Trip Report - Mana Kai, Aquarium, Haleakala, Trilogy, and...

My family (me, wife, 14 year old daughter, and 11 year old son) just returned from a week and a half in Maui. We had a wonderful time. I relied on this forum quite a bit when making plans, and now hope that I can be of help to others planning their trips.

Mana Kai: This was one of the best decisions we made. The building is right on Keawakapu Beach, a large and beautiful area with an excellent snorkeling area right in front of the building and a huge sandy area that stretches out at least a half-mile. The condo we stayed in (unit #608) has been mentioned on TA before (by Wis, who kindly vouched for the place months ago when we were in planning mode). The condo unit was immaculate, and incredibly well stocked with quality plates, bowls, pots, pans, utensils, silverware, etc. as well as beach toys, umbrella, sand mats, and the like. The fridge, microwave, oven, stove, etc. were all as if brand-new. The entire unit was in excellent condition and tastefully decorated. Even though we went in late August, with 90+ degree temperatures outside, the ceiling fans and ocean breezes kept things very comfortable. It was actually so cool during the night that we needed both the sheet and comforter to feel comfortable. These units have a “hotel-room” lock-off area that our kids stayed in – it has an air conditioner that doesn’t cool down anything but that room, but honestly we didn’t need air conditioning in the rest of the unit. We never felt sweaty or humid. We saw lots and lots of condos on the other side of South Kihei Road, and just couldn’t figure out why anyone would prefer them to the Mana Kai, where you’re right on the water, every unit has an awesome view of the water and beach, and the sound of waves to lull you to sleep every night. Assigned parking, pleasant staff, well-maintained grounds, and well-observed quiet hours – all a bonus.

Other beaches: We also spent an afternoon at Big Beach, which had thunderous waves that crashed fairly close to the beach. It was awesome for boogie-boarding. We also enjoyed watching the local lads do their version of boogie-boarding. They approach the wave from the beach, fling themselves onto the top of the wave, and then skip off the wave in an upward fashion and do a complete flip in the air. We didn’t try that ourselves. Maybe next time. Sure we will. We also went to Po’olenalena Beach, which is divided into a northern third and southern two-thirds. Beach access from the road takes you to the southern part. Scramble over the rocks and you reach the northern part. I mention this only because we had the entire northern part to ourselves for several hours. The waves wasn’t terribly aggressive. It was nice for laying out and playing in the surf. Both beaches are south of Kihei.

Restaurants: Because we were in Kihei, we mostly patronized Kihei restaurants. Thumbs up to Pita Paradise and South Shore Tiki Lounge (both very tasty, while not being overly expensive – hard to do in Maui). Bada Bing was just okay. Stella Blues (fancy by comparison to the others) was good for breakfast (delicious banana macadamia nut pancakes). Kihei Caffe was okay for breakfast (some of our food was bland), but had excellent cinnamon rolls.

Honolua Bay: We accidentally went to Slaughterhouse Beach first, which is a beautiful beach, but it just wasn’t where we wanted to go. The pull-out for Slaughterhouse Beach has a small amount of nice parking, and concrete steps that start the trail down to the beach. Once we reached the beach, we realized that Honolua Bay is one bay over and not easily reached on the ocean side. So we hiked back up to the road and parked further down, where there are dirt pull-outs on either side of the road. The trail down to Honolua Bay wasn’t hard to spot. Entry into the water wasn’t the easiest, as there are a lot of rocks in the water, but its well worth the effort. The snorkeling there (the right side of the bay) was simply spectacular. Lots of fish, many varieties and colors, and several large (in the hundreds) pools of fish. Excellent visibility. Some tour boats arrived, but the area was big enough to accommodate everyone.

Olivine Pools: This involved a bit of vertical hiking, but it was worth the exertion. You can clearly see the pools from a distance and judge for yourself whether you’re up for the journey. They appear to be quite safe and well-protected from the surrounding surf that crashes around the area. The water in the pools was a bit cool, but quite refreshing after the hike.

