Maui – Day 5

Wednesday morning, we thought we would go down to Lahaina and do a little souvenir shopping before it got too crowded. It was practically deserted compared to night time.

Time to get back to the condo and hit the beach! This day we went right outside our condo at Napili. When we snorkeled we saw the biggest sea turtles. We came up on one and then saw a bigger turtle come swim right over the top of the smaller one. I thought maybe it was the Mama protecting her baby. The smaller one (and I use the term lightly, ‘cause it was almost as big as me!) then swam away and we hung out with the Mama for a while. The fish were so pretty, too, and then coral. When the sky is clear the visibility in the way is so much better. It made the colors of the fish so vibrant!

After the day at the beach we had to get ready for a nice dinner. We had reservations at the Hula Grill in Kaanapali. The only bummer was – it rained that night! It wasn’t too bad of a rain, but we were hoping to watch the sun go down from our beach front seat. Well, at the least the food was good. Kurt had the Seared Tuna and I had the special which was Mahi Mahi and Swordfish.

Later back at the condo, we rented Star Trek and had some Ben and Jerry’s. Perfect day again!

Maui – Day 4

On this day, we decided to take a trip down to South Maui. The first place Kurt had booked for this trip (before he found out about Napili) was down in Wailea, plus Kurt had been to Maui in the ‘80s with his family and they stayed in Keihei, so I was curious to see what it was like down there.

We went to a beach called Palauea for the first part of the day. We snorkeled there and saw some sea turtles. We could see Molokini from where we were – that’s where a lot of the snorkel tour boats go. We also saw LOTS of whales from this beach. They were pretty close and it was really fun to watch them ‘play.’

The surf was coming in pretty good when I was coming back in from our snorkel and one of them knocked me right over. My mask was pulled off and we never did find it. :( So I am now the (not so) proud owner of a sixty-some-odd dollar snorkel mask that lies at the bottom of the ocean just off South Maui. What a rip-off – literally ripped off my head, but also they charged us WAY too much for that if you ask me. And that was supposedly a discount. HA!

For the rest of the afternoon we took a little drive all around South Maui. We stopped to see this really cool church building that had a little grave yard looking over the ocean – so cool.

Next we went to see Makena Beach, Wailea and we drove through Kehei.

Back at the condo we watched the sun go down from the lanai and had dinner in the condo.

We then rented the movie 21 and watched it in the condo before turning in for the night.

Maui – Day 3

On Monday morning of our trip we decided to take a short car trip up to Flemming Beach and watch the locals surf on the big waves. It was sooooo amazing to watch and listen to the pounding surf. They had lifeguards there and tons a warning signs so that the tourists like us didn’t try to boogie board on a beach like this and end up dead!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we went and packed up our beach stuff for the day – we were heading down to Kaanapali to snorkel at Black Rock and see all the resorts. We had a tough time finding parking and so eventually just paid 20 bucks for a good spot. It was so pretty there. Definitely a different feel with the resorts all around. I think I prefer the quieter setting at Napili Bay, but it was a great beach for sure!

After we got our fill of sun, sand and snorkeling – we went back to Napili to watch the sunset and have dinner in the Condo. Later that night we went into Kahului to see Avatar 3D.

A day doesn’t get much better than this!

Maui – Day 2

The condo provided us with some beach chairs that had backpack straps, so after we got our snorkel gear for the week, we packed our chairs and took a short walk over to Kapalua beach. We did a little snorkeling there and saw some amazing fish and coral.

Later we headed back to our condo for a quick bite to eat and then laid out on our own beach at Napili.

Kurt thought it would be fun to do a little boogie boarding.

After a few hours of soaking up the sun, it was time to go get cleaned up and head to Lahaina. We had reservations for the Old Lahaina Luau. It was so beautiful there and the food was great! We even had a surprise during the show – a streaker!! I actually thought he was one of the performers and snapped a picture JUST as he ran by (see below – don’t worry, it’s censored). We laughed soooooo hard!

After the luau we walked along Front Street in Lahaina and checked out all the shops. We stopped at Kimo’s for a drink before heading back to the condo for the night.

Maui – Day 1

In September of 2009 I turned 40 and Kurt and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary. We decided that we should celebrate with a trip to Hawaii. We thought by going in January we would be able to escape that bad winter weather of the Northwest and get some sun when we needed most. We were so excited – this would be my first trip to the islands and I couldn’t wait!

After arriving at the Kahului airport at about mid-day Maui time on Saturday, Jan 16, we made a quick stop at Costco and Wal-Mart for some groceries. We also stopped at the Safeway in Lahaina. Once we got to our condo in Napili Bay, we were greeted with a really nice fruit basket from the owner. The condo was SO nice and we had an amazing view from our lanai.

I found this note from Ashley inside my suitcase…

After we got everything unpacked we had just enough time to walk down to the beach in front of our condo to watch the sunset. It was beautiful and really set the tone for our trip.

Afterwards, we went back to the condo and finished settling in. We decided to hit the hay early to adjust to the time change. This was going to be a good trip for sure.