Maui Wowi

After 15 years the wife and I take a vacation together to celebrate our 25th. My wife wanted to get back to her roots having been born, or so she says, in Hawaii. I keep demanding that she prove it, I think she is really one of them native Californian's wanting to corrupt my way of living.

So we stayed at a really cool place, the Kaanapali Beach Hotel, on Maui. It suits our type of lifestyle to a tee. It is really low-key, with a great staff, friendly people, and other easy going folks. One thing it has is lots of space - green areas - not all packed in like sardines around a swimming pool like the hotels around it.


They were nice enough to upgrade our room to a bottom floor with a patio - which in our opinion - is the only way to do it.


It is also really close to the beach - maybe 200 yards, and also close to a nice place to snorkel.

So, we are saving our money to take the boys next time with a few modifications.

1. October was a perfect time to go. No rain, cool breeze, low humidity.
   
2. We would forgo the breakfast buffet in place of feeding ourselves with fruit and cereal purchased at a grocery store. Both the wife and I don't eat that much and we ended up overeating each morning.
3. We would rent beach chairs and an umbrella from Snorkel Bob's. It's about $30 for the week which beats the price the hotel vendor charges you at the beach ($45 for a two person cabana chair per day or $20.00 for a beach chair per day.
4. Snorkel Bob also rents snorkel gear by the week. That's what I used this time. $26.00 total as compared to $9.00 per day at the beach. Plus I can take it with me.
5. A rental car was nice. We got ours through Travelocity. We did the road to Hana but not the volcano, used about 1.5 tanks of gas for the whole week. Without a car it will cost two people about $130 to get from the airport to the hotel.
6. We would eat again at Flatbread Pizza in Paia - which is on the road to Hana at the begining.
7. We would eat the coconut gelato from the Ono Gelato Company in Lahaina and in Paia.
8. No one did a smoothie or shaved ice that was worth doing again. But the coconut gelato was worth going back for.
9. We would take a snorkel trip to Molokini crater. Not sure who to go through - be wary of deals - they usually involve a timeshare sales pitch.
10. We would probably do a Luau next time. There is one in Lahina near Aloha Mixed Plate and Canary Mall. Same warning - be aware of deals - they are associated with timeshare sales.
11. Speaking of the Aloha Mixed Plate - that's on the list to go again. The Kaldi ribs were great. "Million dollar view meets paper plates."

OK, so now I really want to go back! I thought San Antonio was laid back...Maui takes it to a whole laid back level more.

Aloha!