Aquarium: It took a while to find the place, but we’re glad we made the effort. If you go to the very end of the Makena Alanui road, and end up in a gravel road and gravel parking lot, you’ve gone too far. You would have reached La Perouse Bay, but direct access to the Aquarium is blocked by the private estate whose property rights extend into the bay. Instead, you’ll want to park alongside the road as soon as possible after the end of the “no parking on shoulder for 2 miles” portion of the road, which is clearly marked by signs. Essentially, you’ll want to park alongside the road in front of the private estate. Be careful of some of the pull-outs – they’re really not suitable for parking unless you have a 4 wheel drive. Walk north on the road, past the estate, and you’ll come to a marked path. To the left of the path is the barbed wire fence that serves as the boundary for the estate. After a short walk, you’ll enter the lava fields where a well worn path is easy to follow. About half-way to the Aquarium, however, the path is a lot less definite, and is harder to navigate. It’s not a terribly rigorous hike, but does require climbing up, down, and over a lot of rocks. The second half of the trail is occasionally marked with a white stripe painted on the rocks, the direction showing the path to and from the area. The entire journey will take 20-30 minutes. You’ll pass at least five pools on the way – some look very inviting, some look like they belong on another planet. Ignore all of them until you get to the Aquarium itself. You’ll know you’re there if you can turn around and see a large light-colored vertical stripe on a rock behind you. Ahead of you is an area with very clear water (3 to 4 feet deep) over hundreds of small smooth rocks that serves as the entrance to the Aquarium. Snorkeling was excellent. Good visibility, lots of fish. It’s a pretty big area, most of it protected from the surf, so its fairly calm. And did I mention it has lots of fish?!

Haleakala: Because we have such an aversion to waking up early, we decided to check out the sunset rather than the sunrise. It was cool up there, but we didn’t wear half of the cold-weather clothes that we brought. My wife and I wore shorts, t-shirts, and a light jacket, and we weren’t uncomfortable at all. The sunset itself, descending into a blanket of clouds, was a beautiful sight, and well worth the fairly long drive up and down the volcano.

Maui Prince Luau: This was our first luau, although we pretty well knew what to expect. We weren’t interested in driving all the way to Lahaina for this type of event, so we thought that this one was as good as any in the Wailea area. We paid an extra $7 per person for the preferred seating, and don’t regret it. We got to bypass the long line of “regular” people waiting to get in, we were seated at the very front, had an unobscured view, and we were amongst the first to be allowed to head for the food area. The food was acceptable, as was the entertainment. The mai tais were weak, of course, but that didn’t stop me from drinking lots of them. The kids enjoyed the experience. And then it was only a five minute drive to return to the condo. All in all, I’d recommend it for those who don’t need the absolute best luau – just one that’s nice, well-organized, and lets you say that you’ve been there, done that.

Trilogy to Lana’i: As others on the TA boards have mentioned, this is not the trip to Lana’i that you want to take if all you’re interested in is snorkeling. Trilogy provides a much broader experience. And while it aint cheap, we certainly feel like we got our money’s worth. The trip to and from the island was very relaxing and peaceful (until we decided to sit on the front trampolines on the way back, and then it was just a blast getting sprayed by intermittent bursts of water - the kids really liked that part). The crew was very friendly, informative, and accommodating. They do indeed try to feed you the entire time, from pineapple juice on boarding, to deli-style sandwiches for lunch, to a barbecue chicken dinner on the island, to ice cream sundaes on the way back. As a vegetarian, I was very appreciative of the extra effort they took to provide me with veggie burgers and a noodle dish prepared w/o oyster sauce. The wife and kids thought the chicken was excellent. At Hulopo’e Beach, they provided snorkeling equipment, and insisted that we either wear a ski belt or a snorkeling vest (for insurance purposes). The vest (uninflated) wasn’t too bad – once you’re in the water, you barely know its there. The snorkeling conditions were only fair – we took the sunset tour, so we didn’t get to the beach until around noon, and by then the sand was kicking up a bit. The earlier trip probably has better snorkeling, but then who wants to get up and drive from Kihei to Lahaina by 6:00 in the morning? Not us. Anyway, the snorkeling at Hulopo’e Beach wasn’t bad by any means - we just had awesome experiences at Honolua Bay and the Aquarium that jaded us a bit for the Lana’i trip. Actually, I think the snorkeling in front of the Mana Kai was at least as good as what we saw on Lana’i. The van tour of the island was fascinating. It’s a very interesting community there – a very small town feel, surrounded by several luxury hotels. There’s an incredible sense of isolation there. On the way back to Lahaina, the crew stopped in several locations, looking for turtles. Once we found the right spot, we could see turtles in various places, their head and shells popping up all around us. All in all, a great trip. Highly recommended.

Roaches: Never saw one. Not in the condo. Not in the car. Yeah!!!

Gas: When we left, $3.19 per gallon for regular unleaded. Yikes!

