Hawaii – Maui Day 1
I really don’t want to leave Oahu because I felt like there are still more places I wanted to visit (would love to have shrimps in the North Shore again), I guess save it for next time! Our flight to Maui was at 8:01 am, very early flight but I figured get there early so we’ll have a full day in Maui. I booked Hawaiian Airlines due to its reputation on being on time although the airport is Kahului Airport (OGG) which is like a one hour drive from our hotel in Lahania. I originally planned to fly in and out in Kapalua-West Maui Airport (JHM) but the airlines serving that airport are GO! and other small airlines. I have read bad reviews about them so I don’t want to take a chance with them. Hawaiian Airlines was great…we departed at no time and landed in no time LOL…the total flight time was like half an hour! Our plane flew by Hana and Haleakala Mountain, what a view that was!
After we landed, we went to claim our baggage and headed out to the Alamo counter. I booked Alamo through Discounted Hawaiian Car Rental, the rate was a lot better than Expedia or other websites, plus it includes one free additional driver which we really need because we have plans to drive up Haleakala for sunrise! We did all our paperwork at the Alamo counter and then took the shuttle to pick up our car. Their process was really good, we went straight ahead to pick our car!
We arrived at our hotel, The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas, in 45 minutes of driving. There was only one way to get there so no trouble arriving at our hotel! However, we were there at like 9:30 am so our rooms weren’t ready yet. We have plenty of time until the check in time which was 4 pm but the lady said she’ll call me once our rooms are ready! I decided to go to Whaler’s Village to look around since it was really close by. Parking here was outrageous, $3 for half an hour, we should’ve waited and take the free hotel shuttle. Oh well, that’s vacation right?
Whaler’s Village is a very nice open air “mall”, not huge like the malls we have in the US. But the surrounding areas are nice.
There were some nice vendors on the back of the mall, where the Westin Maui Resort is, and we looked around. Most of the vendors were selling handmade crafts like this one:
We left Whaler’s Village in an hour and took a left and drove along the Honoapiilani Hwy with no particular place in mind…but it was a right choice! There are so much photo ops along this “highway”! The road is curvy (we learned that was normal in Maui LOL) but paved so not too bad. However, not every spot has a paved parking area so sometimes have to pull over to the dirt road.
Enough with words, a photo worth a thousand word:
Honolua Bay where we saw many snorkelers, the water was crystal clear!
A coast along the Honoapiilani Hwy, the waves were amazing to watch:
Adventurous hubby going up all the places for the perfect angle!
Our two drivers and adventure seekers!
More scenic views without knowing where or what it is:
That’s what I mean by pulled over a dirt road, doesn’t it look like a car advertising shoot?
We saw a lot of tourists heading this way so we followed…it was actually a trail to a lighthouse….
The lighthouse on the background:
In the middle of nowhere is this circle made up by rocks (thanks to those who taught me this is a Labyrinth)! Haha we thought we’ll have some fun taking pictures 😀
We drove further down the highway and ended up here with many tropical plants:
Once again hubby was so concentrated on taking photos:
Love the color and the road in this picture:
That’s me enjoying the view of this colorful green place!
By now around 3 pm, I received a call from our hotel that our rooms are ready so we headed back! Along the way back, we stopped for one more spot:
So far we enjoyed Maui because it was so relaxing…we have no scheduled places to go; we just go where the road takes us to! That’s another style of being on vacation!
We headed back at our hotel and one of our studio rooms got upgraded to a one bedroom villa so both rooms are connected….SWEET!!
Our villa was huge!!! I had so much fun taking pictures of our “room”! Hubby already checking on the videos he took:
Our full kitchen with washer and dryer wowwww!
Comfortable Westin Sleeper bed!
The bedroom and bathroom are connected:
Jacuzzi!
How much I wished I could bring this bathroom home!!!
Our dining and living room:
Another view of the dining area and kitchen:
Our big porch!
I kept telling my husband, if only two of us living together, this villa will be my perfect home!!
Alright time for some pictures of the hotel property, very nice grounds.
View from the lobby:
The pirate ship at the kid’s pool:
Another pool area:
Hotel lobby well decorated with Christmas decorations:
We decided to stay in our hotel for dinner, Pulehu, an Italian Grill. It was a decent restaurant, not “wow” but good.
Rustic crab dip, it was the best of the three appetizers we ordered:
The Poached Molokai Prawns was not that good, the crispy calamari was average.
Hubby ordered the beef tenderloin (pretty good) and I ordered the lasagna (good too).
For dessert, we ordered the creme brulee, it was good.
The restaurant at night:
We went back to our room and the first thing I did was call Haleakala weather at (866) 944-5025 to check to determine if we should go for the sunrise! Yep, weather forecast said clear night and not as windy as the next two nights! We tried to sleep early…..have to wake up at 3 am!!!
The circle with rocks is a Labyrinth:) http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm
They are very cool things!
I'm going to Maui in Feb and it was really cool to see your photos,I can hardly wait now!
Thank you Laeli!