Our Maui trip report May 20th - May 24th

This is our trip report for the Maui stint of our holiday and then went on to Oahu ‘till 31st May. Thanks to everyone on this forum for their help and contributions. Everything went as smooth as silk with thanks also to this website for its invaluable info.

FLIGHTS: Flew from Sydney on a Qantas 767 - more like a domestic plane and no personal DVD’s. On arriving at Honolulu we were very happy with Aloha Airlines as we were offered an earlier flight and this got us to Maui 2 hours earlier! Coming back home we were impressed with Jetstar Airbus 330 (compared to Qantas) as we had more comfy seats, a little more leg room and DVD’s!!!

CAR RENTAL: National. No probs except we had to be “upgraded” to a midsize as there were no compacts available. The same thing happened in Oahu later on, so I guess this is a frequent occurrence (?) It was no biggie but had we done the road to Hana I’m not sure.

WHERE WE STAYED: The Whaler, Kaanapali Beach booked through Royal Hawaii Condos. LOVED this place!! We were cheerily greeted at the security gate by our names and there was pineapple in our fridge which was so welcoming. Wonderful studio condo #914 and location. I’ve done a review so I won’t repeat it all here.

ACTIVITIES: snorkeled at Black Rock a few minutes walk from The Whaler. We had bought our own snorkels and flippers from home and my hubby really enjoyed the snorkeling here. I was a bit scared being a novice snorkeler and the surf was quite rough getting out there; Hanauma Bay in Oahu is more my style. Bought some rash shirts from Walmart to prevent sunburnt backs (a tip from TA), but after 20 years of nagging my kids to wear sunscreen, still managed to get my legs burnt after I forgot! Hubby took a photo of them. Gotta laugh.

Checked out Lahaina – has a real charm of its own. Hope it never changes (apart from the parking - free parking is rare so expect to pay about $5 during the day and doubles at night). Lots of history, art galleries, restaurants, shops. We chanced upon a nice hula show (opp the cinema centre I think) where the markets are.

Mt Haleakani Volcano. Turned out to be one of the BEST experiences of our lives. Couldn’t face getting up at 3am for the sunrise so we left around 7.30am for the 2 hour drive to get there. The drive up and down was spectacular. There are no barriers on the sides of the road and a long way down! By 1ish the clouds had started to move in for our drive back down so we were glad we got there early. Our brakes were shuddering by the end of the trip.

At the summit there is no food or drinks for sale which you do get warned about some where along the road. If you do happen to forget this (like us!) they had a few bottles of water at the summit’s Visitor Centre for sale. Driving up we passed a lot of the pushbike riders making their way down the long winding road. I would be too busy watching the road and trying to ride a pushbike to enjoy doing that but I’m a big chicken. Hubby said he would like to do it if we get back. The bikes were very well equipped for the conditions.

The volcanic soil is very light and dusty, particularly if you walk down the sand path further into the volcano. I was really glad I bought my oldest Nikes and jacket as it was cold even though we got there around 9.30 am. On the summit, you can ride a horse into the volcano (don’t know about bookings) but was told this is a 6 hour return trip so we just walked a fair way ourselves along the sand path. That night I washed out all our clothes as believe me the dust got everywhere but it was well worth it.

FOOD: as we were only there 4 nights we didn’t get to try too much. Would suggest it is worthwhile going into Lahaina for better meals than around Whalers Village, though to be fair we only tried 2 places around WV.

BJ’s Chicago Pizza on Front Street, Lahaina. LOVED THIS PLACE! A real winner with nice music and ambience and great service. It is upstairs so we were able to look down onto Front Street from where we were sitting. Only needed a small pizza which was plenty and absolutely the best pizza we have ever had. Desert was a yummy baked cookie still in the hot tin covered in icecream which we shared – yum! Rivals Hula Pie – you won’t be disappointed.

