# Completed 3/10/20 - Maui Christmas - a TR of Our Return to Aulani and First Visit to Maui



## pepperandchips

Aloha! I'm Melinda. I mainly hang out in the Disney Dining Threads, but I tried my hand at an Aulani trip report over here: Dreams Come True in Blue Hawaii, where I did manage to recap our time in Hawaii before totally dropping the ball on the Disneyland portion. Hopefully that won't happen here, and I've actually already written up all the parts about Aulani. So here we go again, I hope you enjoy the report and that it's helpful for planning! Please don't be shy if you have questions 







A little about me... I got engaged in Hawaii in 2017 on a truly magical and amazing Hawaiian vacation (see link for TR above), and we got married in May 2018. When it became apparent that a trip to Italy over the Christmas and New Year holidays was not reasonable for this year, we decided to return to Hawaii. We weren't sure when planning whether to call this our honeymoon - and for a number of longwinded reasons that I'll spare you from, I am still waiting to call that future Italy trip our real honeymoon, but that was the background when planning this trip. We were also trying to be budget conscious while still planning a trip that we would really enjoy over what is arguably the most expensive travel dates of the year.  I'm really happy, overall, with what we got for our money on this trip and wanted to follow up with some reviews and recommendations in case anyone else is planning to visit Aulani during a peak season or would like recommendations for Maui.






*Flights/Travel at Christmas*

We are fortunate to fly in and out of Atlanta, where we can get a Delta direct flight to nearly anywhere in the world on any given day. Only problem... the long direct flights to Honolulu were astronomically expensive for the time period we could travel, while schools were out over Christmas break. We had a few thousand Delta skymiles socked away and had a great experience on Hawaiian airlines last time we visited Hawaii, so we decided to split our travel between Delta and Hawaiian Airlines and break up the long flight from the east coast while hopefully saving some money on airfare as well. I don't remember exactly, but I believe when I priced the Delta direct flight between Atlanta and Honolulu, it was about $2000+ each... in economy.   Yeah, definitely not happening. All told, we ended up spending a little shy of $1500 per person for our flights, but in addition to our roundtrip fare from Atlanta to Honolulu, that also included interisland airfare to get us between Oahu and Maui mid-trip, and as an added bonus, the legs getting to and from Honolulu from the mainland were in Hawaiian's extra comfort seats. We connected through San Francisco, with an overnight stop that basically allowed us enough time to take a long nap in an airport hotel. If anyone cares, we paid about $100 inclusive of tax for a night at the SFO hotel Aloft, which was fine and comfortable but we weren't there long. Maybe 5 hours total.

Our flight from San Francisco to Honolulu departed from San Francisco's international terminal (go figure ). The best thing I can say about this airport and this terminal is that it had a location of the famous Boudin Bakery, open early and serving up hot coffee and delicious pastries. 

We split a good muffin and a fantastic almond croissant along with a couple of steaming cups of sweet, sweet caffeine. 






Extra comfort also gets you priority boarding on Hawaiian flights so we were able to board quickly and find space in the overhead bins for our bags. The flights and travel section is as good a place as any to explain part of my travel prep that made my family and some TSA agents think we were insane... but this is also verging on *food budget* territory as well... we packed basically all our stuff (clothes, toiletries, etc) in carry on bags only. 

We checked one bag between the two of us from Atlanta to Honolulu to Maui, and that suitcase solely contained sunscreen and food. As a bit of explanation, I was dismayed to find upon my return from our last Hawaii trip that our food budget had been totally blown, in no small part thanks to several very expensive grocery stops. So this time I spent $40 on checked luggage fees to bring along an older suitcase we didn't mind parting with and ditching in Hawaii. I packed anything we planned to cook that was dry goods as well as several meals that we'd prepared in advance and anything we could freeze - tamales, lasagna, meatballs and gravy, frozen meat, frozen hot dogs, and so on. If you are thinking of this, it worked great. I packed the frozen and refrigerated items in an insulated grocery tote inside of the suitcase. The frozen stuff stayed frozen clear through til we arrived at Aulani, except for some frozen garlic bread, but who cares if that defrosts? Not us.






Here's a look at the extra legroom you get in extra comfort on Hawaiian:






We were really pleased with these seats. Hawaiian seems to charge a standard $80 for the upgrade between economy and extra comfort per leg of mainland to Hawaii flights, and I've gotta say it was worth every penny for the extra room and being near the front of that massive Airbus jet.  The one negative thing I will say about Hawaiian is that their inflight entertainment leaves a lot to be desired - there aren't a ton of free movies to choose from, like on Delta flights. Fortunately I'd read this online before we left, so I bought a headphone splitter and downloaded some stuff from Netflix to my iPad, so DH and I spent the majority of our roughly six hours of flight time watching episodes of the Great British Baking Show and napping. We also were provided pillows and blankets on the return redeye version of this flight, which I greatly appreciated.

Our flight scheduled ended up a little crazy: 
12/23/18 depart Atlanta 9:19 pm Eastern, arrive SFO 2:53 am Eastern. Take nap at airport hotel.
12/24/18 depart SFO 11:35 am Eastern (8:35 am PST), arrive HNL 5:20 pm Eastern (12:20 pm local)

On the way back, things were just as crazy, with the exception that there was no stop for a nap at an airport hotel and we suffered about an hour flight delay on the tarmac in Honolulu. Overall, it was worth it to save the amount of money that we did, but we arrived at Aulani feeling a little rough.






There's our first look at Disney's Hawaiian paradise, from the air. 

*Accommodations - Aulani and Maalaea, Maui:*
So before I get to the "good stuff" I want to finish with the background for anyone else who's planning. We are DVC so we waitlisted Aulani as soon as we started thinking that Hawaii was a real possibility for this trip. I submitted a couple different waitlists for both the front and tail ends of our trip. Essentially, for the equivalent of our flight prices there was no convenient way for us to get to or from Maui without requiring a stop in Honolulu on both ends, so either our first night or two or last night or two could reasonably allow us to visit Aulani again. I was dying to get back to Aulani and DH was basically along for whatever ride I planned. He's good like that. 

On August 4, I got a notification that Christmas night had matched, so I changed our end-of-trip waitlist to a single night on either side of Christmas, and on September 6 I got a notification that Christmas Eve had matched. We'd be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas night in an Ocean View Studio to the tune of 62 total points  (yes, cue your whistle, cause I about died spending all those points).

On Maui, we knew we wanted to be close to a convenient beach (as in, an easy walk from our accomodations) and we wanted a full kitchen. Based on our experience in Kauai, we also knew we needed a rental with air conditioning. This led me to searching VRBO. With our budget, it looked like we could get a condo across the street from the beach in Kihei, a few blocks from the beach in Kapalua or Napili areas, or... I ultimately found a great deal on a basic one bedroom condo in Maalea, right on the ocean. Maalaea is a little town (village?) where the harbor is located that a lot of the tour boats depart from. I'll discuss the condo more if anyone is curious, but it was efficient, clean, and about 20 steps to a small beach where we could read our books and get easy drink refills. Maalaea ended up being super convenient for driving to the points of interest on Maui - sort of halfway between Lahaina and Wailea, it was quick to get back to Kahului and a 15-20 minute easy drive to all the restaurants in Kihei. I would definitely stay in the area again.

*Ground transport/rental car*
We find it super easy to drive around in Hawaii, so I wanted a rental car for both portions of our stay. However... traveling over Christmas meant that all my early searches for a rental car in Honolulu yielded no cars available... not kidding... and an $800+ rate on Maui for the week in an economy car. I made a reservation with Alamo and kept searching.  Finally, about two weeks before our trip, I was able to bring the cost of the rental down under $400 for the week using Costco Travel. We got an intermediate through Alamo and while the price was still more than I really wanted to pay, it was about half the initial quotes I was seeing, so I'm happy with what we got.

Even after all the checking and repricing, I only ever saw one-way rental availability on Oahu and the one way vehicle was going to be a pickup truck that was over $100 per day. We decided to use Charley's Taxi for our Aulani airport transfers, since we really weren't intending to leave Aulani anyway, and it worked out just great. Neither driver tried to pull anything funny with the $55 flat rate (which was $57.59 after tax) and the rides were quick and painless, with no traffic either direction of travel. I still recommend a car for most folks if you have time to explore Oahu, but if you're doing something like we were, Charley's was great and I'd use them again.

Wow, are you still awake?!

Now, let's get to the fun....


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## pepperandchips

As I said, let's get this show on the road!

We were flying over Ko Olina at 11:56 Hawaiian time and we were in the lobby by 1:00 pm. Not bad, and one of the advantages of a private transfer via taxi. With 20% tip, our taxi rides were $69.11 each. The Hele Hele shuttle Disney recommends would have been $48 each way for us plus tax and tip, versus the $55 flat rate taxi, just in case anyone was wondering about transfers.






Upon arrival, we were greeted with leis and water and told our room wasn't quite ready yet, so we were given a pass to the Luana Lounge to change or freshen up. We decided to go check it out, but I've got to say, it was not at all what I was expecting. I'd been binging on Aulani podcasts prior to our travel and it seemed that overall people were reporting really favorably about Aulani's arrival/departure lounge. 

When we went in there just after 1:00 pm on a Monday, Christmas Eve, it was pretty full. A bigger family had taken up one entire seating area (there are two seating areas set up like living rooms, sort of, on either side of a central wall that has a counter where you can pack or repack as needed) and their luggage was occupying a lot of real estate. They were playing cards and literally lounging. The women's changing room was also pretty busy with both showers occupied. I just changed into my bathing suit and shuffled around things in our luggage as quickly as possible to get us set up with a "day bag" for the beach and pool. 

Soon, we were swimsuited and ready for fun! But first, we needed to find food, since our bodies thought it was dinner time as it would have been at home. We decided to head down and see if we could get in for lunch at Ama Ama. Along the way, we saw this cute display of the kakamora from Moana 









While there was no huge tree like at some of the Walt Disney World resorts around Christmas time, Aulani had a number of small trees located in discreet corners and garland hung from the rafters in the lobby. It was a nice acknowledgement of the holidays without disrupting the beautiful Hawaiian ambiance at Aulani.

We checked in at the host stand and were seated immediately for lunch at Ama Ama.






To start, we each ordered a beer while we decided on entrees. I went with the Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale, " a copper-colored ale made from roasted malts and a selection of premium hops. With a Hawaiian style all its own, Fire Rock is smooth, yet bold in both flavor and aroma."  I'd say that's fair - it was neither overly hoppy or bitter and was great for drinking at the beach or pool. ($9)






DH went with the Kona Castaway IPA, "bold, citrusy hops with a touch of mango and passionfruit balanced by rich caramel malts. Castaway IPA has a clean, crisp finish that’s as fresh as the wind in your face when you set sail for adventure," which he was disappointed to find served to him in a bottle. ($8) 

It's hard to stay disappointed in anything though with the view from Ama Ama 





Before long, lunch arrived. DH ordered the Hawaiian Fish Tacos, which are listed on the menu as a rotating sustainable catch. I can't remember that day's selection but they were delicious. ($22)





After hearing a positive review, I opted for the half pound angus chuck burger with fries ($20)





It was a really delicious burger, and the fries had a nice flavor - I am not sure what they are using to fry them but both the regular potato and sweet potato varieties were really quite good. My burger was cooked to a nice medium, as requested.






It was huge! I shared with DH and we managed to finish both entrees, but just barely. We had another round of beers for dessert, and settled the tab, which to our surprise included a 10% DVC discount on the food items. Our total was $75.18 before tip.











After lunch, we headed over and found a couple of seats at the adult pool. We had lots of choices and selected two loungers right by the edge of the pool. 






We settled in and within about 30 minutes I got our room ready text. When it came through, I could hardly believe our luck. I had noted to the cast member with whom I made the room location request that we were so excited to be returning to Aulani after getting married since we had gotten engaged while staying at Aulani before, and I requested essentially the same room/view we had last time, and it's safe to say they honored that request. Room photos up next!


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## pepperandchips

*The Room*

I wasn't sure whether the keys they'd given us would automatically work for our room door or whether we needed to stop back at the desk and exchange them. We had been given "blank" keys, unlike on our last visit when our names and I think the dates of our stay had been printed on them. Now it seems silly, but I didn't want us to haul all of our belongings up to the room and find out the keys didn't work, so I went up alone to scope it out. My husband told me later he was afraid I'd never come back! haha

Deluxe Ocean View Studio 1610, half of a two bedroom lockoff:









Oh yes! I had asked for a Waianae tower room overlooking the Waikolohe Valley on as a high of a floor as possible. How about the top floor?! The view was unbelievable, I could not get over our luck.






































We called and had our things brought up to the room and then "freshened up" for dinner - which was to be a quick meal from across the street at Ko Olina Station. At this point our bodies felt like it was about 10:30 pm and my husband was not happy that I wanted to drag him down to the beach to take advantage of photopass. 






I am glad that I did, because it turns out that the photopass benefit from my WDW annual pass does still allow Aulani photopass pictures to be connected, but it took much longer for them to show up in my account this time than it did in the past. Here's one of my favorites:






We didn't end up using Aulani photopass on the following night because the photopass photographers all had long lines and I guess I had exhausted my husband's patience on the first night  The photopass photographers are mindful if you don't want to get your feet wet in the surf, but we did get our feet sandy and my DH wasn't happy about that since we'd be walking across the street to get dinner. 






