Huge difference between Maui and Aruba are the beaches. Really no comparison. Maui is a 10 and Aruba a 6.
Really??? I totally disagree. Although Hawaii is gorgeous and is fantastic for sightseeing, unless your a surfer the beaches in Hawaii are are not as good as Aruba. First time I went to Maui I stayed at Kanapali beach and couldn't even walk on the sand since it was so hot after two or 3 steps I gave up on going into water. Aruba beaches have cool, soft white sand that is easy to get into the crystal clear waters. Eagle beach in Aruba is consistently rated among the top ten in the world and usually in the top five. Palm beach (although Marriott is technically on Palm beach is the poorest stretch and gets worse as you go up to Ritz) is also rated several times in the top 20 in the world.
Weather in Aruba is far superior to Hawaii and is a ten while I would rate Hawaii a 7.5. On my last trip to Hawaii in December I was there for 4 weeks and 4 different Islands. Weather was nice most days for touring at around 70-75 and only got to 80 one day on the big Island which was the only day I was able to go swimming during our 4 week stay. At night we needed a Jacket as temps dropped to 60's and even mid 50's when we got to Honalulu. My wife actually wore her winter coat one night in Honalulu.
Aruba is swimming and sailing every day and 80-85 with almost no rain which is perfect for us to get away during cold winter weeks in NY. Not much to see in Aruba and for scenery it does not compare to Hawaii, but it is the perfect place for water sports (just not for surfing) like sailing, swimming and snorkling ( Hawaii is actually better for snorkling), and just relaxing on the beach. In addition if you like to gamble Aruba has about a dozen casinos at almost every hotel and a couple of timeshares so things to do at night as well.
Finally, we live in NY and direct flights from JFK of about five hours beats Hawaii every time for me. My fourth and last trip to Hawaii was a disaster. I was scheduled for a 3 hour layover in SF which lasted a grueling nine Hours. I didn't get into Maui until 1 AM then was glad to see car rental stayed open due to flight delay but I didn't check in to timeshare until 2:30AM after waiting in line for car and drive to resort. In addition one of my inter island flights was delayed 3 hours due to weather conditions and I was at commuter terminal waiting outside with no AC until we finally left.
For me it's Aruba and St. Lucia plus most any other Caribbean island over Hawaii.