My husband, daughter (age 16 months), and I just returned from 10 wonderful days on Maui! This was our first trip to Hawaii. Hopefully those of you planning trips, especially those considering bringing your little ones along, will find this useful. There is a link to our photos at the end of this report.
Day 1:
We had a morning flight from Houston to Honolulu. My daughter did great on the plane due to our packing plenty of snacks and a bag full of “new” toys (sticker books, magna doodle, play jewelry, etc). We did not purchase a seat for her, but she was actually given one since there were a few empty seats on our plane. We had no problems getting Continental to check our bags straight through to Maui. Connecting in Honolulu was a breeze, just a quick jump on the Wiki Wiki to the Interisland Terminal and we were on our way to our gate, where we were issued boarding passes by Hawaiian Airlines to Kahului.
We arrived in Kahului around 3:30 PM. We rented a car through Budget, which was fine except for having to endure a 20 minute wait for the shuttle. No big deal though. My daughter napped (as it was past her CST bedtime) on the drive from the airport to our condo at the Kahana Sunset. The drive was a great introduction to Maui; it was cloudy, so you could see distinct rays of sunlight shining through onto the mountains – beautiful!
We had pre-arranged to rent a crib, booster seat, safety gate (for stairs), indoor toys, adult beach chair (which we never used), and a beach toy pack from Akamai Mothers. All items were waiting for us in our condo when we arrived. We did a quick inventory at the condo then headed to the Start Market in Honokowai to pick up groceries, diapers, and beach towels (we spent around $250). We intended to pick up dinner at Honokowai Okazuya Deli, but since it was closed, we picked up from the Honokowai Fish Market instead. I had the Cajun mahi tacos - they were just OK. Our first sunset was disappointing as it got covered by thick clouds about 20 minutes before sunset. We were too tired to care and went to bed early.
I wrote a detailed review of the Kahana Sunset, so I won’t bore you with the details here. In short, after visiting several properties, I don’t think we could have picked a better place to stay!
Day 2:
We had a rough first night with my daughter waking up at 1 AM ready to go for the day. My husband got up, fed her breakfast, and watched a movie with her until she fell back asleep around 3 AM. We were all back up for the day around 6 AM. It was wonderful to wake up and see the ocean from our bed and to hear the birds chirping.
We ventured out to the Honokowai Farmer’s Market and picked up 2 loaves of banana bread, pineapple, apple bananas, honey bananas, and 2 dips all for $22. Then it was back to the condo for some beach time.
The beach in front of the Kahana Sunset is called Keonenui Beach. It is fronted only by the Kahana Sunset property which made if very private and never crowded. This first day, we were the only people on the beach. The water was cobalt blue and very calm. It took my daughter a while to get acclimated to the sand and water; she found crawling to be easier than walking at times and was a bit nervous with the waves. After a while, we moved up to the pool. We headed back inside for lunch around 10:45, after which, my daughter took a nap and I returned to the beach to sunbathe.
We went back to the pool that afternoon, then made an easy dinner in the condo. We hung out on our lanai and visited with our neighbors while watching the sunset – it was pretty, but I got frustrated trying to figure out how to get my camera to capture it.
Day 3:
My daughter made it to 4 AM this morning. I made her breakfast then got her back to sleep around 5 AM. We were all back up for the day around 6:30 AM. It was cloudy and rainy, so after breakfast, we decided to drive around and explore. We first drove north to Kapalua as this was our intended destination for the day, then headed south to Ka’anapali. We drove around to get our bearings, then parked at the Hyatt (public beach parking) and explored the hotel grounds and the Ka’anapali beach path for a while.
My daughter loved the flamingos, penguins, and fish at the Hyatt. She was also intrigued by the kiddie pool area and enjoyed walking across the rope bridge. We enjoyed leisurely walking some of the beach path, stopping to take pictures and rest in the hammocks.
We headed back to our condo around 9:30 and took my daughter to the pool even though it was still sprinkling. We had lunch in our condo, and then it was naptime for my daughter and beach time for me.
While lying on the beach, I was delightfully surprised to see whales! I watched them breach and spout water for a good 20 minutes or so. There were at least 3, maybe more. This was such a treat as I hadn’t expected the whales to still be around, much less to randomly catch them putting on such a show!
I laid on the beach for a good 2 hours and was unfortunately deceived by the cloudy weather. I put sunscreen on, but did not reapply and therefore ended up with a pretty good sunburn. To make matters worse, I ended up with 2 distinct white handprints on my left arm where my daughter had rubbed her 70 SPF coated little hands! Very attractive!