Speaking of which, by the time we made it across the street it had gotten dark and our bodies responded by going full jet lag tired/groggy/grumpy. I'd wanted to get some sparkling waters to have cocktail mixers as well as just for drinking, and we decided to pick up beer and find something for dinner that night all at the ABC Store (Island Market). 






It seemed like we spent forever circling the ABC Store, but it was really less than an hour based on my photo time stamps. R decided to go with a tuna poke bowl:






While I went with a hot pastrami sandwich served with fries:






Both were good - the poke bowl was really good. I was so tired by the time we ate that I thought my sandwich was too salty, but I ate all the fries and half the sandwich and made a drink and sat on the balcony. How could you not?











Up from the Olelo room wafted strains of live Hawaiian versions of Christmas music. I can't describe the magic of hearing Mele Kalikimaka *in Hawaii* on the amazing balcony of a beautiful resort. Ah, this was zen! and by about 8:30 pm, we were melting in to sleep.


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## pepperandchips

*Mele Kalikimaka!!!*

We woke up naturally the next morning - Christmas - around 6:00 (much better than the 3:00 or so I woke up the last time we visited Hawaii - so maybe the crazy day of travel worked out in our favor) and the sunrise from our balcony was absolutely gorgeous. We had to tear ourselves away to head down to Makahiki for our reservation for Christmas breakfast!!!










I didn't realize that the photo you get with Mickey on the way in cannot be attached to your Aulani photopass (meaning it also could not be attached to my WDW annual pass photopass) but at least I handed off my phone to get some Mickey shots.






I forgot to ask to be seated outside, so most of my pictures with the characters inside needed editing to remove shadows from our faces. So ask to be seated outside if you go!






The breakfast itself was great, in my opinion. I think my husband liked it a bit less but different parts of the buffet appealed to each of us. Also apparently the omelette guy was grumpy and I think he rained on DH's parade. Speaking of parade - I was afraid the Aunty shenanigans would be annoying to us as two childless grinches, but they weren't. It was very pleasant.

Anyway, back to food... My favorites from the buffet were the fried rice, Mickey waffles with coconut syrup, li hing mui pineapple, and loco moco. My husband liked the fried rice, the different sausages, the biscuits and gravy, and the pastry selections. Here are some photos:




fruit selections on buffet, all very fresh, ripe and delicious

Hot selections:













loco moco!





Famous banana dolphins





Mid-plate-filling photo op





PASTRIES




Yes, those are red velvet Mickey waffles!
(I preferred the regular from the kid buffet)





My "sweet plate" - the pineapple with li hing mui powder was soooo good.





My savory plate... TOTS!





Husband's plate.

Makahiki was $41 each, for a total after tax of $85.86. Our service was pretty poor - our server disappeared for a long time, leaving us with empty coffee cups for most of the meal, and she brought our bill long before we were ready (but I didn't feel rushed in any way by her). Overall, I really really enjoyed myself. This is probably the most "Disney Parks" feeling thing you can get at Aulani, and the character interaction was fairly good. Mickey was spectacular, Minnie was good, and Goofy was okay, but I never know what to do when meeting Goofy. Anyway, yes, I think it was worth it as we both really enjoyed ourselves and the food was delicious.

After breakfast, we went up to the room to change for the pool or beach. We noticed that from the elevator bank windows you could see Diamond Head! That's where we got engaged so I thought that was particularly cool.





What you can't see it back there???





There it is.


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## pepperandchips

*Christmas Day, Continued...*

We spent the balance of the morning lounging at the beach and then the pool. Here are a few photos since there's not much to detail about reading novels in the sweet Hawaiian sunshine!






Kamaka Grotto pool






Looking back at resort from beach






Beach crowds, 10:30 AM, Christmas day






Our breakfast reservation had been at about 7:15, so early afternoon we had some signs of hunger.  Around 2:00, we decided to wander over to Off the Hook and take a look at the menu. I was a bit disappointed to discover that the menu there is identical to the poolside service menu, so we passed on Off the Hook and decided to see if we could get in at Ama Ama again for lunch. I had tried for a reservation at Ama Ama months before at any time on Christmas, and there were no reservations to be had - I kept checking up to our travel date - nothing to be found. So I was quite surprised that the restaurant was probably only halfway full, and we only waited about 5 minutes for a table fronting the beautiful beach view. On Christmas!!! Merry Christmas to us indeed.











(I was trying to be artsy...)






We each started with a tropical mai tai ($15). For entrees, we were both tempted by the catch of the day preparation - today's chef creation was a seafood paella with shrimp, scallops, mussels, ono, and a very very tasty tomato sauce. We don't like to order two of the same thing, so I "let" DH order it. (He made fun of me for my phrasing on this, so hi to lurker husband once he finally gets around to reading this...  )






We both agree that this was one of the best dishes we ate on our whole vacation. I immediately wished that we'd just gotten two of the same thing! But I had a few bites and it was heavenly. If you get the opportunity, go for this one. ($28)






I was craving the sweet potato fries again, so we got an order of those too. ($5)

For my entree, I wanted something light so I went with the catch of the day served on a field greens salad. It was Mahi Mahi that day. 






I was happy with my choice since it is what I wanted, but also a little sad I didn't order another of the paella! The fish was cooked well, maybe a hair on the overdone side, and the salad was fresh and light, but I wouldn't go back specifically for this like I would other items we had there. (My salad with the protein upcharge was $25.) The tab for our lunch came to $86.07 after a $5.60 DVC discount of 10% on food. It was another absolutely delicious lunch in a beautiful setting and a great way to spend Christmas day!

After lunch we decided to go back over to the adult pool. We had a nice time chatting with some folks from Seattle after we were all cannonballed by a wayward child - egads!  (Don't worry, the parents schlepped him off to a family area after only a few cannonballs)











On the way to the pool, we had stopped into Ulu Cafe to scope out the snacks. The pastry case, which was our particular interest, was pretty picked over midafternoon, but I did pick up a tasty coconut mochi cake.






I think it was $3, and was nice and light and chewy and not overly sweet. 

I thought these gingerbread displays were super cute!





The shave ice stand was particularly clever, I thought  And who doesn't love the Disneyland entrance?

We'd planned that evening to have lasagna and garlic bread in the room (remember my suitcase full of groceries?) so we had no itinerary and all the time in the world to enjoy the resort that evening. After we went up and freshened up, we decided to stroll around the resort beach paths and take in the sunset.






I thought this little vintage trailer over on the Four Seasons grounds was adorable - they were cleaning up as we were getting our photos but I think they'd been selling beer and snacks (at least that Kona advertising leads me to believe so). 











While there were tons of Aulani guests still out on the beach and milling around the water, the Four Seasons grounds were much quieter.






We ignored a few "Four Seasons Guests Only" signs and continued along the path that follows the shoreline. _Sure, we belong here, ignore these sparkly wristbands _






We were rewarded with this gorgeous view of the next cove north of Aulani.






and looking back south, toward the Marriott

I love how Aulani looks from a distance. It truly is a beautiful resort:






We kept walking past Aulani, south and around the point to the Ko Olina Beach Villas cove





















Look at the number of people on the beach at this cove... like... none...











It was a beautiful evening and a lovely stroll. As I said, we had intended to take advantage of photopass photographers but decided not to wait when we saw the line. It was also weird to me that the Ko Olina Wedding Chapel was still closed and "under construction" though not visibly so. Last time we saw that bride factory in full swing! So while the crowds at the resort were heavy, there was less... disruption? 

We enjoyed the sunset and went back up to our room to enjoy our homemade Christmas dinner. After dinner, we went down and took advantage of the infinity hot tubs while we could - we were enjoying the relatively late pool hours due to the holiday crowd! I think the hot tubs and the zero entry pool were open until 10:00 pm each night, which is not the usual closing time.

After the hot soak, we decided to see what we could find for dessert at Ulu Cafe. DH grabbed a vanilla soft serve while I went for a coconut porter. Sorry, no pics, but they were great enjoyed on the balcony, again accompanied by the music of Olelo Room's musicians entertaining us.

We finally turned in for the evening, not quite believing it was the final night at Aulani, but excited to see what Maui had in store.


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## pepperandchips

*Resort Day at Aulani December 26 - Departure Day*

On December 26, we were up early again, and headed out of the room early in order to take advantage of the resort prior to having to pack up and relinquish our fabulous room. I sent DH to go get towels while I settled the room charges with some gift cards, and it turns out that the DVC exclusive check-in near the grotto pool only operates on one side as DVC exclusive, so he had a bit of a long wait. By the time I joined him he had only just gotten a wristband and some towels, so I headed back to Rainbow Reef where there was no line for wristbands. Pro tip: check Rainbow Reef if you're getting wristbands at "rush hour".

We headed down to lay claim to some front-row beach chairs and then doubled back to enjoy the Kamaka Grotto pool and hot tub before it became kid soup.

It was incredibly serene at both the beach and the pool in the early morning hours. I didn't take any pictures at the pool but we enjoyed having a relatively empty pool and gorgeous view to the beach.











Too early, we found it closing in on 11:00, check out time. We reluctantly headed up to our amazing room and finished packing, before we called bell services to hold our bags while we enjoyed the rest of our resort day. I snapped a few more pics from the room while we waited on an available cast member to head up to our room.

















After our luggage was collected, we headed back down to the adult pool. We had eaten a very early and quite meager breakfast of bagels and the last of the fresh pineapple from the ABC store, so we were pretty hungry by this time. I had been interested in fish and chips and DH noticed they sold them at Mama's Snack Stop, so we decided to head over and procure an order.






We decided to split one order of the fish and chips, as we also wanted to order a couple starters from the poolside dining menu. Sharing was wise - this was a good size portion! It was $16 and included four pieces of fish and a ton of fries. We also got both the fresh dill tartar sauce and the sriracha tartar sauce. They were both extremely tasty.






From the poolside dining menu, we had the maui onion rings served with jalapeno buttermilk dip ($13) and the chicken wings in "spicy korean" sauce (also $13)






The onion rings definitely hit the spot if you need onion rings, but I wouldn't get the wings again. They didn't have a lot of flavor and were just kind of... meh.

Midafternoon we were ready for dessert, and my husband went into the Ulu Cafe to see what snacks were available. I put in an order for a Dole Whip which was a bit melty by the time it made it out to me at the pool!











R chose a mac nut sticky bun which was pretty good, but not life changing. It had a nice honey flavor.

Sooner than I'd have liked, it was time to go try to use the lounge to get freshened up before we needed to head to the airport for our flight to Maui. If I thought the lounge was busy on Christmas Eve, it was absolutely mobbed on boxing day! It was a madhouse. I ended up freshening up in the ladies' room around the corner closer to the lobby, which was much larger and nearly deserted.






We took the sad taxi ride (again, great and prompt service from Charley's) back to the airport for our flight to Maui that evening. There wasn't much open at the airport and not much to see at our terminal, but we were able to get a box of Honolulu Cookie Company cookies to take with us to Maui (and home, if any survived!) Soon, we were onboard and en route to Maui. The flight was just long enough to reach cruising altitude, get tossed a prepackaged POG, and to descend into Kahului.






We picked up our rental from Alamo and were off to our condo in Maalaea, excited to see what adventures we'd get into over the next week.

*Reflection on Aulani* - recently, someone posted asking whether Aulani was worth it for couples without kids. Once again, I absolutely loved Aulani and am dreaming of a return. For kicks and giggles, I looked up the cost of renting DVC points or renting our Ocean View Studio directly from Disney. For the former, a home resort premium would certainly apply, if you could even get Christmas at 11 months. (We had to waitlist our stay) So the two nights would have come to a hefty $1,116.00 or $558 per night. Through Disney, the same stay in 2019 would run you $2,446.40 at rack rate including tax, or an incredible $1,223.20 per night. So, as incensed as I was at the people who weren't recommending Aulani for couples, at those prices, no I don't think it would be worth it. (I can't imagine any resort room the size of a DVC studio commanding $1200+ per night) 

Fortunately our DVC points cost us nowhere in that vicinity to own and maintain, so at the DVC owner value proposition I do think Aulani is extremely worth it, considering all that's included.  And for couples traveling without children, I can't highly recommend the adult pool enough. It's so quiet and serene and relaxing. Disney just does this resort amazingly well and I hope that we are able to return.

*Up next*: some highlights and recommendations from our time in Maui. Thanks for following along so far!


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## WildGinger

Love your trip review.  Aulani looks so gorgeous, I can't wait to go!


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## DisFan84

Love your report so far! I’m so incredibly checked out at work lol and enjoyed reading- I also love your red (or pink?) dress from the photopass photo.


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## ErinF

Excited to read your report!!  I remember reading your engagement one last summer when we first made our Aulani reservations (we're renting points for this June).  All your pictures are beautiful!!!  Can't wait to read your Maui portion.  We will going to Maui as well this summer.  DH and I spent our honeymoon there in 2000 and then went back in 2006.  It's a number of years and 3 kids later, but I'm so excited to get back to Hawaii!  For the time being I'm living vicariously through trip reports like yours.


