Kamaole Sands or Kauhale Makai?
 

Has anyone stayed at the Kamaole Sands or the Kauhale Makai recently. We are thinking of booking for October. What room would you recommend. What tips can you offer me as this would be our first time staying in this type of accomodation. What other Kihei condo would you recommend from personal experience?

Do you want or need to stay in Kehei specifically? If it was me, I would stay in the Kannapali, Lahaina, Kapalua, or Napili areas.

As I recall the Kamole Sands is across the road from the beach which in my opinion would be a major pain. I don't know about the Kauhale Makai.

My wife and I stayed at the Kamaole Sands 12 years ago for our honeymoon. It was pretty nice but across the street from the beach. But otherwise, not too bad. We just came back about two weeks ago from a 14 day trip to Oahu, Big Island and Maui. This time we stayed in Kaanapali at the Kaanapali Shores. It's a condo resort. It was wonderful but definetely much more pricey than the Kamaole Sands. However, I would recommend staying somewhere up North further such as Kaanapali, Lahaina or Kapalua. We think it's a much nicer area. Not saying that we didn't love the Kihei area but we really liked the Kaanapali area. But if it's your first time why not try the Kamoele Sands and then while your there check out some other areas that you may want to stay in the next time that you go. Good Luck deciding and have a blast. We sure did.

The sands is a nicely landscaped resort complex--the pools are very nice, and the location is right across from the beach, and a couple of blocks south of the bustle of Kihei. (A smaller, nice condo complex just south is the Hale Kamaole; also 2 pools, and views from every lanai, which might not be the case in the Sands.) The Kamaole beach parks are wonderful for swimming, snorkeling, whatever. The location is good for the beach, and for the Wailea and Makena beaches, and you are near restaurants, groceries, etc. I'd strongly recommend the area in a heartbeat!

The Kamaole sands are nice, but Maui Hill that is next door is much better. It is also across from the beach, not much for ocean views, but the gardens and staff are excellent. The porches or lani's are very large, units are clean and large. I have been going to maui for 30+ years and I love the kihei, wailea area and love Maui Hill. check tripadvisor.com. If the prices are the same stay there. If you want to be on a nice beach, the units aren't as nice as Maui Hill but are on the beach, Kihei surfside or Mana Kai are across the street from Maui hill, beach is great with body surfing and snorkeling opportunities.

We stayed at the Kamaole Sands a few months ago and loved it. We had a great room. (they aren't all great as they're each privately owned)

The beach across the street is perfect for snorkeling and relaxing. Personally, it didn't bother me in the least that I had to walk across the street. Walking from our condo to the sand took five minutes. No big whoop.

I enjoyed the convenience of having many nearby restauants to choose from. They also had a store nearby that sold organic foods and produce. Some of the best beaches are in the vicinity. We really liked big beach.

I enjoy staying in condos in Hawaii. I like to get up and make a fresh pot of coffee, have some cereal, grab a beach chair, a cooler and head to the beach. We found our condo on vrbo.com. It was fully stocked with beach supplies.

People are SO friendly there. You'll have a wonderful time.

If you are a beach person, Kamaole Sands is a better choice. It is across the street from Kam III beach, which is one of the finest on the island. I also like the fact that the beach has an attentive lifeguard. Kauhale Makai
(also known as Village by the Sea) is not on a swimmable beach, although some units have nice ocean views. In both properties the units vary greatly. If possible, rent from an owner or a small agency such as Alii Resorts, where you can view photos of the actual unit.
Alii's website has good photos of the grounds and pool areas of both complexes also.
www.aliiresorts.com

We stayed at Kamaole Sands last May and really enjoyed it. This was a budget trip for us so we booked a ground floor unit through VRBO.COM. While the particular unit we booked did not have a view (it was a ground floor unit), it was quite private, clean and well-maintained and we awoke every morning to the sounds of the tropics with a vertitable cacophony of bird calls from the lushly landscaped grounds.

As others have mentioned, Kamaole 3 Beach is right across the road and is terrific, with decent snorkeling at either end, good swimming in the middle, and interesting tidepools just up the beach to the north.

There are also plenty of shops and some good places to eat (in a number of different price categories) all within walking distance.

We would definitely return again.

Ken

PS - Here's a link to a website for a private condo rental at the Kamaole Sands. It's not the unit we booked, nor the person we booked through (so I am NOT pushing them) but the website is realy super, with lots and lots of photos of the terrific grounds and even some nice (though very large) videos of Kamaole Beach 3 that clearly show just how far (or rather how close) the complex is to the water:

http://www.willscondos.com/outside.htm

And here's the website of the unit we booked:

http://www.vrbo.com/global/siteframe...vrbo/24976.htm

As I mentioned, our unit had no view, but the price was very inexpensive by Maui standards.