Maui Trip Report for Fodors August 04
Aug 21st, 2004, 04:49 AM
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Maui Trip Report for Fodors August 04
Hi all. Due to a lot of research on this site we had the best vacation yet. The following is my trip report.
Wednesday Aug 11
Flew from DFW non-stop to Maui. Flight was packed but overall was tolerable
Arrived at 3pm, got rental from Enterprise. I highly recommend the Subaru Baja. Have had one for both trips and they are great.
Checked in at the Wailea Outrigger Palms. The condo is beautiful and it just went on the market for a half a million dollars for all you rich people out there J. We had the garden view. The condo has air conditioning in the master room only. The condo has ceiling fans in the living room and both bedrooms. It was very comfortable and that is coming from someone who loves the cold ac.
We bought food at the Safeway. The prices were good and about the same as in Dallas/Fort Worth. Buy the onion flavored Maui style chips. You won?t be disappointed. We had dinner in a nice Thai restaurant in Kihei. Can?t remember the name but it is next to pita paradise. Food was really good and we caught the sunset on the beach afterwards.
Thursday Aug 12
We used this as a rest day. Got internet set up in condo. Hated doing this but had to for work. If you have to have internet then Lavanet is good. Cost me 12.00 plus 10.00 set up for 2 weeks. They also had a local dial up number.
Get the shaved ice at Espresso Shack. Its in the same shopping strip as Denny?s. I had mango, pineapple with vanilla ice cream at the bottom. It is the best.
We had dinner at the fish market in Paia. We both had fish and chips and they were very good.
Had a post dinner drink at Jacques. The mai tais are very good and strong.
Paia is a great town. Very friendly locals and had a great energy.
Friday Aug 13
Went to the Maui Ocean Center on way to Lahaina from Wailea. Beautiful place, incredible see life. They have day passes for 20.00 and week passes for 23.00.
Had lunch at Kimo?s in Lahaina. Excellent food. The blackened fish sandwich is very good. Barbara had a fish salad, which also was very good. We also had a great view on the ocean from where we sat.
After lunch we did a little shopping on Front Street. Way too much temptation.
Stropped at some lookout points for pics on way back to Wailea. The views are spectacular.
After relaxing at the condo for a while we went to the Ulea beach for sunset. The view was excellent.
Had dinner at Maui Tacos in Kihei. This Texan is a tough critic when it comes to tex mex and the fish tacos were the best we have ever had. Prices were very good and well worth it.
Saturday August 14
Got up at 2:30 am. We had Ekahi Tours picking us up at 3:00 am for the Haleakala Crater sunrise. I usually hate tours but this one was quite good. We arrived at the summit at 5 am. Bring a blanket. It is freezing up there. Academy sells a jacket that folds up into a pillow for 15.00. It is well worth it and will save on luggage space.
Sunrise was mixed. We had clear views and then the clouds came in. We couldn?t see anything.
On the way down we stopped at another observation point about 100 feet below the summit. On a whim I went to the deck and the clouds suddenly disappeared. I went camera nuts and took about 100 pics of everything. One of the must breathtaking views we have ever seen. It is well worth the time and money to go. The tour was around 70.00 each and was well worth it.
We stopped for breakfast afterwards and it was back to the hotel. We got back and then quickly left to get to the market. There is a local swap market every Saturday morning and it is very good. It is on Mokulele Highway in Kahului past the McDonalds to the left if driving north. Bought some beautifully hand made woodcarvings and other gifts for friends. Went back to the hotel afterwards and collapsed.
We had dinner at Nick?s Fish market at the Kea Lani in Wailea. Nick?s was probably the best meal on the trip. I had the lamb and it was the best I have ever had. Barbara had the Mahi Mahi. You have to go to Nick?s. The food and service was excellent. We also caught the sunset there as well. You must try to catch every sunset because they are always different and just incredible to watch.
