In a series of posts, I want to tell you about my vacation to Maui. I have decided to write about this, because I want to (brag) show you the pictures and all the fun I had with my son, but also because maybe one day you are going to go there and you can follow my travel advice.

I got a book that showed the main places to visit at Maui, but the book did not really mention how to get the better prices or deals, and all my research with the internet and friends did help me to get prices that were affordable and still let us have a lot of fun.

First, start looking for flights soon. Prices get really expensive the closer you are to your travel date. I stayed at the Marriot Ocean Club thanks to our time-share, but there is plenty of condominiums for rent that are more affordable that the hotels and are located near beautiful beaches and great restaurants.

Once air and lodging were booked I started looking online for the best activities on Maui. I wanted to be able to book in advance. A lot of places offer a discount if booked with more than 10 days in advance. There are also reviews from people on the websites, so you can see if the tour/attraction will fit the needs of your family.

I will talk about the activities and recommendations about what to do in Maui in a future post, because each one takes lots of explanations.

Once I had decided about the activities were going to do, I booked a rental car. Believe me; you are going to need one. If you really want to experience everything Maui has to offer and save some money rent a car. Almost all companies offer the same rate and if they have cars available they will upgrade you for free. Unless you are going in an all adventure trip an economy car will do it for the week and will be good on gas, which it is expensive. If you have a GPS take it with you. You are going to need one and they are expensive at the rental car places.

Once you get to Maui I recommend you stop by Wal-mart or Costco to buy groceries for the week. Almost all resorts have a kitchen. I saved money buying water and food to prepare breakfast, have snacks for my son and have some drinks too! You can also buy sunscreen and even boogie boards really cheap, that way you can travel light and avoid airline extra fees.

Be at the lookout for the next posts with some of our attractions and recommendations of where to eat.