I found heaps of useful info reading this sight, so I decided to post my own trip report....
Day 1: Arrive in Maui and pick up rental car (Jeep from Thrifty). I was a little worried about cleanliness after reading reports here, but was very happy. The Jeep had no bells and whistles (actually had to manually roll down the windows!) but was clean and functional. Stopped by McDonald’s as we slept through meals on the plane, so we were starving. I won’t bother writing a food review. Arrived at the Maui Ka’anapali Villas and took a nap. The 1-br condo was large, functional and clean. Older resort, so if you are expecting perfectly manicured grounds and attentive staff, this place is not for you. Walked out to the beach and hopped into the ocean. Ahhh…all of a sudden all the stress melted away and we went into vacation mode. Went into Lahaina and rented snorkel gear from Boss Frog’s ($31 per set per week) and went to Safeway to stock up on supplies. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. It’s located towards the beach and we decided to eat outside, big mistake, too many flies and the food was not that great. For sunset, went to the Sheraton to watch the cliff diver. Very fun, plus the fire dancer was very entertaining. Walked to Whaler’s Village and browsed. Crashed early. Side note: Half of the swimming pools at the Sheraton are closed for renovation.
Day 2: Up bright and early. Ate pineapple at the condo. Is it just me, or does everything taste better in Hawaii? Drove to the Mushroom Rock and Olivine Pools. We found the Mushroom Rock, but drove by the Pools and ended up on a one lane, 2-way road to Kahakuloa. Yikes! Turned around ASAP and headed back to the Pools. Found them! I can’t emphasize the benefit of our Keens. We read about them here, and had never worn them before. The hike down to the pools was through an old lava field and the rocks were sharp. Went to the Honolua Store in Kapalua and had the Loco Moco ($4.75!!). Stopped by Honolua Bay to snorkel. We parked in the sharp curve before the 1 lane bridge. The walk was about 5 minutes. You have to pay $3 dollars per party to enter the private land to reach the beach. The snorkeling was awesome although the visibility wasn’t great. We got there around 9:30 am and it was crowded with a couple of snorkel boats anchored in the bay. Stay on the right side (looking towards the ocean), more fish and the water was warmer. Once again, the Keens were key. Saw a couple trying to navigate the rocks barefoot (Maui owie!).
Day 3: South Maui. First stop - Palauea. Nice sandy, clean, deserted beach. Warmer water than Ka’anapali. We were determined to see a turtle and did within 10 minutes (it helped that a kayak tour was there and yelled “Turtle!” when one was spotted). Off to La Perouse Bay. We (stupidly) forgot extra water, so wasted some time trying to find some – one roadside BBQ guy “didn’t know” if he had any. Whatever dude, mahalo anyways. Hiked through the lava fields – very surreal. By the time we reached the coves at La Perouse, it was too windy to snorkel (around 10 AM). The pools were awesome, though. The most amazing colors of blue we’d ever seen. Had lunch at Jawz Taco truck. Yummy fish tacos! Maui Ocean Center on the way back – not my favorite. The tanks were not labeled in correspondence with the fish they contained. Would be good for kids, though. Back to the condo for a dip into the pool and then off to the Old Lahaina Luau. Loved it! Some of the dishes were hit and miss, but the pig was great. Really great. If you like BBQ pork, skip everything else and just eat the pork. Show was entertaining and the staff couldn’t have been kinder.
Day 4: Snorkeled Black Rock in the morning. It was like swimming in an aquarium! Fantastic! Back to the condo and snorkeled right off the beach there. Great again, although the fish count was less than at Black Rock. Had lunch at Lahaina Fish Co. – nice location, but the sashimi had been pre-made and refrigerated all day, and the coconut shrimp was overcooked. We found that most of the seafood on Maui was cooked too long for our tastes. Lahaina is a very fun place to lose a couple of hours browsing the stores and watching surfers. Happy Hour at Whaler’s Village (had the Ceasar salad at the Hula Grill – very nice and light).
Day 5: Helicopter tour. We went with Mauiscape (through expedia.com). The flight was beautiful, because Maui is beautiful, but the service was lousy. For our 10 AM flight, we were told to check in at Kapului at 9:30 AM, which we did and ended up standing around for more than an hour in front of the store. One fellow flyer was yelled at by the staff because he wandered beyond the first desk in search of a bathroom. The staff seemed bored and not friendly. After we landed, we had to wait around another ~30 minutes on hot tarmac and a barely air conditioned bus for a longer tour to end and to get the next tour boarded. We ended up spending 5 hours (including travel time) for a 45 minute flight. We heard way better reviews from fellow travelers about Blue Hawaiian. Back to the condo for a quick snorkel off the beach, and then off to a sunset sail on the Kapalua Kai (catamaran). Great crew, fun trip, open bar. Scenery was amazing.
to be continued....
Trip report 9/8 - 9/17 - Pt 1 (long)
Can%26#39;t wait to read more. :-)
Trip report 9/8 - 9/17 - Pt 1 (long)
Looking forward to reading more--and seeing your pictures. *g*
Your entire report was awesome!
great report looking forward to more...one question though about the shoes (keen) ...Can you wear them in the water?
Yes, there are certain models (without leather) that you can wear in the water. We bought the Newport H2O and didn%26#39;t even need to break them in. They are very fast drying, too :)
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