# 10 Days in Paradise - Our Oahu (Aulani) and Maui Big Summer Blowout (Finally updated! 06/30/2020)



## BigTex71

Aloha! 
As some of you may have read in my itinerary planing thread - we had big plans for our 10 day vacation between Oahu and Maui. How much of the itinerary did we follow? What would we do differently? How do you treat a jellyfish sting? Why would you vacation anywhere else? Where are the best shave ice, fish tacos, and garlic shrimp? Who cares what some egotistical old guy did on his vacation? These questions and more may be answered in this trip report - or not. I hope this report can help others with their plans or provide a way to live vicariously through our trip. I am all about making people smile (or roll their eyes at bad puns and dad jokes.) 

A little background about my family - because the last big trip report I did (in my signature) was over 8 years ago. We are a close, loving, happy, Disney-fied family from the DFW area in Texas. We have been visiting Disney destinations (mostly Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort) since 2004. We finally joined DVC last summer and bought points at Copper Creek. My wife and I are 40-somethings who are soulmates and have been married for 20 years (well, when December comes around.) My daughter is 12 and is a hormone-filled diva, yet she remains sweet most of the time. [I think those of you with 11-13 year old girls know what I mean.] My son is 18 and just graduated from high school a few days prior to this vacation and he will be leaving the nest to study Bio-medical Engineering at the University of Houston in the fall. We have been promising to take the kids on a Hawaiian vacation for years, but usually ended up going to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, or Southern California for our summer family vacations. Well, this was our last chance to go before our son goes off to college - so this was the year. We had banked last years' DVC points (since we bought-in while already in WDW on vacation last year.) So for our 5-night stay at a 1-bedroom garden view villa at Aulani, we used the banked points, our current (2019) points, and borrowed some from next use year (2020). 

I have a Nikon D90 DSLR camera (crop sensor), but wanted a full-frame camera for our vacation memories - so I rented a Nikon Z7 mirror-less camera and a 24-70mm f/4 Z lens (made for the Z-series Nikon cameras) from Borrow Lenses dot com. I fell in love with this camera and now I need to find a way to be able to afford one for myself. In the meantime, I plan to rent this camera again for any major life events that we want to photograph for memories. I am no professional photographer (though I would love to be some day), just a hobbyist. I usually prefer to tweak my photos in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop before sharing with others, but I want to get a trip report started and I think the photos straight out of this camera (even JPEG down-sized images) looked good enough to post. I may update the photos later after I get a chance to be creative with them in Photoshop. I plan to post a lot of photos here, so I hope they post OK on the new boards here.

And now, the moment we have all been waiting for... day 1! Coming up after these messages from our sponsors (or whoever posts before I can post Day 1.)


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## BigTex71

Day 1 - Getting There is Half the Fun (?)

We started our day early to go to the airport for our non-stop flight from DFW to HNL. We flew American Airlines on a 777-200 aircraft (flight AA123) that departs at 9:15 am and arrives at 12:41 pm local time. It was an 8-hour flight, but the entertainment options on board made it a very pleasant flight. Well, and we splurged for the First/Business Class seating. We figured this is our Big Summer Blowout (you may see many Disney references in this trip report), so we wanted to travel in comfort. And the fact DW may not be able to handle 8 hours in coach seating due to some health concerns. We had our own 'pod' for the flight.


With the legroom we needed to stretch.

They provided nice noise-canceling B&O headphones.

Nice sized-monitor. 

I watched Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Bohemian Rhapsody, and a few episodes of Big Bang Theory. By then, we were coming in to land in Honolulu.


We grabbed our checked bag from Baggage Claim and hopped on the shuttle to Alamo Car Rental. Note: if you rent a car from Alamo (even if you do it via Costco like I did), be sure to go to the Alamo website before your flight to fill out any needed info (driver's license number, etc.) to do the 'skip the counter' reservation. This allows you to not wait at the counter - which may have long lines. You just take your printed paperwork from the website with you to the area where the cars are located. Someone with Alamo will verify your paperwork once you go out those doors towards the cars and you pick any vehicle in the class you rented. I am glad I remembered to do that the night before we left! We had rented a mid-sized SUV. Though we could have grabbed a Honda CRV like we have at home, I decided to try a Nissan Rogue. We inspected the vehicle, got in and drove around to the exit. They check your license and paperwork there and off you go. I think it took a total of 10 minutes from the time we got to the Alamo site until we were on the road. So I highly recommend the 'skip the counter' option for Alamo. I think some of the other car rental places do a similar option.

We decided to drive directly to Aulani to check in. You all have seen to wonderful photos of the resort, so I won't post a ton of those pics - just a quick shot I took as we approached the lobby area.


We got our room assignment, room 606, but the room was not ready yet. They said they would text us when our room was ready. They gave us a one-time use key for the Luana Lounge, so we grabbed our swimsuits and left our luggage with bell services while we checked out the pools. This was a deviating from our original itinerary - which had us going to Costco/Target for groceries and supplies. But after the long flight, we wanted to chill (read: DW wanted to enjoy the resort, so I just went with it - see, I'm flexible and I don't require being rigid in the itinerary.)  We went to the lagoon, which was our favorite, with the lazy river a close second. We were starting to get hungry, so DW and DD got Margherita Flatbreads from Ulu Cafe. DS and I were going to just wait for dinner time - as it was around 3:00 pm local time. We also grabbed a popcorn bucket from Ulu Cafe. Note: if you are a DVC member, you get free refills of popcorn in the bucket if you show your blue DVC card!





We got the text stating the room was ready, so we got to the room and called bell services to bring our luggage up. Our view was not bad from the room, even a partial ocean view. We overlooked the spa area and had a parking garage in view from the Four Seasons, as well as the Four Seasons resort. But we did not spend too much time in the room anyway, so we were pleased with our accommodations. 


The sunsets were not bad from the balcony - but the sunset from Paradise Cove was amazing (those were another day coming up.)


We were getting tired and that is when we realized we did not go get groceries yet. (Maybe we *should* have stuck to the itinerary, huh?) So we opted to go across the street to Monkeypod for dinner and the ABC Store for a few groceries for breakfast (eggs, bacon, bread, POG juice.) Another note: the POG juice in the Kalepa's Store at Aulani has surprisingly cheap POG juice! It was the same brand sold at most places on the island. The 1/2 gallon at Aulani was $3.29. I was pleasantly surprised, considering we saw the same brand in a 12-ounce bottle at other convenience-like places around the island that were over $4.

Monkeypod was very good. My son had the Fresh Fish Sandwich, He said it was a life-changing experience. He loved it and thought it was the best fish he had ever had (other superlatives will be coming later in the trip report, so consider yourself warned.) (And a lot more parenthesis!) I had the Fish Tacos. Actually, I was trying to decide between the Fish Tacos and the Bulgogi Pork Tacos - so the waitress brought me 2 fish and 1 pork, since they normally come with 3 tacos. They were VERY good. I think the Pork Bulgogi Tacos were slightly better than the Fish Tacos. In the photo below, the pork is on the left.




We walked back to Aulani and were so ready to go to sleep. It did not take long to fall asleep after a long day - it was around 1:00 am back home by that time (8:00 pm local.) I felt like a senior (as in old, not as in the fourth year of school) going to bed right after sunset. Now I know what to look forward to. Ha!

Overall we had a good day. The flight was nice, the rental car process was easy (skip the counter!), and Aulani is such a great Hawaiian-inspired resort with awesome amenities. I recommend Monkeypod, too. It was easy to get to - just a 10 minute walk from Aulani. And don't forget the POG juice!

Up next: Chillin' and North Shore


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## Maggie Gallagher

I'm looking forward to your report on the pool.  I keep reading about how it's impossible to get a chair by the pool...much worse than the WDW pools.  We are thinking about Aulani for a future trip, but a lot of people are urging us to stay elsewhere in Hawaii.


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## eagle29

Hey Big Tex, very similar to what my crew just experienced (including the flight from DFW, though we connected from Boston) Alamo skip the line and Monkeypod 1st night!  Looking forward to hearing more!


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## BigTex71

Maggie Gallagher said:


> I'm looking forward to your report on the pool.  I keep reading about how it's impossible to get a chair by the pool...much worse than the WDW pools.  We are thinking about Aulani for a future trip, but a lot of people are urging us to stay elsewhere in Hawaii.



We didn't have any problems getting a chair at the pools and we were usually there around the mid to late afternoon. Granted we never got 'front row' seats, but we found them easily at the Waikolohe pool. We also found chairs (with umbrellas) at the lagoon without any problems - even on the front row. You really don't need to worry about it, IMO.

Aulani is one of the best themed resorts on Oahu. I prefer the Ko Olina area over Waikiki, because Waikiki reminds me too much of most big urban cities (minus the actual beach.) Parking sucks in Waikiki area - and that is one of my pet peeves. We stayed on points at Aulani so the parking was free and it was right there on property. I'll get to the Waikiki part of the trip report on the day 5 part for more of my opinions.


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## BigTex71

Another note: the best time to eat out on Oahu or Maui (like Monkeypod) is lunch or during Happy Hour. It may vary, but it appears the 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm range is usually Happy Hour. Places will have at least a few items discounted for Happy Hour - not just drinks.


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## rwalker1304

Great start on your trip report!


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## alohamom

Excellent so far-going to follow along!


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## dachsie

Love your trip so far.  Can't wait to hear more.  Good to know about the POG juice too


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## BigTex71

Thanks.
I'll try to get a few more days worth posted tomorrow.


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## 2xcited2sleep

Aulani is on my bucket list.  I’m looking forward to following along and hearing more!


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## BigTex71

Day 2: Resort Day and North Shore

My original itinerary had us hanging at the resort and getting lunch in Haleiwa on the North Shore. I had changed it to just relaxing at the resort for the day so we would not be doing too much our first full day - since we would be going around the island the next few days. As you can tell from the title, we went back to the original plan.

We woke up around 6:00 am due to the time difference and our bodies trying to adjust to the new time zone. Since we had picked up some breakfast groceries the night before, I made use of the full kitchen in the villa. I made bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast, and we enjoyed POG juice with it. This was a great way to save some money over eating out for breakfast. The groceries we used for breakfast cost us about $20. Even a 'cheap' breakfast place we tried later in the trip cost us $55. Not huge savings, but it all adds up. I just looked at the charges on the credit card we used during our trip - trust me, it adds up!


