Trip Report - April 12 - 26

OK, here goes, we arrived in Maui via a WestJet direct flight from Vancouver, at 1PM on April 12th. Flight was excellent, very smooth, it would have been perfect except for the babies that screamed for 6 hours! When they announced pre-boarding for passengers with children about ¾ of the room got up! I will never travel without earplugs again! I like kids, just not on airplanes. I would pay extra if they would put on an adults only flight!

We were met by the lovely ladies from leigreetings and collected our baggage breathing in the wonderful aroma of plumeria and enjoying the warm breeze.

Once outside, it was windy but warm and sunny. Car rental through Thrifty went smoothly and we headed toward Kihei to find our VRBO rental house. The directions were easy and we found the house without a problem. The house was nice for the most part, the oven didn’t work and the living room rug was stained but we had a fridge and a microwave and a nice deck with a view of the ocean and everything else was clean.

We unpacked and changed into something more appropriate to the climate and headed for Wal-Mart and Safeway to stock up. Wow, was I shocked at the prices! We picked up what I thought was enough food for two of us for a week and we paid more than I normally pay in a month! Yikes! Hit Blockbuster for a couple of movies and headed back to the house to have dinner and relax for the night.

Woke up early the next day and spent the morning exploring several of the nearby beaches, Makena, Kamaeole 1, 2 and 3, then drove into Lahaina for an afternoon of shopping. Lunch at Kimo’s on the water was excellent and it became a favorite spot.

The next few days were pretty much repeats, we would spend the mornings at a beach, then either picnic or find a spot for lunch and spend the afternoon exploring or shopping. Evenings were generally spent at the house watching the sunsets from the deck, chatting and watching a movie after dark.

Wednesday night we attended U’lalena, a wonderful Cirque de Sol production based on Hawaiian history at the Theatre in the Old Lahaina Mall. We chose the dinner package that included a 3 course dinner and VIP seating. It was awesome and I highly recommend it. There is an amazing singer in the production and I bought the CD they had just to listen to her.

Unfortunately, my sister had an awful allergic reaction to a special ‘Maui Browning Lotion’ we tried. Both of her arms broke out in a horrible blistered rash and we had to take her to the doctors. He gave her a shot of steroid, some pills and some steroid cream and told her to “stay out of the sun and heat”. OK, not exactly what you want to hear on Maui, but thank goodness she only had a day or so left before she was headed home. Very disappointing, but these things happen.

Since we couldn’t go to the beach we decided to spend our time driving around and exploring the island, we went about ¾ of the way to Hana, (would have gone further, but we ran out of time) drove up to Kula, hit every shopping mall on the island and pretty much only spent time outside after the sun went down. I felt so bad for her, but what can you do. We still had a good time.

My other friend arrived late Friday night, the three of us spent my sisters last night on the island, having many cocktails and laughs at the house. The next morning we took her to the airport and kept her company until it was time to say good bye.

The following week was very much a repeat of the first, we beached in the morning, shopping in the afternoon. Our favorite beach was Kamaeole 3 but we also spent time at DT Fleming. Our favorite places for lunch was the Pupu Lounge in Kihei or Kimo’s in Lahaina. We tried Moose McGillycuddy%26#39;s, Fred’s %26amp; Stella Blue for dinner and all were good. Most of the time, we packed a picnic lunch and had dinner at the house. As you can probably guess, food was not high on our list of priorities.

On the Thursday night, we attended the Luau at the Wailea Marriott and it was excellent. Not a totally traditional show, but I found it quite interesting. The food was good and the drinks were plentiful. The only thing I found kinda cheesy was the fire dancer. They advertise him as a 3 time champion but after seeing the fire dancers in the Cook Islands and Tahiti, if he was a 3 time champion, it must have been a very long time ago, cause he was quite slow and in my opinion, not very good. Oh well, it was still an enjoyable evening.

Our last day, was a busy one, we went for a helicopter tour in the morning, had a picnic on the beach and sunned for a couple of hours, then headed for Lahaina for last minute shopping then headed back to Kehei and both of us got a tattoo, I got a Plumeria on my shoulder and my friend got a couple of little turtles on her back, after that was done, we went to Antonio’s for some excellent pasta. Then we headed back to the house to pack up and get ready to leave the next day.

All in all it was a great vacation. It had been 30 years since I had been to Hawaii, but it won’t be another 30, that’s for sure. I found Maui quite dry and not quite as pretty as some other tropical islands I’ve been to. But on the other hand, the weather could not have been better and there were no bugs. I liked Maui, but I think my next trip to Hawaii will be to Kauai with a couple of days in Honolulu on each end.

Happy to answer any questions.

Trip Report - April 12 - 26

Thanks for the trip report - it always makes my day to find a new trip report - it sends me back to Maui for a moment. Sounds like you had a great time.

Trip Report - April 12 - 26

You certainly know how to vacation!! Tell us more about the helicopter ride. Which company did you use? Which trip did you choose. We are booked for one in 2 weeks and I hope it%26#39;s worth the money. Thanks for a nice report.

We flew AlexAir which we booked through Boss Frog and were very pleased with them. We did the Circle Island Tour, it was $195 per person with all fees, taxes, etc. and in my opinion would have been worth every penny had we been able to fly over the volcano. Unfortunately, the day we went, the clouds and %26#39;Vog%26#39; prevented that. In retrospect I think I would recommend the West Maui/Molokai tour instead, you%26#39;d have more chance of good visibility and the West Maui mountains are amazing. You can purchase a DVD from them for $20 which gives you a great souvenir.

Great report!

The oven thing would have bugged me if we had planned on making some dinners at home, though I suppose one can get around it if they have to. You pretty much expect a major appliance to work when you rent a private place.

Sorry about your sister. I%26#39;m always afraid something like that is going to happen to me for some reason.

Hope you get to go back soon.

You definitely know how to vacation! I see so many posts about people totally planning out every day and forgetting to relax and enjoy the beach. Did you snorkel? If so, what were your favorite spots?

No snorkeling for me (I%26#39;m a sit on the beach or wade up to my thighs kinda gal) but from everyone I talked to, the Kapalua Beach was everyone%26#39;s favorite, it was certainly the prettiest. You%26#39;d have to get there early to get a parking spot though and depending where you%26#39;re staying it might be a bit of a drive.

There were also many people snorkeling around between Kamaeole 3 %26amp; 2, tons of rocks.

I know everyone talks about Molekini(sp?) but honestly, I can%26#39;t see many fish hanging around with hundreds of people in the water. (I know if I was a fish I%26#39;d be out%26#39;a there!)

Hey great trip report MS! Seriously, you don%26#39;t have to go out in the boat to snorkel. My best times are right off the beach, where I can land like a tired ';pink'; whale.

Send pictures of that lovely plumeria tattoo. Sure would like to see it! Best regards...Caddy