We went to Maui, Hawaii last month and had the best vacation of our lives. We chose Maui over any other other islands based on research saying that it had the best beaches for kids. Think: sandy beaches instead of rocky. Once I had the island narrowed down I talked to friends and cousins who had been to Maui and asked them for hotel/area recommendations. The winning suggestion was Kaanapali Beach. We loved it. So here we go with Days 1 and 2 in Hawaii.
We had a delayed flight so instead of arriving in Maui at 5:30 p.m., it was closer to 8:30. By the time we picked up our luggage and got our rental car, it was dark when we arrived at the hotel. The travel plus 6 hour time difference exhausted the kids so we checked in, ordered room service and went to bed. The next morning DG and I were up early to a beautiful view from our balcony.
Day 1
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort. The grounds were beautiful and you can see that the beach was just steps away. We spent our first morning on Kaanapali Beach before moving over to the pool.
The kids were both pretty timid in the ocean on the first day. They quickly got over those fears though.
After a day of swimming hard we went back to the room to get cleaned up for dinner. We explored the resort grounds a little bit. They grow pineapples as well as lots of beautiful flowers. They also have penguins, ducks, geese, flamingos and parrots around. Of course we also saw our first Kaanapali Beach sunset.
Sushi for dinner at Japengo at the hotel because BG didn’t want to leave that night. All of the restaurants in Maui were very accommodating to our kids and often brought their food out immediately even if mine and DG’s wasn’t ready. That was really nice rather than making the kids wait forever and start getting restless.
Day 2
BG wanted to try snorkeling and I wanted the kids to swim with sea turtles so we sought out to rent snorkel equipment from Snorkel Bob’s. We rented it for the week, but if I went again I’d probably pack our own googles and breathers. DG and the BG hardly used their flippers and we later saw them for sale for less than the week rental cost. Oops. For the record, I didn’t snorkel. I rented a set but it totally makes me claustrophobic.
We got this awesome board for Eleni that she could float on then it had a peep hole where she could look down at the fish. She loved it! Her puddle jumper is one from home that we took with us.
We went to Kapaula Bay to snorkel. It was only about a 15 minute drive from our hotel. It had great reviews for snorkeling and was a very calm bay. It was a Friday and by afternoon the beach was packed. Since it was a public beach instead of resort, there wasn’t anywhere close for shade, drinks or snacks unless you brought your own. We weren’t very prepared, so that was one downside. On the plus side, the kids got their confidence up in the water because it was so calm, they saw a lot of different fish and saw a sea turtle. We probably spent 5 hours there and I don’t think DG got out of the water once because he was either showing the kids the fish or snorkeling himself.
BG’s #1 request in Hawaii was to eat a fresh coconut, and on this day we delivered! We went for a drive after leaving the beach and near the Honolua Bay lookout we found the Coconut Caboose. You pick your coconut, they shave it and cut the top so you can drink the water/juice, then they cut it open for you to eat the meat. The water is much better than the coconut water you buy at the grocery store, but I’m not a huge coconut fan in general so I didn’t like the meat. Much to his surprise, BG didn’t either. He kept saying that “coconut is better on cake!”
We ate dinner at the Lahaina Fish Company which was right on the water and beautiful at sunset. Sadly this was the best picture of the kids that I could get, but I was just happy that they were sitting down and behaving!
Stay tuned for days 3, 4 and 5!
The post Our Hawaiian Vacation appeared first on The Fancy Ranch Life.