We went to the shops in Wailea. Very nice shopping center/mall. High end stores like Coach, Louis Vutton and also lower end like ABC stores (where we got our stuff, lol). Nice shopping area. They also have a few restaurants like Tommy Bahamas and Leilani?s.
Sunday August 15
Woke up around 7 am. Went to Ulea beach for an hour to swim. Very nice beach and there weren?t many people.
Had breakfast at Stella Blues in Kihei. The banana mac nut pancakes are unbelievable. I do not like pancakes and I loved these. I had the lox and eggs (very good) and Barbara had ham and eggs.
We stopped for another shaved ice at the shack. Had mango and coconut with ice cream at the bottom. It was even better then the last one.
We made one more stop at the Outrigger Marriott. Barbara wanted to check it out since we had hotel privileges there as well. Nice place. We stopped for a drink at the pool. She had juice and I had a banana drink that had a ton of rum and kahula in it, it was very very good.
Had dinner at Tommy Bahamas at the shops in Wailea. I had the Jamaican pulled pork. I usually don't like pork but it was very good. The portion was huge and had to take the rest home. Barbara had the mahi mahi and she loved it. We caught the sunset at a small beach by the shops.
Monday August 16
Woke up around 11 am. Barbara bought some swimsuits from a shop called beachwear in Kihei. The lady does custom swimsuits and she does excellent work. Unfortunately she doesn?t make swimsuits for guys.
Had lunch at Spices in Kihei. Probably the most disappointing meal the entire trip. We heard great things about this place. I had fish tacos. Only problem was there was very little fish. Barbara had the fish and chips that she said we average at best. The service was also very slow.
We went to the rainbow mall. Bought three beautiful oil paintings. All were landscapes of beaches made by local unknown artists. Can?t wait to get the pictures on the wall. Only one more week till they will be framed.
We went to the beach afterwards. Another beautiful day.
After relaxing at the condo we went to the hula grill for dinner in Kannapali. Excellent atmosphere. Definitely book in advance. It was packed and had an hour wait. Since we had reservations we got in immediately. You don?t need to book dinners before arriving in Maui. We booked all of our meals the day before and had no problems. The food was another winner. I had the Kansas city steak, mmmmm it was good. Barbara had the lobster. She said it was excellent. Can?t remember the name of the dessert, it was like a chocolate moose cake. It was the best dessert we had on the trip. If you keep your receipt you get their homemade ice cream sandwich free on your next visit to Maui. I already have my receipt saved, lol.
We also caught the sunset here. It was partly cloudy and finally caught the sun going into the ocean. It was the best sunset on the trip.
After dinner we shopped at Whalers village, which is where the hula grill is located. They had a hula show that we caught the end of. In addition the shopping center had a very nice cigar shop where I picked up some big kahuna cigars. For the cigar fans it is called Sir Wilfred?s coffee and cigars.
Tuesday August 17
Got up around 9:30. Original plan was for West Maui then changed to going Upcountry then finally changed to going to the beach. We went to Kamole Beach 3 in Kihei. It wasn?t too busy and was a very nice beach. We went to Alexander?s and took some fish back to the condo for lunch. We then went to Long?s and bought 2 beach umbrellas. The condo had chairs but no umbrellas. We then got some bottled water and headed to the beach. Barbara swam and I snorkeled and relaxed on the beach.
Stayed at the beach till 5. Got back to the condo and caught our last sunset. Had great view from the condo. After sunset we did a little packing and had dinner at Sarentos on the beach. We were surprised because we figured it would be in a nicer spot but it was hidden behind a best western that looked a little dodgy to say the least. The restaurant was very nice though. The only complaint was that the hostesses were a little snotty and our main waiter was slower than a turtle. Our other server was excellent. I had the steak filet and Barbara had a very unique medley of lobster, oysters, muscles etc. Both meals were very good. We had a profitarole's with ice cream for dessert. The meal was probably a little too expensive for what you got. We paid 120.00 for dinner and dessert. The dessert was 9.00, which surprised me. We originally had reservations for the plantation house but we didn?t feel like traveling too much after a relaxing day on the beach.
