Belated Trip Report - Maui & Kauai Sept '05
Jan 20th, 2006, 05:59 PM
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Belated Trip Report - Maui & Kauai Sept '05
Hi everyone. I’m new to posting but have been lurking for a couple years now. Since these boards have been such a great resource in planning my trip to Thailand next month, I thought it was high time I contributed something back to the community. Please excuse the belatedness of this trip report.
Basics: DH and I in our late 20s. We live in Los Angeles, so not really looking to Hawaii for upscale shopping or fine dining. We generally try to do independent-type traveling and try to avoid lame tourist traps. We were hoping to soak up some the natural beauty of the islands. We spent 5 nights in Maui and 3 in Kauai, September 2005. First time visiting for both of us. I have to say, Hawaii amazed me – I was expecting lots of overdevelopment and touristy commercialism, but found the islands to be truly magical. I think I’m going to have to go back for more!
MAUI
We stayed at The Whaler on Kaanapali Beach, unit 402, rented directly from the owner at ultimatemauicondo.com. The location was great – steps from Black Rock and right next door to Whaler’s Village. Furniture was also nice - kind of Tommy Bahama style.
We arrived in the afternoon, unpacked, and then headed to Laihana town for a late lunch. Ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Good place for a casual lunch. I loved the banyan tree. DH didn’t believe me at first when I told him it was just one tree covering the entire park. Laihana town otherwise just seemed filled with tourist shops and art galleries. Cute, though.
The next day, we used Maui Revealed “MR” (thanks for that tip everyone!) and decided to drive clockwise (northeast?) on the island to check out some of the sights. We stopped for breakfast at The Gazebo in Napili – really long line but the food was excellent. Super yummy macadamia nut/banana/pineapple pancakes. The view was also amazing – we even some whales swim by! Rented some snorkel gear at Boss Frogs (or Snorkel Bobs? can’t remember) while we were in Napili (used the 50% coupon in the entertainment guide). If you haven’t snorkled a lot, I suggest springing the extra money for the set that doesn’t allow water to come down the tube – makes a huge difference. We then headed over to Kapalua to check out the Ritz and the “dragons teeth” formation mentioned in MR. Pretty cool, but ok to skip. Next up was a little bit of hiking to see the blowhole and the ‘olivine pools’. I have to stop for a minute to thank the fodorite (Roxy, I think) who wrote about the Solomon amphibian trek shoes. I bought pairs for both us before our trip and they were an absolute lifesaver! I am a little nervous when it comes to heading up and down steep inclines (I don’t have a lot of confidence in my footing) and if it weren’t for these shoes I probably would never have made it to half the sights we saw. Anyway, the blowhole was very cool, as was the weird black jagged landscape we walk through to get down to see it. We parked at the wrong mile marker by accident and ended up taking a much longer and more treacherous hike down than we needed to, but oh well, still worth it. The olivine pools were incredible, and probably one of my favorite sights – you sit sheltered in these little pools of water while these violent waves crash all around you. The water in the pools is really warm and salty. DH, who has never been able to float in a swimming pool (I know, its weird, I think he suffers from really dense legs or something) floated for the first time! I returned back at the condo with a nice sunburn – guess I underestimated how much time we would be in the sun that first day! We had dinner at Hula Grill right next door in Whalers Village. Nice atmosphere, fairly good food.
The next day we hung out around Kaanapali, snorkled around black rock, and walked down the path to check out some of the other hotels. I think I liked the Westin the best of those hotels – nice grounds and pool, better beach than in front of the Hyatt, and less confusing layout than the Sheraton. Spent the rest of the day laying on the beach and lounging in the spa at the Whaler. We had made reservations for the Old Lahaina Luau that night. Gorgeous location. Excellent friendly service. Plenty of drinks. Decent food by buffet standards. The dancing was first rate and the costumes were really impressive. I was glad we decided to sit at the table instead of the mats – comfort over novelty, I guess.