After eating, we relaxed and drank some coffee on the balcony. The temperature outside was perfect - about 72F. DW, DD, and I went down to the lagoon and pools while DS wanted to stay in bed (well, sofa bed) a while longer. You know - teenager. We were pleasantly surprised that we had the lagoon almost all to ourselves! But that is probably because it was about 7:30 am. You can tell the newbies to the island who haven't adjusted to the time zone yet - the crazy ones swimming in the lagoon before the pools even open.



Once 8:00 am rolled around, we went to get our pool bands and towels. We spent some time in the great pools and the awesome lazy river. I loved just floating along in the inner tube with the sounds and smells of the resort wafting by, without a care in the world. It was very relaxing. Though the lazy river at Aulani is not as long as the ones at Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, I like it better than those. Probably because it is in Hawaii and was not crowded like those others can be. So relaxing! Oh, did I already mention it was relaxing? Well, I had to mention it again because it was so relaxing. Oops, there I go again. Relaxing, relaxing. Relaxing. (Did you know the lazy river is so relaxing?)


We were having a great time, but lunch was looming on the horizon. Since we still had not gone for a proper grocery run yet, we decided we would go along with the original plan and get lunch in Haleiwa. So we changed clothes and all (including DS this time) went to the North Shore. It was a pleasant drive - no major traffic. It took about 25 minutes if I recall correctly. We ate at Kono's - which I had heard about a lot in the extensive research I did before creating The Itinerary. 

It was worth the drive. I had the Kahlua Pork and it was so succulent and flavorful. 

It is a relatively small place. You order at the counter and find a table (inside or outside.) They will call your name when it is ready. And it was not too expensive - about $65 for the 4 of us (which included two milkshakes.) DS had a Cinnamon Roll milkshake that was so good! I highly recommend this place. (You may see that phrase a lot in the upcoming daily reports.)

After eating, we looked at some great art at the Wyland Gallery across the parking lot from Kono's. If I won the lottery, I would buy half of the stuff in that place! It was fun and imaginative art pieces, but not budget-friendly. More like the Budgetkiller. But it doesn't cost anything to look around - so I recommend doing that if you are in Haleiwa - because you will be eating at Kono's, right?

We determined it was time to try Matsumoto Shave Ice - since it was also something a lot of people recommend.  


It had a long line, and it was getting hot outside. It was also humid there in that town square area. It took about 25 minutes to get through the line. I ordered a Coconut Cream, Pineapple, and Mango with ice cream underneath and condensed milk.


See that big blob of pink ice? That was not pineapple. I was served Coconut (not the Coconut Cream), Mango, and Cotton Candy (at least that is what that pink stuff tasted like.) The mango was good. The coconut was ok. The pink stuff was not good. The flavors were overly sweet and syrupy. So that gave it some negative marks. The ice itself was slightly crunchy - so not a good, fluffy shave. You could hear the spoon digging into the shave ice. That is not shave ice to me - that is a snowball. So I was left disappointed. Definitely not worth waiting 25 minutes in line for. Matsumoto's is very overrated, IMO. We would find other places that were much better in our upcoming days.

We then walked through the General Store near Matsumoto's. We got some macadamia nut pancake mix, buttermilk pancake mix, a few shirts for the kids, and some coconut bread and mango bread. These loaves of bread are small loaves by Shops of Hawaii brand and were like little pound cakes. We found Shops of Hawaii baked items at many shops around the island. The coconut bread was so good - we looked for it any time we bought something at a store. It was hard to find during our stay - apparently, that one sells the fastest, according to one cashier we spoke to about them. It became almost a game - a treasure hunt. This is another thing I highly recommend - if you can find it. 

We stopped by Haleiwa Beach Park for a short time to take in the views. It was nice, but not a good place for swimming. We preferred the lagoon at Aulani - so we started heading back towards the Ko Olina area.


We decided not to go to Costco for groceries and opted to just go to Target. We picked up hot dogs, sandwich stuff, syrup for the pancake mixes, etc. After putting up the groceries at the villa, we went back to the lagoon and pools. After we got in the lagoon I asked DD if she wanted me to check out a bodyboard (boogie board) for her to use. She said no. I decided I wanted one, so I trekked up to the Beach Rental shack and got one. These are free to check out, by the way - as long as you are an Aulani guest. I hiked back to the lagoon and started enjoying the bodyboard. DD saw it and those of you with kids knows what came next, right? I should have known and just checked out two of them. So I made the trek back to the shack to get another bodyboard. 

We spent a few hours in the lagoon and then went to the lazy river for a few laps. We then went back to the villa and made dinner (hot dogs and chips.) After all the fun we had in the sun on this day, it was starting to take its toll. We crashed early so we would be ready to go on our whirlwind tour of South and East Oahu the next morning.

Overall, another great day. I was glad we were able to try Kono's instead of just staying at the resort all day - although that would not have been a bad thing - the resort is wonderful. But I had heard that the food on-site was not the best, so that was my motivation to try other places.

Up next: Day 3 - Best Sights, Best Food, Best Beach


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## BigTex71

Note: Due to the picture restrictions (10 per post), I will need to break up Day 3 into 3 separate posts. 
*Spoiler Alert* This was one of our favorite days.


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## BigTex71

Day 3 - Best Sights, Best Food, Best Beach (Part 1)

A little background about this day's plans: 
Prior to going on our trip, I did extensive research on various websites, read trip reports, checked Trip Advisor, and watched numerous vlogs and videos about Oahu. A few different sites, videos, and trip reports (including Trip Advisor) kept mentioning an island tour company named Oahu Private Tours. It was very highly rated and I read so many great reviews of the company. They are 'private' because they will drive you around in a minivan for the tour. So no big tour groups and the person you do the tour with will customize your tour to do the things you want (sightseeing, snorkeling, cliff jumping, etc.) They do several different tours - one being a whole island tour. I thought about doing that one, but I felt we may feel too rushed seeing all around the island in one day. They also offered a two-day tour that included the South and East side of the island one day, and a North Shore tour on a second day. That is what I opted to do. It would allow us time to see the sights and beaches at a decent pace and still have the late afternoon and evening to enjoy the resort - since the tours were scheduled for 8:00 am - 2:00 pm.

We woke up around 7:00 am to get ready for our tour. I was contacted by Jason, the owner of Oahu Private Tours (henceforth referred to as OPT) at 7:30 am. He informed me that Kelsey would be our driver for the next two days and she would pick us up at the front of Aulani at 8:00 am. This is another cool thing about OPT - they pick up at Aulani. Some other tour companies I researched would only pick up in Waikiki or Honolulu - not Ko Olina. We met Kelsey and immediately felt like she was a friend of the family. Very friendly, outgoing, and informative. We headed out and our first stop was to get malasadas (a Portuguese donut) from Leonard's Bakery Food Truck - about 10 minutes from Aulani. Kelsey said the original location of the bakery in Honolulu gets super crowded and the malasadas tasted just as good from the food truck. We pulled up and there was one person waiting for her fresh malasadas order - so practically no wait to order.



When I placed our order, I did not realize how big the malasadas were. I ordered a dozen - 6 original, 3 coconut creme filled, and 3 custard filled. 

It took about 10 minutes to get these because they are made fresh right there. OMG! The hot original malasadas were so delicious! I ate one original and about half of a coconut creme filled one and I was full. We kept the extras we didn't eat this morning in our fridge back at the villa and munched on them for breakfast for the next two days. They were not as good reheated as they were fresh, but still very good.

Next, Kelsey said she had heard I liked to take photos from Jason (Jason has good email communication after you book and gathers information to get to know what type of tour you would want.) So she drove us over to the H3 highway and up to the Valley of the Temples and Byodo-In Temple. It was hard to get good photos of the lush, green mountains on the H3 while we were in the van, but it is such a beautiful sight.


Valley of the Temples


The Byodo-In Temple was one of my favorite places to see on Oahu. It is so serene, peaceful, quiet, and beautiful. We each rang the large bell to help cleanse the negativity from ourselves (serenity now!) The temple is magnificent and has a huge tree line behind it, then the towering green mountains behind it. The pictures do not do it justice. And it is hard to put in words how this place affected me. 









(not sure how to rotate the image on here.)



Continued on Part 2


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## BigTex71

Day 3 - Best Sights, Best Food, Best Beach (Part Deaux)

While at the Byodo-In Temple, we saw the rare black swan.


I also witnessed a wild cat stalk, pounce, and capture her lunch - a bird that was a little too slow around the grounds. Ah, the circle of life.


Other various shots around the temple grounds.






Note: it was a separate fee to get into the Byodo-In Temple grounds, not included in the tour. $5 each - well worth it to me.

We then went to check out Lanikai Beach on the windward side of the island.






This was our favorite beach on Oahu! The sand is so soft and powdery, it did not stick to you or your clothes. Kelsey had a beach umbrella in the back of the van, and a body board and snorkel mask that my DD used (just another reason we loved OPT.) Being that we are all fair skinned, the beach umbrella would be used extensively for the next two days. We had applied a liberal amount of sunscreen before walking out to the beach. I stayed under the umbrella for awhile while I took pictures, did some Facebook Live Video, and just took in all the sights, sounds, and cool breezes. After about 45 minutes, I ventured out to the water with the rest of the family. The waters were calm and so blue - I had never seen such nice blue, aquamarine, and teal colors of the ocean before. Another great thing was that it stayed less than 6 feet deep for about 75 yards out from the beach - so it was like a humongous swimming pool. We spent so much time there because it was so awesome. We lost track of time and DW, DS, and DD forgot to reapply sunscreen (I was under the umbrella for a while before applying mine.) Needless to say, they felt the effects of that later that night with a little sunburn for each of them. We learned a lesson - reapply sunscreen often when out in the water!

I highly recommend visiting Lanikai Beach, be it with a rental car, Uber/Lyft, tour, etc. You need to experience that beach. It is what I always pictured when thinking of Hawaii.