Wednesday August 18
Got up around 9:30. We went to the beach for one last time. I have a goofy tradition of writing messages for friends on the sand and then taking pics of the message so I did that as Barbara swam. We had breakfast at Stella Blues again. Love those banana mac nut pancakes. We did some last minute shopping. For those who want to bring flowers back then go to Safeway. Barbara picked her own arrangement piece by piece and they will box them up and stamp them for an extra 5.00. It only cost 30.00 for everything. Well worth it and you don?t have to mess with the agriculture inspection at the airport with the stamp. We learned this the hard way from the last trip when we didn?t realize about not buying roadside flowers. I also recommend taking back some Maui Splash Pineapple wine. It is usually 9-10 dollars but Long?s had it on sale for 6.99 each. We bought 4 bottles to bring back. It is really good and highly recommended.
We also had to buy some more luggage due to way too much shopping. We stopped at the Wall-mart on Dairy road in route to Enterprise. It cost us 36.00 for a big piece of luggage but still was a good deal. We could have bought a cheaper one but this one had a unique tropical design so we figured what the heck.
Overall it was the best trip ever. Many thanks go out to all you readers because it was my research on fodors that helped us find many of the dinner spots. We prefer the south side of Maui because it seems more like real cities verses the west side that has all of the resorts. The south side also seemed to have fewer families with kids. Anytime we go it will always be Kihei or Wailea. Thanks again to everyone and hopefully this trip report will help those who plan on going to Maui aka. Paradise
Paul
Wednesday Aug 11
Flew from DFW non-stop to Maui. Flight was packed but overall was tolerable
Arrived at 3pm, got rental from Enterprise. I highly recommend the Subaru Baja. Have had one for both trips and they are great.
Checked in at the Wailea Outrigger Palms. The condo is beautiful and it just went on the market for a half a million dollars for all you rich people out there J. We had the garden view. The condo has air conditioning in the master room only. The condo has ceiling fans in the living room and both bedrooms. It was very comfortable and that is coming from someone who loves the cold ac.
We bought food at the Safeway. The prices were good and about the same as in Dallas/Fort Worth. Buy the onion flavored Maui style chips. You won?t be disappointed. We had dinner in a nice Thai restaurant in Kihei. Can?t remember the name but it is next to pita paradise. Food was really good and we caught the sunset on the beach afterwards.
Thursday Aug 12
We used this as a rest day. Got internet set up in condo. Hated doing this but had to for work. If you have to have internet then Lavanet is good. Cost me 12.00 plus 10.00 set up for 2 weeks. They also had a local dial up number.
Get the shaved ice at Espresso Shack. Its in the same shopping strip as Denny?s. I had mango, pineapple with vanilla ice cream at the bottom. It is the best.
We had dinner at the fish market in Paia. We both had fish and chips and they were very good.
Had a post dinner drink at Jacques. The mai tais are very good and strong.
Paia is a great town. Very friendly locals and had a great energy.
Friday Aug 13
Went to the Maui Ocean Center on way to Lahaina from Wailea. Beautiful place, incredible see life. They have day passes for 20.00 and week passes for 23.00.
Had lunch at Kimo?s in Lahaina. Excellent food. The blackened fish sandwich is very good. Barbara had a fish salad, which also was very good. We also had a great view on the ocean from where we sat.
After lunch we did a little shopping on Front Street. Way too much temptation.
Stropped at some lookout points for pics on way back to Wailea. The views are spectacular.
After relaxing at the condo for a while we went to the Ulea beach for sunset. The view was excellent.
Had dinner at Maui Tacos in Kihei. This Texan is a tough critic when it comes to tex mex and the fish tacos were the best we have ever had. Prices were very good and well worth it.
