Maui 2019

Waianapanapa State Park

Maui Feb 2019

One of the HK pools

This was a trip I had been hoping to take my parents on for many years as a ‘thank you’ for raising me and helping raise my kids. My mom in particular spends a lot of time and effort with my kids and just making our lives work. We traveled every year as kids so they’ve been to most of the continental US but neither had been to Hawaii so this was a one week trip to give them a feel for the state. It was my 2^nd time to Maui, and 4^th time to Hawaii. My 5 yo daughter has been with us to Kauai and this was my 1 year old son’s first time to Hawaii.

One of the HK Pools

Generally, with littles (<7 or so), I’d recommend Maui or Kauai as they are small and easy to navigate and there is plenty to do with kids without much driving. The Big Island is fantastic and we plan to return there next. I have never been to Oahu. For a one time (my parents) trip with littles too I felt Maui would be the best balance of all the great things Hawaii has to offer- beautiful beaches, nice weather, nature, national park, wildlife. 

We stayed at the Honua Kai (HK) in Ka’anapali. This is our 2^nd time at HK. Last trip I heavily researched other options. This time I did not as I’m convinced HK is the best place – huge beautiful lanais, amazing grounds and pools, obviously right on the water, new, well kept, great kitchens. This time we stayed in the Konea building. There are only a handful of two bedroom units directly on the water- the others are 3 bedrooms therefore more expensive. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Honua Kai.

View from our HK condo

Our focus is nature, outdoors, playing. I love good fresh local food but we end up cooking mostly for convenience and to not “waste” time sitting in restaurants. We usually eat lunch from a cooler on the road. So you won’t find many restaurant recommendations here other than Mama’s Fish House which is fantastic and on a lovely beach so consider that!

Winter storm winds!!

Thursday Day 1: ORD—Maui direct, United. Note no free food on plan despite a 9 hour flight. Our flights were 800, you can deals as good as 400 if you are flexible and diligent. Brought a cooler with lots of food onto the plan. Arrived around 5 pm, short drive to HK

Honokowai Beach Park

Friday Day 2: Getting acclimated, handling logistics, dealing with jet lag. 

The first day we went to the farmers market near Honokowai Beach Park to get stocked with groceries. The beach park is nice with a small playground. We then hung around HK and walked down the large Ka’anapali beach. One of the many advantages of HK is the long Ka’anapali beach and the boardwalk that extends a handful of miles along the ocean. The pools were enjoyed by all. There are a LOT of active humpback whales in the water right outside HK (best time Dec--> Feb) so you can spend hours just whale watching. BRING BINOCULARS!! 

Honokowai Beach Park

HK Beach

Ka'anapali Beach boardwalk

Ka'anapali Beach boardwalk-
you can see the winter storm winds!

Sliding Sands hike at Haleakala National Park

Saturday Day 3: Haleakala National Park 

Adam and I had been here before and honestly wouldn’t have “needed” to go a second time but we wanted my parents and Zooey to experience it. Getting there at sunrise was not important to us though would be easily doable for those coming from the Midwest- given the 4 hour time change the kiddos were up at 3 am anyway. You should go here at least once. It is a beautiful drive (about 2.5 hours from HK) and the summit is incredible. It is windy and cold (particularly so for us as they were having a record breaking Winter Storm including wind and snow (!!) that closed the park a few hours after we left). Bring hats and gloves in addition to a coat. The Sliding Sands hike is a nice easy one to get a sense of the place but be careful not to overdo it as you go down first and must then come back up. We stopped at the Kula Lodge rest area/store on the way back that had a nice area for kids to run around.












Sunday Day 4: Rainy Day

Was predicted to be rainy all morning so we headed to the Maui Ocean Center. This is a great rainy day activity. It was the day of a big humpback exhibit opening AND a weekend but it still handled the crowds well. There are so many things to do out IN nature on a nice day I wouldn’t come here unless raining but it is really well done. We had excellent food at the restaurant there for lunch. Then back to HK for swimming and a beach walk. 

Keawakapu Beach

Monday Day 5: Beach Day

We had a family photo shoot at the Lahaina Baby Beach. The baby beach is nice and certainly good for babies because the waves are low. The only reason I’d chose this beach though is the reliable safety and calm for littles, it's right in a residential neighborhood and nothing spectacular about it.

Keawakapu Beach

We then headed for a beach day at Keawakapu Beach which was great! Waves were small on the beach but got bigger and more fun (waist deep) as you moved out. Lots of interest with lava rock formations. For kids the Kalama Beach Park is a wonderful playground right nearby (driving) with Shave Ice nearby. Looked like there were walking paths and beach front there too but we didn’t explore beyond the playground. Lots of shade here which was nice for us pale creatures. 

Keawakapu Beach

Keawakapu Beach

We stopped at the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk in Maalaea on the way back to HK and this was fantastic. Perfectly safe for littles to run free on the short boardwalk with lots of cool birds as well as views of Haleakala (with snow on it at this point) and the ocean, even whales. I’d strongly recommend this if it works out timing wise for your crew but wouldn’t interrupt a kid car nap for it. 