We then went to lunch at a little place in Waimanalo on Wailea St named Ono Steaks and Shrimp Shack. I mention the town and street because there are many places with similar names, but do not be fooled - it is the one in the yellow building.



*Spoiler Alert* This was the best Garlic Shrimp I had on the island! Another was a close second, but I will go over that one on the Day 4 report. I had the combo plate that had Garlic Shrimp and Kalbi (boneless short rib marinated in Korean BBQ sauce) and their unique Potato Macaroni Salad. The Kalbi was some kind of awesome, too. If you go out to one meal on the island - this is the place I would recommend. It is small and a bit of a drive from Aulani, but I feel it is well worth the drive. I wish there were a local place near me that made this meal half as good - that would still be awesome. That is how good I thought it was.

I dream about that meal.

Now that we had been fed and refueled, we continued to some more sightseeing on the way back towards Ko Olina.

Continued in Part 3.


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## BigTex71

Day 3 - Best Sights, Best Food, Best Beach (Part 3)

We stopped at Makapu'u Lookout after lunch. Nice views of the beach and ocean,


Next was Halona Blowhole and Eternity Beach









Then we went to get shave ice. I was about to ask if we could try Waiola Shave Ice (I had read so many people saying it was great and better than Matsumoto's), and Kelsey informed me she was taking us to her favorite place for shave ice - Waiola Shave Ice! 



I had pineapple with Li Hing Mui. This was so good! The ice was a softer shave and very nice and fluffy. You couldn't hear the spoon when it dug into the ice, no crunching - this is what shave ice should be (I'm talking to you, Matsumoto!) The flavor of the pineapple was great and it didn't taste overly sweet or syrupy - just right. They make their flavors with real fruit and pure cane sugar, and you can tell. This was tied for my favorite shave ice in Hawaii. What is the other? You'll have to wait and see.

We then went back to Aulani. The tour was scheduled for 8:00 am until 2:00 pm, but we spent so much time at Lanikai Beach, we were running late. They don't charge by the hour - it is a straight fee, so I didn't have any problems with that. Kelsey said she was having so much fun with us, she had lost track of the time also. We did get on the highway early enough to avoid the rush hour traffic, though. We got back to Aulani around 3:30 pm.

We made sandwiches for dinner in the villa, then DW and I walked over to Paradise Cove to get some sunset pictures. You can walk over from Aulani easily - it is about a 10-minute walk. You access the non-luau beach area from the parking lot at Paradise Cove Luau. There are signs that will point you to the beach access. We saw an amazing sunset - these photos don't do it justice. This is another highly recommended thing to do because you don't get the same type of angle of the sunset from the Aulani lagoon area.








We walked back to the villa and applied some more burn gel to DW and the kids and we picked up some Kukui Nut Oil that is good for sunburns and to keep the skin hydrated.

This was one of our favorite days on Oahu. Taking in the majesty of the mountains on the H3 highway, the temple, the best beach, the best food, the best shave ice, and a wonderful sunset. It almost brings a tear to my eye realizing what a perfect day it was. We could have driven to those places in our rental car, but having someone else (a local) drive, point out history and unique things on the way, not having to worry about the driving (or parking) all day, and being introduced to places we may not have found on our own - made it totally worth the price. So here is that phrase again: I highly recommend Oahu Private Tours. This could also help you avoid renting a car while still being able to see the sights around the island. You will see why they are the top rated tour company on Oahu (per Trip Advisor.) 


Up Next: Day 4: You Down With OPT? (North Shore Tour)
'


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## jagron11

Great write up so far. I’ll be posting mine soon. We’re still in Maui. Ive been writing as we go, so should go quickly but haven’t wanted to tackle uploading with the photos yet.


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## linco711

Checking out Oahu private tours now...Love Byodo Temple..but having a difficult time finding it on their site...How does this work with only two people?


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## BigTex71

linco711 said:


> Checking out Oahu private tours now...Love Byodo Temple..but having a difficult time finding it on their site...How does this work with only two people?


They have pricing for 1 - 6 guests. Usually, the 1 guest price is the 'start' and it is $25 for each additional person if I recall correctly. It should be on their site (ensure it is the one with oahuprivatetours as the name of the URL - I don't think I am allowed to post a link.) A Google search will show some advertiser sites first if you search 'Oahu private tours' - those are not the correct website.

I hope that helps.


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## AussieDisneyfans

Really enjoying your trip report - thanks for sharing.  My daughter and I are travelling to Aulani in December this year and have already booked the two day tour through OPT, due to recommendations on the DIS!!  We can't wait, so taking it all in through your report.


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## dachsie

I had Lanikai beach on my list so am excited that you liked it so much and I added the Waiola Shaved ice.


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## BigTex71

I hope to get at least one more days' worth posted Monday - depending on how busy I am at work. Or by the evening.


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## Dizney73

Absolutely loving your review!  Great information! I have been looking at OPT for our stay next summer.
Did it bother you that you spent your time at the beach and then completed your tour? I'm not sure about spending the afternoon with that sticky salt water feel on us.


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## linco711

BigTex71 said:


> They have pricing for 1 - 6 guests. Usually, the 1 guest price is the 'start' and it is $25 for each additional person if I recall correctly. It should be on their site (ensure it is the one with oahuprivatetours as the name of the URL - I don't think I am allowed to post a link.) A Google search will show some advertiser sites first if you search 'Oahu private tours' - those are not the correct website.
> 
> I hope that helps.


Thank you..


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## Timothy02359

Great report! Thanks.


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## nkereina

Great report!

100% agree with you on Kono's and Lanikai Beach - your sentiments match ours! Two of our favorite things from our trip as well.

I'm disappointed to hear about your poor experience with Matsumoto's though! That was a highlight from our trip. We loved it so much, we even bought t-shirts and other merchandise from the store! We didn't find the ice to be as you described, so I have to wonder if you experienced it on an off day or with new staff or something like that. We had a very minimal wait, so I wonder if they were exceptionally busy and rushing while you were there. They are used to lines there, but I think any place could get flustered or rushed when trying to work through a longer line. Sorry it didn't meet expectations for you!


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## Flossbolna

Great start to your trip report! It sounds like you had an amazing day with OPT. I am taking lots of notes for our trip later this year, but think we will do the self drive option of your day.

If you just link to your pictures (that are hosted somewhere else) instead of uploading them to the DIS, you can post up to 35 in one post.


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## BigTex71

Dizney73 said:


> Absolutely loving your review!  Great information! I have been looking at OPT for our stay next summer.
> Did it bother you that you spent your time at the beach and then completed your tour? I'm not sure about spending the afternoon with that sticky salt water feel on us.



The only thing we did after the beach was the overlooks and the Waiola Shave Ice. It didn't bother us at all. Also, that sand at Lanikai Beach is very powdery, so it doesn't stick to you like some of the bigger grain sand like most of the other beaches (and the lagoon at Aulani.)


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## tink too

Loving your TR and beautiful photos.  We're getting lots of tips for our upcoming trip, too.


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## BigTex71

Ugh. I was really busy at work today and just worn out after I got home. I am going to try hard to get another day posted soon.


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## SMorgan711

wowowowowow!!!!!!! following along for sure. starting to plan out our Aulani trip for November and I'm a super planner as well so I'm loving your reports!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU for taking the time to share!!


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## BigTex71

Day 4 - You Down with OPT? (North Shore Tour)

We woke up around 7:00 am (sleeping in today!) and had plenty of time to get ready - which means wearing our swimsuits and swim shirts/cover-ups and flip flops/swim shoes - before today's tour. I warmed up a few malasadas we had leftover from the previous day in the microwave for breakfast. They were not nearly as good as the fresh ones, but they were still plenty tasty. We applied ample sunblock and went down to the lobby at 8:00 am to meet Kelsey from Oahu Private Tours for our North Shore tour.

We started at Green World Coffee Farm.

We had some coffee drinks and browsed the gift shop, then walked through the small coffee tree garden they had in the back. It was neat to see the coffee 'cherries'. Kelsey showed us what they look like when they are picked, how they extract the beans and explained the process for regular and decaffeinated beans and the roasting process.




Like most places on the island, there were wild chickens roaming around.


We left the coffee farm and headed to Waimea Bay Beach.






Then we went over to Sunset Beach. This is the beach with the 100-year-old palm tree that hangs out over the beach. Very famous location. It was the same tree Elvis sits on in the movie Blue Hawaii.

The waves were a little rough for us, so we didn't get in the water - we just enjoyed the sights and sounds from the beach.


We then went to the Banzai Pipeline.

The waves were picking up and it became overcast. I didn't get too many pics. We also stopped by Turtle Beach, but there were no turtles and it was raining - so no camera for me. I didn't want to risk having something happen to my rental camera since I can't afford to buy it outright. LOL.

Continued in Day 4 - Part 2.


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## BigTex71

Day 4 - You Down with OPT? (North Shore Tour) - Part 2

After exploring the beaches, went over to Haleiwa Town and picked up some shirts and looked for some of that Coconut Bread I had mentioned from the other days' post. No luck - they were out of it. We then went to get some lunch. I wanted to try one of the shrimp trucks up here in Haleiwa and asked Kelsey about them. She suggested Big Wave Shrimp Truck. It is the one Guy Fieri visits and was recently voted one of the top 25 food trucks in the U.S.! Giovanni's Shrimp Truck had a huge line waiting and we went the few blocks down the road to Big Wave - it had just one person ordering at the window. This made me nervous - hardly any line here - how good could it be?




Well, I had no need to worry. I had the Garlic Shrimp and it was superb! It ranked a very close second to the Garlic Shrimp I had at Ono Steaks and Shrimp Shack the day before. The cool thing about Big Wave - you can pay $1 extra to have the shrimp pre-peeled, so less work to eat it. This was an advantage over Ono (and Giovanni's.) DS had the Coconut Shrimp. I tried it and it was very fresh and full of flavor. 


The shrimp was not as large as the shrimp from Ono, but there were more than enough to make up for that. If you are looking for shrimp in North Shore, I highly recommend Big Wave. (There is that 'highly recommended' thing again.) I had heard Jenny's is good also, and it is across the street from Big Wave - but I didn't try it, so I can't help you with a comparison.