Saturday August 14
Got up at 2:30 am. We had Ekahi Tours picking us up at 3:00 am for the Haleakala Crater sunrise. I usually hate tours but this one was quite good. We arrived at the summit at 5 am. Bring a blanket. It is freezing up there. Academy sells a jacket that folds up into a pillow for 15.00. It is well worth it and will save on luggage space.
Sunrise was mixed. We had clear views and then the clouds came in. We couldn?t see anything.
On the way down we stopped at another observation point about 100 feet below the summit. On a whim I went to the deck and the clouds suddenly disappeared. I went camera nuts and took about 100 pics of everything. One of the must breathtaking views we have ever seen. It is well worth the time and money to go. The tour was around 70.00 each and was well worth it.
We stopped for breakfast afterwards and it was back to the hotel. We got back and then quickly left to get to the market. There is a local swap market every Saturday morning and it is very good. It is on Mokulele Highway in Kahului past the McDonalds to the left if driving north. Bought some beautifully hand made woodcarvings and other gifts for friends. Went back to the hotel afterwards and collapsed.
We had dinner at Nick?s Fish market at the Kea Lani in Wailea. Nick?s was probably the best meal on the trip. I had the lamb and it was the best I have ever had. Barbara had the Mahi Mahi. You have to go to Nick?s. The food and service was excellent. We also caught the sunset there as well. You must try to catch every sunset because they are always different and just incredible to watch.
We went to the shops in Wailea. Very nice shopping center/mall. High end stores like Coach, Louis Vutton and also lower end like ABC stores (where we got our stuff, lol). Nice shopping area. They also have a few restaurants like Tommy Bahamas and Leilani?s.
Sunday August 15
Woke up around 7 am. Went to Ulea beach for an hour to swim. Very nice beach and there weren?t many people.
Had breakfast at Stella Blues in Kihei. The banana mac nut pancakes are unbelievable. I do not like pancakes and I loved these. I had the lox and eggs (very good) and Barbara had ham and eggs.
We stopped for another shaved ice at the shack. Had mango and coconut with ice cream at the bottom. It was even better then the last one.
We made one more stop at the Outrigger Marriott. Barbara wanted to check it out since we had hotel privileges there as well. Nice place. We stopped for a drink at the pool. She had juice and I had a banana drink that had a ton of rum and kahula in it, it was very very good.
Had dinner at Tommy Bahamas at the shops in Wailea. I had the Jamaican pulled pork. I usually don't like pork but it was very good. The portion was huge and had to take the rest home. Barbara had the mahi mahi and she loved it. We caught the sunset at a small beach by the shops.
Monday August 16
Woke up around 11 am. Barbara bought some swimsuits from a shop called beachwear in Kihei. The lady does custom swimsuits and she does excellent work. Unfortunately she doesn?t make swimsuits for guys.
Had lunch at Spices in Kihei. Probably the most disappointing meal the entire trip. We heard great things about this place. I had fish tacos. Only problem was there was very little fish. Barbara had the fish and chips that she said we average at best. The service was also very slow.
We went to the rainbow mall. Bought three beautiful oil paintings. All were landscapes of beaches made by local unknown artists. Can?t wait to get the pictures on the wall. Only one more week till they will be framed.
We went to the beach afterwards. Another beautiful day.
After relaxing at the condo we went to the hula grill for dinner in Kannapali. Excellent atmosphere. Definitely book in advance. It was packed and had an hour wait. Since we had reservations we got in immediately. You don?t need to book dinners before arriving in Maui. We booked all of our meals the day before and had no problems. The food was another winner. I had the Kansas city steak, mmmmm it was good. Barbara had the lobster. She said it was excellent. Can?t remember the name of the dessert, it was like a chocolate moose cake. It was the best dessert we had on the trip. If you keep your receipt you get their homemade ice cream sandwich free on your next visit to Maui. I already have my receipt saved, lol.
We also caught the sunset here. It was partly cloudy and finally caught the sun going into the ocean. It was the best sunset on the trip.