Around 3 PM, we headed back to Ka’anapali and explored Whaler’s Village shops and the north end of the beach path. All of the resorts seem so nice, but it seems very busy. I’m particularly fond of our condo’s more secluded, private feel.
We had dinner at the Hula Grill Barefoot Bar. We arrived at 5:00 and had no wait for a table, in fact there never seemed to be a wait at anytime prior to sunset. The food, service, and atmosphere were perfect. My daughter enjoyed the live music (from 5:00-5:30, then again starting at 6:30) and the birds. The musicians sang “It’s a Wonderful World” dedicated to her – she stared at them in awe, waved, and clapped as they used her name several times in the song. Sunset was beautiful!
Day 4:
Today we did the road to Hana. We packed lunches and set out around 6:30 AM. We filled up on gas and grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s in Kahului around 7:10. We were in Paia by 7:30. It was a bit rainy and very overcast, but the trip was great just the same.
We stopped at a few miscellaneous lookouts to see the painted bark eucalyptus trees and other scenic views at the start of the drive, but our first big stop was at Kaumahina State Wayside Park around mile marker 12 at 8:30 AM. The restrooms were great here and the chickens entertained my daughter.
Our next stop, and my third favorite, was the Ke’ane Peninsula around mile marker 16. We took a road that splits off of the main highway. The waves and views were great. The banana bread there was the best we had on the island. We left this stop around 9:20.
Our next stop, my second favorite, was Three Bears Falls (Upper Waikani Falls) just after mile marker 19. Due to the rainy weather, the falls were really flowing and there were even a couple of additional light falls, if you would call them that, at the same stop.
Our last stop, and my favorite, was Wai’anapanapa State Park and the black sand beach. We arrived here at 10:30, ate our picnic lunch, then spent some time on the beach and exploring the cave.
At this point, we realized my daughter had probably had enough, so we turned around. So close to Hana, but we didn’t quite make it. That’s Ok though as we realized it was more about the journey than the destination. We left Wai’anapanapa around 11:30, made a few quick stops at Ho’okipa Beach and Krispy Kreme in Kahului, and finally arrived back at our condo in Kahana at 2:30.
My daughter did OK with the drive, except for one instance. She started gagging at one point, so we quickly pulled over. She threw up just a little bit (miraculously without getting it on me OR her!). We let her walk around and then put on her Sea Bands wrist bracelets to help with the motion sickness and she was fine after that point.
We napped when we got back to the condo, then picked up dinner from Honokowai Okazuya Deli (beef teriyaki – yum!), and watched the sunset from the beach while my daughter played in the sand.
Day 5:
This morning we headed to Kapalua Bay around 6:30 AM. The beach was pretty with gentle waves, but the weather was cloudy, so we came back to the Kahana Sunset. The waves were bigger than they had been the last few days, and my husband was able to boogey board. We saw whales again, only briefly this time, but still so neat!
Around 9:00 we headed to Lahaina to explore. We ate lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was the worst dining experience of our trip. The burgers were fine, but the service was terrible. I can handle slow, but not flat out rude. My daughter enjoyed chasing birds under the Banyan Tree after lunch.
That evening, we used the Nanny Connection so that my husband and I could go out to dinner. Our sitter’s name was Susan – she was great, came supplied with fun toys, instantly established rapport with my daughter, and had her in bed when we got home.
We had dinner at Kimo’s in Lahaina. Our reservation was at 6:00 for a rail table. We arrived at 5:30 and were immediately given one of 2 remaining tables on the rail. The food and ambience were great – I had lobster stuffed mahimahi with Hula Pie for dessert. The service was efficient and polite, yet I felt rushed as if they were trying to turn our table over as quickly as possible (which they probably were). Sunset was disappointing as it was there was lots of vog from Big Island blocking our view. We saw some spouts and splashes from whales, but never saw them breach.
After dinner, we walked through shops in Lahaina. I bought a plumeria necklace from Na Hoku. I was pleased with the experience until they brought us next door for our “Aloha gift”. They took us to the Pearl Factory where we got to open an oyster shell for free. We were then subjected to heavy sales pitch for purchasing a setting for the pearl…ugh, annoying…and of course, we were too polite to just walk away with our free pearl.
Day 6:
It thunderstormed through the night and we woke up to drizzly rain and gray skies. We headed to Gazebo at Napili Shores for breakfast. We arrived at 7:10 and were 3rd in line. By 7:30, there was a substantial line even with the rain. The banana mac pancakes were great and my husband’s French toast looked yummy too. My daughter enjoyed feeding the birds.
