Maui On My Mind

Aloha! Well I've been home from Maui for a week now and I gotta say it's been a big bummer adjusting to the time change and this fall weather!  I'm a summer time gal so I prefer the warmth of the sun over this overcast drizzle.  For anyone who is interested, here is a day by day overview of our trip.  We pretty much did "all the things" to some degree.

Day 1 got off to a slow start because we sat on the tarmac for nearly 3 hours waiting for our plane to depart.  So we arrived late but the nice inn keepers at The Inn at Mama's Fish House were able to accommodate our late arrival and even pushed back our dinner reservations.  

Things to note:  Mama's Fish House is a well recognized "must visit" restaurant located in Paia Hawaii (north east side of island).  It is the kind of place where the name of the fisherman who caught your dinner is listed on the menu.  It is that fresh.  We didn't recognize many of the types of fish, but our server was happy to tell us all about it and we were both happy with our choices.  The schooner sized Mai-Tai also added a lot of Hawaiian ambiance.  The grounds are beautiful and seaside, which patrons frequently roam while waiting to be seated.  Since we were staying at the Inn at Mama's Fish House we also used the beach (called Mama's) as our personal retreat.  We saw a sea turtle and a Macaw!  I'm not sure what to make of the Macaw, but we saw him sitting and singing in a coconut tree.  Just added to the magic of Hawaii.

I loved staying in Paia.  I ended up being a bit bummed that our plane was so late because we didn't have much time in this cute town, and the late arrival cut into our time here.  There are very few accommodation options here, and I don't think any of them compare to the Inn at Mama's Fish House, so just stay here.  There are 12 boutique type rooms/units all with some type of kitchen and sitting area.  To get all the details call me.

There is quite a bit of shopping and some good restaurant options too, and you are in a good location for your drive to Hana, which we did on day 2.

The Inn at Mama's Fish House

Day 2 started off super early due to jet lag.  We went out to Mama's Beach (with the provided beach towels and chairs AND welcome bananas and banana bread) to watch the sun rise.  After we greeted the day we set off on the road to Hana.  Which is sorta horrible and I couldn't recommend but also sorta neat so you should probably do it, ha!  Things to note:

Devote an ENTIRE day for this excursion if you want to make it to Hana or the southern entrance to Haleakala National Park (Kipahula).  Basically it's this super curvy road with over 620 hairpin curves and 50 one way bridges.  And because I wanted to experience EVERYTHING we went all the way to Kipahula.  We made a few stops but didn't spend a whole bunch of time at any of them and spent 10-11 hours round trip.  You can make the drive yourself, or you can book a tour (Tours are all pretty small because a large bus could't fit on this road.  It's all mini-buses.)  Things to see along the way: the sea, waterfalls, black and red sand beaches.  There is also hiking and food truck parks.  If you want to know more call me.  I have a lot of thoughts on this!

One of our stops on the road to Hana.  Black sand/volcanic rock.

Day 3 had us on the road again, this time to Haleakala National Park, but before we hit the road we took most of the morning to roam about Paia.  Paia is also where we discovered our love of Ululani's Shave Ice.  So Good.  Like I said, I like this town.  One of the "things to do" is to watch the sunrise (or set) on Haleakala, which is a dormant volcano.  You can do this on your own or book a tour, but we went mid-day and managed to miss the sun spectacle. As far as national parks go, we both like Volcano National Park on Hawaii, Hawaii better, but since we missed the sun at Haleakala maybe we don't have a good vantage point from which to judge.  If you want to hike, there isn't much hiking.  But you do get good views-we saw all the way to the big island. If you want to experience the sun rise, there are a few things you need to know before going.  Call me!

The top of Haleakala-above the clouds!

Proof we do what we say we do

Day 4 finally had us at the beach!  Hawaii is such an amazing place to visit because it is SO MUCH MORE than beach, but I do love the beach.  We stayed on Ka'anapali Beach, but more later on that, because today was our splurge activity of a sailing/snorkel tour to the nearby island of Lana'i.  Lana'i basically has one resort (The Four Seasons) and a little town.  Sad to say we didn't go on the tour of the town, but I'm not sad we had a SNUBA experience instead.  I didn't think I would want to SNUBA but the hubs did and it ended up being super fun, and now I'm even more comfortable snorkeling.  We went on this fantastic tour (that left at daybreak, another early morning, we have things to do!) and included breakfast, coffee, sailing, Hawaiian BBQ lunch at Lana'i and cocktails.  You need to book this tour.  Call me!

We spent the afternoon in the super cute and historic whaling village, Lahaina.  Tons of shopping and a free museum that offers history of Hawaii-it was a great place to spend some time.

Lana'i coastline

Me in probably the most fantastical pose of the trip

Fish in Lana'i

SNUBA!

Hulopo'e Beach at Lana'i (those green roofs are the Four Season)

Day 5 was my birthday!  And I spent it at the beach, which made it pretty much perfect for me.  We started at Ka'anapali beach which has tons and tons of sand and nice snorkeling.  There are a whole lot of resorts and condos here, so call me and I'll help you find the right one!  Next beach we visited was Kapalua which also had some snorkeling, but not as much sand.  It was a little more crowded just because it is smaller.  We also stopped by a few resorts so I could put my eyes on them-it's such hard work checking out beaches and resorts, but someone has to do it!  We stayed at The Whaler but got to look at quite a few other properties as well.  Call me to help you choose!

The sunrise from our room at The Whaler.  That's Ka'anapali Beach and Lana'i in the distance

Day 6 was another beach day.  We drove south down the coastline to the Wailea area, the location of a lot of upscale resorts.  Pro tip: all the beaches are public, even if located directly in front of a fancy resort!  This was one of our favorite days.  We spent most of the day on Ulua Beach which had FANTASTIC snorkeling.  Another pro-tip: buy your own snorkel gear.  It's inexpensive and you can more easily snorkel any time you want!  You don't need flippers, just get a mask and snorkel.  

On our drive back we stopped at the small city Kihei and saw Kamaole III beach, which would also be a great place to spend the day.  Kihei has quite a bit of shopping and restaurants too, and we enjoyed spending some time in this low key town.

Ulua Beach

Day 7, and we are sad that we are leaving today.  But the good thing about traveling from Hawaii is that all flights back to the main land leave in the evening, so you have a bonus day!  We spent a bit of time in the morning on the beach and I got to snorkel with a sea turtle!  It was so cool.  In the afternoon we spent some time at Iao Valley State Park.  There was a little hiking and a great waterfall.  We also made a visit to Wailuku for malasadas (which turns out is maybe more popular on Ohau, I had a hard time finding them on Maui) and some food truck Thai food.  Yum.  And a final stop at Ululani's, my favorite shave ice.

Iao Valley

Iao Valley

 Until next time Hawaii, until next time....Mahalo!