After dinner we shopped at Whalers village, which is where the hula grill is located. They had a hula show that we caught the end of. In addition the shopping center had a very nice cigar shop where I picked up some big kahuna cigars. For the cigar fans it is called Sir Wilfred?s coffee and cigars.
Tuesday August 17
Got up around 9:30. Original plan was for West Maui then changed to going Upcountry then finally changed to going to the beach. We went to Kamole Beach 3 in Kihei. It wasn?t too busy and was a very nice beach. We went to Alexander?s and took some fish back to the condo for lunch. We then went to Long?s and bought 2 beach umbrellas. The condo had chairs but no umbrellas. We then got some bottled water and headed to the beach. Barbara swam and I snorkeled and relaxed on the beach.
Stayed at the beach till 5. Got back to the condo and caught our last sunset. Had great view from the condo. After sunset we did a little packing and had dinner at Sarentos on the beach. We were surprised because we figured it would be in a nicer spot but it was hidden behind a best western that looked a little dodgy to say the least. The restaurant was very nice though. The only complaint was that the hostesses were a little snotty and our main waiter was slower than a turtle. Our other server was excellent. I had the steak filet and Barbara had a very unique medley of lobster, oysters, muscles etc. Both meals were very good. We had a profitarole's with ice cream for dessert. The meal was probably a little too expensive for what you got. We paid 120.00 for dinner and dessert. The dessert was 9.00, which surprised me. We originally had reservations for the plantation house but we didn?t feel like traveling too much after a relaxing day on the beach.
Wednesday August 18
Got up around 9:30. We went to the beach for one last time. I have a goofy tradition of writing messages for friends on the sand and then taking pics of the message so I did that as Barbara swam. We had breakfast at Stella Blues again. Love those banana mac nut pancakes. We did some last minute shopping. For those who want to bring flowers back then go to Safeway. Barbara picked her own arrangement piece by piece and they will box them up and stamp them for an extra 5.00. It only cost 30.00 for everything. Well worth it and you don?t have to mess with the agriculture inspection at the airport with the stamp. We learned this the hard way from the last trip when we didn?t realize about not buying roadside flowers. I also recommend taking back some Maui Splash Pineapple wine. It is usually 9-10 dollars but Long?s had it on sale for 6.99 each. We bought 4 bottles to bring back. It is really good and highly recommended.
We also had to buy some more luggage due to way too much shopping. We stopped at the Wall-mart on Dairy road in route to Enterprise. It cost us 36.00 for a big piece of luggage but still was a good deal. We could have bought a cheaper one but this one had a unique tropical design so we figured what the heck.
Overall it was the best trip ever. Many thanks go out to all you readers because it was my research on fodors that helped us find many of the dinner spots. We prefer the south side of Maui because it seems more like real cities verses the west side that has all of the resorts. The south side also seemed to have fewer families with kids. Anytime we go it will always be Kihei or Wailea. Thanks again to everyone and hopefully this trip report will help those who plan on going to Maui aka. Paradise
Paul
Aug 21st, 2004, 08:14 PM
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wonderful report.....but delta, unless you are allergic to fish and seafood, you really must share at dinner. "Barbara said the mahi mahi......" What a great trip you had!
My nieces love when I make "hawaiin pancakes" in which I put the batter in the pan, add blueberry, banana , and crumbled mac nuts, flip and finish with pure maple syrup........yummm.
Aug 22nd, 2004, 10:03 PM
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We did share. For the most part I only tried a little fish. I am more of a red meat guy but I do enjoy fish on occasion.The pancakes sound good. I will try that as long as we can find cocunut syrup.
Aug 24th, 2004, 07:36 PM
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deltasig711,
What a fabulous report! We also just returned from Maui and had such a great trip. I must post a report this weekend while I can still taste the salt water on my tongue from snorkeling!
What a fabulous report! We also just returned from Maui and had such a great trip. I must post a report this weekend while I can still taste the salt water on my tongue from snorkeling!
