Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Maui Wowie! Our Trip Report

We recently spent our first week in Hawaii on Maui (March 18-25), staying at the Marriott (timeshare loaned by my brother-in-law; who says inlaws are trouble?) in Kaanapali. We had a great time, although the flying was pretty extensive for a one week vacation; over 5 hours from Myrtle Beach to the west coast, and then 6.5 hours to Maui from San Francisco (fighting a 100 MPH-plus headwind the whole way). And we missed our connection in SFO on the return trip (due to a three hour delay getting out of Maui), resulting in an unintended overnight near the airport. But sandwiched in between the flying, was a very relaxing week. Here's the skinny.

Lodging:

Marriott (oceanfront) in Kaanapali. Great service, a surprisingly decent sushi restaurant on site (Nalu), and a great suite--6th floor, three balconies with views of the ocean and the mountains to the east, two full baths, and a full kitchen. Be aware, however, that they are converting all of the hotel rooms to timeshare suites beginning this month (April), so the whole place will be enjoying the sounds of construction probably throughout the Fall of this year.

Kaanapali:

A resort area 2 miles North of Lahaina with several hotels and condo buildings. I had read in other posts on this board that it's 35 years old and showing its age. Well, all I can say is that it is aging exceptionally well. There is a great, landscaped beachwalk extending nearly the whole length of the cove, with a decent little shopping center in the center (along with several oceanfront restaurant/bars, including the Hula Grill).

The Beaches:

We only visited a few beaches in West Maui (and the surfer beach near Paia on the North shore), but mostly what we saw was golden sand, very clear water, gentle surf (except the North shore). All of the beaches are what I would consider coves of varying sizes, not interconnected, so you either stick to one for the day or hop from beach to beach in your car. North of Kaanapali (past Napili) we explored several beaches & coves, and they just got more rocky & stunning the further we drove.

Geography:

For me, probably the coolest thing about Maui--lots of change in flora & fauna with changes in elevation. And for a small island, the elevation changes are stunning. In west Maui, the mountains (extinct volcano) reach 6,000 feet; and of course further East at Haleakala, the elevation is 10,023 feet. The weather patterns also produce wet, tropical rain forests on the windward (East) side of these two mountain systems, leaving the lee sides (all of the Western shores) relatively rain-free.

Lahaina:

An unexpected pleasure for us. I had read some negative comments (tourist trap, tacky, crowded), but we really liked it. We spent a little bit of nearly each day walking around town (or eating or drinking). There are lots of t-shirt & gift shops, but what a revelation: you don't have to go in them! Instead, we visited some boutique shops, some galleries, an art festival in the banyan tree park. I can't even begin to describe the banyan tree. All I will say is look at it; it covers the whole park; it is one tree. And there are some great restaurants there--more later on that. Parking is a bit of a challenge, but we did not think Lahaina seemed overly crowded, just an ordinary holiday hustle & bustle.

Food:

This was one of best culinary vacations ever. We love seafood and took nearly every opportunity to indulge. Budget a LOT for meals ($100 to $200 for two for dinners, half that for lunches, except when you're consciously trying to cheap out, e.g., Maui Taco), and then quit worrying about the tab. The highs (many of them), roughly in order of enjoyment:

David Paul's Lahaina Grill - simply outstanding food & service; understated, elegant decor; not overbearing. We had pink snapper cooked to perfection.

Mama's (in Paia) - Absolutely unique ocean-front setting and screened porch gone-wild decor. Great food; great service; unparalleled atmosphere. The one restaurant you could not find back home. We had fish of course, doesn't matter what kind. I paid $14 each for a couple of Mai Tai's; I didn't care.

Io - in Lahaina (the 505 Front Street complex). Very modern, very sleek, outstanding appetizers - our best of the trip: the silken purse (seafood wantons). Bold, complex sauces. Yum!

General Store (in Haliimaile, Route 371 off of 37, the road to Haleakala ). Very good lunch there. High ceilings, very open, very casual. Again, great food.

Pacific-O, right beside Io (they're sister restaurants). We went there twice for oceanfront lunches. Outstanding. My better half especially loved the fresh greens salad with goat cheese and maui onions. I know it sounds simple, but the grilled onions and local goat cheese were a few notches above what we can get at home.

Hula Grill (along the beachwalk in Kaanapali) - oceanfront, casual. We ate in the main dining room one night and shared several appetizers; very good! We also had a drink - ok, some drinks - at lunch, along with an excellent woodfired pizza in the bar area.

Lulu's - in Kihei. We ate there for lunch after an excursion to big beach south of Wailea. GREAT fish taco, and I discovered I liked poke (kind of like a seafood salad). It may be sacrilege, but we liked Lulu's fish tacos even better than Maui fish taco's , although I'll plug Maui Taco here: good food, cheap, a significant accomplishment on Maui from our experience.

Last, our only bad dining experience on Maui; really more of a bad bar experience was at Leilani's (right beside Hula Grill in Kaanapali). We went there for a drinks & appetizers light dinner. It was very crowded, but the host insisted that we could make do in a little isolated corner of the bar area. We could have indeed made do if the barkeep had ever remembered to glance our way or hear our vain pleas for more drinks, food, anything! Just terrible service--and it wasn't crowded enough to justify that.

Excursions:

Haleakala, the volcano. Lots of folks get up in the wee hours to get to the summit to view sunrise. Lots of folks play daredevil and bike down from the summit. We opted for the vacation-lite version: get on the road at a respectable 9:00 a.m., and reach the summit (after visiting a few overlooks along the way) by 11:00 a.m. We had really great weather conditions all the way up and during all the time spent at the summit and overlooks. It was really cool seeing the snow-covered 14,000 feet peaks 80 miles east on the big island. It began to cloud up only when we were halfway down the mountain. Oh, my better half would like to add that it helps to be a fan of narrow, twisty, hairpin-turn mountain roads, often with no shoulder or guardrail separating you from a thousand foot drop-off.

Whale Watching:

from about January through March, pacific humpback whales migrate from Alaska to the shallow waters off Maui to breed and give birth. You can see whales from the beach, from your hotel balcony, and from the deck of a catamaran (or other boat). We did all three. We agreed that the Trilogy catamaran whale watch tour (a two hour excursion leaving directly from the beach in kaanapali) was the highlight of our trip. The sail itself would have been worth the $35 per person. Fairly calm waters, a big stable boat, and the most clear, most deeply blue water we have ever seen. Then we had three close encounters with a mother and calf, including hearing their calls through an underwater microphone. Great experience.

Misc:

Driving was easy; parking can be a little challenging, but not bad. People are very friendly! Tropical drinks may be habit-forming. Aloha!