Tiki Bar and Grill (open air bar and casual dining) at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel next door to The Whaler. Get there early as the food section was closing when we got there at 19.45. Has a nice freeby Hawaiian show. We actually can’t comment on the food though because it had closed but the ambience is very pleasant and nice cocktails. Their main restaurant is the Tiki Terrace which looked nice but we ran out of time to check this out. They have a dinner show package as well.

Had a nice breakfast at the Kaanapalia Beach Hotel as the Whaler doesn’t have a restaurant. Yummy pancakes.

We shared some Hula Pie. A DEFINITE must! One of the best deserts we’ve ever had! I think we ate ours at Leilanis.

Old Lahaina Luau. I had booked it a couple of months before from home on the ‘net. Great service, particularly loved the unlimited beer and cocktails. My husband had a big smile on his face with the unlimited food! The OLL is in a perfect setting right on the beach featuring a beautiful Maui sunset as a backdrop. We enjoyed the show which, while I wouldn’t say it is adrenaline pumping, is beautifully presented. We had a great night. It finished around 9pm so we had time to get back to the pool at The Whaler and enjoyed a dip (water like a warm bath – heavenly).

Atlantis submarine. We have heard that there is more to see on the Atlantis sub in Oahu so if you are going to Oahu maybe look into that. We still enjoyed this one though and ended up going down 132 feet. Didn’t see anything too exciting but did see lots of fish. There is a shipwreck down there they take you to (just a recent one). Good fun singing “yellow submarine”.

FAVOURITE COCKTAIL: Lava Flow

Well that’s the short and sweet of it. We only had 4 days in Maui and then set off for Oahu. Loved Maui and dream of going back. Thanks again for everyone’s help!

Our Maui trip report May 20th - May 24th

The BJ%26#39;s dessert must be the pizzookie? Not sure of the spelling.

Thanks for the report - sounds like a very nice time!

Our Maui trip report May 20th - May 24th

Thanks Trixee - wished I could remember the name. One of the best I%26#39;ve ever had.

And yes we had the most absolutely wonderful time!! Then went on to Oahu and while different, was a blast as well.

WoW! Thanks for the time to report. This is really going to help with our planning for our upcoming trip.

So glad you had a great time.

Mahalo!

Thanks for your report!

We skipped the volcano this last time (we did the sunrise and the bike ride down on our first visit, which was fantastic, by the way). A Haleakala hike sounds like fun, though - maybe next time.

Lava Flows do rule, I must agree. (My new favorite is POG spiked with Passion Fruit Malibu Rum, though coconut Malibu works quite well too).

As someone who dreams to return to Maui and also longs to visit Syndey, can you tell me how long the flight is? Just curious - I thought it might be a good combination trip some day (who am I kidding? I could never afford the time or expense, but hey, a guy can dream, right?)

Enjoyed your report. Thanks!

Your experience at the Whaler sounded positive..... your view of Black Rock from your room wasn%26#39;t too bad, was it?

Hey Papa

It took about 10 hours for us to get to Honolulu from Sydney. Our flight left at 19.45 and the time seemed to go pretty quick. We snoozed on and off most of the night. We arrived about 9.30am and not too tired. The adrenaline took over!

Hope you get to Oz one day. There%26#39;s so much to see and do here.

Dear Iwj

Our views of Black Rock were terrific. The only reason I mentioned the hotel%26#39;s roof next door (in my hotel review) was to give a truthful portrayal of our view as some people can get fussy.

I tried to post photos but were surprised they didn%26#39;t make it through! So I will have another go. We would definitely request the same studio again.

Mahalo for your report. Most folks do Oahu first and Maui second. What do you think the advantage was of the other way aound?

Hi Bob

Only reason we did Maui first was because our return flight back to Sydney was at 9.15am from Honolulu and there was no other flight available. We would have needed to leave Maui at some ungodly hour to fly to Honolulu in time for the flight home.

So it worked better to do Oahu second and have less stress getting to the airport in time. It worked out the best way definitely. Cheers!

Jane, great trip report. Thanks.

Have you posted your report for Oahu yet? Interested in how you liked it.

ojon