Kahului is where you’ll find Maui’s airport. That’s pretty much where the excitement ends. The area is flat plains and perfect for strip malls, shopping centers, and an airport. Kahului was built by the plantation company Alexander and Baldwin back in the 1950s.

If you’re expecting fresh, new, clean, and vibrant, reset your expectations. The original objective of Kahului was to provide housing for plantation workers.

Other than the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, there’s not much to Kahului’s landmarks—shopping malls, discount stores, fast food places. All fit within the list of places you want to be sure to hit—on your way out of town.

Like Arnold, Kahului is large, spread out, easy to navigate and expectations are met. Stores. Food. Airport. Gasoline. Rental cars. No excitement here.

Like Danny DeVito, the real character is in Wailuku. But you’ll have to scratch the surface to find it.

Downtown Wailuku has been hurt by business in Kahului. Shopping malls and Wal-Marts have a tendency to depress the inner workings and downtowns of most of small town America, and Wailuku is no different. Store after store in the 1950s era downtown section has been shuttered closed. There’s only a few minutes between the shopping mall and downtown Wailuku so local residents bypass downtown in droves, and head for the bargains in Kahului. CostCo, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart will do that to folks.

Now, scratch the surface. The area around downtown Wailuku is charming and pleasantly furnished and decorated with sidewalks, large green trees, and many old Hawaii homes. Here and there are galleries, antique shops, and home furnishing stores.

Wailuku is also where you go for culture and history, despite the Cultural Center’s location in Kahului. Kaahumanu Church is just a few blocks from downtown on High Street. The Bailey House Museum isn’t far away, either.

Caroline and Edward Bailey were originally missionaries to Hawaii. Once they found out about the riches available to plantation owners, they started their own and then lived happily for 45 years in their Wailuku home. Although it was built back in 1833, the Museum still feels like someone’s home.

And that’s the difference between Wailuku (the home) and Kahului (the shopping center). Both are a part of Maui’s culture. One has and the other doesn’t.

You can probably relax better in Wailuku than in Kahului.

Want to know the best places to eat in Hawaii? Click over to Ono Dining for totally biased reviews on Hawai's best (and not so best) restaurants.