After breakfast, we went back to our condo and caught up on laundry while waiting for the showers to clear. By 9:30, the sun was starting to peek out and we headed to the beach. The water was very calm. We saw whales breaching again – this time it looked like a baby and its mother - so amazing! This was the last time we saw them on our trip. Then it was back to the condo for lunch and naptime.
We went to the Old Lahaina Luau that night. We arrived around 5:30 and explored the grounds until they pulled the pig out of the ground at 6:30. The food was terrific! My daughter decided she would only eat pineapple, which was fine since there was plenty of it. She got restless during dinner, so we took turns walking around with her. The show started around 7:45 and was very entertaining.
All in all, it was a good experience, just a little too drawn out and late in the day for my daughter. I would have probably enjoyed it more had I been able to enjoy the open bar (we found out I was pregnant the night before we left for our trip).
Day 7:
This was our last day at the condo and we were very sad to leave! We spent 3 hours at the beach that morning. Later, I returned to the beach while my daughter napped. The sky was clear, the sun bright, the water turquoise, the breeze cool, and the waves gentle – perfection! I watched for whales, but didn’t see them that day.
After my daughter’s nap, we spent some more time at the beach. My husband finally saw the sea turtles that others staying at the Kahana Sunset had told us about. Later, we showered and headed to Lahaina for some shave ice (it is the same as we have here in Texas) and then to the Banyan Tree birthday party (150 years, I think).
Finally, we headed to Ka’anapali for our last West Maui dinner at Hula Grill Barefoot Bar. It was so great the first time, we decided to come back. Atmosphere and food (sesame shrimp and crab wonton appetizers – yum!) were great again, but the service was very slow – 25 minutes to get a diet coke refill. After dinner, we headed for the sand on Ka’anapali beach to take in our last West Maui sunset – the best of our trip!
Back at the condo, I was very grouchy about packing up because I just wanted to stay in “chill” mode!
Day 8:
We finished packing, loaded the car, and headed out of the Kahana Sunset bound for Wailea around 9:00. We drove through S. Kehei on the way as this was an area we had considered staying in. All of the strip malls, cars parked along the street, crowded beach parks, and condos on the opposite side of the main road as the beach were not very appealing to me compared to the peaceful, quiet Kahana / Napili area from which we had just come.
As we drove into Wailea, it was obvious that this was an upscale area. We continued south to Makena while my daughter napped in the car. We stopped for lunch at Seawatch at the Wailea Gold Club – great food and stunning views, relatively cheap ($36 total) too!
Around 11:00, we headed to the Grand Wailea to check-in. They took our bags and got us pre-registered, but said our room was not available yet, so we headed to the pool. Navigating the pools and grounds was very overwhelming. My daughter enjoyed the pools and slides despite the water being cold and her little chin quivering.
It was 1:30 before we were able to get into our room and we had had more than enough sun and pool time for the day by that point. The bellman delivered our bags and they had a crib waiting for us in the room. We were concerned about sharing a room with our daughter, but the orientation of the room made it not so bad. There is a long hallway entrance to the room where we positioned the crib. By opening our side of the connecting door to the room next to us, we were sort of able to keep our daughter’s sleeping area separate from us which allowed us to keep the TV on, talk, etc.
The Grand Wailea is beautiful and our direct ocean view from the 9th floor of the Haleakala wing was stunning, however it was just a bit too large and busy for us ever to feel relaxed while staying here. Some positives were the bathtub, honey melon bath soaps, and a wonderful little restaurant called Café Kula with divine pizza, Lappert’s ice cream, and dry cereals/fruit/milk for breakfast – it is the only place we ate while on the property.
That night we walked the grounds and watched the sunset from the beach – a close second best sunset to the night before. We noticed how brightly the stars and moon shone for the first time that night.
Day 9:
We were up for the day around 6:00 and had family pictures scheduled with Karma Hill at 7:30. We haven’t seen our pictures yet, but she was very friendly and patient with us, spending at least 90 minutes taking our photos on the beach and on the grounds.
We headed to the pool around 9:30. By this point, we were a bit over all of the walking – winding walkways, up and down stairs – required to first get to the pool, then find chairs, then get towels and bracelets from the towel booth – exhausting! I really missed our condo where we were steps from the beach and pool.
We all had fun on the slides and on Baby Beach, a shallow sandy area of the pool for toddlers. We ate lunch and all napped that afternoon. We came back to the pool for a while late that afternoon, then spent some time on the beach. My daughter enjoyed the squishy sand as the waves retreated – she enjoyed making footprints.