We skipped Matsumoto's since we already had tried it and weren't impressed. We headed back to Aulani, as it was nearing 2:00 pm. We hung out for a while at the resort, then DS, DD, and I went to have pizza from The Pizza Corner in the shopping center across the street from Aulani. DW was feeling some of the effects of her sunburn, so she decided to chill at the villa. I was skeptical about getting pizza, but I did hear some good things about Pizza Corner. The downside to this place - they only have one size pizza - large. So we decided to get one pizza and split it amongst ourselves. We ordered a half Meatzilla/half cheese. They gave us some complimentary Garlic Knots while we waited for our pizza. Wow, those Garlic Knots were so good! I think it has more to do with that sweet, local garlic they use. The pizza was surprisingly good. They claim it to be New York style. It was crispy on the bottom with a light crunch but was still slightly chewy - well done. We had a slice of Meatzilla and a slice of cheese left over to take back to DW at the villa. She liked it also. 

By this time we were worn out from the sun and the beaches today, so we hit the hay. We were heading to Pearl Harbor and Waikiki the next day, so we needed our rest.

Overall, another great day. Again, not having to worry about driving or finding parking at different beaches was nice. The information, stories, and recommendations Kelsey provided added yet another layer of value. She was an awesome tour guide and we felt we had made a new friend. The food was great and the beaches were really nice up on North Shore. I wish the weather was better in the afternoon so we might have seen some turtles, but we still had several days left in Oahu and Maui to try to see the sea turtles.

Did we end up seeing sea turtles? You will have to wait and find out.

Up Next: Day 5 - Waikiki would you want to visit Pearl Harbor?


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## graviela

Can’t wait to read about day 5.


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## five_mouseketeers

Thanks so much for your review!  Reading along . We leave in a little over two weeks!  Sounds like a superb trip so far!  Can’t wait to read the rest!


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## BigTex71

five_mouseketeers said:


> Thanks so much for your review!  Reading along . We leave in a little over two weeks!  Sounds like a superb trip so far!  Can’t wait to read the rest!



*SPOILER ALERT* 
It was our favorite family vacation - and we have had some real doozies.


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## AussieDisneyfans

Sounds like two great days with OPT was had by you all, makes me very excited for my trip come December.  Looking forward to reading the next installment.


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## dachsie

Any particular places to look for the coconut bread?  It sounds like a must have.  LOL


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## BigTex71

dachsie said:


> Any particular places to look for the coconut bread?  It sounds like a must have.  LOL


Whaler's General Store is where we had the most luck. There are several in Oahu and Maui - like an ABC Store.


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## WildGinger

Great report, thank you so much.  I have never seen the cute coffee farm! I am going to have to try the Big Wave Shrimp truck--I like that they peel them for you


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## BigTex71

Day 5 - Pearl Harbor and Waikiki

I wanted to wake up early so we could be down at Pearl Harbor when it opened at 7:00 am so we could get our free tickets for the USS Arizona (even though you don't actually get on the memorial, due to structural damage.) But I was OK with sleeping in a bit, since our only true plan for the day was a reservation at Duke's at 4:45 pm. I was up around 6:15 am to take a shower and get ready for the day. The rest of the family slept until 7:00 am, which seemed to be our normal wake up time while in Hawaii.

We decided to go to breakfast at a place I had a few people tell me we needed to try - Koa Pancake House. There are a few on Oahu - we went to the one in Kapolei, which would be on the way to Pearl Harbor. It was a small place. You order at the counter and they bring the food out to you. I had the Koa Omelette, which had Portuguese sausage, Mushroom, Spinach, and cheese.

It was very good. DW had the Macadamia Nut Pancakes with coconut syrup. Very tasty! 

Though these pancakes were very good, and I recommend trying Koa Pancake House, we did have even better pancakes at two other places. But those were on Maui. So these were the best pancakes we had on Oahu. And the prices were not bad. The whole family ate and were totally stuffed for about $55. 


We decided that we would try to go to Lanikai Beach again today - since it was our favorite, and check out Ala Moana Beach Park. So we would need a beach umbrella. We stopped by the Longs Drugs store that was in the same shopping area as Koa Pancake House. We got a beach umbrella and a cheap body board to use at the beaches. Then we were off to Pearl Harbor. We arrived around 9:30 am. I was hoping they would sill have the free tickets for the Arizona boat ride, but I knew it may be for later in the day. We walked up and asked about tickets and the guy in the booth said he had 4 tickets for 9:45 am! So we walked over and waited just a few minutes before they opened the theater and let us in to watch the documentary movie. For those of you who have not been to Pearl Harbor and have not seen this movie - be warned. It is well done and very powerful. I will admit I cried watching this. Take tissues.

We then boarded the small watercraft that took us down Battleship row, past the Arizona Memorial, and around the USS Missouri.








We were brought back near the visitor center and walked around reading the placards and taking in the sights.



(I still don't know how to rotate the pictures)

The kids decided that was enough Pearl Harbor (we spent a few hours there total.) We then went to the Ala Moana Center to try to find the awesome coffee drink DW and I had there 20 years ago.

Continued in Part 2.


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## BigTex71

Day 5 - Pearl Harbor and Waikiki (Part 2)

So we drove over to the Ala Moana Center and tried to find a coffee drink similar to one we had 20 years ago when I had brought DW back when we were dating. The drink was a blended coffee drink with macadamia nut, coconut, and white chocolate. It almost tasted like a milkshake. We loved it and had always wanted to find it again. We tried a place called Honolulu Coffee Company since it was a kiosk sort of similar to the place long ago. But the drink was nowhere near as good. We looked a little longer and then decided the place must no longer be in business. So sad.

We then went across the street to the Ala Moana Beach Park for a while. We found a parking spot easily and set up the beach umbrella and some towels to relax on. It is a nice beach area.




Now it was nearing lunch time, so we headed over to the International Market Center. We looked at the 'food court' area, but nothing really caught our attention. We then walked out on Kuhio Ave to look for a place to eat. We saw an ABC Store, so we went in to look for the awesome Coconut Bread - no luck. Then we saw a Paia Fish Market. That is one of the places I wanted to eat when we go over to Maui. I did not realize they had one on Oahu. It turns out it had just opened at that location recently. So we ate there.

DW and I both ordered the Fish Taco - hers with coleslaw and fries, mine with coleslaw and Cajun rice. 

That was the best coleslaw I had ever had - and I have had my fair share. The Cajun rice was good and tasted freshly made. The fish taco was amazing! DW thought this was the best fish taco she has ever had, and I did too at the time (that would change when we go to Maui.) So this is yet another place I highly recommend (I told you there would be a lot of that phrase thrown around in the report.) I consider myself to be a foodie, and this may have been the best vacation for great food we have done. Walt Disney World has some great restaurants, but this trip was in another league. But I digress.

With full bellies, we decided to go drive the H3 highway to see those awesome green mountains again. We dove through and over by the southeast coast before deciding we should get back to Waikiki for our 4:45 pm reservation at Duke's. There was not much traffic, so it went smoothly - until we tried to find the parking garage that Duke's uses. It was attached to one of the Outrigger Hotels, but not the one where Duke's is located. It is a few blocks away. And the signage for the parking will sneak up on you. Luckily, we had Waze on our phone - but it still took me two trips around the huge block to finally get in the parking garage. We walked over to Duke's from there and I checked in right at 4:45 pm. We had to wait a few minutes for our table, but it was worth the 5-minute wait, for sure. We sat at a table just outside the dining area along a short wall by the outdoor pool (which was covered and closed.) There was a large umbrella to shade the sun and a nice breeze blowing intermittently. We had a great view of Waikiki Beach and there was a live band playing Hawaiian music (under the big, green umbrella in the second picture below.)





DW had mentioned that if it didn't cost too much, she was going to see if she could change our Hawaiian Airlines flight the next day for Maui - from a 4:00 pm flight to a 10:20 am flight. This would give us more time in Maui that day and not make it seem to be a 'wasted' day. The first person she chatted with on their website (via her iPhone) said it would cost $400+ due to change fees, etc. I said no way. DW felt the same. But she decided to call and speak to someone to find out why it would cost so much, because the app stated it was just a $30 per person fee, but it wouldn't let her 'check out' to finalize on the app. I'm glad she called. She got the flight changed and it ended up costing $129 total. Good job, sweetie! All of this happened while we were walking from the car over to Duke's and up until our food came.

 I was already a big fan of Duke's before the food came out, because of the location alone. Then out came the food. I had the Coconut Ginger Braised Seafood. It had lobster, fresh island fish, shrimp, mushrooms, and spinach. Served with steamed rice.

This dish was awesome! DW had the Sauteed Mac Nut and Herb Crusted Opah. She said it was easily the best fish she had ever tasted. Superlatives were flying around. DS said his Shrimp Pasta was the best pasta he had ever eaten. DW had the Keiki Tomato Pasta and she enjoyed it.

We chatted with our awesome server (I wish I could remember his name.) He had asked about DW being on the phone so long while we ordered our food. We told him about changing our flight to Maui for the next day and that we would be staying at a condo in Kihei. It ends up he was originally from Kihei. He was very friendly and chatted us up for a few minutes each time he came by the table. After we finished eating, we asked to see the dessert menu. He said not to worry about dessert because he would bring out a special dessert on the house. So we got the famous Hula Pie for free. I'm sure they do that a lot - I think I heard you might get one free if you book via Open Table or something. Regardless, it was a nice gesture and that was delicious! It is chocolate cookie (Oreo) crust, macadamia nut ice cream, hot fudge, toasted mac nuts, and whipped cream.


As you can see from the photo below - we hated it. LOL

Another thing that was so good! So (here comes the phrase yet again) I highly recommend Duke's for dinner. I booked our reservation in advance via their website. Afterwards, I heard someone say that the people with advance reservations get the good tables outside. I'm not sure of the validity of that statement, but if I were to go again I would book on their website again just in case that is the case.

We then drove back to Aulani just before the sunset. We started packing up since we would be checking out in the morning. So if you were paying attention, you may have noticed we didn't use the body board we bought earlier in the day. We looked into taking the beach umbrella with us on the flight to Maui, but it would have cost us more to take it than what we paid for it (over twice as much!) So I went on the 'Disney's Aulani Trip Planning' Facebook group to let people know that we had a body board, beach umbrella, and a popcorn bucket that was free for anyone to have, since we were checking out in the morning. We like to spread the magic like that at the end of our trips. They were given out to two people that were just beginning their stays.

