Maui Tropical Plantation

A Botanic Paradise in Hawaii

The Maui Tropical Plantation is a Hawaiian botanical garden. It's a beautiful venue for a wedding or any event which requires a South Pacific setting amid exotic flowers and swaying palms.

Maui Tropical Plantation country store. Bromeliads and red ti plants growing outside the Plantation's country store.

Tiny and I didn't tie the knot in Hawaii but, if we had, this is where we would have done it!

The grounds of this 60 acre plantation are so spacious and lovely. And there are several different spots here which are perfect for a wedding or special event.

My favorite is the lagoon terrace which will accommodate 800 guests.

Maui Tropical Plantation lagoon area.

Maui Tropical Fruit

All the wonderful tropical fruit grown on this romantic island takes center stage here.

I am a tropical fruit fanatic and, of all the scrumptious food we ate during our Maui tropical vacation, it's what I enjoyed the most.

We live in Florida and we grow pineapples in our yard. Our home grown pineapple is sweet and juicy but there is no comparison between pineapple grown in Florida and Maui pineapples.

They are just different--and better!

It must have something to do with all that rich, volcanic soil.

I found the same thing to be true of the papaya. Hawaiian papaya is another of my favorite fruits and I sometimes grow papayas from seed.

Again, there's no comparison between what I can grow in Florida and what I tasted in Hawaii.

My Maui advice: Sample as much fruit as you can during your stay on this verdant island and then have some shipped to your home address.

You can't just send yourself a box of tropical Maui fruit. Agricultural products have to be certified in order to be shipped into the continental U.S. (they check at the post office).

The country store at the Maui Tropical Plantation has certified fruits and vegetables that they will pack and ship to your door. I didn't take advantage of this service and have always regretted it. I wish I had shipped at least 1 of those delicious, fragrant pineapples to myself.

Admission to the Maui Plantation grounds and country store is free. The store is a good place to pick up souvenirs. The macadamia nut products are a good bargain. And, if you like candy, you'll want to try the salt water taffy.

If you want to see all the crops: coffee, macadamia nut trees, mango, taro, banana plants, star fruit and guava trees in addition to the aforementioned pineapple and papaya, take the tram tour.

This is a 30-40 minute open-air ride around the Maui Plantation garden. The tour guide will tell you all about the various crops as you pass them and will even demonstrate how to husk a coconut. This entertaining and slightly frightening demonstration is the thing I remember most vividly about the tram tour.

Maui Tropical Plantation coconut demo.

Maui Tropical Flowers

There are many colorful flowers growing at the Maui Tropical Plantation. The yellow, trumpet-shaped allamanda flowers and the Hibiscus bushes were gorgeous as were the Bougainvillea vines but my absolute favorite Maui tropical flower has to be the plumeria which seemed to be growing everywhere on this island.

Now, I've seen plumeria growing in other places. But here it grows into a 40 foot tree! The fragrant flowers are constantly falling. Where plumeria is used as a street tree, the sidewalks are littered with the blooms.

There is a plumeria garden on the grounds of the Maui Tropical Plantation. This is a good place to see different plumeria varieties grown in different ways (some as trees, others as shrubs).