Day 3 was dedicated to the Road to Hana. I had heeded everyone’s advice to leave as early in the morning as possible. I used MR, which was great. The only problem is that they don’t tell you that if you stop at every place they suggest, you will be lucky if you make it to Hana by sunset (forget about the Venus Pool or the Seven Sacred Pools). We did, however, get to stop and see some incredible sights. We picked up sandwiches in Paia. The little town looked very cool. I would have liked to have hung out there longer. Per MR, we skipped the first set of falls. The scenery was becoming more and more green and lush. Stunning. We stopped at Ching’s Pond, which was freezing cold. It took about 20 minutes of coaxing before I get in up to my shoulders. I really liked the secluded feeling of it and the way the water rushes down over the rocks was really pretty – and a good photo op! Also checked out Blue Pool, this road that led you through a very green and very lush neighborhood until you hit the water (stopped there for lunch), and countless waterfalls. You could tell who was using MR because we would all stop at the same places at the same time, with the telltale blue book – very funny. A little story – When we got to Black Sand Beach (which I LOVED LOVED LOVED), we saw another couple who we kept bumping into on the various stops. The girl came up to my husband to tell him how much her boyfriend admired this beaded wooden necklace my husband was wearing and wanted to know where he purchased it. She seemed disappointed to learn that he got from a trip to Mexico a few months earlier. As we were leaving, my husband decided to offer the necklace to the boyfriend, you know, aloha spirit and all. The boyfriend was very surprised and appreciative after DH insisted he take it. DH felt a little bit of remorse later (“I miss my necklace”) but reminded himself that if you put good things out there, somehow it will come back to you. Well, our next stop was red sand beach, and by this time it was getting late and people were clearing the beaches. As we descended down to the beach, we saw a really interesting looking older hippie couple starting to roll up some packages on the beach. The man looked up at my husband, “Do you need a necklace?”. Crazy, only a few minutes after my husband gave his away! We looked at their work (really intricate stuff, high quality beads from all over the world) and chatted for a while. I decided to purchase a jade bracelet but my husband couldn’t find a necklace that really suited him. He was admiring this bracelet but we determined that we didn’t have enough cash on us to purchase both bracelets. The man said that he trusted to us to just mail him the money later. Sweet, but we declined – hubby really wanted a necklace. Anyway, after I paid for the bracelet and we were saying goodbye, the woman whispered something to the man, he nodded his head, and then she put the bracelet on my husband’s wrist – “for you”, she said. My husband offered to pay but they both declined – just said the bracelet belonged with him. Stuff like this kept happening to us the entire time in Hawaii – everyone just being so kind and generous. Maui can make a karma believer out of anyone.
Anyway, back to the road to Hana. We hauled butt to see the Seven Sacred Pools before the sun set. Sadly, we didn’t have time to hike up through the bamboo forest (another time I suppose). By this time it was dark and we had a decision to make – go back on the road the way we came (with all the twisty-turvy roads and one-way bridges in the dark) or continue on the “forbidden” back way in our basic american sedan rental. A couple we met at the Pools who lived on Maui advised us to just spend the night in Hana – they said we would be crazy to head home the back because we might puncture a tire. Being the stupid tourists that we are, we decided to just go for it and hope the car could make it. Umm, probably not the best idea. The road was really dark, really bumpy, and really hilly at times. The best part was pulling over the side of the road were it was absolutely pitch black except for the stars. It felt absolutely surreal because with car lights off you really couldn’t see anything – a mountain could have been 2 feet next to me and I wouldn’t have known. The sky looked like the inside of a domed planetarium – unreal. But maybe I’m just easily impressed by this stuff cause I live in the light pollution of the city.
We finally made back to civilization, exhausted and hungry. Our condo owner recommended we have dinner at the Paia Fishmarket. Excellent fresh fish, but nothing fancy at all. Wooden benches kind of place. Huge portions. Overall, for anyone deciding whether or not the Road to Hana is worth doing, please strongly consider it – there are some really amazing things to see and the drive isn’t all that bad. If I could do it again, I would have spent a night in Hana so that we would have had more time to see everything suggested in MR.