Around 4:15, we headed back in for showers. We used the Nanny Connection again that evening. This time we had Kayleen, who was also very friendly and had our daughter in bed when we got home. As we were leaving (at 5:45), she told us that she had to leave by 8:45 at the latest. This was frustrating because when we had estimated that we’d be gone for 3 hours when making our reservation, we didn’t realize that we would truly be limited to this amount of time.
We had a 6:30 reservation at Mama’s Fish House, but had to wait until 6:45 for a table. The atmosphere, both inside and out, was stunning and the service was superb. We got samples of the tomato ginger bisque – best soup I’ve ever had. I got the mahimahi stuffed with crab and onions and topped with a lobster tail and really enoyed it. My husband had the onaga (snapper) and liked it, but thought Kimo’s parmesan crusted version was better.
The kitchen was backed up, so we didn’t get our food until 7:35, 40 minutes after ordering. It wouldn’t have normally bothered us, but we had to eat in a rush in order to make it back for the baby sitter. We were never frustrated with Mama’s, but we were definitely upset with the Nanny Connection for causing our last – and most special – meal on Maui to be rushed.
Day 10:
We spent our last morning on the beach, then packed up and checked out around 10:30 AM. We noticed that all of the upper pools (which includes the slides %26amp; water elevator) were closed. We later found out that they would be closed for 3 days for cleaning. It didn’t matter to us, but there were some very irate people at the front desk when we checked out. Apparently, the only notice anyone got was a slip of paper under their door the night before.
We ate lunch at Seascapes (OK food, neat view of Ma’alea harbor) and then toured the Maui Ocean Center for about an hour. We then headed to the airport to catch our interisland flight to Honolulu. We had a red eye back to Houston – thankfully my daughter slept the whole time!
SUMMARY:
All in all, a great trip. No regrets about bringing my daughter. I’m glad we got to experience both West Maui and South Maui. I’m also glad we tried both the condo and resort experience. So many memories!
Here’s a link to the pictures I took while on our trip:
…smugmug.com/gallery/…524509194_DAhHa
Trip Report with Toddler (April 19-28)
Aloha wufpack,
LOVED your report....my very favorite part was when the musicians at the Hula Grill sang to your little doll baby. What a cute daughter you have and her response was just too adorable!! Thank you for sharing pictures too.
Trip Report with Toddler (April 19-28)
Your report was great! Makes me want to go back, right now. :)
Congrats on the new baby news too!
Ha ha @ the spf 70 handprints. Once a Mom you are marked forever! Great trip report, loved it all.
I really enjoyed your report!
I applaud you for doing it all with a toddler in tow.
And lovely photos as well. Glad you had a great time!
I loved your report and pics. What a sweet little girl! Congratulations on the new baby.
I really appreciate your trip report. All the info was very helpful to me. We are headed to Maui on May 13th with an 18 month old. Our first trip with a little one. It has always been just the two of us before so I was quite interested in your thoughts and ideas as well as your solutions.
Super pictures as well. I only hope our trip goes as smoothly as yours did. Again, thanks for sharing and giving me hope!!!
wufpack - What a lovely trip report! Photos, too - thoroughly appreciate the effort. Sounds like a great trip, I certainly enjoyed reading about it.
Mahalo for taking the time to share so much with us.
Congratulations on the new blessing.
Sounds like a fantastic trip and I loved your photos. I LOVE the bathing suit/coverup/hat your daughter had - how smart.
and congrats on the new addition
Great report - thanks! I know people traveling to Maui with little ones will appreciate all the detail. It%26#39;s important to know what to expect. And of course we all appreciate dining details.
Congrats on the new little one. Now you%26#39;ll know what to expect when he/she makes the first (or second, actually!) trip to Maui.
We love, love, love taking our 2 kids there. I even did the flights/car rental/checkin/shopping by myself with them in tow once when hubby had to join us late and leave early.
Wow, great report. Love to hear about peoples%26#39; experiences with toddlers and traveling. It is different for everyone. We have stayed in Kahana 4 pr 5 times and love the peacefulness also. Tried Kihei last year and actually kinda liked it too because we found a half-dozen awesome beaches - a few that were nearly empty of people. I%26#39;ll have to look at all of your pictures after my afternoon classes.
Congratulations on your pregnancy. Hope you can bring both little ones to Maui in a year or so. Then a condo is definitely the way to go. Many blessings to you and yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment