of the island is flat for cycling, unless you go upcountry. Personally I wouldn't ride to Hana via the North route, though the south route would be really nice. The worst part of riding here is that half the time you are riding into a 15-20mph wind ...

Whatever you do have fun, and if it works out drop me a PM and we'll see about doing some shorediving together.

Aloha, Tim

Thanks for the replys, they're really helpin knock the bs out of my itinerary. Its so great getting responses from directed questions, cant compare with a catchall touristy book.

I luv the idea about fishin trip:> I think I will have to use that one, need to pull out my fishing box...

As for biking hana, I heard an idea that hadn't even crossed my mind until reading some guys travel log yesterday, he had biked maui (around halekala) counterclockwise. He scheduled so he was going outta hana early in the morning~5 and he said he had little to no problems(scares with cars) biking towards Wailua. Early in the morning he was just getting tourists migrating to hana. This seemed reasonable to me, I always feel a lot better biking countertraffic(sorry officer, but I just don't feel safe biking home friday night with x numbers of drunks swervin up behind me).

The worst loophole I see is commuters, is there any coming out of hana heading towards wailua in the morning?

I went to the local bike shop today and picked up some hybrid tires to switch out with my mtb ones and I said ohhh crap leavin sunday:> Its going to kick havin an awesome dive trip ontop of super bikin.

The main area of concern are the 20miles of curves and narrow road leading into Hana, if you leave by 5am there will be little traffic for that stretch (gives you a 4hr break in traffic) Personally I worry more about the tourist than commuters as they tend to not pay attention - but it is true that the local traffic will take that road at 45mph (it's a 15mph zone) and this is one road you probably want to ride with the traffic - you can probably keep up with some of the cars even, and there is NO shoulder - often around curves the traffic will be within 6" of the edge of the road (which is often a cliff face) you would have no where to get out of the way, and not be seen by the traffic until it's too late.

Have fun