All in all, we had a great time, and don%26#39;t regret any of the things we did, and really don%26#39;t regret not doing some of the things we%26#39;d considered. We did half the road to Hana and that was fine with us. So, we%26#39;ve left some activities for our next trip to Maui, one we%26#39;re sure to plan in the not too distant future.

Steve

Trip Report - Mana Kai, Aquarium, Haleakala, Trilogy, and...

Thanks, Steve. Awesome report. I never fail to learn new things by reading posts by considerate forum members like you. This one is especially good.

Trip Report - Mana Kai, Aquarium, Haleakala, Trilogy, and...

';We also enjoyed watching the local lads do their version of boogie-boarding.';

Are you perhaps referring to skimboarding? Did they run into the surf and stand on their board, a flat oval-shaped wooden board? If so, that is skimboarding and the skimmers at Makena are some of the best you%26#39;ll find anywhere. Kaikane, my other half, is out there everyday with the young%26#39;un%26#39;s, skimmin%26#39; and showing them how it%26#39;s really done! Of course, he doesn%26#39;t get air like he used to, back in his hana bada days! hehe He is one of the original Maui Skimmers, and has been out at Big Beach most everyday for the past 30 some years, and he has the scars to prove it.

You said - ';Haleakala: Because we have such an aversion to waking up early, we decided to check out the sunset rather than the sunrise. It was cool up there, but we didn’t wear half of the cold-weather clothes that we brought.';

Like you we too are not ';morning people';... what time was sunset and how soon did you have to arrive at Haleakala?

rothea, thanks for the kinds words. I%26#39;m very happy to share what we encountered on our trip. It keeps the memories alive!

kaiwahine, we did see several skimboarders at Big Beach, but the kids (teenagers, maybe 15, 16 years old), were definitely using boogie boards, and they weren%26#39;t standing on them. They were doing complete flips in the air off of the waves. Never seen anything like it before. They weren%26#39;t always successful, however, and some of their wipeouts were quite spectacular.

RayMcCoy, we arrived at the Haleakala summit later than we should have. We didn%26#39;t realize that the late afternoon shadows would affect the views of the crater. We stopped at the Leleiwi Lookout at 6:11 p.m. (accurate time courtesy of the information stored with our digital photos!), but the shadows were clearly affecting the crater views. We reached the summit at 6:38 p.m. I started taking pictures of the sunset at 6:40 (the sun was just over the clouds). The last picture I took of the sunset (with the sun all but obscured by the clouds) was at 6:55. If we had arrived earlier, we would have had some less shadowy views of the crater and been able to hike some of the trails a bit. Although our crater photos are a bit lacking, we did arrive well in time to get some great shots of the sunset. By the way, the drive from Kihei took well over 2 hours, even with almost no traffic on Haleakala.

Steve

What an awesome report. So glad you like the condo. Yes, being ON the beach is so much better than being across from it, and for this condo%26#39;s price, you can%26#39;t go wrong. Keawakapu%26#39;s beach is one of the nicest around, but don%26#39;t tell anyone else ;)

I loved the rest of your trip report. This forum is fantastic for getting a sense of how things really are--from both a visitor%26#39;s standpoint and from a local%26#39;s view. Hopefully, others can benefit from your experience.

I%26#39;m glad you enjoyed Trilogy. We plan to take our third trip with them this January. Big beach is amazing too. And so close to Kihei. It lives up to it%26#39;s picture postcard expectation.

Thanks again for sharing.

Steve

What an awesome report. So glad you like the condo. Yes, being ON the beach is so much better than being across from it, and for this condo%26#39;s price, you can%26#39;t go wrong. Keawakapu%26#39;s beach is one of the nicest around, but don%26#39;t tell anyone else ;)

I loved the rest of your trip report. This forum is fantastic for getting a sense of how things really are--from both a visitor%26#39;s standpoint and from a local%26#39;s view. Hopefully, others can benefit from your experience.

I%26#39;m glad you enjoyed Trilogy. We plan to take our third trip with them this January. Big beach is amazing too. And so close to Kihei. It lives up to it%26#39;s picture postcard expectation.

Thanks again for sharing.

Great trip report. Sounds like you had fun.

Thanks for your reply. We look forward to visiting the crater as early as next week. Can%26#39;t wait!

HI, Steve,

I want to stay at the Mana Kai in 608? Can you forward me the email address of the owner so I can try and book? Thanks,

Kari

Steve,

Thank you for the report. I find it very useful and will definitely have to try some of the restaurants you mentioned. The Aquarium sounds like it is well worth the effort. What time did you get there and did you notice the wind and waves picking up later in the day?

Thanks.