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## cgattis

Beautiful pics and fun report!  Enjoy all your details and seeing another girl who eats as much as I do! LOL Totally  but I wish I could convince DH to go ahead and shave his head too!  I tell him he’s cute enough and with his awesome sideburns he can pull it off....gonna show him your DH and see if that helps convince him!  Look forward to hearing about Maui—that and Kauai are going to be our next trip.


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## Nalshersmom

Thank you for sharing! Our family of 5 is headed to a 1 bedroom in June. We will be at Aulani for 3 nights with a few nights in Waikiki and Turtle Bay. We are also visiting Maui and the Big Island. I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!


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## tgropp

Great report. Thank you. We will be there from Feb 6-11 so this report is getting me primed.


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## pepperandchips

WildGinger said:


> Love your trip review.  Aulani looks so gorgeous, I can't wait to go!


I love Aulani trip reports for the same reason! It's crazy that the photos can look so beautiful but that the resort can be even lovelier in person - I swear, there is magic in the air there.



DisFan84 said:


> Love your report so far! I’m so incredibly checked out at work lol and enjoyed reading- I also love your red (or pink?) dress from the photopass photo.


I am sure you are so ready to go!!! I am excited for you! And thank you - the dress is a regular in my travel wardrobe (I just noticed it's in my avatar photo too... haha). A great buy from Target, of all places!



ErinF said:


> Excited to read your report!!  I remember reading your engagement one last summer when we first made our Aulani reservations (we're renting points for this June).  All your pictures are beautiful!!!  Can't wait to read your Maui portion.  We will going to Maui as well this summer.  DH and I spent our honeymoon there in 2000 and then went back in 2006.  It's a number of years and 3 kids later, but I'm so excited to get back to Hawaii!  For the time being I'm living vicariously through trip reports like yours.


I remember! Welcome back!  I will do my best to move it along with the Maui portions instead of disappearing like I did at the end of the last report... haha. I love reading trip reports, it's a bit like having a virtual vacation!


cgattis said:


> Beautiful pics and fun report!  Enjoy all your details and seeing another girl who eats as much as I do! LOL Totally  but I wish I could convince DH to go ahead and shave his head too!  I tell him he’s cute enough and with his awesome sideburns he can pull it off....gonna show him your DH and see if that helps convince him!  Look forward to hearing about Maui—that and Kauai are going to be our next trip.


YAS!  and Disney food is the best. So glad to have your company here!

R's hair got pretty thin at an early age - his hairline hasn't changed much since we met in 2014. He got a fresh professional haircut before this trip, but the short buzz definitely makes it easy to maintain - most of the time I just cut it for him at home with the clippers. He is lucky to have such a beautifully round head 

Your next Hawaii trip sounds amazing. Spoiler alert: I am totally ready to go back to Kauai. I loved Maui, don't get me wrong, but Kauai was almost on a different speed of life. Hawaii is amazing for having so much to see and do!



Nalshersmom said:


> Thank you for sharing! Our family of 5 is headed to a 1 bedroom in June. We will be at Aulani for 3 nights with a few nights in Waikiki and Turtle Bay. We are also visiting Maui and the Big Island. I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!


That sounds absolutely wonderful! I am glad to have you here reading along. Those one bedroom villas look fabulous - we only have 75 DVC points so I haven't figured out how to justify the bigger villa at Aulani but I am sure we will stay in one - one day! That will be perfect for your group of 5. Enjoy that big beautiful bathtub for me!



tgropp said:


> Great report. Thank you. We will be there from Feb 6-11 so this report is getting me primed.



I love trip reports for just that very reason! I read MarbleBob's at least twice and then my husband read it too... we would be going someplace and say "well what did MarbleBob say about this?" It's so funny, it's like you get to know people. Glad to have you here.


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## pepperandchips

*Tips and other stuff I forgot...*

So a couple bits of housekeeping before I forget - I read somewhere that the gift shop at Aulani has a sale rack. It does! And I never would have noticed it if I weren't looking for it. They had some really cute Gelatoni merchandise on clearance. I am not a huge merch buyer but I can't resist some of the Duffy items because they're really adorable and they're not things I see often in the parks. I was able to pick up a cute plush coin purse as a gift and I got myself a really cute Gelatoni luggage tag as well as a Shellie Mae Christmas ornament, all under $5 each.

Revisiting how much I love Hawaiian airlines... the infamous grocery suitcase was just a hair overweight after we repacked in Aulani for the flight to Maui. We weighed it at a kiosk and saw it was at like... 50.9 pounds or something. We managed to sweet talk one of the agents into checking it in manually  (alright, we feigned ignorance and said "oh do we need to repack something in our carry ons?" and she immediately caved)  and she didn't charge us for the slight excess, which was really nice. All that to say that we had excellent service at every turn from the portions of our flights that were on Hawaiian air. I wish they did direct service from Atlanta. Maybe one day! 

Another thing I wanted to mention was that Alamo offers "skip the counter" service in Kahului now. I have never used it anywhere else though we almost always rent through Alamo. The last time I rented a car was over labor day at Hartford Bradley airport and I didn't have that option there, so I was glad to have it on Maui. It was great to bypass all the dozens of other families that had been with us on the Alamo shuttle and breeze right over to the pickup area. We grabbed a Nissan Sentra and were on our way.

We stopped at Target in Kahului because I wasn't sure what to do for dinner and knew we needed to pick up a few fresh groceries as well as heavy items and liquids that I didn't want to pack. This time I foolishly forgot our reusable grocery bags so we basically put everything loose into the trunk until we could unload with the grocery bags provided in the condo we were renting. So don't forget your grocery bags! (Or just don't be cheap and go ahead and buy the reusable ones at checkout) Our Target run came to $95.38.

*Finally moving on to some legitimate trip stuff...*

The next morning I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and cars starting. I'd managed to accidentally open the louvered windows in our bedroom all the way instead of closing them like I thought I had the night before. Lesson learned! I sprung out of bed and tore back the living room curtains to see in the daylight what had been hidden in the dark when we arrived.






This was the view from our lanai. Blissful! The big land mass across the bay there is Haleakala, East Maui's famous volcano. With this view began my daily humming of "Jolly Holiday" from Mary Poppins. I couldn't shake the line "Did you ever see the grass so green, or a bluer sky?"

Our condo was in an older development called Maalaea Banyans, one of a handful of condo complexes between the harbor and Haycraft beach park. Here's a look toward that beach park, off in the distance:






Our lanai led out onto the grass immediately across from the gate out to a small, rocky, secluded beach that was really only accessible by our complex and the one next door.






We took out novels and beach chairs and spent the morning in the sun. I didn't actually bring out my phone or a camera, which was a decision I still regret, since just before lunch time a green sea turtle brought itself up on to the beach and was sitting in the sun so close to me I could practically touch it. I watched it for about 15 minutes before I could no longer stand the temptation to grab my phone, and when I returned 30 seconds later, the turtle had returned to the sea. The rocks just under the surf remained a popular place for the turtles, where we watched them bobbing in the waves for the remainder of the week. Sitting next to that sea turtle was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I wish I had a dang picture!

We grilled some hot dogs for lunch and discussed what we should do for the remainder of the day, ultimately settling on a visit to Haleakala for sunset. 

*Haleakala Crater *

Many people rave about the sunrises from the summit at Haleakala, an experience that requires an advance reservation for admission to the park, or a private tour. I'd read so many glowing reviews I was sure we'd need to see the sunrise - until I read about people enjoying sunset there as well. 


You don't need a reservation for park entry in the afternoon, and going in the afternoon would save us from a 3:00 AM wake up call as well as allow us to stop on the way up to see some of the lookout points or to hike in the crater. We were feeling adventurous, so off we set in the Nissan to Haleakala National Park.

The drive up to the summit, with its many hairpin turns, was at least scenic, especially as we ascended above the clouds. Our condo had a copy of Maui Revealed among the books in its lending library, which was fortunate for our stay. One of the recommended stops was Leleiwi Overlook, which the book said many visitors drive right past. Based on our experience, that's certainly true, though the small parking area at the overlook was full. We arrived at a fortuitous time and grabbed a spot as someone was backing out.






Many folks just hopped out of their cars and were rewarded with the view above. But the real treat is found by crossing the road and walking down a fairly short path to the overlook. You are just walking along lava rock and low shrubs and then all of the sudden, there is the crater. It's really hard to describe how vast it is - and photos really don't even do it justice.









People say that it looks like being on the moon - it really does. 










There weren't a lot of other people out at the overlook - maybe 3 other families during the time we were there. When no one was talking, it was absolutely silent. It's weird how much noise we usually hear in quiet places, but as we made our way back to the car, we experienced near perfect silence. It was pretty calming.






We got back in the car and finished the drive up to the summit, arriving around 5:00 for a 6:00ish sunset. We got one of the last sort of pirate-ish parking places in the summit lot - we parallel parked between some cars and not in a lined spot. If you intend to get a legitimate spot, you'd need to arrive earlier. We grabbed our jackets and the warmest weather gear we'd brought and donned most of it, carrying the rest with us.




(these guys on the road are NOT getting parking spots)

There's obviously a very dramatic view of the crater from up at the summit, and I think the sunrise would come up behind the crater. For sunset, our view would be marred a bit by the telescopes and equipment of "science city", behind us there in the below photo.





(wearing my "airplane shawl", my rain jacket, a sweater, and leggings under my dress. It was cold!)






Folks continued arriving at the summit, lining the edge of this ridge to watch the sun set.

Our shadows grew long quickly


















You could see the big island of Hawaii in one direction and... Molokai? maybe? in the other direction.













We walked around a bit as the sun dipped low and the light dimmed. We'd originally thought we might stay to see the stars come out, but with the government shutdown already underway, National Park services were reduced and I wasn't sure whether the restrooms were operational. Based on an experience later in the week, I think they were probably up and running just fine, but I didn't want to chance it. 





We began the harrowing journey back down in the dark, following a terrible driver. Despite wearing a motion sickness patch, I nearly lost my lunch on several occasions.

Was it worth it? Yes, absolutely. It was a very cool experience. I highly recommend stopping at the Leleiwi Overlook as I think it was totally worth it and seems underappreciated. I am glad we did not get up for the sunrise experience, all things considered. And for better or for worse, our national park admission was free due to the government shutdown. 

*Maui Brewing Company Dinner Review*

So what does one do to overcome the frustration of following the world's worst driver down the literal side of a mountain and the resulting nausea? Why, visit a brewery, of course!

We both ranked Maui Brewing Company pretty highly on the list of attractions we wanted to visit in Maui, so now seemed as good a time as any. We programmed it in to google maps and headed to Kihei for the first time. MBC is in a golf club, basically, so it was kind of weird locating it at night. Once we figured out where the front door was, we were greeted by a vast hostess station, where we were asked if we had reservations. At a brewery? That was new for us. We put our names on the list and moved over to the tasting room for a pre-dinner beverage.





I didn't take a picture of our beers, for some reason, but I know you know what beers look like. 



DH picked the Bad Mamajama and I had the S Turns. They were similar in that both were hazy style ales but mine was an IPA while R's was an APA. We both preferred the ones we respectively selected - mine was a nice juicy ipa without a lot of bitterness. It went down easy and perked me right up after that brutal car ride. Shortly thereafter, our table was ready.






I thought the decor was pretty cool. We were seated at a two-top on a banquette next to some friendly Canadians.





We had an excellent server who walked us through the beer choices and helped us make entree selections. For round two, I went with the POG IPA, because when in Hawaii, one must try the POG beer, right? and R went with Freight Trains, another IPA selection. I think he liked the first one better. The POG IPA was okay. I liked the S Turns better, actually, and thought it was fruitier and less cloying than the POG one.











For dinner we shared - as usual. First up, the MBC Cheeseburger, which is described as coming served with shaved red onion, butter lettuce, cheddar, and 8 island sauce ($14) and we added an order of fries served with sriracha mayo and furikake ($5)






This was the Silversmith Pizza -  local macadamia gremolata, two kinds of cheese, roasted garlic, white sauce ($16.50).  The pizza was good but the herbs needed something else to really kick it up, flavor wise. The burger was very good, but the fries were AMAZING! And I am not sure what is in their ketchup but it was so addictive, and I am not even normally a ketchup eater.





(someone can't even wait for the picture before digging in...)

For dessert, we shared the Chocolate chip skillet cookie served with vanilla bean ice cream, and Coconut Porter chocolate sauce ($8). I had passed on appetizers because their skillet cookies caught my eye and I was saving room for this. It was fine to satiate a sweet tooth at the end of the meal but it wasn't as rich as I was hoping for, so I wouldn't get it again. We also had another round of beers, with me returning to the S Turns and R switching it up yet again and enjoying a pint of the Resilience IPA, the proceeds of which benefit those affected by the Camp Fire in California. 

The tab for what we had at the table (the first two beers we'd paid for in the tasting room) came to $74.48 before tip, which was very reasonable, especially coming off of Aulani prices. The beers we had there were fantastic and the food was solidly good. I said later in the trip that I wished we had time to return to the tasting room, but I wouldn't do a second meal on the same trip there. If we had an opportunity I would definitely visit again. Thumbs up!

*Coming up*... will my husband ever get a malasada?


