Maui | Acai Bowls, Coffee, and Ocean Views
My favorite Maui mornings started with fresh acai bowls, Hawaiian coffee, beachy vibes, and the feel of the ocean breeze.
Directly across the street from the small-but-sweet Honokowai Beach Park in Lahaina is a shopping center that I could have stopped at every single morning of our vacation. The Honokowai Beach Shopping Center is home to Farmers Market Maui, a natural food store that makes the best acai bowls I had on the island, and Bad Ass Coffee. It’s only a few miles away from the resort area in Lahaina, but everything about this part of town feels like a beachy spot for locals.
farmer’s market Maui
By the name, you’d think Farmer’s Market Maui is a traditional open-air market, but it is actually a natural food store with organic produce, natural products, and a deli counter that makes sandwiches, smoothies, juices, and….INCREDIBLE ACAI BOWLS. We tried acai bowls at other places in West Maui, but none of them compared to the ones at Farmer’s Market Maui. I ordered the O.M.G. Bowl and Mr. San Diego got the Greengo.
Something about their bowls is just BETTER. Maybe it’s the organic ingredients they use, maybe it’s the bee pollen…whatever it is, I fell madly in love. The added bonus was picking up a coffee next door and then walking across the street to enjoy our bowls at the beach park. If you’re looking for a healthy breakfast with a local vibe, this is your place.
Bad Ass Coffee
While Bad Ass Coffee might be a chain with locations all over the states, they’re a Hawaiian-born company that makes excellent Hawaiian coffee. It’s just a small storefront without any indoor seating, but you wouldn’t want to stay indoors anyways with how close they are to the beach. They have a small outdoor covered seating area right in front if you wanted to stay and enjoy the vibe.
The line was pretty long each time we went, so if you’re in a rush…this isn’t the place to stop unless you get there REAL early. Locals and tourists alike frequent this location, and there is usually only one or two baristas behind the counter. Make sure you bring your patience and acclimate to island time - it’s worth it.
honokowai beach
The area surrounding the shopping center was adorable. You have Honokowai Beach Park directly across the street and a tiny but ADORABLE church right next door. As I mentioned earlier, this part of town seems like a popular spot for locals. Once you drive past the park, it becomes very residential.
The beach itself isn’t very big and is more of a park than a sandy beach, so I wouldn’t recommend it as a spot to layout to sunbathe, but it could be a fun place to let kids run around and play. We saw a bunch of locals with their kids on the playground, and some older men by the water fishing. The parking lot isn’t the biggest, but it wasn’t very crowded any of the mornings we went.
MORE ABOUT MAUI
If you want to read my other blog posts about the places I visited in Maui, you can check them out here: