Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Maui Trip Report 11/22-11/28

Hi Everybody, Thanks for all your help answering questions before we left. Had a great time--hope some of this info helps someone. First off,"we" family of 4-us and two teens. I'm not really making restaurant suggestions because my husband is a vegan and that dictates where we eat most of the time. So we didn't eat anywhere that couldn't accommodate him. Stayed in Kaanapali @ Maui Eldorado.
Day 1- Arrived 2 hours late--we waited on the tarmack for a long time before even getting off the ground. We were supposed to get in @ 3:00 but didn't make unitl 5:00. Not a big deal except that with all the stops we made we were driving to the condo (with no directions) in the dark. TIP: WalMart does NOT have groceries. The WalMarts here are huge and have a full scale grocery store and a mass merchant side. I was expecting the same but be aware that this is not the case. No deli, produce,etc. We were able to pick up some stuff but still had to make another grocery stop to get everything. For example--no mayo, cheese for sandwiches, cream cheese for bagels, cereal etc. We drove around and found a Safeway and finished up there. If I would have been on the ball I would have remembered from reading this board that there is a Safeway in Lahaina and that would've been much easier. Oh, well. Checked in at Maui Eldorado around 8:00 and walked to Hula Grill in Whalers Village for dinner. Had a great meal, I had the seafood special which included Opah and Ono in a mango curry sauce and hubby had a stir fry he really liked. Girls had burgers. Since we got there so late we had to eat at the bar in front of the chefs which was kinda fun. Walked back to the condo in a downpour, we were soaked through by the time we got back, who cares? we're in paradise!
Day 2- The condo I got through vrbo is beautiful and spotlessly clean! One bedroom, 1200 sq. ft, wood flooring in kitchen and bathroom, very well equipped, all new appliances and furniture, pool and BBQ two steps off back lanai. I REALLY liked this place. Okay, it's not ON the beach, but it's not $300-400/nt either, in fact I paid $110/nt! Email me if you want more info. Anyway, we walked to Kaanapali beach (through the golf course, across the street and through the Sheraton -5 min. walk maybe). On this day, the beach was literally cut in half--an "upper" and "lower" half I assume from the damage done last summer. Still a nice wide beach and hardly anyoine there. The surf was kinda high so we walked dalong the beach all the way down to The Westin. Parked ourselves in front of the Ali'i (I think) tennis courts. That was the only wide stretch of beach. Sandbags and boards still up in front of Ali'i. Played in the ocean and sunbathed for all morning. Went back to the condo, took a quick swim, ate lunch and drove to Lahaina for shopping. We all loved Lahaina! Shopped, stopped for root beer floats and lava flows at Hard Rock, continued shopping. I found a beautiful necklace with three gold plumeria flowers in the center. That necklace became my mission, my quest. I probably looked in 10-15 jewerly stores until I found the exact thing I wanted at the price I wanted to pay. I was surprised that these places will actually bargin with you a bit. Bought a really nice good sized necklace with a nice chain for $100. Please don't tell me if this isn't a good price--let me have my delusions.
The girls bought souveniers for their friends, I bought one daughter a swimsuit for $80-ouch! Power shopping makes me hungry so we wanted to eat @ Kobe but they had a 2-hr. wait so we ended up @ Cheeseburger in Paradise. I had the coconut shrimp, hubby had a tofu burger, girls had burgers. I had a drink called sunburn that I really liked. I think it was vodka, pineapple juice and cranberry jucie but it seems there might have been something else in there too. Does anyone know? I'd like to make them at home. Rained again tonight, pretty hard.
Day 3- Road to Hana
Had my Maui Reveled book with us, got started about 8:00. Stopped in Paia for gas and a CD. In hindsight, it was a little confusing listening to the CD and reading the book. Highlights/Lowlights: Got to the Garden of Eden, took a vote and kept driving-skip it. Of the highlights for me was the Ke'anae peninsula, what a view! I could have stayed all day and just watched the ocean crashing on the lava. We walked down to Chings Pond (despite the posted sign not to) and waded in-it was burrrrrry! Stopped at the 3 bears-absolutely gorgeous! I wanted to hike down but the trail was very wet. The Nahiku road as mentioned in MR is really beautiful but the best part is blue pool. You have to hike over a LOT of boulders and for us it was a litle scary beacuse it was raining (did I mention it rained all day? guess that's why it's a rain forest!)and they were VERY slippery. By the time we actually got ther it was raining hard so we didn't swim but got some good pictures. It is stunning! My second favorite spot was the black sand beach. It was really cool looking especially with the caves. I wanted to go the red sand beach but I was in the minority so when we got to Hana we stopped for snacks and coconut ice cream. Continued on the 7 sacred pools. It was pretty crowded and lots of people were slipping on the rocks. One boy fell right in face down right in front
of me,--good thing he kept his head up or I'm sure there would have been some sewing up to do. Another man landed on his back on top of a boulder, of course he was carrying a boom box and he was concerned about it getting wet. What a moron! We swam a little (very little) it was now about 4:00 so we got back in the car to continue all the way around. Our $WD Chevy Malibu :) did just fine although by the time we were off teh bumpy part of the paved road I was on my last nerve.The back side of Haleakala is very pretty but I have to admit, it was a lot of driving. We were so tired by teh time we went through Kahului we just stopped @ the mall @ Aloha Grill for burgers. Hubby got a taro burger he liked very much--to each his own. I had a bone jar shake (seemed like a very apros name considering where we just came from). The girls had--you guessed it, burgers. Teenagers are so predictable aren't they? Got back to the condo about 8:00 pm-raining again.
Day 4
Slept in,shopped at Whalers Village. I got a really nice framed tile with a turtle on it @ Martin & MacArthur, nice store. I also found some matching earrings for my necklace for $30. The girls wanted to surf but it was very windy and no parasailing or surfing umbrellas out, surf rough again. It was overcast so after shopping we went back to the condo had lunch and hung by the pool the rest of the day. Got dressed and went into Lahaina again,had dinner at Maui Tacos. It was fine but I didn't think exceptional. By the way, we saved a TON of money by eating breakfast and most lunches at the condo.
Day 5
Haleakala Bike Ride with Maui Mt. Riders. One word-MISERABLE. Noone's fault, jsut the weather. We had heard for several days on the news that Haleakala had high winds and freezing temps. Well, I thought if the weather was THAT bad, the bike co. would call and cancel. I didn't know then that they NEVER cancel. We were told they go 365/yr. no matter what. Were picked up by van at 2:15. I thought I would sleep on the way up. I knew it was a twisty turny road but I had just survived the road to Hana, right? Wrong! I got soooo sick on the way up the mountain I literally had my head between my legs the entire way. It was all I could do not to throw up. It may have been better if I had eaten but I wasn't hungry @ 2:00 am and I knew we would have muffins and juice at the top. When we got out of the van at the summit the winds were blowing at 65 mph. It really di take you off your feet. A very nice lady gave me a couple of dramamine and I went ahead and sutied up. Our guide took us to the summit to watch the sunrise and told us we were so lucky we were the first ones there because he had a spot for us out of the wind. Okay, lucky to be out of the wind-yes, first ones there-no. We waited there against the visitor center for 2 hrs! It was completely socked in with clouds so the "sunrise" was a little bit of orange clouds. The we were hustled into the van so we never did see the crater-at all! Now I'm feeling very sleepy from the dramamine. The guide decided it was too dangerous (gee do ya think?)with the wind to leave from the top so we drove down 10 miles. By this time not only is the wind blowing @65 mph but it's raining too. Several people (my husband included) got on the bikes and took off. I stayed in teh van along with 3 other women. The guide finally stopped after about 20 miles beacuse the conditions did not get better. He made everyone get in the van for the rest of the ride to breakfast. The people who rode bikes were majorally soaked! AAfter breakfast they told us we could get back on the bikes but we would be going through town. A few people did but not us.They tried to charge me full price but I complained and they charged half price since I rode in the van the whole way. We got back to the condo at 11:00, had lunch and took the girls to Kaanapali beach. They rented boogie boards and we lazed on the beach. Had dinner at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel. It was very good and we enjoyed the music and hula show.