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## alohamom

pepperandchips said:


> *Reflection on Aulani* - recently, someone posted asking whether Aulani was worth it for couples without kids. Once again, I absolutely loved Aulani and am dreaming of a return. For kicks and giggles, I looked up the cost of renting DVC points or renting our Ocean View Studio directly from Disney. For the former, a home resort premium would certainly apply, if you could even get Christmas at 11 months. (We had to waitlist our stay) So the two nights would have come to a hefty $1,116.00 or $558 per night. Through Disney, the same stay in 2019 would run you $2,446.40 at rack rate including tax, or an incredible $1,223.20 per night. So, as incensed as I was at the people who weren't recommending Aulani for couples, at those prices, no I don't think it would be worth it. (I can't imagine any resort room the size of a DVC studio commanding $1200+ per night)
> 
> Fortunately our DVC points cost us nowhere in that vicinity to own and maintain, so at the DVC owner value proposition I do think Aulani is extremely worth it, considering all that's included. And for couples traveling without children, I can't highly recommend the adult pool enough. It's so quiet and serene and relaxing. Disney just does this resort amazingly well and I hope that we are able to return.




This is an excellent analysis - thanks!


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## Clawdius

I'm enjoying your trip report! I'm considering a trip to Maui, so I'm eager to read about the rest of your trip.


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## ErinF

Nice pics from atop Haleakala!  DH and I drove up there one morning (mid-morning, not sunrise) on our honeymoon.  I remember being swarmed by flies!  But I also remember the amazing views as well, and it wasn't too cold since we went at the time we did.

I'm a dessert lover and that chocolate chip cookie skillet looks so good!  Too bad it didn't taste as good as it looked.


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## pepperandchips

Clawdius said:


> I'm enjoying your trip report! I'm considering a trip to Maui, so I'm eager to read about the rest of your trip.


So glad to have you here and thank you for the kind words!



ErinF said:


> Nice pics from atop Haleakala!  DH and I drove up there one morning (mid-morning, not sunrise) on our honeymoon.  I remember being swarmed by flies!  But I also remember the amazing views as well, and it wasn't too cold since we went at the time we did.
> 
> I'm a dessert lover and that chocolate chip cookie skillet looks so good!  Too bad it didn't taste as good as it looked.



Yeah, I felt like a wimp thinking it was so cold up there but I think we still had it easier at Haleakala for sunset than the sunrise crew. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience! 

I know... I am a chocoholic so I probably should have known that I was setting myself up for disappointment. The cookie somehow tasted prepackaged even though it very obviously wasn't! Thanks for sticking with me!!


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## pepperandchips

*December 28, 2018*

The following day we made breakfast in our condo and spent the morning and early afternoon at the small beach behind the condo complex. I enjoyed watching the green sea turtles bob and swim in the surf, nibbling algae from the submerged rocks:






Bad image quality but I loved seeing their little heads pop up above the surf.






This is how close they were to the shore!

After our morning in the sunshine, we had worked up an appetite and headed out to find some of the famous Hawaiian seafood for lunch. We decided to head down to Kihei to Coconuts Fish Cafe, which I had read good things about here on the Disboards. Kihei is home to two locations of Coconuts - we tried the original location in a little strip mall. You order at a counter here and then they bring the food to your table. At the encouragement of the young man who took our order, we decided to share the fish tacos and the grilled ono sandwich prepared in the Asian sauce. 






(Asian style grilled ono sandwich - $13.99)






(Two tacos grilled with white corn tortillas and a variety of 17 different ingredients, including cheese, tomato salsa, famous coleslaw, tomato, and mango salsa - $14.49)

We absolutely loved this meal - the tacos were messy, tasty perfection with tons of great flavor and juice to drip down your arms. The sandwich likewise had a great flavor and the fish was fresh, light, and tasty. Once we finished our lunch I think we both started thinking about what we'd order "next time"!

After lunch, we ran a few errands, picking up a few more odds and ends at Safeway since we knew we'd need a picnic lunch the following day. After our mission was concluded, we decided to stop for a treat on the way back to the condo. We'd read in our guidebook that the Sugar Beach Bake Shop had made-to-order malasadas. Well, when we arrived, we noticed a sign outside that notified us that the malasadas were a mornings-only item. Drat! Nevertheless, we had heard good things about Ululani's Shave Ice, next door, so we decided to stop in for a different kind of sweet snack.






This was my selection - the keiki size with lilikoi, guava, and pineapple, topped with mochi

They had these little picnic tables with holes drilled in them so you could rest your shave ice cup there without risking it toppling over.






This was husband's but neither of us remember which combination he got:






We ate our treats and enjoyed the view across the road to the beach. The shave ice was very good! I think I might give a slight edge to Matsumoto's in Haleiwa on Oahu, but this was excellent shave ice with a lovely light texture to the ice and tasty syrups.






And back at the condo we took in the view again as the sun got low











We did some swimming at the pool and hot tub in the complex, prepared a tasty dinner, and called it a night fairly early. We had a big day ahead!

Malasada count: 0


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## pepperandchips

*December 29, 2018 - Part One - Road to Hana*

The next morning we got up suuuuuuuper early and headed out - we were going to experience the famous road to Hana and we wanted to get a jump on things!

First up, though, we needed to find malasadas. After reading further about other malasada options, we elected to stop at Home Maid Bakery in Wailuku. Fantasizing about hot, fresh, fried tasty delights, we eagerly entered and ordered up a dozen! Well... the nice lady working the counter let us know that they weren't preparing malasadas at the moment and it would be around 30 minutes before any would be ready. Womp womp. We picked out some other snacks from the dozens of different options filling their cases and DH picked out a breakfast platter with eggs, rice, and portuguese sausage. We stopped for gas and headed east!






This was one of my favorite items we tried - a taro mochi donut hole. It was so unusual I knew I had to try one and it didn't disappoint! It was chewy yet soft and had a unique flavor with only a slight sweetness. I loved this!






We'd purchased and downloaded the GyPSy Guide to Hana, a phone app that provided gps-triggered narrations appropriate to our location along the way. We got underway in earnest around 7:30 this morning, and our first stop came just a bit over an hour later when we stopped at a waterfall recommended by the Maui Revealed guidebook. Weellll. I will omit pictures from this stop since basically it was a very full, very muddy stream that we tried to follow upstream to the promised waterfall, but due to the rushing water we turned back to the car. 






Our next stop was the Keanae Arboretum, a public nature park with some local flora helpfully labeled. We stopped here at the suggestion of the GyPSy guide and mainly to see the famous rainbow eucalyptus.






It really was truly striking seeing all the different colors in the bark - pictures don't really do it justice.






Our next stop was for banana bread and to explore the Keanae Peninsula






The waves there were crashing and dramatic - it was a beautiful stop and the banana bread was divine.











Once we moved along, it seems that grey clouds followed us down the road as we went east. The most amazing and picturesque falls were ahead and the Three Bears falls were our next stop.






There was a little area on one side of the bridge that allowed us to take pictures relatively safely. The road is very narrow so sometimes it's difficult to navigate both cars and pedestrians along the way.






There were also little rivulets of water making hundreds of tiny waterfalls rushing down the rock face. DH particularly enjoyed this sight.











As we moved along, it seemed that every turn brought more waterfalls. We stopped at some and reluctantly passed up some. It was hard to drive past so many photo ops, but the overcast day put a damper on my waterfall hunting.











I tried to pick only the very best sounding falls from our guidebook and couldn't pass up one opportunity to see a waterfall from both the top and looking straight on. We stopped here as one of our last points of interest prior to visiting Waianapanapa park.

from the bridge, looking over the top:






looking straight at the falls:






The best and most exciting part of the Road to Hana adventure in the next post...

(Malasada count: still zero)

TO be continued...


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## poohgirl6

Love your trip reports.  Always great pics and lots of interesting, helpful info.  Thanks for sharing.


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## ct7878

Loving your trip report- we are doing a week in Oahu and a week in Maui in May/June this year and this is getting me excited for our trip!


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## pepperandchips

poohgirl6 said:


> Love your trip reports.  Always great pics and lots of interesting, helpful info.  Thanks for sharing.


Thank you so much! I binge on reports when planning so I always hope mine are helpful too!



ct7878 said:


> Loving your trip report- we are doing a week in Oahu and a week in Maui in May/June this year and this is getting me excited for our trip!


WOO HOO! That would be fantastic. I always wish we had more time. Thanks for the kind words and for saying hi!!!


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## pepperandchips

*Road to Hana Continued...*

The next point of interest as we continued our drive was the Waianapanapa State Park. Famous for its black sand beach, there are bathrooms and picnic tables here, and we'd plan to get at least this far before enjoying the sandwiches we'd packed for our picnic lunch. 






One of Hawaii's historic legends is based here. The legend is that a Hawaiian princess fled here to escape her cruel husband, who brutally murdered her in one of the sea caves. Romantic huh?  Well it gets even better, as each year tiny red shrimp appear in the pools, reminding visitors of the blood of the princess shed here. 






Sounds like a perfect stop for newlyweds to me! 






There's also a seriously incredible traditional family cemetery located within the park, where this beautiful plumeria was planted. Unfortunately the guide app didn't share anything about these cemeteries and I could only find little information regarding them online - it was neat to look at them but I didn't take any photos thinking it seemed a little disrespectful. I did find this description on the web - "_Within the park are three private cemeteries dating from the early 1920s to the present. These cemeteries are delineated by stack rock wall enclosures and are maintained by the lineal descendants._" There were indeed newish graves there marking lives lost in the last few years. It was touching to see the tributes left by loved ones.

Speaking of romance and nothing macabre, here's my husband exploring some of the caves made by the lashing of the incredible waves. He invited me to come take a look and I tried not to be too suspicious... 











After our picnic and use of the comfort facilities, we headed further on, through the little blip of Hana town itself, which is nothing much to speak of, and on to the Hamoa Beach area.






There are a lot of Maui's famous beef farms in this area.

The beach itself is famous for being postcard-perfect and popular with surfers.











The red cliffs were stunning but the overcast weather put a damper on the picturesque little beach. We did see some surfers there waiting for the perfect swell.

Our next stop was the highly-lauded (in Maui Revealed at least) Venus Pool at Waioka Pond just beyond Hamoa. Unfortunately, I left my phone in the car and my gopro battery had died without my knowing.  So this stop is largely documented only in my mind. Just as well, as we found ourselves frustrated. I was looking forward to taking a dip in what was touted as a wonderful oasis of a hidden gem swimming hole. Of course, DH wasn't in his swimsuit, though he'd brought it along in the car. Then it was a bit of an excursion through some fencing, around liability signs, over a cow pasture, to a steep trail leading to some overlooking cliffs that yielded a cumbersome trek down to the pool. So due to our miscommunication about swimming and failure to lug our towels along, I really didn't want to fool with getting in. 

We got a little cranky here. Also, it wasn't very nice weather still and there were more other people there than I thought there'd be. This isn't my photo, but it's a fairly good depiction of our conditions, versus what the pool looks like in beautiful sunny conditions:






Womp womp.

We moved along and stopped once more for some beautiful, lacy waterfalls. These were the Wailua Falls. It seems so weird to say it now but we were starting to get burnt out on amazing waterfalls, so we snapped a couple photos and moved along. We knew Kipahulu was just ahead and we were really looking forward to that last stop.






As further background, we were in the beginning days of the US government shutdown when we were traveling. We didn't know what this would mean for the facilities and resources at the Kipahulu portion of Haleakala National Park. It turns out that the sole impact on us was that we didn't have to pay the entry fee (woo hoo?) as the restrooms were well stocked with toilet paper, soap, and even paper towels. Signs warned us at entry that there would be no emergency response in the event of trouble. We'd also read online that the pools at the Oheo Gulch, the main attraction here, had been closed for quite some time due to mudslides and dangerous conditions. I also read a lot of opinion-type pieces basically accusing the "powers that be" of using these bad storms as an excuse to close the pools for swimming permanently. I agree that it is a real shame that you can't swim there. The stairs down to the pools remain there, albeit behind a gate and padlock. That was disappointing, but our visit to the park surely was not!






It's a short walk from the parking area to the overlook of the gulch and pools.






Waterfalls spill down multiple layers of rock, creating these multiple pools on the stream's way to meet the ocean.






It was incredibly difficult to narrow down my photos to share of this stop. It was gorgeous! (and windy...)











We sat for a while on the rocks overlooking the gulch and just soaked in the rushing water and sound of waves.
















While we were there, we noticed a couple with their dog ignoring the closure signs, walking along the stream and pools. I sort of wished I knew how they made it down, but I'm a rule follower at heart so we stayed atop the cliff.






We finally had our fill and took our leave. We discussed our choices for returning back to Kahului and "civilization" - we could either retrace our route back through Hana and the hairpin turns the way we'd come, or ignore the advice of the GyPSy Guide and take the more risky path back over the "back side" of Haleakala. We knew there was a scaryish patch of road that was one lane, unpaved, and bordering sea cliffs. We ultimately decided you only live once, we'd seen the other direction already, and our car seemed in good shape. We decided to go for it and took the scary way back! It was a little nerve-wracking, all told. I didn't take any pictures as I was probably clutching a handle in the car for a good bit, but here's our approximate location on the map during the "oh shoot" phase of the drive, on a one-lane road just inches from the ocean, with rocks on the cliff held back by an imposing netting system miraculously keeping us from a rockslide.






After the worst of the road, the single-lane gravel road yielded to gloriously smooth pavement that traversed Maui's farmland






It was really neat to see an as-yet unseen terrain - Maui seems to have every kind you could think of!