Overall, another great day with great food. A good way to end our last full day. I must have missed putting in the extra times we went to the lagoon and pools/lazy river at Aulani, because we went every day. The grounds are phenomenal and I feel Aulani is one of the best-themed resorts on Oahu. We could have enjoyed our time by just staying at the resort the whole time, but by getting out and around the island - it turned into our favorite family vacation ever. And we still had 4 nights of Maui to go!

Up next: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Condo.


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## OKW Lover

WildGinger said:


> I have never seen the cute coffee farm!


We stopped at their shop a couple of weeks ago.  Interesting, but over-priced was our take.


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## Grooovertoo

Awesome trip report.  I'll keep following along and I enjoyed your Instagram posts too.  We'll be there in 50 days as of today and can't wait!!


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## five_mouseketeers

Can’t wait to hear about Maui!  O’ahu and Aulani sound amazing .  It doesn’t sound like you had any full days that you spent at the resort....is that correct?  I currently have 2 full days for us to spend time there, now I’m thinking maybe we’ll be fine with 1.  We are not a ‘lay at the beach/pool all day to relax’ type of family.  We prefer a few hours at a time, etc.  Looking back, do you wish you had spent more time at the pools/beach at Aulani?  Also if you don’t mind, did you feel Kailua was more or less crowded than the lagoon area at Aulani?  
Thanks again for your awesome review!  Looking forward to the rest!


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## BigTex71

five_mouseketeers said:


> Can’t wait to hear about Maui!  O’ahu and Aulani sound amazing .  It doesn’t sound like you had any full days that you spent at the resort....is that correct?  I currently have 2 full days for us to spend time there, now I’m thinking maybe we’ll be fine with 1.  We are not a ‘lay at the beach/pool all day to relax’ type of family.  We prefer a few hours at a time, etc.  Looking back, do you wish you had spent more time at the pools/beach at Aulani?  Also if you don’t mind, did you feel Kailua was more or less crowded than the lagoon area at Aulani?
> Thanks again for your awesome review!  Looking forward to the rest!



Thanks.

We did not do any full days at just the resort. We were going to do that the first full day, but then we wanted to get out and about. If it were me, and it sounds like this would fit your family from the way you describe it, 1 full day should be enough - because you can still do the mornings and/or evenings at the resort and go do other stuff in the late morning and afternoon. We loved the lagoon and lazy river the most - we hung out there several times on several days. But I would not consider our Aulani part of the trip to be the 'relaxing' part. We knew Maui was more laid back and we would be relaxing more on Maui - at least that was the plan. I will try to get more posted this evening to let you see how it went.

We didn't go to the Kailua Beach, but it is right next to Lanikai - which we did visit. The beach was not crowded at all when we were there. I would say it was less crowded than the lagoon - minus the early morning hours at the lagoon, which can be nice and solitary.


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## BigTex71

Day 6 - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Our Condo

We woke up and ate the rest of the fresh fruit we had bought from the fresh fruit stand on our North Shore Tour day (we still had some mango, strawberry, and pineapple.) DS made himself an omelette with the last of the groceries we had (eggs, sausage, and cheese.) Since we had successfully changed our flight to Maui from a late afternoon flight to a morning flight, we finished the little bit of packing we didn't finish the night before and checked out of Aulani.

My thoughts on Aulani: at this point, we thought this was our best family vacation we have had - and we still have 4 nights of Maui to go. Aulani was such a beautiful resort and we loved the Ko'Olina area. The pools were very good, the lazy river was awesome, and our favorite was the beach/lagoon. If we had ended the trip here, it still would have been an outstanding success because of the great times at the resort and traveling around Oahu. We will definitely be heading back to Aulani again as soon as we can. One does not need to island hop from Oahu to have a fabulous vacation. 

So we left Aulani. We dropped off the rental car and took the shuttle over to the airport. We made it through security relatively quickly and we had about an hour before our flight would start boarding. I wanted to be there early because I have heard people getting backed up by security at that airport and missing flights. But that was not the case here - maybe because it was a morning flight? But I always prefer to be early and sit around and wait than to rush and worry about making it to the gate for the flight before boarding closes. So we relaxed and waited to board.

The flight was very quick - about 35-40 minutes. They had just enough time to serve water or 'juice' and pick up the empties, then we were getting ready to land. 

Wow. A whole 8% juice! But it was still tasty.

There was no music to plug in your headphones to listen to - but that did not matter to me with such a short flight. I was glued to the window watching us leave Oahu, fly over Molokai, then see the large mountains of Maui as we came in to land.



We claimed our one checked bag and made our way to the Sixt shuttle - which was just about to depart, so it was great timing. Once we got over to the Sixt location (just a 2 minute drive from the airport) the fun began.

Remember how we changed our flight time? We were supposed to pick up our rental car around 5:30 pm. I tried to change the reservation on the Sixt website, but it was less than 24 hours before the time, so I couldn't. It was 11:30 am. I knew they might not have the type of car we reserved (a BMW 4-series convertible or equivalent.) I was right. DW wanted a convertible - mainly for the Road to Hana we would be doing in a few days. They could get us in something else until 5:00 pm when we could come back and get the Mercedes C300 convertible, but the lady working at the counter noticed our luggage and asked if we were going to try to fit it all in the car. (uh, yeah. What else am I going to do?) I knew we would have to keep the top up on our way to the condo so we would have enough room in the trunk (the top folds into the trunk, so you lose lots of storage space with the top down.) But she thought it may be very cramped. Long story short, we upgraded to a 4-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara. She gave us a discount, but it still cost way more than I wanted to pay - but what else were we going to do? And we wouldn't have to come back to the rental place to exchange vehicles by doing it this way.  We were in and out of there within 30 minutes.

We left the rental place and headed over to the condo management location to get our information for checking in to our condo in Kihei. It was located on the second floor of a large multiple retail stores building. The older lady was very nice and gave me all the info about the location, let me know about recommended places to eat (with discount coupons for 20% off) and a bunch of 20% off discounts for the large clothing store on the first floor of the building we were in. We bought a few shirts from the place downstairs. We had some time to kill because the code for the condo door would not work until 3:00 pm, so we went to get some lunch.

I had heard about, read, and watched YouTube vlogs about a place called Coconut's Fish Cafe in Kihei - so that is where we went.




This right here was the BEST fish taco I have ever had! I have had some great ones in SoCal and the one from Paia Fish Market the day before in Honolulu - but this one barely inched out the win for me over Paia Fish Market. (Sorry for the color in the photo - white balance needs to be fixed.) It was super messy, but it was super good! That pineapple pico on top put it over the top.



I also had onion rings with it. Maui Onion rings. Beer-battered, I believe. These were also extremely good!


So that phrase will be repeated yet again: "I highly recommend" eating at Coconut's Fish Cafe in Kihei if you are on Maui.

We finished and drove to Foodland (the condo management company had a frequent shopper card for us to use to get the lower pricing.) We picked up eggs, bacon, sausage, pancake syrup, butter, bread, deli meat, cheese, hot dogs, buns, etc. since we would have a full kitchen again.

We then drove to the condo unit, since it was now after 3:00 pm. When we first pulled up, the units looks a bit older and dated that what the photos showed on Airbnb. But we had no worries. We knew the view was great - and it was.

That is the view from the balcony of the unit. Really close to the water and a little sand at the beach (just over the berm, but you can't see it from this angle.) Unfortunately, the unit was hot and humid. One of the reasons we chose this unit on Airbnb was because it advertises the air conditioning (since some of the units do not have a/c.) I tried setting the three Fujitsu wall units (fed from a central condenser unit out on the balcony) to lower temp, higher temp, off for a while, and back on. No luck - it kept blowing out room temperature air - which I would guess was about 80 F. It was just a fan blowing - no cold air. I had to guess at the room temperature because the remote controls for those units do not have a temperature reading of the ambient air - only a temperature setting for the unit. We could have opened windows and doors and let the breeze blow through, but DW has a heart condition and her body cannot regulate her body temperature well and air conditioning is a requirement. So this turned into a health safety issue.

I reached out to the condo management group and did not get any response. I tried via Airbnb app also. No response. We decided to go swim in the pool for a while to see if the temperature would come down at all. DS stayed in the condo to watch his Netflix shows (sweaty and all.) We were at the pool for about an hour and came back to the condo. We were kind of cold on our walk back, because we were wet and there was a pretty forceful winds (see those palm trees in the photo?) But we walked into the condo and were no longer cold. Now we were hot again. I tried contacting the condo management again and still no answer. I left messages in the chat for them via Airbnb app. I then contacted Airbnb Support team to let them know about our situation. I told them that we would have to find a hotel to stay at because DW could not stay in the condo overnight like that.

So now we frantically searched various hotels and resorts on Maui to see if there was any availability for our 4 nights (we were not going to stay at the condo at this point, even if someone could fix the a/c the next day.) We ended up finding a good deal at a resort I initially wanted to stay at during our trip planning so many months ago: Wailea Beach Resort - Marriott. The deal was for a Deluxe Ocean-view room with two queen beds. So we booked it, packed up our stuff and left the condo. 

To wrap up the condo portion of our Maui stay: the condo management company texted me via the Airbnb app the next day at noon (Sunday) stating they would send someone to look at the air conditioning. Too late - we already booked a resort for our 4 nights at that point. Luckily, the Airbnb Support staff was great. They worked with the condo management company on my behalf and after a few days were able to secure a full refund of our condo reservation. I was just happy we wouldn't be paying for the condo - due to the last minute cancellation request. The resort cost a bit more than the condo, but having to double-dip and pay both would have been crazy. I would definitely use Airbnb again - I just wouldn't rent that unit again.

We checked in to the Wailea Beach Resort - Marriott. 




This place was super nice! The Wailea area of Maui is similar to the Ko'Olina area of Oahu. In fact, it was almost a Deja-Vu-like experience driving in Wailea thinking I was back on that drive that goes in front of Aulani. The resort was very chic and refined. Very clean. We were very impressed. I think this ended up working out great for us, even though we had to put up with some inconveniences to get here. (I always try to look at the bright side of things.) The only downside - we had a bunch of groceries we would not be able to use now (eggs, bacon, sausage, hot dogs, etc.) since we did not have a kitchen or kitchenette in our room. But we did make use of the bread, deli meat, and cheese to make sandwiches for dinner.

Here was the view from our balcony that evening.


It was a long day so we decided to go to bed after we finished unpacking.

Wrap up: An interesting day that made lots of memories (both good and bad.) But I am glad we ended up at the Wailea Beach Resort in the end, since it was so nice. 


Up next: Day 7 - Lahaina, Lunch, and Lookouts


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## alohamom

So sorry you had that experience witht he condo and glad that it worked out.

I am wondering what the heck you guys did with the perishable food you could not use


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## BigTex71

alohamom said:


> So sorry you had that experience witht he condo and glad that it worked out.
> 
> I am wondering what the heck you guys did with the perishable food you could not use


We gave it to the housekeeping crew.


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## jodybird511

Glad to hear you had a good customer service experience from Airbnb.  Last year, we visited the big island prior to Aulani, and it just so happened that the Airbnb we had reserved was in the area of the island that was being inundated with lava from Kilauea, AND we were traveling there WHILE that was happening.  Airbnb was just fantastic to work with to resolve that situation--glad to hear they were good to you as well!


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## BigTex71

Day 7 - Lahaina, Lunch, and Lookouts (Part 1)

After our crazy first day in Maui, we woke up to a great view from our balcony at the Wailea Beach Resort Marriott.




We ate some cereal in makeshift bowls (we used the coffee cups in the room) and I had picked up some plastic ware from one of the stores in the resort (they gave me several spoons, forks, and knives from their stash for people who buy food items from the little General Store there.) So it was not a classy meal, but it was very affordable. Ha. We wouldn't be able to use all the groceries, so we figured we could make use of the cereal and milk.

After our extravagant breakfast, I walked down by the beach and water area of the resort for a few pictures.





We then drove up to the Lahaina area to check out the Whaler's Village.


For those who do not know - Whaler's Village is a nice outdoor shopping mall. We bought some more shirts for the kids and had some gelato. We walked down by the water and decided to go check out Kimo's. We had a dinner reservation there for 5:45 pm, but we didn't feel like driving back to the resort (about an hour), then driving all the way back out here for dinner. The kids wanted some pool time at the resort today. So we checked with the hostess and changed our reservation to lunch. We sat at a great table on the second floor with a great view of the water. 
*Note - this place is owned by the same company that owns Duke's Waikiki.




I had the Coconut Crusted Marlin that had a peanut sauce, pineapple salsa, macaroni salad, and jasmine rice. The fish was very meaty - like a swordfish steak. Very good texture and flavor. Another great meal!



DW had the Kimo's Baked Mahi - with roasted basil, lemon, and garlic glaze, macaroni salad, and jasmine rice.  At first, she was hesitant to order a baked fish. Once she tasted it, she was glad she did! She really enjoyed that dish. DS had the Coconut Shrimp (pupu), which he really liked. DD has the kids Buttery Pasta. She ate all of it, so I would say it was a hit with her - since she is a picky eater.

Overall, a great place to eat with a great location right on Front Street in Lahaina. This is yet another place I recommend.

We then drove back to the resort to enjoy some pool time.


Up next: Day 7 - Lahaina, Lunch, and Lookouts (Part 2)


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## BigTex71

Day 7 - Lahaina, Lunch, and Lookouts (Part 2)

On the way back to the resort, we stopped at the Papawai Scenic Lookout near Ma'alaea Harbor. This is a great spot for whale watching, from what I hear. Unfortunately, we didn't see any whales when we were there. But it was still a great view.






We went back to the resort and went to the pool areas. They have several pools, and one is more kid-oriented with a big water slide and a small waterfall near a 'grotto' on the side of the pool. It has a zero-entry area for the littles, too. DD liked the water slide a lot. The pools were nowhere near as good as Aulani, but they were nicer than just about any other resort we have been to. But it was like driving a Ferrari, then getting in a Mercedes. The Benz is a great car - just not as great as the Ferrari. 

We hung out in one of the infinity pools and enjoyed the view looking out to the ocean. It was very peaceful and there were not too many people in the pool area - maybe 3 families and another couple.

After the swim and sun, we were getting tired. We decided to go to the Monkeypod Kitchen just down the street in Wailea for dinner. (See, I told you this was a lot like Ko'Olina.) I had the Kalua Pork & Pineapple Woodfired Pizza.

And I tried their famous Mai Tai.


Wow. That thing was strong! I was feeling mighty good after finishing that one drink. Then again, I don't drink much or often. But that was really good. (DW drove us back to the resort, BTW.)

We went back to the resort and I took a few pictures as the sun was going down.









Then it was time to unwind in the room, then go to bed. We had to get up early the next day for our drive of The Road To Hell - I mean Hana. 

Wrap up: Another great day in Hawaii. Much better than the previous day. We did drive up to Lahaina, but it was still a 'chill' day overall. More laid back and relaxed. 


Up next: Day 8 - Road to Hana


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## alohamom

Wow, you had an amazing view from your room!


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## jagron11

BigTex, interesting about having to switch to the Marriott. Wailea beach is awesome though. Don’t know if you ever found out, but the whales come in the winter months. They head to Alaska for the summer. DW stayed at that hotel 12 years ago March (I know because it was our last trip before DS1 was born.) and we would watch the whales from the lounge chairs on the grassy point. 

Oh yeah and Coconuts was awesome! We didn’t make it to Monkeypod Wailea


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## BigTex71

alohamom said:


> Wow, you had an amazing view from your room!


I agree - it was amazing! We loved that resort.


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## WildGinger

The view from your room is beautiful..all the pics are so beautiful.  Can't wait to hear about the Road to Hana.


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## Mappyland

I miss those mai tai's! However,  I think Dukes makes a really good one as well.


----------



## Jennie Kayna

Thanks for sharing your trip experience. It sounds like a great time so far (minus the air conditioning fiasco - that would have stressed me out so much)!
My husband and 1 year old daughter and I will be going to Aulani for the first time in March 2020. I love the idea of doing the Oahu Private Tours so that we won't have to worry about getting around the island and figuring out where to go, but I'm also a bit hesitant about having to hang out with a tour guide all day (two big introverts here).  Did the tour guide spend all of the day with you or is it more like she drops you off at the beach and picks you up in a few hours?  Thanks for the info. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!


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## tootogether

Fellow DFW'er here! Howdy neighbor


----------



## AussieDisneyfans

Wow - those Hawaiian Islands just get better and better.  Glad that airbnb management fixed the issues with the property you had booked originally, funny how things work out that you ended up at the Wailea Beach Resort.  Looking forward to reading more.


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## BigTex71

Jennie Kayna said:


> Thanks for sharing your trip experience. It sounds like a great time so far (minus the air conditioning fiasco - that would have stressed me out so much)!
> My husband and 1 year old daughter will be going to Aulani for the first time in March 2020. I love the idea of doing the Oahu Private Tours so that we won't have to worry about getting around the island and figuring out where to go, but I'm also a bit hesitant about having to hang out with a tour guide all day (two big introverts here).  Did the tour guide spend all of the day with you or is it more like she drops you off at the beach and picks you up in a few hours?  Thanks for the info. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!



She hung out with us during the tour, which we preferred because she would tell us about the island and answer questions. She was very friendly but not overbearing. I’m sure they would give you space if that is what you prefer. Jason (the owner) will email you to get to know you before your tour(s) to help customize it. I’m sure you could mention to him and see what he would recommend. 



tootogether said:


> Fellow DFW'er here! Howdy neighbor


Howdy! Glad to have you along for the ride. 
We are from Keller/North Fort Worth. How about you?


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## nolanboys

So glad I found this thread. We are leaving next month for an 11 night trip - 6 in Maui and 5 on Oahu at Aulani with our 4 boys - all teenagers. This has been so helpful and I can’t wait to read the rest! We plan on doing most of our activities in Maui and then relaxing and eating our way around Oahu.


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## tootogether

Oh my! We live in Keller/North Fort Worth too! VOWS to be exact.


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## BigTex71

tootogether said:


> Oh my! We live in Keller/North Fort Worth too! VOWS to be exact.


We are in Heritage


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## Nalshersmom

I have never heard about the coconut bread and never noticed any  I have some slight regret. I guess I will have to look for it if we ever head back that way


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## BigTex71

Day 8: Road to Hana – Part 1


The sky slowly transitioned from dark black to a dark blue, then to a light blue mixed with orange reflecting off the clouds far away. This was the heralded announcement that the bright star would soon be lumbering its way up to peek over the edge of the ocean on the distant horizon. The day was upon us. The day we looked forward to for several months – the chance to drive along what is arguably the most beautiful, yet short drive in the United States. The Hana Highway – aka the Road to Hana.

OK, I can’t keep up that writing style – it drains my creative mojo and I only have so much of it per day.

We got up, ate cereal in the room, and were on the road by 7:00 am. We decided to take the top off in the Jeep – even though it was only the portion of the roof over the front seats. In hindsight, we would have been better off waiting to get to the gas station in Paia before taking off the top, since it got very windy for the drive across the middle of the island at 55 mph. We decided to gas up at the aforementioned gas station in Paia before we officially started our Road to Hana experience.

I had purchased the GyPSy audio guide app for my phone, which included the Road to Hana portion as well as the entire island of Maui. I liked this guide and I recommend it (at least the Road to Hana portion) for anyone looking to make the drive on your own (not on a tour.) The guy narrating sounded a lot like the guy who narrates Carousel of Progress in Magic Kingdom – so we already felt comfortable with him being our guide.

For those that don’t know, the Road to Hana is the crown-jewel of Hawaii driving tours. Lush rainforest, dramatic and rugged ocean vistas, and countless waterfalls and pools. It has over 600 turns and 54 (mostly) one-lane bridges, and no shoulder. For those of you that enjoy a challenging drive, this could be your absolute favorite anywhere. I don’t recommend this drive for inexperienced drivers, but it wasn’t as crazy as I expected once we got into it.