The next day we had booked a turtle reef kayak and snorkeling tour, as this was the only way DH could be certain to see his beloved turtles. We had a discount coupon from the Entertainment Book. There were only 4 other people in our group. Our guide was great and really made sure we saw plenty of turtles and other sea life. I got pretty nauseous about halfway through, which our guide said was common for people who get seasick. Something about looking down while you're snorkeling while the waves bob you up and down. We spent the rest of the day checking out the Wailea hotels. We had lunch by the pool at Grand Wailea – lots of kids, amazing water slides but the hotel personnel seemed to be pretty strict about making sure only hotel guests were using the pool, so we continued on looking for another hotel’s pool to mooch off of. We ended up at the Four Seasons and spent a few very relaxing hours. Very classy hotel, excellent drinks, elegant pools, five-star service. There were LOTS of honeymooners though, and I swear I saw one couple getting on in the pool – ew! For dinner, we went looking for something low-key in Lahaina town. Per MR, we checked out Kahuna Kabob in a courtyard shopping area catty-corner from Cheeseburger in Paradise. The place is just a stand with some plastic chairs and tables, but we had this amazing seared tuna special with wasabi potatoes and curry sauce. Best meal I’ve ever had in a styrofoam container. Highly recommend this place if you are looking for some good cheap grub.
KAUAI
After reading so much about the Hyatt in Poipu on these boards, I decided to try to fit it within our budget. I couldn’t find a rate anywhere under $300 a night, so I just ended up purchasing the Hyatt Stay certificates from their website for $250. We were upgraded upon arrival to an ocean view room after my husband buttered up the desk clerk. The grounds are beautiful and the lobby is spacious and airy. Our room was probably a 10 minute walk from the lobby, but a had a balcony with a very nice view. There is a monk seal that hangs out by the beach which was very cool to see. Unfortunately, the rest of the hotel was an absolute disappointment. I will probably get beaten on this board for saying this, but I found the Hyatt to essentially be a hotel of 3 star quality and service at 5 star prices. When the rooms are $300 and up, you would think that you would not be completely nickel and dimed for every little thing you need. First of all, the day we arrived we thought we would have lunch by the pool, since we had such a nice poolside meal at the Grand Wailea. Big mistake. Instead of a restaurant or outdoor grill, the Hyatt has what is essentially like a school cafeteria. For something like $14 you can help yourself to a microwaved chicken sandwich complete with plastic forks. My husband had a slice of microwaved pizza that was absolutely gross. Please believe that I am not a food snob – I love junk food and never thought I would meet a slice of pizza I wouldn’t like. But the food was horrendous and there was no service (unless you count the “cooks” who will zap your food for you). The prices were insulting considering the level of quality. The pools were nice, but again, if you wanted anything, like a shade for your chaise, you had to pay for it. Also, the pool with “sand” wasn’t really even made with sand, but this weird silicon substance. The final straw for me was when we decided we wanted to rent kayaks to go up Wailua River. We went to the concierge desk for suggestions. They told us that they only assist with booking guided kayak trips. If we wanted to rent our own we would have to call ourselves, he said. He gave us some generic Kauai tourist brochure to use as a reference. As walking to our room and back would take another 20 minutes, I asked if we could at least use the concierge phone. He said that I could tell him which places to call, he would dial, but then I would have to get on the phone to make the arrangements myself. Give me a break!! The concierge service turned out to be more of a dis-service! As he wasn’t acting like a jerk about it, I am inclined to think that this was the hotel’s policy – only help the guests with tour operators who agree to line the hotel’s pockets. Heck with everyone else, I guess. Needless to say, I left a less than complimentary comment card upon leaving.
Ok, now that I got that rant out of the way, I have to say I loved Kauai. Particularly the north side by Hanalei Bay. Absolutely magical. We snorkeled at Tunnels (I got thrown around a bit by the waves), hiked the Na Pali coast, kayaked and swam in the river (yes, we were able to get the kayaks ourselves after a few phone calls!), caught the sunset and had drinks at Princeville (a must!) and did some shopping. I loved the roosters!