And they were all beautiful. Some little goats ran across the road just in front of us! I was enjoying our potentially foolish decision to take the road less traveled.

What did we do as soon as we got back to town? Why, stop at Home Maid Bakery again for the second time that day! We had malasadas to acquire.






This time we met success! We ordered 3 plain sugar coated and 3 custard filled. I wasted no time tucking into a custard one.






How can fresh fried dough ever be bad? This certainly did not let me down. But I still prefer Leonard's on Oahu. We also picked up a few other pastries to enjoy in our condo, as we'd managed to polish off what we'd acquired that morning.

Upon returning to Maalaea, I convinced R to drive a bit past the harbor to see what was there. We found the sunset:






Exhausted, we returned to our condo and the comfort of our hot tub and some delicious homemade dinner.



*Road to Hana Wrap-up and Thoughts...*

Overall, both DH and I are glad that we didn't miss out on the famous Road to Hana. I will say that we're not likely to do it again if we return to Maui. I think we had just heard too much hype and the experience didn't live up to our expectations. 

Now, I understand that this is going to sound bratty, but we've had the incredible fortune of seeing dramatic views, amazing waterfalls, volcanic climates, rainforest gulches, and rapidly changing ecosystems - mainly because we'd been to Hawaii together just a year prior and specifically the Na Pali coast of Kauai is the most amazing thing I've ever seen. We've also visited Costa Rica and travelled there fairly extensively - and I kept remarking that the road to Hana experience reminded me of Costa Rica. So perhaps our experience was a product of our own expectations. In addition, it was fairly grey and overcast while we were doing the drive, casting a literal shadow over many of our most anticipated photo ops. And, as far as I know, the pools at the Oheo Gulch remain closed - not as a part of the government shutdown, but "just because". I think if we had been able to swim there our experience would have been much more worthwhile. It was definitely my favorite stop.

We read so much on both sides of the argument regarding doing the "full loop" tour, including the harrowing unpaved cliffside road on the trip back from Hana to Kahului. I was nervous about making the drive in a small sedan, but I really needn't have been so concerned. Yes, it is true that if you experience a breakdown or flat tire, you are going to be up the creek without a paddle, but I felt that way about the entire drive, not just the "backside" portion. Overall I was glad to see something else and not backtrack the exact route back that we'd taken to get to Kipahulu. 

My biggest regret is that we somehow missed the turnoff to get to visit the Charles Lindberg gravesite, and my biggest "thank goodness we did this" reflection is regarding the GyPSy Guide. It was so useful having the extra narrative and real-time directions for some of the points of interest. We saw a lot of tour buses/vans along the route - I am not sure if we would have liked being part of a guided excursion as much as we liked the freedom to come and go at our own pace, but we did see some of the same groups at our stops, so maybe the amount of time you'd spend per point of interest is standard enough that a guided tour is worth it. Ultimately, it wasn't in the budget for us, so that was a non-starter. If we wanted to do the drive, we'd be going it alone, and the GyPSy Guide was just enough narrative so that the importance of our stops wasn't lost on us.

I also suffer from pretty severe motion sickness, and with the scopolamine patch on I really wasn't too bothered by this experience - it was much worse coming down Haleakala behind a bad driver than it was making the hairpin turns (so long as I didn't try to read the guidebook too much). 

I guess my parting wisdom is that everyone should do their own research and read counterpoints to the many "OMG YOU MUST DO THIS" reports of the experience. It's not for everyone and I wouldn't want to do it without the motion sickness patches or if I had kids traveling with me. 

*December 30, 2018*

This day was a pool/beach day for us, so there's not much to say other than we enjoyed our downtime in the sun.






Does it get better than having access to this view just steps away from your condo?






Only if you are also in convenient driving distance to awesome food options! We had a little aloha hour in our condo and enjoyed the beautiful pink sunset.






And then we headed off to dinner, once again at Coconuts in Kihei! I was craving some kind of delicious fish dinner and the macadamia crusted mahi mahi caught my eye from their menu online. We knew it wasn't far and that we would enjoy our dinner, so we headed over that way.






Here's my mac nut mahi served with homemade mango sauce and coleslaw. Holy cow, it was SOOOOOoooooo good, especially with that tasty sauce! The $20.99 price was very fair for such a great dinner. The piece of fish was huge and amazingly delicious.






DH went with the seafood pasta alfredo, which had ono, mahi mahi, shrimp, onions, mushrooms, garlic, and tons of parmesan cheese in it, served with garlic bread for $22.99. This was decadent and heavenly! We shared both entrees and loved both of them. We ate as much as we could and left some pasta behind. It was so rich!

I can't recommend Coconuts highly enough. The prices are reasonable and the food was fabulous. It's such a great little casual place and can be equally suitable for a quick light lunch or a decadent casual date night.

*Coming up*: we visit East Maui's famous beaches! and another dining review.


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## ErinF

Love all your pictures!!!  Even the ones from the road to Hana when it was overcast. 



pepperandchips said:


> We moved along and stopped once more for some beautiful, lacy waterfalls. These were the Wailua Falls. It seems so weird to say it now but we were starting to get burnt out on amazing waterfalls, so we snapped a couple photos and moved along.



I can totally relate to this idea.  When I went to Europe in college, it was so cool to see a big old beautiful church...but then we'd go visit another one, and then another one, and then another....you get the idea.  All the beautiful old churches started to run together in my brain!  They're so common over there, just like waterfalls on the road to Hana.



pepperandchips said:


> my biggest "thank goodness we did this" reflection is regarding the GyPSy Guide. It was so useful having the extra narrative and real-time directions for some of the points of interest.



We got the GyPSy Guide to Yellowstone on our trip there last summer.  We loved it!  I wonder if it would be worth getting for our trip to Maui this summer even though we're not planning to drive the road to Hana?



pepperandchips said:


> I guess my parting wisdom is that everyone should do their own research and read counterpoints to the many "OMG YOU MUST DO THIS" reports of the experience. It's not for everyone and I wouldn't want to do it without the motion sickness patches or if I had kids traveling with me.



We were told to do the road to Hana on our honeymoon, but never got around to it.  We did Haleakala instead.  So when we went back to Maui in 2006, we decided to do it.  I remember getting a little motion sickness, which is unusual for me, but it is a lot of twisting and winding roads.  I think I felt the same way as you, but I also put in little to no research.  That is so not me now, I consider planning and researching vacations my favorite hobby!  But I did have a 1-yr old and 3-yr old at that time, so that probably explains.  I think I would like to try the road to Hana again some time, with proper preparation and research, but that time will not be this summer.  My kids would hate being in the car most of the day to do something like that, so perhaps on a kid-free vacation or when they're much older!


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## DCLfam

Your pictures are so amazing! Can't wait for our trip to Maui next year. Thank you for taking the time to share.


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## cgattis

Omg I sound like a fangirl but you guys are adorable!  How you both eat like that and look so good is amazing to me LOL (I like to eat too!!!)

I totally agree with your whole assessment of the road to Hana.  I was (and still am) more obsessed with the black beaches than the waterfalls, but yes, I’m thrilled to have done it but probably won’t do it again next trip. I think DH and my teens agree.

I love all your pics—you have a great eye—but I LOVE the one looking along the top of the concrete guardrail! I took a dozen pics of those cool old things, but I never really captured how neat they looked.  You totally nailed it.  I absolutely adore the photo book I made and love to look at it and dream of going back in 2022!!


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## pepperandchips

ErinF said:


> Love all your pictures!!! Even the ones from the road to Hana when it was overcast.


 Thank you! It was still beautiful. I think we were both just crabby, honestly. I am glad I at least took lots of photos to look back on!



ErinF said:


> All the beautiful old churches started to run together in my brain! They're so common over there, just like waterfalls on the road to Hana.


I totally understand! That happened to me too. Once you're totally immersed in the beauty of whatever it is - be it churches, historical sites, waterfalls, whatever, the novelty wears off and you really have to center yourself.



ErinF said:


> We got the GyPSy Guide to Yellowstone on our trip there last summer. We loved it! I wonder if it would be worth getting for our trip to Maui this summer even though we're not planning to drive the road to Hana?


I was shocked at how affordable it was - I think the app for the whole island was only $10 or $15 and I would consider it money well spent even if you only use it a few times. If you're like us, you also might have some iTunes gift cards sitting around collecting dust and it's a great way to use those up!



ErinF said:


> That is so not me now, I consider planning and researching vacations my favorite hobby!


planning and researching are half the fun, I think!



ErinF said:


> I think I would like to try the road to Hana again some time, with proper preparation and research, but that time will not be this summer. My kids would hate being in the car most of the day to do something like that, so perhaps on a kid-free vacation or when they're much older!


I was afraid I was going to catch flack for this opinion so I am glad I am not totally alone!



DCLfam said:


> Your pictures are so amazing! Can't wait for our trip to Maui next year. Thank you for taking the time to share.


Thank you! Thanks for reading along as well.



cgattis said:


> Omg I sound like a fangirl but you guys are adorable! How you both eat like that and look so good is amazing to me LOL (I like to eat too!!!)


 I told R you said this and he was shocked. We didn't do a good job of staying on the diet wagon after our wedding, but in general we diet at home so we can eat like crazy on vacation!!! Actually I guess that is our whole life approach, we live like paupers at home so we can spend all our money on vacation too, haha.



cgattis said:


> I totally agree with your whole assessment of the road to Hana. I was (and still am) more obsessed with the black beaches than the waterfalls, but yes, I’m thrilled to have done it but probably won’t do it again next trip. I think DH and my teens agree.


Thank goodness! I was afraid I'd lose everyone by having a lukewarm opinion of it. It was a bucket list thing so I am glad we did it overall but I guess I just wasn't prepared fully.



cgattis said:


> I love all your pics—you have a great eye—but I LOVE the one looking along the top of the concrete guardrail! I took a dozen pics of those cool old things, but I never really captured how neat they looked. You totally nailed it. I absolutely adore the photo book I made and love to look at it and dream of going back in 2022!!


Okay the check I promised for saying all these sweet things will be in the mail, haha.


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## AussieDisneyfans

Really enjoying your trip report (also enjoyed your last report too) my daughter and I are heading to Aulani this December and can’t wait. The photos you have taken are amazing!


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## pepperandchips

AussieDisneyfans said:


> Really enjoying your trip report (also enjoyed your last report too) my daughter and I are heading to Aulani this December and can’t wait. The photos you have taken are amazing!



Thank you so much for reading along and for the very kind words! I would love to go back to Hawaii with my mom. That sounds like a very special trip!!


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## pepperandchips

*12/31/18 and 1/1/19 - Relaxing at Maui's Beautiful Beaches!*

The next day was New Year's Eve, and we planned to spend the day visiting one of Maui's many famous beaches. We knew we wanted to visit a beach near Wailea but we were hoping for a quieter area. After paging through Maui Revealed, I decided that Po'olenalena beach park sounded ideal. Driving through all of the resort and golf areas on our way to the beach was interesting. It is vastly different seeing the planned resorts of Wailea versus the rest of the island. Shortly, we found the beach park and found a parking spot in the lot. 






vvvv

We brought a cooler of beer and some sandwiches for lunch. We spent the majority of the day swimming and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. This is a great beach for bobbing in the waves! It turned out to be my favorite swimming beach that we visited. As you can see, the sand here is almost a red color - very different from the sugary white beaches of the Gulf of Mexico that I'm used to visiting in Florida. While we were out enjoying a swim, we struck up a conversation with a family from the West Coast. They asked why we didn't go to the Caribbean instead of Hawaii!  I didn't even know what to say! They are nothing alike... while I love the Caribbean, there's no Aloha spirit there. It's just two totally different vibes.







A family built this sand turtle. He was so cute! I had to get a photo before he washed away in the surf.






As you can see, it wasn't all that busy at this beach. The parking was full but the beach is huge so you didn't have to be closer to any neighbors than you wanted. Plenty of trees line the beach so shade is just a few paces away if necessary, and there were families setting up for cookouts to be held later. There is a rock outcropping at each end of the beach that makes for interesting snorkeling since the waves are pretty tame. I snorkeled for a few minutes but didn't love being out there alone. DH tried but didn't like the feeling of breathing through the snorkel so we didn't spend long on that.

The family we'd befriended in the ocean told us they come to Maui every year and recommended some local restaurants. In particular they were fans of Aloha Hour at Three's Bar and Grill in Kihei. We decided that after we'd soaked up all the sun we needed for the day, we'd go try out the happy hour specials our new friends had told us about.

We got there around 4:00 and were seated on the back patio, which was blissfully quiet and surrounded by a thin screen of bamboo. We wasted no time ordering two top shelf mai tai specials ($6.75 during aloha hour)






They were good but not mind-blowing. Speaking of mind-blowing, we also ordered food, my favorite of which was the Kalua pork nachos:






"House made trio of chips, tomato, thai basil guacamole, pepperjack, jalapenos, cilantro-lime aioli, truffle oil" - $8.00 for the aloha hour portion. Holy moly! I would love a plate of these right now! The flavors all worked together so well and the chips were thick and perfectly crunchy. The pork was savory and added a nice salty component to each bite. I am a nacho fiend so I was in heaven. My husband didn't like these as much so I got the lion's share. More for me!!!