Ke'anae Peninsula

Ke'anae Peninsula

Tuesday Day 6: Road to Hana

The Road to Hana is a must do…and do…and do. I would never skip this on a trip to Maui. I know others feel differently and you must prepare for the road, but there is so much to see and do on this road and it is so unique I will never skip this. Obviously I feel strongly about it as I brought my parents and my 1 yo on the road together in one car. I highly recommend the GYPSY GUIDES app for an audio tour.

The key with mixed ages especially littles is to start early and plan just a few stops and make other stops based on how the most high maintenance person (my 1 yo) is doing. Bring food so you are not required to stop for that. We did this in one day due to 7 day total trip time constraints and not wanting to pack up all our belongings and move lodging with so many people. And again, I was trying to give my parents a taste of the island. But if you have more time, or may be here again and can really soak things in I’d HIGHLY RECOMMEND staying 2 nights in Hana. That’s what we will do next time FOR SURE. Then you can spend a lot of time hiking and exploring Waianapanapa State Park and the pools that are just beyond Hana. If you are staying in Hana you don’t need to stop at Waianapanapa your first day – you can stop at other places on the road and save Waianapanapa for the next day as it deserves quite a bit of time. Consider this please!!

But given our constraint of going to and fro in 1 day from HK what we did worked out great and I’d recommend: 

Ka'anae Peninsula

--1^ststop Ke’anae Peninsula. If you have to stop before here the rest of this agenda might be too aggressive. Make sure to drive all the way to the end of the road to see all of it. You can easily spend 1 hour or more here. 

Ka'anae Peninsula

Ka'anae Peninsula

--2^ndstop Waianapanapa State Park. This place is so cool. Multiple walks/hikes, a black sand beach. I would have been happy to stay here for a few hours but we knew we had to get back to stayed about 1.5 hours. 

Waianapanapa State Park

Waianapanapa State Park

Waianapanapa State Park

Waianapanapa State Park

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3^rdstop- dictated by baby who was crying. I had a list of possible places to stop and this worked out. We hiked the nature trail at the Makawao Forest Reserve. I’d been here before and loved the hike. It didn’t disappoint this time. Unfortunately we had a bit of a potty related accident so this was cut short. Can be quite muddy but I’m assuming you all have hiking boots and clothes on so should be fine! I wouldn’t interrupt a car nap for a baby for this but I would (and did) interrupt a nap for my 5 yo because she’s an adaptable traveler and this is a really cool hike.

--(optional add'l stop): There is a big beach just near Paia where big wave surfers do their thing. We stopped here and watched last time but due to the Winter Storm the beach was closed. Would help break up the drive but wouldn’t interrupt a car nap for a baby. 

We grabbed pizza on the way back (from Pizza Paradisio don’t make that mistake, there are plenty of others in Lahaina to try!!). If you timed it out right and made reservations, you could stop at Mama's Fish House on the way back to HK.

Wednesday Day 7: Hodgepodge due to Winter Storm cancellations

Today was supposed to be paddling day. I was so excited to take my 5 yo paddling and snorkeling. This was a reschedule from a few days ago due to weather but the weather was still not accommodating so we had to cancelL We were going to use Maui Kayak Adventures and my experience with them on the administrative side was fantastic. We’ll try them again next time!!

Kapalua Coastal Trail

Since the paddle was disappointingly (though appropriately) cancelled we didn't see any sea animals up close in the wild. But thank goodness we could see so many humpbacks from our lanai at HK!! Instead of paddling we spent some time in the tide pool at Laniupoko Beach Park (nothing special, just convenient) waited out yet another storm at the beautiful HK with quick swims in b/t the rains and then went to the Kapalua Coastal Trail which was REALLY COOL and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Despite this being my 2^nd time here and this is just 10 min north of HK, I didn’t know about this neat boardwalk trail along the rocky coast line.

We ended up being in a downpour (thanks yet again Winter Storm) so scurried back, but I’d definitely come here again and would consider it a MUST DO. I’d recommend starting in between the two big beaches (DT Fleming and Kapalua) going to the Oneloa Bay (often with turtles) and the tide pools just south of Oneloa Bay.

Thursday Day 8: OGGà>ORD

Ke'anae Peninsula

We had a 5 pm flight so we spent the morning getting organized, walking on the beach and relaxing. We headed out at 11 am (checkout) and planned to go to the Iao State Park however it was nastily raining up there. So we headed for the Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary in Kihei which was really fantastic!! They have packed a LOT of multi age appropriate hands on items in this small facility. And we finally saw turtles! This is a great little stop no matter the weather to get the kids out and playing. Good for adults too! 

What I would do differently if we didn’t have such bad luck with the weather!!! 

--Kayaking, was awesome a few years back and would have been so awesome againL

--Whale watching tour if didn’t have a one year old. Knew he would require lots of attention that would detract from the whale watching for the adults. 

--Hike the Kapalua Coastal Trail 

--Go to Ioa State Park

Additionally, I already mentioned but you really should just stay in Hana for a couple nights!

What I will definitely do again:

--Stay at HK, love that place. Nothing beats whale watching from your lanai!

--Road to Hana no matter the challenges or constraints.