Well, it’s only been 30 years since my last trip to Maui – and
BOY WAS I EXCITED TO GET BACK OVER THERE. I grew up in Anchorage – which means
we spent many a Christmas vacation on Maui – like all the other Alaskans.
Hawaii may seem far, but it’s actually the closest place to fly from Anchorage
for some summer sunshine in the middle of winter.
Like I mentioned in a previous post, I have so many great
memories of Maui – and was really excited to see what’s changed and what’s stayed
the same.
First of all, I remember when the Maui Airport in Kahului
was just a one room open air affair – which was awesome. But that’s changed and
now in the modern world you can fly to Maui from all over the place, not just
Oahu. And also, in the modern world, things have to be fenced off from the
creeps and weirdos – so now the airport looks and acts like all other airports –
with lines and TSA officials and screeners and all of that. So, that change
wasn’t so awesome, but whatever – I’m ok with safety and security and the
convenience of flying direct from Seattle to Maui.
Oh, and upon approach over the island, yes, it’s true,
whales are just all over the place jumping out of the water to say hi. I
remember that there were a lot of whales, but really, there are A LOT OF
WHALES. It’s just spectacular. We didn’t take a whale watching cruise because
frankly we were more into golf, but it was really great every day to see whales
from the beach – FROLICKING! Loved that!
Also on approach it’s possible to spot your first stop
shopping destination – COSTCO! Basically, it’s at the first stoplight leaving
the airport. We stopped there for beer, wine, bubbles and Maui chips – and basic
fixin’s to have at the condo.
Kihei – Wow. Over the past 30 years it’s really gotten
junky! Seriously, they need to get their shit together. We did a little drive
one day down through Kihei and up to Lahaina and Kaanapali – and I couldn’t get
over what a dump Kihei has turned into. We didn’t feel compelled to hang out
there at all. It was just strip mall and junky shave ice places and bad food
all over the place.
Wailea – seems to have gotten better and better over time.
We stayed at Ulua and Ekahi villages in the old days, which are still there and
look pretty good after all this time. Back then, there wasn’t much past those
condo’s and the tennis center. Now, it’s a long road of resorts and golf and
walking paths and they’ve done a great job keeping it low rise and well landscaped
and high end. We stayed at the Champions Golf Villas – I think we’d give our
place sort of a so-so rating for luxe, but a great rating for location. We had
originally thought that we’d get a small place and skip the cost of ocean view
and spend the money on golf and eating, but in the end, we still wished we’d
had an ocean or beach view for cocktails, and still spend money on golf and on
eating. So, my advice, don’t try to save money, just get what you want and deal
with the cost later.
Beaches – I’m happy to report that the beaches at Wailea are
super clean. And that includes all the resort beaches and the public park
beaches. I’m not sure what the zoning or local beach rights are in Hawaii, but
it was really nice to see that all the beaches – including the beaches in front
of the super high end resorts have shoreline access, parking, showers etc…. and
are available for everyone – not just for resort guests. We first went to Polo
beach, which is right below the Fairmont Kea Lani resort – and quite lovely. We
also checked out the beaches at Makena, Big and Little beach along with the
beach at Turtle Town – and a few others. All the beaches were super clean, and
mostly uncrowded. We did find crowds at Little Beach at Makena. It’s supposedly
the only “nude” beach, but in reality, it’s more or less a “hippie” beach and
everyone is there, including the nakeds, clothed, locals, bums, weirdo’s, you
name it. We lasted the morning, but it got so crowded we couldn’t stand it so
we left and walked down to Big Beach from there and found a much more quiet and
private spot. On our last day we checked out a beach over at Paia – because we
were trying to follow the sun as a storm was coming. That beach was pretty
local – but still nice. The waves were pretty erratic that day, and then it
started to rain on us – but we still had a nice time. And as everyone was
leaving the beach and we were sitting there drinking mai tai’s, we got to see a
turtle hanging out in the surf for a long time – which was fun.
Snorkeling- We brought gear out one day to snorkel, but the
word from everyone was that it was too rough and churned up to see anything, so
we bagged it. Next time.
Golf – we played 4 rounds of golf, twice at Kahili, once at
the Dunes at Maui Lani and once at Elleair. We loved Kahili, Elleair was ok, and the back
nine at the Dunes kind of hurt my feelings. Apparently I had 31/2 rounds in me,
and ran out of steam at the 10th hole on the back at the Dunes. Boo.
Overall, Kahili was by far the nicest course for the money. Dunes next
probably, but a planned community and will get filled in with houses all
around. It also got pretty windy on the back. Elleair was the least nice in my opinion – with a pretty lame clubhouse area, and not
that interesting and near the road, but all of them were fine to play as opposed to the
super expensive resort courses in Wailea or Kaanapali. We didn’t even attempt
to pay $150 - $200 bucks to play those. Although, right now the course at
Makena is under renovation, and it looks like it will be GORGEOUS, and someday I
really want to play there. The views from there are pretty spectacular.
Food and booze – we drank and ate like champs.
Capische at Hotel Wailea. Great food, and tables are arranged in a little
private garden area. I think you can request to sit out there, but we were open
and just happened to get seated out there and had a great time. We started with
a drinky at the bar, which is off the giant open air wood lobby area. I, of
course had a mai tai – the first of many last week. I think Kit had a kind of
martini – also good. As you can tell by the name, Capische is Italian – perfect
first night after travelling all day.
