Guest post by csamek
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Our family stayed at the Sheraton in Kaanapali, beautiful. This is a great area to stay (northwest part of the island), lots of lodging options.
Days 1-3
We mostly stayed around the resort to relax and adjust to the time difference. There are multiple pools, bars, and restaurants so there is plenty to do. Hank’s Haute Dogs was one of the restaurants that is pretty well known but is closed as of this writing.
Day 4: Molokini Crater snorkeling tour
We booked a snorkeling tour with Pride of Maui to go to Molokini Crater. This is one of the best areas to snorkel around the island and there are lots of turtles around. It’s near the southwest part of the island. Pride of Maui were great, breakfast and lunch were included and we were really impressed with what they provided.
Day 5
Spent most of the day around the resort, but went to Mama’s Fish House for dinner. Best meal of my life, stuffed Mahi Mahi. It is on the Hana Highway, beautiful view. Lots of people do the Road to Hana and eat there afterwards.
Day 6
Tried to eat at The Gazebo for breakfast, didn’t get in. Crazy long line. Went to Aloha Mixed Plate, perfectly enjoyable and also right on the water. Tried the poi parfait, which is considered a delicacy, but didn’t live up to the hype.
Lahaina Pizza Company for dinner – very good deep dish pizza.
Day 7: The Road to Hana
We rented 2 convertibles from Budget. Downloaded the app “Road to Hana” and opted to do it ourselves, which worked out fine. We weren’t blown away by the Road to Hana, to be honest. It’s a 10-12 hour day, but a couple of the stops were closed. Gorgeous views but I think it’s worth doing your research to know which stops you really want to see, because not all of them seemed worth it. Definitely stop at Wai’anapanapa State Park to see the black sand beach and blowhole. Also the restaurants at the top of the mountain. It starts in Paia, which is on the north shore, and goes east to Hana, which is almost the furthest point east on the island.
Day 8
Hung around the resort and ate at the Hula Grille in Whaler’s Village – highly recommend. Great seafood and have to try the Hula Pie (giant ice cream dessert with macadamia nuts). Whaler’s Village is right by the resort and has a ton of shopping and restaurants.
My parents went on a sunset cruise and got to see whales, dolphins, sea turtles. We ate dinner at Monkey Pod – gastropub, great food and drinks near the beach.
Day 9
- Black Rock
- Paddleboarding
- Luau
My husband and I were supposed to do the Haleakala National Park sunrise tour, but I was sick so we couldn’t do it. Very disappointed, but do it if you can. We did see it from the Road to Hana, so at least I got to see it.
Black Rock is on Kaanapali Beach, right by the Sheraton. Lots of people jump off it into the water. Our family did it and thought it was awesome. I rented a paddleboard and went out in the ocean, the water was really clear and I got to see more turtles.
At night we went to the Sheraton Luau – right on the water and really well done. Food was great (didn’t kill the pig in front of us, which I appreciated). Had the dancers and fire breathers, great way to spend our last night on the island.
Day 10
Stayed at resort until checkout, headed to airport for afternoon flight.
I would go back to Maui. We took a more leisurely approach and didn’t have a set-in-stone itinerary which worked out great for us. Don’t be discouraged if you see rain in the forecast, which we were. Only had one day where the rain was an issue, otherwise it was only short spells.
Traveled in March 2018
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