Maui 2022

Aloha from Maui!

This spring break brought us back to the island of Maui and the town of Kihei. 5 days of beach, sun, and crashing waves. We stayed in a condo from Vacasa Hawaii rentals via Air BNB at the Kihei Ali Kai, condo D204. It was perfect. The condo was recently updated and had a great lanai for watching sunsets and dining, and was stocked with beach chairs and an umbrella. The company was also superb at answering questions and providing a sweet welcome gift. The condo is also located right up from Kamaole Beach I and the Dolphin Plaza with 3 cafes, gelato, a fish and chips place and just down from the Cinnamon Bun store.

We spent many days on the beach for hours on end; body boarding, building epic sand castles, snorkeling, and lounging in the sun. Each day we’d build a large castle and moat near the ocean and wait for high tide to wash it away. The kids loved body boarding and we even snagged a new board at the local Safeway that was more adult size so Jeremy and I could have some fun. (Note the waves at Kamaole Beach I aren’t huge but great fun for kids)

Many days Jeremy walked to Maui Fish n’ Chips for lunch and brought it back to the beach. The resident turtle we saw on our last trip was still there making its rounds and we even saw two more. Poor Jesse didn’t even see the massive turtle swim under him and came down right on top of it! I think it scared Jesse more than anything, as the turtle didn’t really seem to care or notice and the waves of the ocean meant he only lightly touched it. Each day after the beach it was back to the condo for some pool and hot tub time. By 6pm we were washed up and ready for dinner.

Side note - packing for Hawaii is not light. 2 life jackets, 4 sets of snorkel gear, sand toys, body boards, beach blanket, sand towels, beach toys (football, balls), inflatable tubes and battery pump, car seats, oh and clothes. Also to note, at the airport I snagged a small tote that proved very useful to carry a few books and notepads to dinner each night.

Excursions

We took a few excursions while on the island as well. First was whale watching. We went with Ultimate Whale Watching out of Lahaina. The boat is a combo of seats and raft. I let Jeremy take the boys up to the front while I hung in the back. Mostly to stay under cover from the sun and secondly so I didn’t drop my phone overboard. It was the end of whale season, so we knew the sightings would be fewer. We started off seeing a few whales floating at the surface and a few tails as they dove under. About an hour in we got really lucky and we saw a baby, mother, and escort (a male whale but not the father). The baby was quite lively and put on a great show! Our guides were also very knowledgeable and we learned a lot about the whales and sea life. Overall the trip was excellent and I would use this company if we went again.

After whale watching we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Down The Hatch and headed back to the pier for a second adventure… a submarine tour! Jesse has been asking for months to ride in a submarine and somehow I found Atlantis Submarine in Maui. We opted to give this to him as an early birthday present and told him the week before that he’d be getting said early gift while we were in Maui. He was so excited trying to figure out the surprise. We dropped a few hints during the week, it wasn’t a toy, you couldn’t hold it, you could only take home the memories, etc, but we never told him and instead let him figured it out. He was beside himself with excitement when he realized what we were doing. To get to the sub you take a boat to the dive site, then watch the sub emerge and swap passengers and crew.  

Every person gets a seat and window and then you dive, dive, dive! 135 feet to the bottom. The driver (? are they called drivers ?) was really good and always circled around each reef for both sides to see. He also circled around so everyone could see when we spotted an eel or baby shark! After passing two reefs, we headed to a sunken ship. The company bought the ship for $1 and sunk it to make a reef for fish. It was sooo cool! Then we landed on the bottom of the ocean! Given the crew knew it was an early gift for Jesse, they sang him Happy Birthday while we were resting on the ocean floor! How am I ever going to top this! After about 45-60 minutes we rose again, switched crew and passengers and then watched the sub dive back down. Overall an amazing experience and well worth the money.

Later in the week we left the pool a bit early and headed sound past Wailea to the lava fields. Here we walked around a bit and watched the sun set (sort of). It was cool to show the kids hardened lava and the lava flow from so many years ago. They actually found it pretty cool.

We started off our last day up early watching breakfast and renting stand up paddle boards from Aunt Annie’s. We got two boards and paddles around Kamaole Beach 1 and 2 for about and hour. The kids sat on the front (one on each) and we did the paddling. Max was able to stand up and do some paddling as well. It was nice to be out early in the calm waters.

Our final excursion of the trip was surf lessons! I actually hadn’t given it much thought until we arrived, and I’m glad I did. A quick Yelp search found me Maui Wave Riders just down the street by Kalama Beach, a popular spot for new surfers. I called and got a 10am slot for the end of the week (take note to book early). I booked two private lessons which meant they each had an instructor. I had called to book and I’m so glad Monica had recommended doing it this way. She also recommended a 9 or 10am lesson vs later in the day when the waves were rougher. Next time we may do semi-private 2:1 but for the first time out this was the way to go. Reuben and Kekoa were great with the kids. They started with a dry land lesson for 5 minutes then headed off. The shop gave them everything they needed and let us borrow water shoes too, as I got into the water to take photos. After a few falls the kids were up in no time! They did so great for their first time out! After 2 hours they were exhausted and happy. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a bit of adventure! They even got to borrow the boards for the rest of the day, so after lunch at Paia Fish Market we borrowed them again and went back out ourselves. Let’s just say we quickly understood why mornings are the popular surf time. The afternoon wasn’t quite as smooth and the cross winds had us aborting after about 20 minutes.

We ended the trip watching sunset at Kalama Beach park (which is a pretty cool park btw) and dinner at Ami Ami. Throughout the week we ate dinner at Ami Ami twice (blackened Mahi Mahi was delicious), Miso Phat Sushi twice, and Ohana Grill (live music). We really enjoyed Shauna McCoy playing at Ohana Grill. (Though next time I’d buy some supplies and plan to cook in the room a few nights, to help with costs and add some variety)

Thanks for the great trip Maui! Hope to be back soon!