The next pupu we decided to try was the coconut crusted shrimp:






which were served with asian peanut slaw and chipotle fruit relish for $7.50. These were good but they were just coconut shrimp so I wouldn't go out of my way for them.

R couldn't pass up discounted sushi, so he wanted to try the spicy tuna roll, which was $5.25 durng happy hour:






This was incredibly fresh and tasty. I would highly recommend the sushi and the nachos and I wouldn't stray away from coconut shrimp if that appeals to you! I didn't photograph our second round of drinks, but we both ordered a 20 oz local beer for the happy hour price of $6.50 (!!!!) Compared to Aulani prices, we were very very pleased indeed. R got the Maui Brewing Big Swell IPA and I went for a Lahaina Town Brown. We really loved Three's and the atmosphere was just so great - relaxing, relaxed, casual, and great food. Our service was a little slow but who cares? We had nowhere better to be. And at $49.01 before tip for a happy hour, we were so glad we'd stopped in.

... So I gotta say, it seemed like they practically roll up the sidewalks in the non-resort areas of Maui after sunset. We're not much for partying, so we had just planned on a quiet NYE with a night swim, a bottle of prosecco and a dinner in the condo. We watched some Rockin New Years Eve and poor husband fell asleep by 10:30! haha. I hung tight until midnight but our evening was a little boring. 

It's hard to see here, but we had a really cool view across Maalaea Bay to the beach resorts and farther down to Wailea. From up on Haleakala all the way down to Wailea, fireworks were shot intermittently from dark until well after midnight. Here's a little timelapse I made, though compressing the file to a gif made it a little too dark to be impressive:






(_Editor's Note: Sadly, this gif is likely lost to time forever. I'm not making it again..._)

You'll just have to take my word for it that it was really cool!

I think it makes sense to add a few photos from our adventure the next day to the end of this post, so I'll keep going. We decided that New Year's Day was as good a time as any to visit world-famous Kaanapali Beach in west Maui. We circled a few public parking areas before snagging a spot in public parking between the Westin and Whaler's Village. 






The beach itself was fine with waves nearly as calm as the previous day, a few patches of shade, and sand as far as the eye could see. But I think we chose poorly by parking in such a busy area (though admittedly it's not that we found much other choice available) and there were constantly tour boats coming and going from the beach all in front of and around us. At one point a whale watching catamaran lined up their tour group literally on each side of us, and the clueless tour group was kicking sand all over us and kids were touching us, and it was just beyond bizarre considering the vast expanse of beach available and yet people needed to stand inches from our two little chairs.  After we ate our packed lunch, I was ready to get out of there.






While I'm glad we visited so I could see what all the fuss was about, I would not find Kaanapali to be a "must do" in future. I guess I am more of a beach park gal than a resort area gal (everywhere except Aulani, of course) - who knew?! 






I snapped this photo after we got back to the condo - Maui is just beautiful everywhere, even from the condo parking lot! 

After our return it was time to get cleaned up for the evening's adventure... we were in for a huge treat! My review of the Feast at Lele, coming up next.


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## missjackiemcg

pepperandchips said:


> So this time I spent $40 on checked luggage fees to bring along an older suitcase we didn't mind parting with and ditching in Hawaii. I packed anything we planned to cook that was dry goods as well as several meals that we'd prepared in advance and anything we could freeze - tamales, lasagna, meatballs and gravy, frozen meat, frozen hot dogs, and so on. If you are thinking of this, it worked great. I packed the frozen and refrigerated items in an insulated grocery tote inside of the suitcase. The frozen stuff stayed frozen clear through til we arrived at Aulani, except for some frozen garlic bread, but who cares if that defrosts? Not us.


This is the stuff of pure genius!!!  



pepperandchips said:


>


I am more than a little embarrassed to admit that until you posted this picture, I had NO idea POG stands for Passion-Orange-Guava.  My mind is blown.



pepperandchips said:


> With this view began my daily humming of "Jolly Holiday" from Mary Poppins. I couldn't shake the line "Did you ever see the grass so green, or a bluer sky?"


How could you not!?  It looks incredible!

Also, where the heck did the rest of my quotes go?!  

I can't believe that you're only on page 2 with all of the amazing adventures and beautiful pictures you've shared so far!!!  Everything looks simply incredible.  I have never wanted to travel to Hawaii, but boy, following along here sure has me giving it a second thought!


----------



## tink too

Loving this TR as much as I enjoyed your engagement TR.  Congratulations on now being Mr & Mrs.

We'll be in Waikiki over the 4th of July, then moving to Aulani on the 5th - can't wait - and seeing all you beautiful photos is making me wish away time! Haha


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## meredy338

Can you share more of which airbnb or VRBO you booked in Maui.  We are currently shopping now for west maui beaches and I'd like to see if where you stayed is available and meets our needs.  Your trip is mirroring ours in many ways coming up soon in October!


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## boucheresq

Please tell me you are going to finish this wonderful report because I literally just reserved an ocean view studio at Aulani from December 21 to December 26, 2019 and then spending December 26 to December 31, 2019 in Maui. It’s like kismet that I just found this report!  I cannot wait to read the rest!


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## acndis

Loving your TR!  We were at Aulani for New Year's in 2018.  We loved it and can't wait to return to Hawaii.  Thanks so much for your honest review of the Road to Hana.  It just does not sound like 'our thing' but there's so much pressure because everyone says it is so amazing.  I think we will skip it and spend more time on Oahu or head to Kauai.  Na Pali coast DOES sound like 'our thing.'


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## pepperandchips

Eek! I'm sorry it has been so long since I've updated, guys. Lots of stuff keeping me away due to "real life". I will work on an update as soon as I can. Spoiler alert: it's partially because I took SO MANY pictures at Lele!


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## chunkymonkey

I am all caught up now! LOVE all the pictures, really takes me back to my other happy place, Hawaii!
Yum, poke, my favorite food! Ahi tuna just tastes sooo good there!
When we're in Maui we usually stay in the Kihei or Wailea area, I like it much better than Kaanapali, but Maalea is great too because it's so convenient!
If you're ever in Kaanapali again though, the Blackrock point area of Kaanapali beach, which is the area right in front of the Sheraton Waikiki, near Whaler's village has the most amazing sea turtles. We are always guaranteed to see and swim with them whenever we visit! 
I miss the Aloha spirit!


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## wendow

I so enjoyed this TR! I loved all your pics and details. Aulani is a dream of ours but seems so far-fetched currently so I loved living vicariously through you!

And I gotta say, you and your dh are so cute! You have so many dresses I now desperately want lol!


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## pepperandchips

missjackiemcg said:


> This is the stuff of pure genius!!!


Or pure cheapness... I'm not very good at being a budget traveler so I have to do what I can where I can!



missjackiemcg said:


> I am more than a little embarrassed to admit that until you posted this picture, I had NO idea POG stands for Passion-Orange-Guava. My mind is blown.


I always learn a few new things with every TR I read so I am glad to have *something* to contribute 



missjackiemcg said:


> I can't believe that you're only on page 2 with all of the amazing adventures and beautiful pictures you've shared so far!!! Everything looks simply incredible. I have never wanted to travel to Hawaii, but boy, following along here sure has me giving it a second thought!


Oh my gosh, I had no idea how hard I'd fall in love. And I had even been there once before! It's so romantic and wonderful. Maybe an anniversary trip for you???

It's funny, there's not much activity on the Hawaii TRs but I have binged MANY of them in all my planning so I like to think I can give at least a tip or two that will help someone.



tink too said:


> Loving this TR as much as I enjoyed your engagement TR.  Congratulations on now being Mr & Mrs.
> 
> We'll be in Waikiki over the 4th of July, then moving to Aulani on the 5th - can't wait - and seeing all you beautiful photos is making me wish away time! Haha


Thank you so much! The time is drawing much closer since I've taken so dang long getting the next post ready... haha



meredy338 said:


> Can you share more of which airbnb or VRBO you booked in Maui.  We are currently shopping now for west maui beaches and I'd like to see if where you stayed is available and meets our needs.  Your trip is mirroring ours in many ways coming up soon in October!


I think I got to this in a PM but if anyone else ever wants to know, just message me! 



boucheresq said:


> Please tell me you are going to finish this wonderful report because I literally just reserved an ocean view studio at Aulani from December 21 to December 26, 2019 and then spending December 26 to December 31, 2019 in Maui. It’s like kismet that I just found this report!  I cannot wait to read the rest!


I feel like I can promise you it will be done before December.  I lived on TRs when planning!!!



acndis said:


> Loving your TR!  We were at Aulani for New Year's in 2018.  We loved it and can't wait to return to Hawaii.  Thanks so much for your honest review of the Road to Hana.  It just does not sound like 'our thing' but there's so much pressure because everyone says it is so amazing.  I think we will skip it and spend more time on Oahu or head to Kauai.  Na Pali coast DOES sound like 'our thing.'


OMG take me with you! I already miss Hawaii but Kauai was totally my jam! Hawaii is so addictive, I wonder when I can convince DH to go back... 



chunkymonkey said:


> I am all caught up now! LOVE all the pictures, really takes me back to my other happy place, Hawaii!


Me too! Did I tell you my hypothesis last week that Disney should make another Aulani at WDW and just make it not convenient to any of the parks?  I would pay Aulani prices for amazing pools and maybe a view of... Bay lake? I don't know, I know it's not the same I just miss it so much 



chunkymonkey said:


> Yum, poke, my favorite food! Ahi tuna just tastes sooo good there!


All the seafood there is so much better! And I'm not even a seafood person!!!



chunkymonkey said:


> When we're in Maui we usually stay in the Kihei or Wailea area, I like it much better than Kaanapali, but Maalea is great too because it's so convenient!
> If you're ever in Kaanapali again though, the Blackrock point area of Kaanapali beach, which is the area right in front of the Sheraton Waikiki, near Whaler's village has the most amazing sea turtles. We are always guaranteed to see and swim with them whenever we visit!


Duly noted. For *next time*  (I'm convinced, let's work on ChunkyR)



wendow said:


> I so enjoyed this TR! I loved all your pics and details. Aulani is a dream of ours but seems so far-fetched currently so I loved living vicariously through you!
> 
> And I gotta say, you and your dh are so cute! You have so many dresses I now desperately want lol!



Thank you Wendy! I appreciate you reading along even if it is just a quick imaginary get away!!!  I live in dresses on vacation as I can pair them with some bike shorts and be cool and comfortable!


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## pepperandchips

Hi, do you remember me? A long time ago I started narrating this magical hawaiian adventure tale...

For some reason I stalled out on basically my favorite thing we did. We'd skipped going to a luau on our first trip together to Hawaii, as I'd been as a kid to Paradise Cove (next door to Aulani) and remembered the food service being chaotic and the show being cheesy. Being on limited time anyway, it was an expensive extra we found easy to cut. Well, this time, I was a little more interested in checking out a luau, and when I read several great reports of the Feast at Lele (@nkereina's comes to mind) I thought it might be our style.

The Feast at Lele is run by the same folks as the Old Lahaina Luau, and it's also located in Lahaina. It was probably about 30 minutes from our condo and there was paid parking across the street. We'd made our reservation just a few days prior (the 28th of December) for our show on January 1. Their website was buggy so they ended up having to call me about the reservation but did so promptly and took care of everything.

Upon arrival, it seems just about anything tropical you could want to drink was there to greet you.






_When putting the pictures back I just noticed that it looks like that lady behind the drinks is nude.. haha! I feel pretty sure she wasn't._

Unfortunately it wasn't really clear what we were supposed to be doing at this time. We milled around for a minute with our mai tais before going outside and realizing that's where everyone was! D'oh!






Many folks were down on the beach taking photos of the sunset or of each other. That looked like a good idea so we did it too!











I found it a little odd that there were still beach-goers just hanging out while a whole dinner show worth of people piled out onto the beach, but to each her own. 






We took a few selfies before trading cameras with some other families and offering to take one anothers' photos...






We also took advantage of the professional photographers there. Later (several fruity tropical drinks in ) I purchased two images - it was $40 for two and I think the first one would have been like $35 alone so I picked two even though I don't really like the second one. It's included here so you can see they offer a choice of "backgrounds" (really just rotating your body)











Eventually we found our way to our table, which was way off to the side but in the front row. As I understand, tables are assigned in order of reservation where the first to reserve get the best views. Our view was fine and we liked being near the musicians.











Yes, I had shamelessly told them it was our honeymoon  still milking that one, coming up on our anniversary this month...

Here is the full menu, which was served family style, course-by-course (_one by one, until you shout 'enough I'm done!' _)






And the beverage options, all of which are included in the fixed price.






We had a fabulous server who kept checking on us to see if we needed drinks or wanted to try something else different/crazy. Sometimes we took him up on it so we might need to consult that menu photo together to decipher what we had... I have 25 photos of food and entertainment, so I will continue in the following post...


----------



## pepperandchips

_(continued from previous post, the Feast at Lele - my comments will be in BOLD below, the rest is from the menu)_

First Course: Hawaii

We begin right here in our beautiful home island of Hawai'i with our oli (chant), mele (song),
and hula (dance) from the islands of Hawai’i, O’ahu, Kauai, and Maui. We honor the ‘aina (land), our ali’i (royalty), and the natural beauty surrounding us.

