When I was asked by my folks what was something I wanted to do when we visited Maui, I immediately said “sunrise hike!” I’d heard from a few friends and coworkers that the Maui sunrise was a cannot miss. I missed my chance when I went 3 years ago so I wasn’t going to miss out again!

My brother is the MVP and actually did the research to make my dream happen. First, you need a reservation to go see the sunrise. Tickets open 2 days prior to the date you want to go see it. Only 40 tickets are available per sunrise (3am-7am). 

We got our ticket ($1.50 per car) and we were ready to go. I was super excited, but waking up at 2am to hit the roar by 3am was brutal. It was quite dark and the last half of the drive is really windy so be forewarned. Also it is cold up there no matter what season (I was there in June when the days were hottttt) because at 3am-5am the world hasn’t seen the sun in a bit. I recommend bundling up!

When we finally got up there, it was a waiting game. I only got out of the car when I saw groups of people lining up. At first, I didn’t realize that the “water” I thought I was looking at was actually clouds! I was so high up, I was ABOVE THE CLOUDS!!!

Then the sun started to rise and it is slowwwww but beautiful!!

After the sunrise, we did a quick mile hike up to see a little more of the land. Then we headed to breakfast. Note: there are quite a few tour buses that go up so there will be quite a few people so just be prepared to enjoy the sunrise with many. Also check out tours that include this sunrise. It’s not cheap (roughly $100/person) but sometimes it worth it if you didn’t rent a car or don’t want to drive the windy roads up at the crack of dawn (ahem I did that 🙋🏻). Happy adventuring dear friends! xo