Man alive sistah, you are Johnny-on-the-spot with titles! My fav:

"Of Queens and Thrones and How I Survived a Dump in Makena"

:-d

mo latah!

Details???????????? Get over your bad sitting on the throne self and give us some real stuff. What difference does it make if you rich folk pay $485 or $300 for a car. It was for a very good cause, wasn't it?

Get it on.......maybe by the time I am back here in a couple of hours, you will have gotten to the real stuff........................????

Did you actually wear the crown?

I thought that was a little over the top to post, but nooooo, you, you, you,,,you just couldn't help yourself.

Maybe I could get a job penning titles.

On with the show dear man!

Hey, i'2! That $185 difference is about what my 90 minute massage at the Hotel Hana Maui cost! We rich folk ain't stooopid. I am glad you are enjoying the trip report so much.

Ohmygod. This is soooo funny.
Looking forward to the rest of it.
:-)

Me, too!

iamq, urar!! :-D

(you are a riot)

Accommodations and location

Marteen and I are not big mega-resort sort of folk. I'm not a huge fan of being squeezed in like a sardine around a swimming pool of screaming second and third graders. It reminds me too much of where I work. It's okay for a couple of hours, but not for a week.

We like little cottages on or close to the water. I found one in Makena that ended up being perfect.

I was excited, because in all my previous trips to Maui, I had never even been to the Kihei, Wailea, Makena area of the island. I always stuck to the Kaanapali area.

Kihei is fine. I would not prefer it as a first choice, but it is not nearly as bad as it is portrayed sometimes on this site. It is a busy and active community that is vital to this area. I called it Kapa'a on steroids We ate here several times and walked the beaches here. There are some condos in south Kihei that have a great beach location and are a particluarly good value. We may end up there on our next trip.

I loved, loved, loved Wailea! Green, manicured and generally low key and quiet. Lots of building going on, but it seems like the development of this area is very well thought out and not done in a helter skelter sort of way. Great beaches and excellent snorkeling.

I found Makena wonderful, quiet and peaceful.We stayed in a little cottage off the main road between Makena Landing and the Maui Prince Hotel. It was the perfect place for us. Palm trees and ti plants, green lawns down to the water, old lava stone walls, waves crashing on the rocks just below the lanai, turtles feeding in the waters just offshore, roosters crowing in the morning, and much privacy. We were a few minute walk down the lane to the Maui Prince's beach and an easy drive south to destinations south and to Wailea and Kihei to the north.

The area is changing. There is a lot of building going on down here too. Homes instead of condos. It seems like cottges as the one we stayed in are a dieing breed in this area as they are being sold for HUGE sums and torn down, with large and very expensive homes built instead. The modest oceanfront house three doors down from ours is being listed at $11,000,000.00! An $11,000,000.00 tear down. ChChChChChChanges! I hope our place remains in the rental pool, as I would love to stay there again.

We spent one night at the Hotel Hana Maui.I wrote a review for tripadvisor and when it gets published, I will post the url. I love this hotel and love this area.

Hana ain't for everyone and I'd encourage people never to drive over there as a day trip. Yes, thousands do it every year, but I'd rather spend the day at Big Beach in Makena than spend a day driving to and from Hana. The Oheo Gulch was closed because of flash flood warnings the day we were there. What a drag it would have been to have driven all that way fantasizing about swimming in the famed Seven Sacred Pools, only to find them closed when you got there! Ack.

Our one night stay in Hana was wonderful. It was my favorite part of the trip. Marteen liked it too, but for him Hawaii is all about the water and beaches and so he preferred Makena to Hana. We flew over in the morning on Pacific Wings and had a bright red PT Cruiser convertible waiting for us at the airport. The flights over and back were spectacular! We flew along the coastline. The views up and down the coast and up and down Haleakala were amazing. Waterfalls stairstepped down the hills and ended by plunging off the cliffs into the ocean. The pilot told us to watch for wild pigs on the runway in Hana. Saw lots of raindrops, but no pigs.
At the hotel we were given leis and cold passion fruit juice shortly after arriving. Everyone was all smiles and good vibes. Our room was nice and had a beautful view of Hana Bay. Loved the spa! Martin had lomi and I had hot stone. This was the best massage I have ever had. The spa was small, but lovely. We had dinner at the restaurant there and it was okay, not great but better than I thought it was going to be. We had breakfast included and that was very tasty. We spent a few hours lolling around the pool, walked around town, drove out to Kipahulu, walked over to Red Sand beach and I loved it all.

aaahhhlooohhhaaaa billy boy! ((R))

are you stahlling', or what?
y'all are verry verry funny today! ;;)

oops... I spoke too soon! :">

Now why dontcha talk to makai like you do to me? She said the same thing, just in a little nicer way and started it with aloha!

Guess I understand now why I get on the nerves of some...I don't start with alooooooooooha!

Well...........aloooooooooooha, now let's hear more, dear heart!

((r))i'2

p.s. y'all ...I really am enjoying his trip report, but pleeeeze don't let him know, ok?

So, you flew into Hana? from where? You were able to rent a car there? Interesting

yah... the fly in to Hana part sounds like the bomb... :D

aaahhhlooohhhaaa icee!!

Ag,

We flew from Kahului to Hana and back on Pacific Wings. It is a 15 minute flight. They use 9 seat Cessena turbo prop planes. Dollar Rent-a-car has an office in Hana. The hotel made the car arrangements for me.

Checking in with Pacific Wings is a breeze too because it is in the regional terminal and you don't have to do all the TSA stuff and agricultural screening stuff. They tell you to arrive 30 minutes before your flight. They flew very close to shore on the way over. On the way back, we were a little further out, but still close enough to see everything. Very nice.

I'm taking a break from trimming a tree. I'll be back in ah hour or so...

Beaches and activities

We spent a lot of time at the beach. The beaches in the Wailea/Makena area are wonderful and the ones we went to never got too crowded. Our favorites were Palauea, Po'olenalena and Malauka. These also had the best snorkeling. A word about the snorkeling. I was really impressed with the amount of live coral. The snorkeling was the best we've had in Hawaii so far and far outshines our favorite places on Kaua'i. I also liked Big Beach, Little Beach and my sentimental favorite, Kaanapali.

We didn't do a lot in the way of organized tours or anything like that. One afternoon we drove up to see my cousin and her husband who were staying at the Westin Hotel. We hung out with them at the pool, walked the beach, swam a little by Black Rock and went to dinner at the upstairs part of Leilani's. Loved the pool waterslide at the Westin! If you arch your back so you slide down on your shoulder blades and the heels of your feet, you fly! My cousin's room was on the 9th floor and we had a nice view from their lanai of the whales doing their thing just offshore. It was a very fun afternoon and evening, but we were very happy to get back "home" and plunk ourselves in the cottage's hot tub, watch the stars and listen to the waves wear away the pebbles.

The afternoon we got back from Hana we drove from the airport to Paia and then up the hill to the Hui No'Eau Visual Arts Center. What a cool place! It is in what was originally the Baldwin Estate. There are ceramics, printmaking, painting, and other studios that the public and walk through and there is a gallery set up displaying the works of the artists who are working there. I have an interest in pottery, so it was fun for me to snoop around the studio and see what was happening. After that we headed up to Makawao for some wandering and shopping. Love that town! Not as crowded as Paia and I love the cowboy heritage and history.

One morning we drove down through the lava fields south of Makena. What gorgeous views over the fields and up Haleakala! We stopped at Ahihi cove to snorkel before it got too crowded. It was a little surgy and the visibility wasn't hot, but we saw a lot of fish. We left just as the hoardes were arriving.

next...food!

Glad you enjoyed your trip, Bill! I just got back from Paris for my Feb. vacation (teacher, too!), and I loved reading your Maui trip. We are headed back to Hawaii for August, and still deciding which islands.

So -- next time for you -- will it be Maui or Kauai?? :)

Food.

We stocked up on fresh fruit and baked goods for breakfasts at the farmer's market in Kihei. They had spectacular papaya, local bananas and pineapples. They had a nice selection of locally baked breads and banana/nut bread type things and cookies.

On our way to the cottage we also stopped at Safeway in Kihei and picked up lunch fixins, snacks and lots of Roselani ice cream (love the haupia and mangos/cream!)

The first thing we did after we landed and got our car was to head upcountry to Pukalani in search of Maui's Best Tamales. We both love good, authentic tamales and I had read about this place and remember here_today_gone_to_Maui mentioning in some of her posts, so I wanted to try it. Well, we got to the address that is listed for them in the guidebooks and it was no longer there. It is now a health food restaurant/cafe. We went in and asked the owner where the tamale place was and he directed us down the hill to the shopping mall in Pukalani where the Foodland is. It is a small and very popular operation that is worthy of the drive up the hill. We bought a bunch of tamales to eat later that night for dinner. They ended up being delicious! We had pork, chicken and beef. The masa was firm and moist..not dry and the filings were ONO! That and a tossed green salad and Roselani ice cream for dessert on our deck as the sun set on that first day set the tone for the rest of the trip. Perfect. A+

We had the onion rings at Maui Onion. They were pretty good, but my expectations were high. I give 'em a strong B. Marteen had good sashimi there.

We had an interesting and unusual dinner at Tastings in Kihei. They served unique small plates that were very well executed. We had ahi sashimi, ono, ricotta gnocchi, a foie gras terrine, a cheese course and dessert (which I can't remember). Interesting and ambitious,if not a little out of place in Kihei. A-

Leilani's at Whaler's Village. Underwhelming meal. Great table service. The manager made the mistake of asking us what we thought of our dinners. My cousin and her husband eat here often and they said that the food is slipping lately. C

Alexander's fish, chicken and ribs. After several nights of good, but "fancy" food we were both craving some good ole crispy fried fish and chips. We got what we were looking for at Alexanders. I had deep fried mahi and Marteen had the deep fried ono. We ate it at the counter and then walked across the street to the park and walked along the beach south for a while. Very good! B+

Ka'uiki at the Hotel Hana Maui. We had a very good dinner here. The menu was not very extensive and nothing on the menu jumped out to either of us and said "order me". We never do this, but we ended up both ordering the same thing. Tempura mushrooms that were tender and flavorful and a nice beef tenderloin. Service was okay. I read some awful reiews of this place and it was much better than I had expected. B+ Breakfast was an A. Great french toast and eggs bennie, with tons of fresh fruit.

Hailiimaile General Store provided us with our best dinner out of the trip. This is my kind of comfort food! Sashimi Napolean and Duck Confit Toastada were both amazing. Seafood curry and braised pork shank for dinner were great, but the sauce in the curry was like a smooth, delicious river of spices and flavor. Ono! The pineapple upside cake was the winner for dessert.
Service was wonderful. A

Saengs Thai Cuisine in Wailuku. Great food! The dancing shrimp and the curries were the standouts. It was nice to get up to Wailuku for a meal.
B+

Next...highlights

Highlights

Ending each day with an evening soak/stargaze in the hot tub overlooking the ocean.

The smile on the face of the coincerage at the Hotel Hana Maui.

Fantastic!!! That Marteen sure did land a find in you.....What an amazing birthday adventure!

But didn't you find Hana boring? And those damn cows moo here, moo there, moo moo everywhere. Just as bad as the roosters of Kauai.

Kaanapali and Lahaina mo bettah....no?!!!

oops, hit post too soon...

More highlights.

Sashimi napolean at HGS

Watching the whales frolic, slap and breach just offshore at Poolenalena Beach.

Red Sand Beach

Swimming and floating with the largest turtle I've ever seen. This guy/gal had been around the block!

Sunning and lolling by the pool at the Hotel Hana Maui, and watching that grey sqaull line on the ocean get closer and closer and closer until to Whammo!

Having coffe on the lanai every morning.

Watching the nude surfers at Little Beach. =-O

Our first meal.


It won't take me ten years to return next time.

Happy to answer any questions you might have. Mahalo!