The first stop was at a twin falls  just off one of the infamous one-lane bridges. Not THE Twin Falls you have to Hike to (Mile Marker 2.) We saw a few cars parked near the bridge, so we decided to take a look at what the hubbub was all about. It was a nice, tranquil spot and there were a few people leaving the area as we walked the 50 yards or so down the wet dirt (not necessarily mud) and rock slope to the falls and pool area.


The next stop we made was at the Garden of Eden (mile marker 10.5.) It was a cool place to identify some of the tropical trees and vegetation you will see while in Hawaii – as they have placards in front of the wide varieties all throughout their area. But it was too expensive for what you get. I do not recommend stopping here unless you want to spend $15 each for ages 16+ and $5 each for ages 5-16. I felt a $20 per carload fee would have been more acceptable. But we paid the $50 for us to check it out (so maybe you won’t have to.)

They have some nice overlooks and views, for sure. The pictures don’t do the majestic views justice.







I regret not getting a picture of the Rainbow Eucalyptus trees – there are a few spots along the drive in addition to Garden of Eden. I will have to do that the next time. (Yes, there will be a next time for Maui, but not necessarily Garden of Eden.) 

It started to rain, so we put the tops back on the Jeep. The rain only lasted about 15 minutes, but we decided to keep the tops on in case a quick shower came out again.

We got back on the road after about 30 minutes. Next stop was the Ke’anae Peninsula (mile marker 16.8.)







It was a nice area with some great views of lava rocks meeting the ocean. 





This is also where the famous Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread stand is located.



This was so good! We got 3 fresh (still hot from the oven) small loaves and I would say these were as good as the pre-packaged Coconut Bread I have been droning on and on about. So I highly recommend trying Aunty Sandy’s banana bread. Your taste buds will thank you.

Up Next - Day 8: Part 2


----------



## BigTex71

Day 8: Road to Hana – Part 2

We continued our drive and stopped to get some lunch at a food truck ‘park’ that the GyPSy guide recommended. You no longer need to pack a lunch for a Road to Hana drive. Apparently there used to not be any places to get lunch along the way. But some locals realized the potential profits by capitalizing on the hungry travelers once they get near this area of the highway. We were happy to contribute to the local economy in this way.  
I went to the BBQ stand at the far right end and ordered the Huli Huli Pork Rib Plate.



It was tasty, but I wouldn’t order it again. The Coconut Shrimp that DS got from the shrimp truck there was much better.

Back on the road. Next stop was Waiapanapa State Park (mile marker 32.2), which is also known as the Black Sand Beach. Note – if you stop here, once inside the park go to the left and follow the road for parking close to the beach and lava tube area. There is a parking lot immediately in front and just to the left as you enter the park, but you will have to walk quite a distance to get to the beach. So do yourself a favor and drive down to the lot at the end of the road.

The beach was neat. It felt like regular sand, but it was black. 









The lava tube to the right (as looking out to the ocean from the beach) is really cool. Be sure to check it out if you go there. You do have to crouch down to get past one area, but it is worth the awkward shuffle steps.





I got a few pictures overlooking the beach area (you have to walk down several concrete steps to get down to the beach and lava tube) before we got back on the road.



We then went just a bit further down to road to the Hana Beach Park. A little story behind this one – my wife came to Maui with her parents when she was 19. Her dad was stung by a Portuguese Man-of-War on this beach and she had to drive him to the local clinic. Then she had to drive back to Ka’ananapali (where the were staying) from Hana. That is quite a drive for a 19-year-old on that road! But I digress.

The kids were done with the stops at this point, so they waited in the Jeep while DW and I went down to the beach for a little while.





We got back to the Jeep and decided this would be as far as we go - so we started back the way we came.

Up Next - Day 8 - Part 3 (Road Back from Hana and Shops of Wailea)


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## dachsie

Too bad the ribs weren't so good.  They sure looked like they were.


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## dachsie

@BigTex71 Did you have some more to tell us on your trip report?  I have really enjoyed it.


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## Dizney73

Can't wait to hear more about Maui!


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## BigTex71

dachsie said:


> @BigTex71 Did you have some more to tell us on your trip report?  I have really enjoyed it.


Yes. I hope to get some more posted this weekend. Sorry for the delay.


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## BigTex71

Day 8 - Part 3 (Road Back from Hana and Shops of Wailea) 

The road back towards Paia from Hana was a little less stressful than on the way there - mainly because we had been on that road and knew what to expect on the way back. Not that it was too stressful on the way to Hana, but it was new and the unknown. We also were looking for a specific bridge we went over on the way to Hana that had a cool triple waterfall that I wanted to get a few pictures of. It was Waikani Falls. 

DW and the kids chilled (read: napped) for most of the way back and I was able to locate the aforementioned bridge before arriving to it. I found an parking spot about 50 yards from the bridge. It had been lightly raining, but let up just in time for me to walk over and snap some pictures before another light shower started again.





Here are the three (well, 2+) all in one shot:


I don't recall the mile marker, but it was about halfway back to Paia, IIRC.

Just before Paia, we saw a little store on the left of the road in Haiku that had shave ice on one side (on the outside), a convenience store inside (so I could get some caffeine), and restrooms. It was called Jaws Country Store. DW and DD had some shave ice. It wasn't that great. The syrups were artificial-tasting and way too sweet. The ice consistency was similar to Matsumoto's. But my can of Royal Mills Iced Cappuccino was tasty and helped keep me from nodding off. Another light shower started up as we were pulling out of the parking lot.

We made our way back to the resort and rested for a little while before going to find some dinner. We decided to check out The Shops of Wailea after a recommendation from the resort staff. It is a nice outdoor mall with some fancy-schmancy stores and some restaurants. I love Tommy Bahama shirts and I was surprised to see they had a Tommy Bahama restaurant. I did not realize TB had restaurants. I was a bit guarded, but the menu looked good, so we gave it a shot. I ordered special for the day and it was surprisingly empty in the restaurant (not a good sign, right?) The chef sent out an appetizer on the house - it was so good! Golden beets with feta and I forget what else. All I remember is that the flavors complimented each other so well. I was really looking forward to my entree after that.



Here is the special. Fresh seafood with crispy kale and bacon over a coconut risotto. This was one of the best entrees I had while in Hawaii.


After eating we went back to the resort to sleep before our last full day on vacation.

This was an epic day. The Road to Hana is not to be missed - I will remember that winding road the rest of my life. A true great life experience!

Up next: Day 9 - Breakfast, Turtles, Shave Ice, and Resort Chill.


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## Dizney73

I really would like to do the road to Hana since we didn't do it on our last visit but my dh says he doesn't want to drive.  I know we can do a tour but that's not quite the same since we can't stop where we want.


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## BigTex71

Dizney73 said:


> I really would like to do the road to Hana since we didn't do it on our last visit but my dh says he doesn't want to drive.  I know we can do a tour but that's not quite the same since we can't stop where we want.


The drive is not too bad once you get used to the way it works (the one-lane bridges.) They have signs posted to watch for oncoming traffic and yield at the sign if a vehicle is coming already before you pass that yield point. It is just different. It is worth doing at least once, IMO. And then he can tell people he drove the Road to Hana.


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## PopMom

We just returned from our trip at the end of May and my DH also didn't want to drive the road to Hana.  He felt if he was driving and watching traffic he wouldn't enjoy all the sites along the way.  Since I didn't want to drive either, we decided to take a friend's recommendation and hired a guide from "Let Me Show You Maui".  It was one of the best decisions we made on the trip.  Our guide was AMAZING and we had the best day of our two week trip.  It was a little pricey but absolutely worth every penny.  We saw sites off the beaten path and he took pictures of all of us throughout the day - and he was a great photographer.  What ever you decide to do, the Road to Hana is amazing and you and your family will have a great day!!! Good luck with your decision.


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## godisney14

Looks like your family had a blast.

Not sure whether you had the chance to go to any of the popular malasadas bakeries. That's something I always miss after leaving Hawaii as I can't seem to find anything comparable in taste/texture even in CA.


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## scrappydew

I am really enjoying your report!  It brings back a lot of nice memories.


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## ksromack

I, too, have enjoyed reading your trip report!  I'm terrible at doing them.....and subsequently have only done one real TR.  I started another but never found the gumption to finish it 
In any case, I am planning an Aulani trip for next May and can't think of a better way to celebrate my 58th birthday!  We have never been to Hawaii but have traveled all over Europe on 4 occasions so we are used to long flights.  I dare say I think the Hawaii flight will trump any of our European flights (we're coming from the Midwest).

I wish we could take more time and island hop but alas, it isn't in the cards.  We will have 5 nights at Aulani and probably spend one night (our first night) somewhere in Waikiki for a tour of the Island.  Thank you again for your informative TR!


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## cgattis

Whoa......my mouth is literally watering at the sight of that risotto! It looks amazing!  We only did two days on Maui, so I’m planning a return trip in 3 years (which is WAY too long!).  But I wanted to say I think YMMV on available food along the road to Hana.  We were there in June, so not an “off” time, and we really only encountered one (kinda nasty) little food stop along the way (not counting banana bread and coconut ice cream stands—yum).  We were glad to have the snacks we’d brought along and in hindsight I wish we’d picked up more of a picnic lunch in Paia.  Again, YMMV, so I’d recommend taking something along just in case.

I don’t really think we want to drive the road again, but I’m not sure I can skip seeing Waianapanapa Beach again!!!! Maybe we’ll try the lower road instead.


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## agirlcallededdy

BigTex71 said:


> So that phrase will be repeated yet again: "I highly recommend" eating at Coconut's Fish Cafe in Kihei if you are on Maui.



Oddly enough, we have the only mainland Coconuts here in Scottsdale, AZ... so if you ever get out this way, you can enjoy the fish tacos here as well! 
SW Corner of Bell Rd and Scottsdale Rd. Yummo. Maybe that's where we are headed for dinner....


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## Amw1064

Your trip report is making me excited for our trip back.  Love Aulani, Oahu, and anything Hawaii.  Lanikai is our favorite beach as well.


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## BigTex71

Wow! I read through my trip report today and realized I never finished it. So I'll cap off the report as well as I can.