TRADITIONAL POLYNESIAN STAPLES
Banana & sweet potato chips served w/ a tropical ginger & ogo seaweed salsa.















*(mai tais)*

FIRST COURSE

IMU ROASTED KALUA PUA’A
Pork seasoned w/ hawaiian salt, cooked traditional style in an underground oven & shredded.






*Oh my gosh, this was heavenly. Salty and decadent perfection. Kalua pig is prevalent in Maui but this was just fantastic, especially with the pineapple rice. NOM!*

PIPIKAULA & POI
Paniolo dried cured beef & Maui poi, w/ pickled vegetable salad.






*Not my favorite, but I think that's par for the course regarding poi and dried, cured beef... The poi was not the worst I've ever tried but that's not saying much.*

CHEF' SPECIAL 
Bamboo Pineapple Rice w/ Caramelized Pepper Pineapple






*Also delicious! Especially with the kalua pig!!*






*The entertainment was styled to the island group represented for the course and we were served the course and then entertained as we ate. Very relaxing.*











NEW ZEALAND

Kia Ora, welcome to Aotearoa – Land of the Long White Cloud. Presently known as New Zealand, it is home to the Maori people. It is believed that the Maori migrated to Aotearoa from as far as the Marquesas, Cook, and Society Islands. They have an artistic culture, and are well known for their elaborate artwork. Although the Maori people have a unique culture of their own, their culture shares many similarities to that of other Polynesians.

SECOND COURSE

HARORE KUMARA
Medley of stewed mushrooms & onion,
served on orange & purple sweet potato.






MITI HANGI
5 hour island scented braised short ribs
in a kiwi fruit jus.






CHEF'S SPECIAL - Pikopiko Salad
Hana Fiddle Fern Shoot, Kabocha pumpkin with house smoked fish & roasted kukui nut






*"Hana Fiddle Fern Shoot" became our joke phrase for the remainder of the trip. It probably should have been the report title after all the fiddling I've done getting this thing finished! This salad was actually good and very light and refreshing.*






The Maori culture is rich in song and dance, intertwined with strong oratory skills.
You will notice their facial tattoos or moko. This was used to symbolize ones genealogy
and personal identity. Our dancers perform a Haka, a war dance that was used to
intimidate their enemies. Then our women perform an exciting dance using poi balls,
which are used to imitate the actions and rhythms in nature.






*This was one of my favorite rounds of entertainment! The Haka is so unique.*

TAHITI

Come along with us to Tahiti, land of intrigue and romance, capturing the imagination.
From the verdant majesty of its mountains rising out of the mist to the starling clarity of color
in its coral lagoons, Tahiti is considered by many as the image of Polynesia, and throughout
its history, Tahiti has beckoned explorers from around the world.

THIRD COURSE
*(count all those drinks and you will understand why I neglected to get a photo of each individual plate before we started eating!)*

E-IAOTA (POISSON CRU)
Fresh island fish & vegetable marinated in lime juice & coconut milk.

GINGER MOA
Marinated chicken breast in a mango soy sauce w/Tahitian lime aoli & mango relish.

CHEF' SPECIAL - TAHITIAN BAKED SHRIMP
w/ gardenia ginger oil and ocean salad






*Despite not getting individual photos, this was one of my favorite courses. Everything was delicious! I LOVED the shrimp!*





*DH's first lava flow (of all time OF ALLLL TIME! )*

Sit back and enjoy the sensual swing of the hips and pulsing rhythm of the ancient drums, which combine to create a titillating dance performance. Oversized headdresses made of grasses and shells balance the exuberant movements of the hip and hand. Experience the romantic lure of Tahiti as called forth in its lusty dances. (*DEFINITELY not my description )*






*After the group dancers, several duos were featured. You can see how close we were to the musicians there on the right, so that was entertaining in and of itself!*











*Are you starting to feel full yet? Me too!! But save room, as this course had my favorite item...*

SAMOA

Our eveningʻs journey ends at Samoa, “the cradle of Polynesia,” literally the sacred center of its
fiery soul. The islands of Samoa reflect their age in a lush jungle-shrouded paradise. Even today, thatched grass roof fales can be seen dotting the coastlines, where island homes are open to nature, and the island people open their hearts to you.

FOURTH COURSE

PALUSAMI
Braised coconut cream corned beef w/ baked ulu wrapped in taro leaf.






*This tasted way better than it looked. Who knew corned beef was a Samoan specialty?*

STEW FIGOTA
Fresh island fish in a mussels, clam, calamari and shrimp stew w/ coconut banana cream.






CHEF SPECIAL - PANI POPO
Baked Soft taro roll in Creamy Coconut Milk






*Okay, this might look like someone's really tan bum, but it was not a bum, it was THE BOMB!!! Omg this was like dessert. If I hadn't been excruciatingly full, I would have asked if we could have had another. Practically dessert!*











For the Feast at Lele finale, the energetic and vigorous Samoan dance is punctuated by staccato slapping of legs and feet, and rhythmic clapping of hands. Men wear shredded leaf leggings which emphasize their movements, while women don very finely woven leaf skirts to accentuate their gracefulness. The famed fire knife dance is an important component to their culture and fitting end to our show.





(*Please let that video work)*

FIFTH COURSE
Vanilla coconut mousseline cake w/ caramelized pineapple & salted caramel. Whipped haupia cream (coconut pudding) w/ island fruit sauce.






*Wrap-up/overal review of the Feast at Lele:*

*The meal was $130 per person or $270.84 before gratuity. It was so much more than just dinner and I think it was worth every penny. If you are a foodie or not sure about the level of cheese at a luau (yes, this had cheesy moments too, but that's part of the fun) this is probably the Polynesian dinner show for you. There were certainly kids there but it was really well suited for adults and couples, in a beautiful and convenient setting. It was SO MUCH FOOD I would really advise you to pace yourself as best as possible. This was an incredible experience and I'd give it five stars.*

*Phew! With all that behind me, maybe you can see why it was daunting?*

*Up next*: our final day in paradise with visits to the Iao Needle and whale watching and happy hour, oh my!


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## nkereina

@pepperandchips great review of the Feast at Lele! Glad you enjoyed it - its bringing back fond memories for me 

Another element of the Feast at Lele that I liked was that you're seated at your own private table and the food is served to you. At a traditional luau, including the Old Lahaina Luau down the street, you're seated at communal tables and its often a buffet. We were on our honeymoon, so we preferred the overall setting of the Feast at Lele for these reasons!


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## dachsie

@pepperandchips Were you at Disneyworld last week?  I swear I passed someone who looked just like you and your husband in Magic Kingdom.  I called out and asked if you were pepperandchips but you didn't hear me and I didn't want to appear stalkerish.  LOL. I was trying to make a FP as well


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## pepperandchips

dachsie said:


> @pepperandchips Were you at Disneyworld last week?  I swear I passed someone who looked just like you and your husband in Magic Kingdom.  I called out and asked if you were pepperandchips but you didn't hear me and I didn't want to appear stalkerish.  LOL. I was trying to make a FP as well



Omg yes! I wish I had heard you! Was this on May 6?


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## alohamom

Oh my goodness @pepperandchips thank you for this extremely comprehensive Feast at Lele section of your report. I have always wondered if it was worth the $$$. Looks like you guys really enjoyed yourselves!


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## missjackiemcg

Lusty dancing, tasty dishes and amazing cocktails, OH MY!!!  That looked like so much fun and definitely worth the cost for sure.


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## dachsie

pepperandchips said:


> Omg yes! I wish I had heard you! Was this on May 6?


Yes - I was walking to Fantasyland and you were walking to Liberty square


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## pepperandchips

dachsie said:


> Yes - I was walking to Fantasyland and you were walking to Liberty square



AW man! That would have been fun to say hi! We were with another friend from the boards too (FallonKendra) - I'm sure that's why I was distracted!


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## Flossbolna

The Feast at Lele has intrigued me, too! Thanks for the in depth review and all the food pictures. It looks like an awesome experience. I am just a bit concerned since we don't like seafood very much and I would not want the food get to waste! Can you tell them not to bring certain items?


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## linco711

I’m thoroughly enjoying your TR! I love Maui and have been several times. Love the Wailea area best. Liked Lahaina for  all the food choices. Done the road to HANA with a tour and on our own. Definitely liked on our own best. Found the wetness and clouds to be gloomy both times and couldn’t wait to get back into the sunshine of the beaches.

I’ve also spent some time on the Big Island which is very different, but enjoyed it also.

I’m curious about whether I will like the big resort feel and the manufactured environment instead of the natural beauty of Hawaii. Do you ever feel that way? It sounds like everyone loves it, and finds it magical. I’m hoping we will too!

Sounds like the food prices are outrageous! Guess we won’t be eating on property too much.


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## pepperandchips

nkereina said:


> @pepperandchips great review of the Feast at Lele! Glad you enjoyed it - its bringing back fond memories for me
> 
> Another element of the Feast at Lele that I liked was that you're seated at your own private table and the food is served to you. At a traditional luau, including the Old Lahaina Luau down the street, you're seated at communal tables and its often a buffet. We were on our honeymoon, so we preferred the overall setting of the Feast at Lele for these reasons!


Your honeymoon report was so helpful and definitely encouraged me to take the plunge on the Feast at Lele. Good point bringing up the individual tables - I meant to be more explicit about it, but yes, it was so nice with it just being the two of us. Especially with the family style food, that would be odd sharing with another group.



alohamom said:


> Oh my goodness @pepperandchips thank you for this extremely comprehensive Feast at Lele section of your report. I have always wondered if it was worth the $$$. Looks like you guys really enjoyed yourselves!


I would say it was absolutely worth it for us, and I would think it would be worth it for anyone who's willing to try all the different food and drinks alcohol. After a nice gratuity for our server (the service was absolutely excellent, bar none) it was an expensive outing, but all of the luaus I looked at were also pricy and had poor reviews of the food. I would actually do it again, despite thinking at the time it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.



missjackiemcg said:


> Lusty dancing, tasty dishes and amazing cocktails, OH MY!!!  That looked like so much fun and definitely worth the cost for sure.


I know right?! The lusty dancing bit cracked me up, I must not have read that while we were there, because by the time I'd had mai tais and pina coladas and sparkling wine I would have been a giggling idiot! The music and dancing was great and the food was amazing. SO much fun!



Flossbolna said:


> The Feast at Lele has intrigued me, too! Thanks for the in depth review and all the food pictures. It looks like an awesome experience. I am just a bit concerned since we don't like seafood very much and I would not want the food get to waste! Can you tell them not to bring certain items?


You're absolutely welcome, I am glad to have you here reading! I asked R if he remembered whether you could customize the menu and he said he thought so. I am sure they make accomodations because so many people have allergies, eat kosher, and so on. If there were dishes you knew you would not enjoy I'm sure you could ask them not to bring them. I am not much for seafood myself but really enjoyed most things I tried in Hawaii. The seafood is very fresh and tasty there! There were some dishes that we finished on this evening and some that we just had a few bites of, like the cured beef and poi. 



linco711 said:


> I’m thoroughly enjoying your TR! I love Maui and have been several times. Love the Wailea area best. Liked Lahaina for all the food choices. Done the road to HANA with a tour and on our own. Definitely liked on our own best. Found the wetness and clouds to be gloomy both times and couldn’t wait to get back into the sunshine of the beaches.
> 
> I’ve also spent some time on the Big Island which is very different, but enjoyed it also.


Thank you! We have not made it to the Big Island yet but I am sure we will return to Hawaii at some point and I definitely want to visit the island of Hawaii. We loved Kauai so I think the big island would be a hit with us!



linco711 said:


> I’m curious about whether I will like the big resort feel and the manufactured environment instead of the natural beauty of Hawaii. Do you ever feel that way? It sounds like everyone loves it, and finds it magical. I’m hoping we will too!


I was a little worried about that too, the first time I went to Aulani. Who goes all the way to Hawaii and stays at a big Disney resort? But I feel that Disney did so much to make it feel Hawaiian, it doesn't really feel cheap or icky. And, there are plenty of places around the resort to admire the beautiful ocean and mountain views. I can't really explain why it des feel magical, but it does seem that way. I hope you love it and aren't disappointed!



linco711 said:


> Sounds like the food prices are outrageous! Guess we won’t be eating on property too much.


We thought the food prices in Hawaii were crazy pretty much everywhere, including at Aulani. Even the grocery store prices were crazy to us, which is why we packed so much of our own food for this trip. We thought that the hot food prices at the Island Country Market across the street were fairly reasonable and the Pizza Corner was definitely high cost for pizza but it makes each meal very reasonable if you split it between multiple people. Overall, I would say there are dining deals to be found if you look for them and I'm not sure you "have to have" anything in particular from Aulani so I would definitely shop around!

Thanks for reading along!


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## thumper*

HI Melinda not sure why I hadn't noticed this TR in your siggy before???? Loved this TR can't wait to hear about Ioa Needle. We're planning on going to Maui in a few years. Hope to spend about 10-14 days so really need to get the PTO built up at work. I've been researching Maui for about a month now and was glad to read your review of many of things we want to do. 



pepperandchips said:


> I ultimately found a great deal on a basic one bedroom condo in Maalea, right on the ocean.


