My husband and I went to Maui years ago when we lived in Honolulu, and we didn’t really enjoy it so we haven’t been back. We always wondered if we didn’t give it a fair shot because we were there with a family and couldn’t really do the outdoorsy activities we usually do to explore a Hawaiian island. My husband got the opportunity to attend a conference on Maui and we figured it would be the perfect excuse to give it another try. And while we were willing to take another shot at Maui, we didn’t want to spend the whole trip there, so we split it up with Oahu, which we knew we’d enjoy!
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Maui
Hotel
Fairmont Kea Lani, Wailea: This is a beautiful over-the-top resort with just about every bell and whistle you could imagine. The rooms are all suites and they really are enormous. We had to wait a bit to check into our room, and while we were outside hanging out I looked at the lanais and thought, “That’s sort of cheap that two rooms share a lanai,” then I realized that the rooms are just huge. Even having to wait to check in wasn’t so bad because we could use a hospitality suite for a half hour to change and freshen up, and when the bellman brought our bags he gave us a tour of the room and pointed out a bunch of the features. Maid service was prompt and thorough. I was impressed that the hotel’s wifi even worked out by the pools, and was just much better in general that than I’ve seen at other hotels. They also have free washers and driers on the upper floors, and you can buy little single use packages of soap and dryer sheets in the store.
As far as the grounds of the hotel, there’s an adult pool, which was a nice since there were quite a few kids at the hotel (even in September). There’s a swim up bar in the regular pool, so it’s worth a visit, too. They had large containers of ice water around the pools, and big bottles of sunblock and aloe gel. The beach is nice, but there was a south shore swell when we were there so the shorebreak was a little heavy. In my opinion the best thing about the hotel is that you can go for a paddle in an outrigger canoe with two other guests and two staff members for free. Just call ahead to reserve it during your stay because it does book up. The guides were fun and we saw turtles and a monk seal while we were out. It wasn’t much of a workout because there was lots of resting while the guides talked about Hawaiian wildlife or history, but still a lot of fun. I should have booked it for every morning!
The biggest con to this hotel is the price. It’s a nice hotel and you do get a good amount of perks and quality for your money, but it’s still an awful lot of money. A disclaimer is that we were paying about half the regular nightly rate due to the conference rate — we normally wouldn’t even look at a hotel this expensive (just not worth it to us). After that I would say the next biggest con is its size, but again that’s probably my bias for smaller properties.
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Wailea
OK, this is where I go off for a little bit. Wailea is a perfect example of what you should avoid when you go to Hawaii — a tourist enclave where you’re cut off from any sort of genuine experience. Our flight landed at 11:30, and while I wanted to have lunch in Kahului my husband just wanted to wait until we got to Wailea. He mistakenly thought there would be some sort of town there — nope, just giant hotels and a couple of malls with lots of overpriced restaurants and golf courses. I suppose the beaches are nice, and it’s a bit closer to the airport than Ka’anapali. I did like Kihei, which struck me as just a cute little Hawaiian town. Not “quaint” (and overrun with tourists) like Hale’iwa on Oahu or Pa’ia, but an actual town where you can go to Long’s or get a cheap but tasty meal.
Maui food
In order from best to worst.
Izakaya Matsu If I had a place like this near me in Seattle I’d be there once a week. Just normal, low-key, amazing Japanese food. I got the agedashi tofu and Japanese fried chicken and our friends got the fried fish and all were really good. My husband got sushi, and while the unagi was good, the spicy tuna roll wasn’t so great, so I guess stay away from the Americanized stuff.
Monkeypod Kitchen Really tasty stuff. Super fresh ahi in the poke tacos, and my gnocchi were just plain delicious. We had a reservation but still had to wait a little bit, and try to sit outside because the live music was super loud inside.
Pita Paradise Not amazing or a must eat, but we just wanted something that wasn’t too fancy or overpriced and it fit the bill without having to drive into Kihei. The food was good and it was worth it just to get the baklava ice cream cake for dessert.
Food trucks Talk about a business model that makes sense for Hawaii! You don’t have to mess around with sky high rent and you can park near the beach. An advantage to the Kea Lani is that it’s closer to the the food trucks that park along the road in Makena. I had kalua pork sliders on taro rolls with pineapple slaw from Big Beach BBQ one day for lunch and they were super good. The next day I had a pork and pineapple sausage with a side of fried zucchini from Bubba’s Gourmet Dog Shack and it was also really good. My husband opted for fish tacos from Jawz Tacos Big Beach and while they were good they weren’t amazing.
Pa’ia Fish Market Certainly not bad, but I’m not sure what the hype is about. If you’re nearby and you need a place for lunch I suppose you could do worse, but I wouldn’t make a special trip. Also parking in Pa’ia is a pain.
Cheeseburger Island Style Ugh. I’m so embarrassed we went here. I suppose if you’re desperate or you’re on Maui with unadventurous friends or family it’s fine, but these places are just annoying.