Kai in the Shops at Wailea – yick. I’d looked at reviews and
they were both good and bad, so we thought we would try and make our own
decision – oh God. Well, actually the food was fine, it was just the ambiance
and the wait staff that was horrible. First of all, it was nearly empty and we
got seated by a gal (I use the term loosely) in a samurai headscarf kind of
thing. She had a really bizarre fake voice that freaked us out a little – but…
we kept at it. She turned out to be our waitress too – ugh. Our food came
mostly right away, which was fine, but then right before we were done, our last
dish came, as if they maybe forgot it before – the whole thing was just
strange. We got out of there pretty fast, and both thought it sucked even
though the food was ok. Just a goofy vibe and crazy weirdo waitress lady. That
was our only bad night. Don’t go there.
Morimoto – Hotel Andaz – maybe our favorite restaurant of
the week. This guy was an Iron Chef winner or something like that. We let our
waiter help us pick the best of the menu and everything we ate was FANTASTIC!
Super good good.
Migrant – Marriott – Also really good. Our waiter from
Morimoto told us about this place so we tried it. It is a mix of Hawaiian,
Asian, Filipino food – super good also.
Manoli’s – Wailea. Our waiter at Capische suggested this
place for watching the Seahawks v. 49er’s game. It’s just a little pizza place
but it has an awesome bar that is open air on all sides, so a perfect place to
drink beer, eat pizza and rejoice as our Seattle Seahawks beat the 49er’s to get
to the Superbowl.
Sarento’s on the Beach – Kihei – My friend recommended this
place. We took a long walk along the beach path and on the beach from Wailea to
Kihei and stopped here for breakfast at the end. Not super fancy, but right on
the beach and the food was good. Also the Mimosa’s and the Bloody Mary’s.
Monkey Pod Kitchen – Wailea – I had seen restaurant reviews
before we left home, and this place kept popping up so we tried it. The first
attempt, it was super crowded so we made reservations for the next night. It
was maybe the only place we couldn’t get in right away. It’s a totally casual
place, with burgers, fish taco’s, pizza, etc. I had fish taco’s, they were
pretty good. Kit had a pulled Pork sandwich – which he said was good. Drank
beers – had a poke appetizer – which was delish! Thumbs up. Probably great for
big families and for kids - seems like a
good bar for meeting people if you were looking. We watched some gals trolling….
Funny.
Mama’s Fish House – Paia – Yes, we had to hit a traditional
spot. So we drove for this one, but it was worth it. Drinks in the bar, finally
got seated after Kit had to remind them – had the Macadamia crusted Mahi Mahi –
and it was fantastic, and Kit had another fish – also delish. Expensive, and
pretty much what you would expect from an “institution” on the island. Glad we
went.
Alan Wong’s Amasia – Grand Wailea – really pretty restaurant
and very good food. It was pretty quiet when we were there, but we had a nice
Scottish kid as our waiter and he was awesome. Really good food, Kit is still
talking about the short ribs.
Kihei Caffe - Kihei - Ok, I said you never need to go to Kihei, but on our last morning we did because we needed to return our rental beach umbrella. Kihei Caffe got all sorts of awesome reviews and it was nearby, so we went for breakfast. In fact, I think it's only open til 2pm, so it's basically just a breakfast place. Only outside seating but it's covered - which was helpful since it was raining the morning we left. Kit ordered the bread pudding french toast and I had Huevo's Ranchero's which were the size of my head. Food - big and very good. Coffee drinks - big and very good. You order your food first through a line, which goes fast so don't freak out. The guy taking orders was also very very friendly and excellent. The coffee lady wasn't as nice, but she was efficient - so that's ok I guess. Outside seating crappy (matching the stylings of Kihei) - but appropriate for the menu. Great last meal before getting on a plane. Definitely enough calories for the entire day in one breakfast.
Tour of resort bars – we checked out the resorts by way of
lobby bars.
Andaz – really awesome lobby or pool bar – with great snacks and lovely seating
and live music. In fact, we loved this whole resort, really upscale, new,
adults, a bunch of infinity pools, great wood and architecture. We’d stay here
for sure, loved it.
Four Seasons – Huge resort, huge lobby bar that happened to
have a “mini luau” going on in the bar –
crowded and not that awesome. We went to another bar there closer to the beach.
Also not awesome, but ok. Seemed like a hotel for families, we saw a lot of
kids. While the Four Seasons usually is an awesome choice, this one seemed a
little older and too big for us.
Fairmont Kea Lani – Very pretty and also big. The lobby bar
had nice seating, but the service was slow – I guess they were down a waitress.
Still, nice drinks and snacks and a pretty place. Pool area was huge and a lot
of green space. Nice but again – big.
Grand Wailea – very pretty entry area. Small lobby bar in
center – ok, but not as nice for seating like Andaz or the Fairmont. We skipped
the drink in the bar this night and went straight to the restaurant.
Next post might include pictures - haven't downloaded anything yet. Just readjusting to Seattle temps. Bleck.
Oh- one last thing about Hawaii in 2014. The people were EXCELLENT. I have a recollection from the 80's that Hawaiian's didn't really like the mainlanders all that well and I felt like it showed back then. Somehow now, 30 years later, it seemed to us that everyone, wait staff to locals, lifeguards to greenskeepers - everyone was super super nice and fun and friendly. It put us in a really great frame of mind - and we want to go back to Maui as soon as possible. Loved it.