Dinner at the Beach House was amazing. Make your reservations early (I think 6pm is good) to get a good table. Great food, service, and view. Very reasonable prices. After dinner, while walking back to our car, we met some local guys drinking beers out of the back of a parked truck. The nicest guys! We ended up talking for about an hour. They were all musicians and involved with a program that keeps kids off meth. They gave us a signed CD of theirs and their number and told us to please call them if we ever come back. The kindness of the Hawaiian people never ceased to amaze me
The little villages around Poipu were also nice – some nice galleries and shops. Do try the Kauai Pie ice cream at Lapperts!! Yumm!! I would have liked to have seen Kauai by helicopter and have seen Waimea canyon. Next time I would also stay on the north side, as the scenery is much nicer and it seems like there is more to do.
I found more than what I was looking for in Hawaii – breathtaking landscapes, beautiful beaches, a great time, and of course, the aloha spirit!
Thanks again for all the advice!! Happy travels!
Basics: DH and I in our late 20s. We live in Los Angeles, so not really looking to Hawaii for upscale shopping or fine dining. We generally try to do independent-type traveling and try to avoid lame tourist traps. We were hoping to soak up some the natural beauty of the islands. We spent 5 nights in Maui and 3 in Kauai, September 2005. First time visiting for both of us. I have to say, Hawaii amazed me – I was expecting lots of overdevelopment and touristy commercialism, but found the islands to be truly magical. I think I’m going to have to go back for more!
MAUI
We stayed at The Whaler on Kaanapali Beach, unit 402, rented directly from the owner at ultimatemauicondo.com. The location was great – steps from Black Rock and right next door to Whaler’s Village. Furniture was also nice - kind of Tommy Bahama style.
We arrived in the afternoon, unpacked, and then headed to Laihana town for a late lunch. Ate at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Good place for a casual lunch. I loved the banyan tree. DH didn’t believe me at first when I told him it was just one tree covering the entire park. Laihana town otherwise just seemed filled with tourist shops and art galleries. Cute, though.
The next day, we used Maui Revealed “MR” (thanks for that tip everyone!) and decided to drive clockwise (northeast?) on the island to check out some of the sights. We stopped for breakfast at The Gazebo in Napili – really long line but the food was excellent. Super yummy macadamia nut/banana/pineapple pancakes. The view was also amazing – we even some whales swim by! Rented some snorkel gear at Boss Frogs (or Snorkel Bobs? can’t remember) while we were in Napili (used the 50% coupon in the entertainment guide). If you haven’t snorkled a lot, I suggest springing the extra money for the set that doesn’t allow water to come down the tube – makes a huge difference. We then headed over to Kapalua to check out the Ritz and the “dragons teeth” formation mentioned in MR. Pretty cool, but ok to skip. Next up was a little bit of hiking to see the blowhole and the ‘olivine pools’. I have to stop for a minute to thank the fodorite (Roxy, I think) who wrote about the Solomon amphibian trek shoes. I bought pairs for both us before our trip and they were an absolute lifesaver! I am a little nervous when it comes to heading up and down steep inclines (I don’t have a lot of confidence in my footing) and if it weren’t for these shoes I probably would never have made it to half the sights we saw. Anyway, the blowhole was very cool, as was the weird black jagged landscape we walk through to get down to see it. We parked at the wrong mile marker by accident and ended up taking a much longer and more treacherous hike down than we needed to, but oh well, still worth it. The olivine pools were incredible, and probably one of my favorite sights – you sit sheltered in these little pools of water while these violent waves crash all around you. The water in the pools is really warm and salty. DH, who has never been able to float in a swimming pool (I know, its weird, I think he suffers from really dense legs or something) floated for the first time! I returned back at the condo with a nice sunburn – guess I underestimated how much time we would be in the sun that first day! We had dinner at Hula Grill right next door in Whalers Village. Nice atmosphere, fairly good food.
The next day we hung out around Kaanapali, snorkled around black rock, and walked down the path to check out some of the other hotels. I think I liked the Westin the best of those hotels – nice grounds and pool, better beach than in front of the Hyatt, and less confusing layout than the Sheraton. Spent the rest of the day laying on the beach and lounging in the spa at the Whaler. We had made reservations for the Old Lahaina Luau that night. Gorgeous location. Excellent friendly service. Plenty of drinks. Decent food by buffet standards. The dancing was first rate and the costumes were really impressive. I was glad we decided to sit at the table instead of the mats – comfort over novelty, I guess.
Day 3 was dedicated to the Road to Hana. I had heeded everyone’s advice to leave as early in the morning as possible. I used MR, which was great. The only problem is that they don’t tell you that if you stop at every place they suggest, you will be lucky if you make it to Hana by sunset (forget about the Venus Pool or the Seven Sacred Pools). We did, however, get to stop and see some incredible sights. We picked up sandwiches in Paia. The little town looked very cool. I would have liked to have hung out there longer. Per MR, we skipped the first set of falls. The scenery was becoming more and more green and lush. Stunning. We stopped at Ching’s Pond, which was freezing cold. It took about 20 minutes of coaxing before I get in up to my shoulders. I really liked the secluded feeling of it and the way the water rushes down over the rocks was really pretty – and a good photo op! Also checked out Blue Pool, this road that led you through a very green and very lush neighborhood until you hit the water (stopped there for lunch), and countless waterfalls. You could tell who was using MR because we would all stop at the same places at the same time, with the telltale blue book – very funny. A little story – When we got to Black Sand Beach (which I LOVED LOVED LOVED), we saw another couple who we kept bumping into on the various stops. The girl came up to my husband to tell him how much her boyfriend admired this beaded wooden necklace my husband was wearing and wanted to know where he purchased it. She seemed disappointed to learn that he got from a trip to Mexico a few months earlier. As we were leaving, my husband decided to offer the necklace to the boyfriend, you know, aloha spirit and all. The boyfriend was very surprised and appreciative after DH insisted he take it. DH felt a little bit of remorse later (“I miss my necklace”) but reminded himself that if you put good things out there, somehow it will come back to you. Well, our next stop was red sand beach, and by this time it was getting late and people were clearing the beaches. As we descended down to the beach, we saw a really interesting looking older hippie couple starting to roll up some packages on the beach. The man looked up at my husband, “Do you need a necklace?”. Crazy, only a few minutes after my husband gave his away! We looked at their work (really intricate stuff, high quality beads from all over the world) and chatted for a while. I decided to purchase a jade bracelet but my husband couldn’t find a necklace that really suited him. He was admiring this bracelet but we determined that we didn’t have enough cash on us to purchase both bracelets. The man said that he trusted to us to just mail him the money later. Sweet, but we declined – hubby really wanted a necklace. Anyway, after I paid for the bracelet and we were saying goodbye, the woman whispered something to the man, he nodded his head, and then she put the bracelet on my husband’s wrist – “for you”, she said. My husband offered to pay but they both declined – just said the bracelet belonged with him. Stuff like this kept happening to us the entire time in Hawaii – everyone just being so kind and generous. Maui can make a karma believer out of anyone.
Anyway, back to the road to Hana. We hauled butt to see the Seven Sacred Pools before the sun set. Sadly, we didn’t have time to hike up through the bamboo forest (another time I suppose). By this time it was dark and we had a decision to make – go back on the road the way we came (with all the twisty-turvy roads and one-way bridges in the dark) or continue on the “forbidden” back way in our basic american sedan rental. A couple we met at the Pools who lived on Maui advised us to just spend the night in Hana – they said we would be crazy to head home the back because we might puncture a tire. Being the stupid tourists that we are, we decided to just go for it and hope the car could make it. Umm, probably not the best idea. The road was really dark, really bumpy, and really hilly at times. The best part was pulling over the side of the road were it was absolutely pitch black except for the stars. It felt absolutely surreal because with car lights off you really couldn’t see anything – a mountain could have been 2 feet next to me and I wouldn’t have known. The sky looked like the inside of a domed planetarium – unreal. But maybe I’m just easily impressed by this stuff cause I live in the light pollution of the city.
We finally made back to civilization, exhausted and hungry. Our condo owner recommended we have dinner at the Paia Fishmarket. Excellent fresh fish, but nothing fancy at all. Wooden benches kind of place. Huge portions. Overall, for anyone deciding whether or not the Road to Hana is worth doing, please strongly consider it – there are some really amazing things to see and the drive isn’t all that bad. If I could do it again, I would have spent a night in Hana so that we would have had more time to see everything suggested in MR. The next day we had booked a turtle reef kayak and snorkeling tour, as this was the only way DH could be certain to see his beloved turtles. We had a discount coupon from the Entertainment Book. There were only 4 other people in our group. Our guide was great and really made sure we saw plenty of turtles and other sea life. I got pretty nauseous about halfway through, which our guide said was common for people who get seasick. Something about looking down while you're snorkeling while the waves bob you up and down. We spent the rest of the day checking out the Wailea hotels. We had lunch by the pool at Grand Wailea – lots of kids, amazing water slides but the hotel personnel seemed to be pretty strict about making sure only hotel guests were using the pool, so we continued on looking for another hotel’s pool to mooch off of. We ended up at the Four Seasons and spent a few very relaxing hours. Very classy hotel, excellent drinks, elegant pools, five-star service. There were LOTS of honeymooners though, and I swear I saw one couple getting on in the pool – ew! For dinner, we went looking for something low-key in Lahaina town. Per MR, we checked out Kahuna Kabob in a courtyard shopping area catty-corner from Cheeseburger in Paradise. The place is just a stand with some plastic chairs and tables, but we had this amazing seared tuna special with wasabi potatoes and curry sauce. Best meal I’ve ever had in a styrofoam container. Highly recommend this place if you are looking for some good cheap grub.
KAUAI
After reading so much about the Hyatt in Poipu on these boards, I decided to try to fit it within our budget. I couldn’t find a rate anywhere under $300 a night, so I just ended up purchasing the Hyatt Stay certificates from their website for $250. We were upgraded upon arrival to an ocean view room after my husband buttered up the desk clerk. The grounds are beautiful and the lobby is spacious and airy. Our room was probably a 10 minute walk from the lobby, but a had a balcony with a very nice view. There is a monk seal that hangs out by the beach which was very cool to see. Unfortunately, the rest of the hotel was an absolute disappointment. I will probably get beaten on this board for saying this, but I found the Hyatt to essentially be a hotel of 3 star quality and service at 5 star prices. When the rooms are $300 and up, you would think that you would not be completely nickel and dimed for every little thing you need. First of all, the day we arrived we thought we would have lunch by the pool, since we had such a nice poolside meal at the Grand Wailea. Big mistake. Instead of a restaurant or outdoor grill, the Hyatt has what is essentially like a school cafeteria. For something like $14 you can help yourself to a microwaved chicken sandwich complete with plastic forks. My husband had a slice of microwaved pizza that was absolutely gross. Please believe that I am not a food snob – I love junk food and never thought I would meet a slice of pizza I wouldn’t like. But the food was horrendous and there was no service (unless you count the “cooks” who will zap your food for you). The prices were insulting considering the level of quality. The pools were nice, but again, if you wanted anything, like a shade for your chaise, you had to pay for it. Also, the pool with “sand” wasn’t really even made with sand, but this weird silicon substance. The final straw for me was when we decided we wanted to rent kayaks to go up Wailua River. We went to the concierge desk for suggestions. They told us that they only assist with booking guided kayak trips. If we wanted to rent our own we would have to call ourselves, he said. He gave us some generic Kauai tourist brochure to use as a reference. As walking to our room and back would take another 20 minutes, I asked if we could at least use the concierge phone. He said that I could tell him which places to call, he would dial, but then I would have to get on the phone to make the arrangements myself. Give me a break!! The concierge service turned out to be more of a dis-service! As he wasn’t acting like a jerk about it, I am inclined to think that this was the hotel’s policy – only help the guests with tour operators who agree to line the hotel’s pockets. Heck with everyone else, I guess. Needless to say, I left a less than complimentary comment card upon leaving.
Ok, now that I got that rant out of the way, I have to say I loved Kauai. Particularly the north side by Hanalei Bay. Absolutely magical. We snorkeled at Tunnels (I got thrown around a bit by the waves), hiked the Na Pali coast, kayaked and swam in the river (yes, we were able to get the kayaks ourselves after a few phone calls!), caught the sunset and had drinks at Princeville (a must!) and did some shopping. I loved the roosters!
Dinner at the Beach House was amazing. Make your reservations early (I think 6pm is good) to get a good table. Great food, service, and view. Very reasonable prices. After dinner, while walking back to our car, we met some local guys drinking beers out of the back of a parked truck. The nicest guys! We ended up talking for about an hour. They were all musicians and involved with a program that keeps kids off meth. They gave us a signed CD of theirs and their number and told us to please call them if we ever come back. The kindness of the Hawaiian people never ceased to amaze me
The little villages around Poipu were also nice – some nice galleries and shops. Do try the Kauai Pie ice cream at Lapperts!! Yumm!! I would have liked to have seen Kauai by helicopter and have seen Waimea canyon. Next time I would also stay on the north side, as the scenery is much nicer and it seems like there is more to do.
I found more than what I was looking for in Hawaii – breathtaking landscapes, beautiful beaches, a great time, and of course, the aloha spirit!
Thanks again for all the advice!! Happy travels!
Jan 20th, 2006, 06:32 PM
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Great report, thanks so much! We're heading to Kauai for the first time in September and your report has me even more excited!
Loved your story about the necklace/bracelet and "best meal I ever had in a paper cup!"
Loved your story about the necklace/bracelet and "best meal I ever had in a paper cup!"
Jan 21st, 2006, 10:00 AM
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wtm003 - i know that there a lots of people on this board who love the Hyatt, and the grounds really are beautiful. I just think what a hotel charges should match the level and quality of service. Maybe the Sheraton next door would be a better choice (we didn't have time to check it out).
Belle
Jan 21st, 2006, 03:14 PM
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I loved your report and I don't think you are so surly at all
Now that I have so many friends who love Kaui , I am inclined to read more Hawaii trip reports, this was quite enjoyable ! thank you.
Now that I have so many friends who love Kaui , I am inclined to read more Hawaii trip reports, this was quite enjoyable ! thank you.
Mar 10th, 2006, 11:36 AM
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Surlygirl, I too am looking to go to Maui and Kauai - in October '06. I am worried about the timing though because I only have 7 or 8 nights to spend and didn't know if I should do both. I see that you spent 5 in Maui and 3 in Kauai - did you find that you "wasted" any time traveling ? Thanks in advance for your advice.
Mar 10th, 2006, 11:52 AM
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We just got back from both - stayed first night in Maui near airport, then 3 nights Kauai and 4 Maui. I did feel like I was wasting time traveling between both (one flight was a couple hours late), but I'm still glad I went to both. Actually, we were very happy to leave Kauai (never saw the sun, it was pouring when we left and was expected to do so for the next 7 days). Maui weather was perfect.
Enjoyed time in both, but if you do choose one or the other, choose Maui - so much to do there.
Enjoyed time in both, but if you do choose one or the other, choose Maui - so much to do there.
Apr 5th, 2006, 03:59 PM
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Alibanana7,
The travel time from Maui to Kauai didn't bother me, but I also could have spent another week in Maui alone. With 7 or 8 nights in Maui you could even take your time on the road to Hana and overnight there. You will have an amazing time!!
The travel time from Maui to Kauai didn't bother me, but I also could have spent another week in Maui alone. With 7 or 8 nights in Maui you could even take your time on the road to Hana and overnight there. You will have an amazing time!!