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## BigTex71

Day 9 : Best Breakfast and South Maui Chill

This was our last full day of vacation and the kids decided they would rather sleep in than go on am hour drive up to Napili Shores with us for breakfast. It was their loss. Another place I had heard rave reviews of - the Gazebo Restaurant - was our destination. My wife remembers this place from her visit to Maui with her parents 30 years ago and wanted to be sure to eat there while we were on Maui. This was our best day for it and we braved the long drive and long line to eat in this tiny gazebo. And it was totally worth it! Here is a pic of the small restaurant:



IIRC, we waited in the line outside about 45 minutes to get seated. DW and I wanted the Macadamia, Pineapple, and Banana Pancakes, but also wanted something savory. We decided to split the pancakes and an order of Eggs Benedict with Hash Browns. Looking back, we will both order the pancakes next time. Don't get the wrong impression - the Benedict was really good. But those pancakes were life-changing! They were easily the best pancakes I have ever eaten. They may be the best pancakes in the world. I would fly to Maui overnight just to have those pancakes and then fly back afterwards. They were that good!



After we finished we called to check on the kids to see if they wanted to go look for sea turtles at Honolua Bay with us. They 'were good' and wanted to chill. We told them they missed out on the best breakfast ever. They 'were good'. They were pretty much ready to get back home to their friends. Well, they missed out.









We saw plenty of Green Sea Turtles there. Some volunteers rope off the area near the turtles so you can't touch them, but they are a great resource if you have any questions about the turtles. So, yes, we did get to see turtles during our trip.



The small beach there was nice, clean, and peaceful. We then started out road trip back to the resort to hang out with the kids at the resort pools. Later we stopped for some Shave Ice at Ululani's in Kihei.





This was really great and was a very close second to Waiola on Oahu. I don't recall what we did for lunch or dinner - but it was good (it's been a year, and my memory is not all that any longer.) I can't find the pictures, but I'm sure I have them somewhere. But I do have some photos of the sunset at the beach next to the resort. It was so beautiful and it made us sad knowing it would be the last sunset we would see in Hawaii during this vacation.





Up Next: Day 10 : Makena Beach, Volcanic Rock, and Flyaway


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## braysmommy

Following along and thanks for the update! Our first visit to Hawaii was planned for this past May. 6 nights on Maui, 3 at Aulani before DCL cruise. Hoping we might be able to go this coming December or next May.


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## Noah_t

BigTex71 said:


> Aloha!
> As some of you may have read in my itinerary planing thread - we had big plans for our 10 day vacation between Oahu and Maui. How much of the itinerary did we follow? What would we do differently? How do you treat a jellyfish sting? Why would you vacation anywhere else? Where are the best shave ice, fish tacos, and garlic shrimp? Who cares what some egotistical old guy did on his vacation? These questions and more may be answered in this trip report - or not. I hope this report can help others with their plans or provide a way to live vicariously through our trip. I am all about making people smile (or roll their eyes at bad puns and dad jokes.)
> 
> A little background about my family - because the last big trip report I did (in my signature) was over 8 years ago. We are a close, loving, happy, Disney-fied family from the DFW area in Texas. We have been visiting Disney destinations (mostly Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort) since 2004. We finally joined DVC last summer and bought points at Copper Creek. My wife and I are 40-somethings who are soulmates and have been married for 20 years (well, when December comes around.) My daughter is 12 and is a hormone-filled diva, yet she remains sweet most of the time. [I think those of you with 11-13 year old girls know what I mean.] My son is 18 and just graduated from high school a few days prior to this vacation and he will be leaving the nest to study Bio-medical Engineering at the University of Houston in the fall. We have been promising to take the kids on a Hawaiian vacation for years, but usually ended up going to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, or Southern California for our summer family vacations. Well, this was our last chance to go before our son goes off to college - so this was the year. We had banked last years' DVC points (since we bought-in while already in WDW on vacation last year.) So for our 5-night stay at a 1-bedroom garden view villa at Aulani, we used the banked points, our current (2019) points, and borrowed some from next use year (2020).
> 
> I have a Nikon D90 DSLR camera (crop sensor), but wanted a full-frame camera for our vacation memories - so I rented a Nikon Z7 mirror-less camera and a 24-70mm f/4 Z lens (made for the Z-series Nikon cameras) from Borrow Lenses dot com. I fell in love with this camera and now I need to find a way to be able to afford one for myself. In the meantime, I plan to rent this camera again for any major life events that we want to photograph for memories. I am no professional photographer (though I would love to be some day), just a hobbyist. I usually prefer to tweak my photos in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop before sharing with others, but I want to get a trip report started and I think the photos straight out of this camera (even JPEG down-sized images) looked good enough to post. I may update the photos later after I get a chance to be creative with them in Photoshop. I plan to post a lot of photos here, so I hope they post OK on the new boards here.
> 
> And now, the moment we have all been waiting for... day 1! Coming up after these messages from our sponsors (or whoever posts before I can post Day 1.)



Oh this is what I needed!.  A great trip report.  Even if I have read half when you wrote it I will start over and pretend its new.  I need more of these, especially in these days.


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## cgattis

Noah_t said:


> Oh this is what I needed!.  A great trip report.  Even if I have read half when you wrote it I will start over and pretend its new.  I need more of these, especially in these days.


Same here! I re-read the whole thing!  Fun read, @BigTex71!! Can’t wait to get back!


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## iloveeeyore

Thank you so much for your report!! I have read through a few times and will probably read it again as I continue to search for more advice about our (hopefully) up-coming trip to Maui (3 nights in Kihei) and Oahu (2 nights north shore, 5 nights Aulani). DH and I are taking notes. 

Those pancakes might have just made our must-do list!


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## JM23457

BigTex71 said:


> Day 9 : Best Breakfast and South Maui Chill
> 
> This was our last full day of vacation and the kids decided they would rather sleep in than go on am hour drive up to Napili Shores with us for breakfast. It was their loss. Another place I had heard rave reviews of - the Gazebo Restaurant - was our destination. My wife remembers this place from her visit to Maui with her parents 30 years ago and wanted to be sure to eat there while we were on Maui. This was our best day for it and we braved the long drive and long line to eat in this tiny gazebo. And it was totally worth it! Here is a pic of the small restaurant:
> 
> View attachment 505517
> 
> IIRC, we waited in the line outside about 45 minutes to get seated. DW and I wanted the Macadamia, Pineapple, and Banana Pancakes, but also wanted something savory. We decided to split the pancakes and an order of Eggs Benedict with Hash Browns. Looking back, we will both order the pancakes next time. Don't get the wrong impression - the Benedict was really good. But those pancakes were life-changing! They were easily the best pancakes I have ever eaten. They may be the best pancakes in the world. I would fly to Maui overnight just to have those pancakes and then fly back afterwards. They were that good!
> 
> View attachment 505519
> 
> After we finished we called to check on the kids to see if they wanted to go look for sea turtles at Honolua Bay with us. They 'were good' and wanted to chill. We told them they missed out on the best breakfast ever. They 'were good'. They were pretty much ready to get back home to their friends. Well, they missed out.
> 
> View attachment 505520
> 
> View attachment 505521
> 
> View attachment 505523
> 
> 
> 
> We saw plenty of Green Sea Turtles there. Some volunteers rope off the area near the turtles so you can't touch them, but they are a great resource if you have any questions about the turtles. So, yes, we did get to see turtles during our trip.
> 
> View attachment 505525
> 
> The small beach there was nice, clean, and peaceful. We then started out road trip back to the resort to hang out with the kids at the resort pools. Later we stopped for some Shave Ice at Ululani's in Kihei.
> 
> View attachment 505527
> 
> View attachment 505528
> 
> This was really great and was a very close second to Waiola on Oahu. I don't recall what we did for lunch or dinner - but it was good (it's been a year, and my memory is not all that any longer.) I can't find the pictures, but I'm sure I have them somewhere. But I do have some photos of the sunset at the beach next to the resort. It was so beautiful and it made us sad knowing it would be the last sunset we would see in Hawaii during this vacation.
> 
> View attachment 505531
> 
> View attachment 505532
> 
> Up Next: Day 10 : Makena Beach, Volcanic Rock, and Flyaway


I've loved reading this trip report. I hope you keep going.


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## becauseimnew

How did you like the Wailea Beach Resort? 
I'm planning our summer 2022 trip, I have us staying 5 nights in Hyatt Regency Waikiki beach then moving over to Maui for 5 nights. I'm on the fence between the Marriott Residence in Wailea and the Marriott Beach Resort.
They Hyatt doesn't have a kitchenette, so we'll be eating out for 5 days straight, which is why I'm leaning towards the Residence Inn in Maui, but the Beach Resort would be more fun for our girls (11 & 14).


----------



## cgattis

becauseimnew said:


> How did you like the Wailea Beach Resort?
> I'm planning our summer 2022 trip, I have us staying 5 nights in Hyatt Regency Waikiki beach then moving over to Maui for 5 nights. I'm on the fence between the Marriott Residence in Wailea and the Marriott Beach Resort.
> They Hyatt doesn't have a kitchenette, so we'll be eating out for 5 days straight, which is why I'm leaning towards the Residence Inn in Maui, but the Beach Resort would be more fun for our girls (11 & 14).


Unfortunately the Wailea Beach Resort doesn’t book any of the suites on points, so we’re staying at the Residence Inn all but our last night. I’m cramming us into a regular room so we can lounge by the swanky pool for a day LOL I actually spoke to a Marriott employee who said she stayed at the RI with her kids and really enjoyed it. And she could’ve tried to sell me on the higher property…fingers crossed!!!


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## becauseimnew

cgattis said:


> Unfortunately the Wailea Beach Resort doesn’t book any of the suites on points, so we’re staying at the Residence Inn all but our last night. I’m cramming us into a regular room so we can lounge by the swanky pool for a day LOL I actually spoke to a Marriott employee who said she stayed at the RI with her kids and really enjoyed it. And she could’ve tried to sell me on the higher property…fingers crossed!!!


Good idea on doing 1 night at Wailea Beach resort might schedule ours for when we arrive in Maui, just take a rest day.


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## nascargirl

Awesome report.


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