Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Maui Trip Report

Aloha! I have finally recovered from paradise and have found a few minutes to report as I had promised. Traveling were my Husband, I and two sons 10 and 12 years old. This is our 4th trip to Maui. We try to visit Maui every two years. Our boys are growing so fast and this is what our family memories are made of. This trip my brother and sister in-law and 16 year old niece from Texas decided to join us. This was their first trip to Maui.

3/12 - 12 hours and 3 planes later we landed on Maui. Flew Delta all the way. Great flights but boys were disappointed that the tape for the movie on plane from LAX to Maui was bad and would not play with sound! This made the 5 ? hour flight seem longer for them. We found my in-laws waiting for us at baggage claim. They flew Continental, non stop flight direct from Houston! Lucky for them! We waited while the guys picked up the Van at Alamo and drove back around and picked us up. This is much easier than loading everyone and luggage on Alamo bus, unloading again and waiting again to load up the Van. We drove 45 mins. to the Whaler Condo on Kaanapali Beach. We checked in to two separate units for each family. We were all ready for bed but had to do our traditional quick soak in the hot tub before bed. We love staying at the Whaler and have found that their pool area is open longer than most on Kaanapali Beach. Their Pool hours are 8am to 10pm. The pool is small compared to the surrounding resort pools but very nice temperature and very clean.

3/13 - Woke up to wind and rain. Not to worry we had grocery shopping to do and why not do it when its rainy. We returned from Safeways $200.00 later. The kids were off to the pool! We joined them a little while later and then changed and walked next door to Whalers Village and the Hula Grill for fish and chips. After picking up our snorkel gear and boogie boards at Maui Dive Shop in Whalers Village we decided to walk to the Sheraton for Drink at the pool side bar. The weather was still cloudy and very windy. Went back to Condo for light dinner and drinks and then went to the pool for the rest of the evening.

3/14 - Weather was still unsettled, but the ocean was great.. good day for the kids to try a first time surf lesson..signed up at the activities desk by th Weston for a 1 ? hour lesson for the 3 kids. We walked with instructor, kids and boards for what seemed like forever until we were in front of the Alli and Hyatt. The break there was farther off shore and shallow much better for surfing. We tried to sit on the beach but were sandblasted by the sand and wind. The kids were having a great time and we would cheer every time they would stand up for even a second. 1 hour into the lesson our niece came up holding her chin.. the board had come up and hit her in the chin. The instructor said she may need stitches and he walked us to the Dr. office in Whalers Village. She did need stitches but the Dr. thought since the injury was to the face that she needed to go the hospital in Kahului. I stayed at the condo with my youngest and we shopped at Whalers Village and hung out by the pool. The rest of the gang went to the hospital. My niece is a real trooper never complained once. She only had to stay out of the water for 2 days. They all liked the drive/scenery to the hospital in Kahului since we arrived in the dark the first day. It rained off and on most of the afternoon anyway. We had dinner at the Rusty Harpoon, then the pool/hot tub and off to bed.

3/15 - The weather was much nicer but still windy. The adults met at the lobby in the morning with the Whaler conceiger to go over some of the packages available for the rest of the week. In-laws had never been to Hana so they decided to choose the guided tour van ride to Hana for the next morning. Hubby and I and 2 boys choose not to go, boys would not enjoy the long ride. We decided on the 2 hour Whale watch out of Lahaina with Pacific Whale Foundation for the same day. The rest of the day we drove to West Maui, showed the in-laws all the sites along the way to Kapalua Bay, snorkeled and swam and drove back thru the golf resorts on the way home. Went to the Sheraton for drinks and the cliff dive at sunset and then home for dinner and pool.

3/16 - In-laws and niece left for Hana at 6:45 am. They were picked up right in front of the lobby by the tour van. We left for Morning Whale Watch. The ride was very smooth and not windy at all. Very nice morning and the crew was very informative, but there was not as many whales to see as in years past. After the whale watch we drove to West Maui to the fish market and picked up a fish for dinner. We spent the rest of the day snorkeling/boogie boarding on the beach at Black Rock. It turned out to be a very nice afternoon and lots of other young families around for our kids to play with. We even saw a sea turtle while it was eating sea weed very close to shore. It was so fun to watch it watch us! Lots of fish out at the point. Water was a little murky from all the rain. My oldest son and husband even jumped off the cliffs. Yikes! In-laws returned with wine from the winery on there way home from Hana. For dinner we grilled fresh fish and had a bottle of the pineapple wine at the condo. Then a soak in the hot tub and talked about our day.