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Maui activities
Kai Kanani We did the Molokini Express Snorkeling Tour. There are a couple really big positives to this boat and tour. For one thing, it takes off from the beach in front of the Makena Beach & Golf Resort, right down the road from the Wailea hotels. Also, the morning express snorkel takes off at 6:30, which means it’s the only snorkeling boat out at Molokini. And honestly it’s nice to be back by 8:30 and still have the whole day ahead of you.
The snorkeling at Molokini was good, not ZOMG amazing or anything, but decent. We then moved to a spot closer to shore to see turtles. We did see a couple but not a whole bunch. While I might not have been super impressed with the snorkeling, I really liked the boat and crew, and although we used our own equipment the stuff they provided looked pretty good, too. I talked to Captain Anthony for a little while and he was a really nice guy. He said the only difference between the morning express tour and the deluxe tour that leaves at 9 is that they just sail around more and serve lunch — the snorkeling stops are the same.
Waihe’e Ridge Trail This trail is about five miles round trip and offers some really gorgeous views of the surroundings valleys, the ocean, Kahului, and Haleakala. Not a difficult trail as far as length or elevation gain, but parts were super slippery from mud. We’ve dealt with lots of slippery tropical trails, but I don’t remember slipping more on any other trail.
To get there you take 340 north of Kahului for several miles and around lots of twists and turns until you see the red sign for Camp Maluhia BSA. There’s a small lot right when you turn, but if you drive a little farther there’s another lot closer to the trailhead. The first part of the trail is paved and very steep, and then it’s forest. Once you get through that (around the one mile marker) the views really start to open up. Then you start climbing steps and switchbacking. We went in the late morning, and after the switchbacks we started getting up to the cloud level, and it started getting muddy. It flattens out a little bit between the steps/first switchbacks and another small set of switchbacks leading to the end of the trail, and it got a bit swampy. I think a lot of people turn back at this point, and since you’re all socked in by clouds it’s not like you’ll miss anything by doing so. But my husband is always very gung ho about getting to the very end of trails, so we kept on. Shockingly enough I got perfect cell reception up there and called my mom.
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Oahu
Hotel
Aqua Lotus Diamond Head This was an interesting experience because we actually stayed here on our last trip to Oahu in 2010 (I talk about it in my Oahu post since I didn’t write a review for the trip), but at that time it was owned by Castle. It’s not drastically different under ownership by Aqua, but there were small changes. The rooms have been re-done and they’re nicer. They also have coffee out in the lobby in the morning, lemon water out during the day, and wine between 4 and 6. There’s still no restaurant, although one day we overhead the manager talking to what I assume were two Aqua management types and he told them they’re re-doing the restaurant and hope to have something in there by December 1. They still have beach chairs and mats available, and now you can also take out bicycles. Our room was not all that great relatively. It was on the 3rd floor (the lowest floor with rooms), so we had a lovely view of the restaurant roof and a parking garage. It was a corner room, so we had two lanai and more light, and on an upper floor the corner rooms would be really great. We parked on the far side of Kapiolani Park, like last time, so parking was free.
I still much prefer to stay in this area as opposed to Waikiki, but I’m a little concerned that the price for this hotel crept up compared to our last stay. Sure the interiors are a little spiffed up, but this is still not a full resort, and even calling it a luxury boutique hotel is pushing it. Apparently Aqua knows what they’re doing, though, because it was pretty much sold out during what’s normally a slow period for Hawaii.
Oahu food
Eat the Street One of those awesome things where a bunch of food trucks get together in one place. The lines were all pretty short, and there was a good variety of food. They also have a theme for each event, and in honor of Oktoberfest this one was cheese and sausage. I had a hot dog baked in a waffle with cheese sauce, and it was insanely good. If you’re looking to get away from tourists this seemed pretty darn local and was lots of fun.
Kapiolani Community College Farmers Market Crowded as all getout, but fun. All the beautiful produce made me wish I had access to a kitchen. If you don’t have a kitchen, there’s a lot of good prepared food and some things to take home, like coffee, spices, and a few other goodies. We sat down to eat across from an older couple and talked story with them a little bit, including learning that their daughter went to high school with Barak Obama.
Roy’s Hawaii Kai The original and superior to any other Roy’s we’ve been to, both in Hawaii and on the Mainland. We chatted a bit with our waiter, who had worked there for nine years, and he confirmed that Roy keeps a closer eye on this one than others, and while service is important to him, the food is always held to the very highest standard.
Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar Super fresh, very tasty, good wine list. Not much more to say than that!
Diamond Head Market & Grill It wouldn’t be a trip to Oahu without a couple stops here! The food is really good and they have healthier plate lunch options than places like L&L, and the plantation iced tea is fantastic after a day at the beach. We even stopped by on our way to the airport for teas and fried rice for breakfast.
Kona Brewing Co. Koko Marina Pub Another standby for us, also over in Hawaii Kai. The pizza didn’t taste quite as good as it used to in my opinion — still really good and the beer is still super good.
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