A couple of Maui questions...
 

My fiance and I are headed to Hawaii next month for our honeymoon (Oahu, BI, Maui.) We will be spending the most amount of time on Maui (7 nights) and are staying at the Hyatt. A couple of questions:

1.) One of the nights we will be there will also be my birthday, so we are hoping to make reservations for a great dinner. I was thinking someplace with seafood, steaks, a great view, and outstanding service...I am leaning towards Nick's Fishmarket. Any thoughts? How far in advance should we book this dinner -- or any other dinners at the other high-end restaurants?

2.) We booked a cruise on Pacific Whale Foundation, the Molokini-Lanai Snorkel and Dolphin Eco-Adventure...Any experiences/tips? What do they serve for lunch?

3.) There are so many threads about nice restaurants in Maui for dinner...what about more casual places for breakfast or lunch nearby the Hyatt?

4.) We are renting a car at the airport...should we just do Mapquest to get directions from the airport to the hotel?

Thanks in advance!

1) Leaning towards Nick's? Book it now!

2) Sorry, can't help you w/cruises - you're sure doing a lot of them, though.

3)I am going to top two other threads for you on the subject of cheap(er) eats, including breakfast. The first is by monkeyking and it's called "Taste (sic) Grub in Maui." The second is by someone who just happens to have the same screen name as yourself - beachgirl86 - (hmmm... curious) and is called "Cheap breakfast on the BI and Maui." Look for the posts by gone2maui on 4/3 and 6/14, respectively, Print them out 'cause they will be very useful.

Have a great time.

4) I printed out the Mapquest directions from the airport, too, but the car rental co. will also give you a pretty good map.

I am a frequenter of Pacific Whale Foundation. Go every year for 5 days - with 5 trips per day. They are great. Good guides - trained naturalists on board. The Ocean Explorer is my favorite for whale watching, since it only holds 50 people.

Have been on other company's boats, but keep coming back to PWF.

We done the PWF's snorkel excursions to both Lana'i and Molokini, but on different trips. Not overly impressed with Molokini, though ours was combined with a whale watch.
Lana'i trip was combined with dolphin watch, though the dolphin part was swapped for a whale watch. Lana'i itself was a very good place to snorkel. The water at the first stop was clear and smooth as glass. Second stop: Manele Bay. Good variety of sealife, though it was accustomed to humans bearing food. The cuisine served by PWF was not memorable, and no one goes expecting it to be so. Usual cookout fare, chicken, burgers, veggie burgers, I believe. E-mail PWF for exact details. Good research organization with knowledgeable staff aboard.
Not too soon to book restaurants. You can always cancel if your plans change. Harder to jump over people who booked before you.

As for breakfast, see if you can get daily breakfast included in your package. The breakfast buffet at the Hyatt's Swan Court is pretty nice. One very tasty option is the Gazebo up at the Napili Shores Resort for some of the best macadama-nut pancakes and portuguese-sausage omelets on the island.

For lunch, I'd suggest Hula Grill at Whaler's Village (10min beachside walk from Hyatt) and there's a ton of options at Lahaina.

As to directions to the Hyatt, Mapquest is OK, but it's really simple to get around on Maui. A map from your car rental would suffice.

aloha beachgirl....
nicks fishmarket is great but its an hour or more from the hyatt. lots of good westside
restaurants, plantation house in kapalua,
swan ct at the hyatt...gerards in lahaina,
pacificos on the beach in lahaina.

pacific whale foundations is a good company with big boats. dont book direct and pay retail. expedia just bought out activity world and discounts $15 - 25 per ticket for the same trip. pwf does a molokini/lanai combo trip (discount rate $64.95)

directions from airport....hwy 380 (dairy rd)
leads from the airport to hwy 30. take hwy
30 to lahaina, then kaanapali to the hyatt.
takes 45 - 60 minutes, depending on traffic.
enjoy maui

I'd recommend the Hula Grill (even for your birthday dinner). The service was really good (we had 3 people helping us with bread, water and drinks!) and the food was amazing...

If you want to go all out and spend tons of money then probably Mama's Fishhouse or Nick's (although I haven't been to either one, they're always recommended). Personally we were very pleased with Hula Grill and the price was right.