Everyone who has tried the several luaus available on Maui seems to agree that the Old Lahaina Luau is the best one. Your seat is reserved when you make your advance reservation. Before the dinner and show begin, you can have all the fancy Hawaiian drinks you like, while you watch the sunset from this gorgeous beachfront setting. They have been cooking a whole pig all day in a pit in the ground, and the crowd gathers to watch the ceremony as they dig it up. Then you line up for the large buffet dinner, which includes some familiar foods and a few strange Hawaiian ones. (My favorite is the kalua pig, which consists of very tasty shredded pork. The strangest thing on the buffet is poi, a Hawaiian staple similar to wallpaper paste.) After dinner, they put on a beautiful show on the central stage, with hula dancers and singers demonstrating music from various different Pacific islands. The whole luau, including dinner and show, is outdoors.
LOTS more information about Maui activities, sights, restaurants and hotels at
www.mauihawaii.org