I decided that Kihea would be a great location for us but Maalea would be a good alternative. Did you get your rental from VRBO? Would you by chance have a link to that? TIA


pepperandchips said:


> We were feeling adventurous, so off we set in the Nissan to Haleakala National Park.


 We're hoping to do this at sunset also. I was wondering what it would be like driving down it after dark. 


pepperandchips said:


> Many folks just hopped out of their cars and were rewarded with the view above. But the real treat is found by crossing the road and walking down a fairly short path to the overlook. You are just walking along lava rock and low shrubs and then all of the sudden, there is the crater. It's really hard to describe how vast it is - and photos really don't even do it justice.


 This is one recommendation I hadn't heard yet. Thanks


pepperandchips said:


> We decided to head down to Kihei to Coconuts Fish Cafe,


 It's on my list


pepperandchips said:


> we were going to experience the famous road to Hana and we wanted to get a jump on things!


 Can't wait to do this. Thinking of doing this 2 days. One day south of Hana and another date the regular route. 

How's the new house going? Now get back to work on finishing this TR. LOL


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## pepperandchips

I came to finish this stinking report after so long leaving it hanging only to find that half of my photos have disappeared! Ugh! I will have to try to figure that out and come back to fix them.
In the meantime, for anyone still interested, our final day... today we would be visiting the Iao Needle and experiencing one of the activities I was most looking forward to - whale watching!
First we headed to experience the Iao Needle, which I expected would help kill a little time on our departure day. It was fairly easy to find and we enjoyed driving through a part of the Island that looked more of a locals area and less of the main tourist drag.


Here's what Hawaii Magazine says about the park:

_The 4,000-acre, 10-mile-long state park is a top outdoor destination on Maui, recognized for its iconic Iao Needle, a 1,200-foot rock formation that overlooks the Iao Stream. In addition to being a popular outdoor destination, Iao Valley is a popular cultural and historical destination. It was the infamous setting of the Battle of Kepaniwai in 1790, in which Kamehameha I defeated the Kalanikupule in a battle so bloody it’s said the bodies of the dead dammed the waters of Iao Stream._

The large cliff on the left is the needle:





I remember thinking how beautiful and verdant this valley is - but it's best to set expectations that this is just another of Hawaii's gorgeous nature parks. The needle itself was not an overwhelmingly moving experience, though I am glad we climbed up to see it. But there is a beautiful overlook facing the opposite direction, where you can see clear out to the ocean - we enjoyed spending some time up here and just savoring our last day in paradise












We enjoyed the meandering nature paths below the cliffs, probably most of all. There's a beautiful and quiet stream where Mr. Pepper was able to dip his toes in











I should say it was quiet and peaceful - when we were there. Apparently severe flooding closed the park to visitors a few years ago after major damage.
Iao Valley is a nice place to kill an hour or so, but it's not a major diversion or even a must-do, in my opinion, but it wasn't hard to get to and I'm glad we visited.
Next we headed back to the Maalaea harbor, very near where we'd been staying all week. We had pre-purchased tickets online for the Pacific Whale Foundation whalewatching afternoon tour. This one was offered at a few dollars' discount and worked with our schedule best anyway. Our total for two people was $86.94. You are asked to arrive 45 minutes prior to the tour start time and there is a little shopping plaza there where we found clean restrooms and a place to sit after checking in. I also rented binoculars for our tour, which I definitely recommend, and the price was reasonable - $5 or $10 I think. We shared one pair.






We were led down to the harbor to our boat - the Ocean Odyssey - a two level catamaran that had theater-style seating at the top front.





(photo lifted from their website)

At first I was nervous because we didn't see any whales for the first 30+ minutes we were out on the water. If you don't see any whales, they let you take another tour for free, but as this was our departure day we'd gambled on getting to see them on our tour.






Shortly after my worries kicked in, we had an amazing up-close sighting and saw several more whales all around us for the duration of our tour. I was trying to balance looking with my eyes and documenting with my phone camera, and I have about 10 videos of whales surfacing - there is just no describing the wonder of seeing it with your eyes, though. As a little girl, I was always fascinated with sea life, especially whales, and this was truly a dream come true to experience the whales in person.
I can't figure out how to post a video, and watching them is making me a bit seasick, so here are some poor quality screen captures:






There are actually two whales in this photo, the one blowing there in the center and another whale surfacing just above the lady's hand holding the phone on the left.






We didn't see too many whale flukes but this one was a major payoff!






Can you see the rainbow in between the mountains in the above photo? It was like a smile from nature after such an amazing experience.






I have major motion sickness issues and wore a scopolamine patch for this experience. Even with the patch, I still felt a bit green by the end of our trip. It was worth it and truly a bucket list experience for me but I just wanted to provide a word of caution if this is an issue for anyone else. The boats must idle with no motor running when whales are nearby, which I fully support, but the boat bobbing along in the waves really made me queasy. I was glad when we returned to the harbor!

With our trip drawing to a close, we decided to return to a previous favorite for one last meal before we left the beauty of Maui.
We drove back over to Three's Bar and Grill in Kihei for another round of happy hour specials. We sat at the bar as there were seats available and we needed to eat and get on the road to the airport.






20 oz beers were on special for $6.50 during happy hour - this would be a decent price even at home so it was a great value with Hawaii's inflated prices, especially for a local draft. We each had a couple of Kona Lava Man red ale drafts.






To eat, we shared the fish taco (happy hour $3.75), the kalua pork nachos (happy hour $8.00), and a couple of happy hour spicy tuna rolls (happy hour $5.50 each)











The food was once again absolutely superb and the environment warm and welcoming. We enjoyed chatting with the bartender and eating our happy hour snacks.

Before long, our trip to Maui had come to a close and we were back on the road to the airport.






The airport had a bit of a sad Christmas display still going strong, and we reluctantly said goodbye before departing Maui for the journey home. We connected through a near-deserted Honolulu airport for a 10:30 pm flight back to San Francisco before our journey back to Atlanta.

... and just like that, our trip was over. It was truly an amazing adventure and just re-living it has me longing to return to the Aloha Islands again. There is no place like Hawaii and every minute there was paradise. Please let me know if you have any questions. If you've just found my report, I'm sorry that half the pictures zapped themselves and I will work on fixing them.

Until next time, Mahalo and Aloha! ~ Melinda


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## missjackiemcg

Hi, Melinda!  Sounds like you planned a perfect final day.  Whale watching is definitely a bucket list item for me, as well, and that picture with the little rainbow is simply gorgeous!  I'm glad you came back and wrapped this one up.  A perfectly tropical holiday


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## pepperandchips

Okay, I think all the pictures are finally back! Man. Lesson learned: do not use facebook to host TR photos!!!


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## pepperandchips

missjackiemcg said:


> Hi, Melinda!  Sounds like you planned a perfect final day.  Whale watching is definitely a bucket list item for me, as well, and that picture with the little rainbow is simply gorgeous!  I'm glad you came back and wrapped this one up.  A perfectly tropical holiday


It was about ding dang time I finished it! I have been longing to start another TR/DR but I've done so poorly finishing them lately that I hate to even start a new one. I've been reading up to prepare for a couple trips we have in the works though and wanted to share my last few recommendations.


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## carejo

Just found and read your entire report. Loved it. My husband and i went to Aulani for our 30th Anniversary and it was fabulous. Loved all your photos and details of your trip! My son and his girl friend are arriving there in about an hour! i don't think i will get too much info from him , so I'm happy to see all your info and pictures.Thanks


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## pepperandchips

carejo said:


> Just found and read your entire report. Loved it. My husband and i went to Aulani for our 30th Anniversary and it was fabulous. Loved all your photos and details of your trip! My son and his girl friend are arriving there in about an hour! i don't think i will get too much info from him , so I'm happy to see all your info and pictures.Thanks


Thank you for the kind words, Joanne! I hope your son and his girlfriend have a great trip. I love binge reading through these trip reports too - it's a nice trip down memory lane. I hope you are able to return one day!


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## cgattis

@pepperandchips add me to the list who are glad you finished this off!  Loved your whole TR—great pics, funny stories, and y’all are just too cute 

Really loved the whole menu and pics from Feast at Lele.  We did Paradise Cove and enjoyed it, but next trip is probably just Maui and Kauai, so this was great.  I love the show but I like the idea of table service versus a big buffet. (We did VIP at PC so we didn’t have to hassle with that there, either.). But this food looks fabulous....thanks so much for sharing!  Happy anniversary


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## paradesintherain

Just found this, shamelessly bombarding your notifications! 



pepperandchips said:


> Aloha! I'm Melinda



Hiiii Melinda! 



pepperandchips said:


>



Hellooooo Melinda! 



pepperandchips said:


> I am still waiting to call that future Italy trip our real honeymoon,



Yess, milk it for as long as you can! 



pepperandchips said:


> I packed anything we planned to cook that was dry goods as well as several meals that we'd prepared in advance and anything we could freeze - tamales, lasagna, meatballs and gravy, frozen meat, frozen hot dogs, and so on. If you are thinking of this, it worked great. I packed the frozen and refrigerated items in an insulated grocery tote inside of the suitcase. The frozen stuff stayed frozen clear through til we arrived at Aulani, except for some frozen garlic bread, but who cares if that defrosts? Not us.



That's really clever, actually! 



pepperandchips said:


> It was a nice acknowledgement of the holidays without disrupting the beautiful Hawaiian ambiance at Aulani.



I want Christmas IN MY FACE! 



pepperandchips said:


>



Wow, what would I do for a view like this now? 



pepperandchips said:


> After hearing a positive review, I opted for the half pound angus chuck burger with fries ($20)



You do love your burgers! 



pepperandchips said:


> When it came through, I could hardly believe our luck.



Hmmm can't remember what this is about, but I think it's the view... 



pepperandchips said:


>



Wow, I'll take this view instead. Just get me out of Missouri!! 



pepperandchips said:


>



Just stunning! 



pepperandchips said:


>



The views just keep getting better. Someday, if this darn pandemic ever ends, I hope to experience this. 



pepperandchips said:


>



So pretty, and I love that cover-up! 



pepperandchips said:


> On December 26, we were up early again, and headed out of the room early in order to take advantage of the resort prior to having to pack up and relinquish our fabulous room.



Noooo, I'm sad there's only 2 days of Aulani!



pepperandchips said:


>



This can't be real, surely! 



pepperandchips said:


> I didn't actually bring out my phone or a camera, which was a decision I still regret, since just before lunch time a green sea turtle brought itself up on to the beach and was sitting in the sun so close to me I could practically touch it.



argh! But how amazing, I bet that will be a memory that stays with you! 



pepperandchips said:


>



This is like... a whole other world. Just, wow! 



pepperandchips said:


> We absolutely loved this meal - the tacos were messy, tasty perfection with tons of great flavor and juice to drip down your arms. The sandwich likewise had a great flavor and the fish was fresh, light, and tasty. Once we finished our lunch I think we both started thinking about what we'd order "next time"!



this meal looked like absolute perfection, and like the kind of thing that locals would go to. 



pepperandchips said:


>



The bark is so freaking cool! It looks like a painting. 



pepperandchips said:


> As we moved along, it seemed that every turn brought more waterfalls. We stopped at some and reluctantly passed up some.



That's some extreme self-control! 



pepperandchips said:


>



I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy! 

hehe.



pepperandchips said:


> The legend is that a Hawaiian princess fled here to escape her cruel husband, who brutally murdered her in one of the sea caves. Romantic huh?



Freaking men! 



pepperandchips said:


>



This is so cool! I've never really looked into what Maui has to offer, but I sure didn't expect this. 



pepperandchips said:


> They asked why we didn't go to the Caribbean instead of Hawaii!  I didn't even know what to say!



What a weird thing to ask. Why didn't they go to the Caribbean?! 



pepperandchips said:


> While I'm glad we visited so I could see what all the fuss was about, I would not find Kaanapali to be a "must do" in future. I guess I am more of a beach park gal than a resort area gal (everywhere except Aulani, of course) - who knew?!



It looks like a very basic beach. Most everything else has made my jaw drop, but not this one! 



pepperandchips said:


>



SOLD! 



pepperandchips said:


> (_one by one, until you shout 'enough I'm done!' _)



When in.... Hawaii? 



pepperandchips said:


> The meal was $130 per person or $270.84 before gratuity. It was so much more than just dinner and I think it was worth every penny. If you are a foodie or not sure about the level of cheese at a luau (yes, this had cheesy moments too, but that's part of the fun) this is probably the Polynesian dinner show for you. There were certainly kids there but it was really well suited for adults and couples, in a beautiful and convenient setting. It was SO MUCH FOOD I would really advise you to pace yourself as best as possible. This was an incredible experience and I'd give it five stars.



We did a luaua on Oahu, and we really loved it, but this is a whole different level! The variety of food is incredible. I've added it to a note in my phone of places to eat around the world, along with Three's. Now to plan a Maui trip...


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## tink too

So glad that I found your TR again - and that it is now finished.  We enjoyed our July 2019 stay in Waikiki and Aulani so much we're now booked on the DCL Honolulu to Vancouver cruise in 2022.

I particularly appreciated your comments on Maui as I was unsure what to do on our day there - the Road to Hana or sunset at Haleakala - I'm leaning toward the latter now after reading your comments.  We are blessed to have many waterfalls in Scotland and have also visited Costa Rica and agree that you can become waterfalled out. Haha


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