dolciani

We stayed at the Maui Marriott - a one BR villa w/ LR and separte BR - 2 full baths. It was a timeshare trade for us. Large balcony overlooking what must be one of the best pools in all of Hawaii, waterfalls, caves, slides, a separate pool for children w/ a shipwreck and sand entry. Great location on Kanaapai Beach, nearby to Whalers Village (great shopping and restaurants). Also walkable to Sheraton hotel where Black Rock is located w/ good snorkeling (turtles sometimes). We ate our first night at the Hula Grill - great Mai Tai and BBQ ribs, but the best were the lobster potstickers! The Mai Tai's are made w/ fresh passion fruit, oregeat syrup and pineapple juice w/ a float of dark rum - yummy - We each had 3 - luckily we were walking back to the hotel.
We rented a 4 w/d and started the 1st day early at 6 am for road to Hana (using revealed book). Stopped at the Shell station to purchase the C/D and map that narrates the road to Hana - lots of good info, but don't always stop the "tape" when he says to, because you'll miss some necessary info. I was glad to have a "patch" for car sickness because this is a VERY curvy road, We stopped at several waterfalls (including Blue Pool and 7 pools) ate at the hot dog stand in Hana (it's not really that bad, typical roadside stand). We drove all the way around the road and I would recommend that to anyone - the other side is as awesome as the 1st half to Hana and you don't really need a 4 w/d to make it. Some parts are not paved, but you're on gravel - and it's narrow , but worth the time - kinda like the Na Pali coast (but drier). Paced ourselves to make it around to return the free ice chest (from Shell station) and used their bathroom to clean up for our 7:30 reservations at Mama's Fish House ..I ordered the Mahi w/ mac and my husband and the Opakapaka - his was better, mine was a bit dry. Shrimp wontons were good.
Next day played golf at Wailea Emerald - beautiful course, not too hard. After golf you're greeted w/ ice cold, wet wash cloths (that was the best!). We ate at Tommy Bahama's restaurant and walked along the Wailea resorts. Dined at the Feast at Lele that night (had front row seats due to advanced reservations). Food was odd - not typical Luau food, lots of seaweed side dishes - the show was outstanding.
Next day - Molokini snorkieling w/ Four Winds (fantastic group, altho they spend a long time trying to reel in a Marlin that they were going to release anyway - I would have preferred snorkeling). Sat on top where we could swing our legs around on the outside and rest against the rails. Nice lunch served - hamburgers/teriyaki chicken sandwiches w/ cold drinks (including beer) and cookies..I can't say enough good things about the captain and crew - very personable to EVERYONE..and entertaining. Shopped that night in Lahina; dined at Kimo's (related to the Hula Grill, Dukes, etc - same menu) - nice sunset setting on the railw/ torches around (We had the Ahi and Opakapak - both were great).
We explored the Kapalua part of the island the next day and had lunch at Jameson's (their cobb salad was great - snorkeled black rock (cloudy this day) and ate at Lelani's at Whaler's village (coconut prawns, bbq ribs and ahi appetizers & shared a hula pie for dessert).
We did not get up for the surise at Haleakala which is on the list for our return trip to Maui. I liked the Kanapali area and would probably return based on our experiences..it's close to Lahina which we enjoyed and walkable to many other hotels, restaurants and shopping.

JohnD

Hey Dolciani,
With regard to the FourWinds snorkel, where did the boat stop inside molokini ? Was it so crowded that all you saw was someone else's flippers in your face? Did you see more numbers and variety of fish here than you did at Black Rock or other South Maui locations? I ask because we are going to Maui in a couple months. Thanks for your report and thanks in advance for your response.

panhandle

According to Maui Revealed Four Winds 2 has the best spot in the crater.
We went last year and agree with Dolciani..the crew is fantastic...the food was good and the boat is nice too.
They were so nice I actually called the captain again when we got back from our trip just to let him know.
IT has a glass bottom too for those who tire or dont swim. I would highly recommend them. The fish count in Molokini is "ok" but you could do just as well or better from shore. It was our first time snorkeling and my wife doesnt swim too well so we wanted to have people around who could help.

dolciani

We docked sort of center left, but yes, there were flippers in your face from other boats (and our boat was almost filled). We actually thought that there were more fish at Hananuma bay on Oahu (only $5 for entry versus the day trip price for a snorkeling tour). They rent out underwater cameras for the day ($20) - professional ones and there is a scuba diver that video tapes swimmers and goes deeper w/ some of the snuba folks and found an octupus - she sells you the video later if you're interested. That might be an option if we did it again. The variety of fish was definitely better than black rock - but not as good as Hananuma bay. If you buy your own cheapie underwater camera, make sure it has a flash for the deeper fish.

JohnD

Thanks very much for the info. Panhandle and Dolciani, we learned about the utility of underwater flash on last trip to the Big Island-it came in very usefull when I took underwater photos while snorkeling with a turtle near "Place of Refuge" (Honaunau Bay)

JohnD

How were the waterfalls on the Road to Hana, was it impressive or did it look parched?

scott_s

Thanks for the great trip report. How did you like the food at the Feast at Lele? What about Tommy Bahamas cafe, did you like that? It seems that we have somewhat similar itinaries.

Scott

dolciani

Waterfalls were not full - kinda "drippy" except for the following:Just past the 6 mile marker the first of the falls of Nailiili - the sign and gate say "keep out" but we perservered and hiked past it and had the waterfall to ourselves for quite a bit - great photo op. Also Blue Pool was worthwhile(there was a grouchy local who sat at the end of the road (where you park) and seemed to boss people about where they could and could not park or walk - he didn't seem like any official and he was looking at some cards as if he wanted to try to sell them to tourists ???? Blue pools was crowded. Seven pools was beautiful but very crowded by the afternoon when we got there. We couldn't even get a picture w/o hoards of people.
The Feast at Lele had a great show and we had great front row seats, but I was not impresssed by the food. We're used to upscale dining and expected "different", but most of it was kind of tasteless. Looking back, I think I probably would have preferred to go to one of the (cheaper) hotel luaus - the Marriott seemed to have a good show and people liked the food.

JohnD

Dolciani, Thanks again for the update, I guess we were lucky a few years ago in our "winter" trip as we never encountered more than a couple of people at the impressive waterfalls along the road to Hana, or at the seven sacred pools in February.