3/17 - We couldn't put it off anymore. The girls were going shopping. We went to Lahaina and the guys hung out at the beach and pool for the day. That evening we went to dinner at Bubba Gumps. The Whaler Conceiger made reservations for us. Bubba's is fun for the kids as usual. It was a must for the inlaws. Our boys like to wander around the restaurant and look at all the memorabilia while waiting for dinner. The atmosphere is always better than the food!

3/18 -We booked a Molokini/Lani cruise with PWF for 8:30 to 3:30 out of harbor next to the Aquarium/Buzz's Wharf. It was so awesome. We stopped for whales all the way to Molokini. The crew was great and just as excited about each whale as we were. This was the crews first trip out in 5 days, because the water has been too rough. The whales were everywhere and we had a expert from the aquarium on the boat with us. His name was Rick and he joins a cruise with PWF about once a week and the rest of the time he is the keeper of the turtles and touch pools at the Aquarium. He taught us all a lot about whales, fish and sea life that are native to Hawaii and just the ocean in general. We had juice, coffee and muffins for breakfast and snorkeled at Molokini for most of the morning. There was a single dolphin there to meet us. We were right next to the rail and the kids got to see the dolphin up close. The snorkeling was awesome at Molokini and the water was really clear. Then we loaded by up and on our way to what we thought would be Lani..but all of a sudden in the distance we spotted a pod of 4 whales. We eased up to them slowly and there was a calf that would jump and jump ... we were told the calves do this to get a look at us. Then the crew told us that we were going to be the first boat this season to be mugged! I had no idea what they meant. Then all of a sudden the whales disappeared and slowly surrounded the boat. Then they would come up in different spots and then go beside the boat and under it. It was so strange seeing the huge shadows all around the boat under the water. They finally came up about the same place the started and then disappeared again for good. It was such an eerie silence when they would go under and no one knew where they were. Our boys still talk about it. This went on for a good hour before we started going on again. The captain told us that we didn't have time to go to second snorkeling spot off Lani and that they were taking us to a great snorkel spot to see turtles. They called the location "Coconuts" it is along the highway between the Aquarium an Lahaina. They call it ?Coconuts? because they find it by spotting 6 coconut tree planted in a row along the highway. It was a very clear with beautiful sand bars that made the water look turquoise and quite a few turtles around. The turtles were all different ages and some were laying on the bottom and some at the surface. The crew cooked chicken/veggie burgers with all the trimming while we were snorkeling. They played great music, served drinks and answered any questions anyone had. We headed back to the harbor and saw even more whales and sea turtles along the way. The crew was great and I would highly recommend taking a PWF excursion! No one was disappointed about not going to Lani. The experience of the "mugging" was the best. We had to rush back and change for the Hyatt Luau. It was so nice just to be able to walk from the condo right to the Luau. Our seats were not too great because we didn?t get there until about 15mins before the show. Seating is first come first serve. No reserved seats. Again, we booked this thru the Whaler concierge. It was a very good show, but the Old Lahaina Luau is still the best. We were disappointed that they would not make any kind of blender drinks like a lava flow or chi chi, the kids could only have juice or pop. They were really looking forward to blended drinks like the Old Lahaina Luau. We had a very long wonderful day and were ready to turn in not long after the Luau.

3/19 - The kids played in the pool while we finished packing. Our flights home were not until late evening. We checked out and drove to the Maui Ocean Center and spent the next 2 hours there. The hands-on exhibits and whale section are the best. There is a glass tunnel with bleachers where you can sit and watch the sharks and sting rays. We enjoyed a huge shaved ice while there. We drove around Paia and stopped along the beach park for a picnic and watched the windsurfers and kiteboarders. We also went to the Queen Ka?ahumanu Mall in Kahului. It is a beautiful mall but didnt find anything out of the ordinary to buy. Our boys spotted a huge cruise ship that had stopped for the day. We drove as closed to it as possible so they could get a look at how big it was. It is not something they see very often at home in the northwest United States. We stopped for pizza and dropped of inlaws for their flight. We then turned in the car and purchased our pineapple to check with our lugguge. Flew all night and arrived home at 1pm our time the next day. It was a wonder trip and what memories are made of. Already planning trip for 2006. Will go to Honolulu for a couple of days and then to Maui. We hope to stay10 days next trip. We will have 2 skymile tickets and that will make it more affordable! I would love to answer any questions you may have. Maui No Ka ?Oi (Maui is the best!) Mahalo and Aloha!