Maui Wow - Part 1: The Beachcombers
Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii - I’ve heard the ukelele siren song for so damn long it’s almost an unfulfillable fantasy by now. But the islands have called to me for decades, and I was thrilled when Beaumark planned to take me there for my birthday in Twenty Twelve.
It’s hard to believe Kelly and I never managed to get to Hawaii when we were together - we dreamed about it endlessly - but by coincidence or not, she finally made it there this past December. I heard such great tales and saw such fun photos of her time on Kauai that I wanted to go there, too - - except that I saw and heard so much, I felt as if I’d practically been there. So instead I chose Maui for my first Hawaiian adventure ... and now I have to wonder if I didn’t similarly over-plan and over-imagine things to death.
Because I researched and planned and infamously concocted an actual tabbed book of places to see, things to do, whats to eat, and more. In this case, the best laid plans turned out to be a fantastic boon - and I don’t really think I spoiled myself in looking too close at Maui before I got there.
Still, the island took a while to get under my skin. When going from one bucolic tropic region to another bucolic tropic region, the differences can be a little vague to pin down. Was the atmosphere more golden? The beaches more silky? The sunsets more pure?
I dunno. I live in L.A. We have beaches and warm temperatures and palm trees and pretty sunsets.
Ok, but - it was undeniable from the outset the ocean was a rare and wonderful color. A series of colors in fact, shifting from shades of green and blue and even lavender. The ocean was gorgeous. And perhaps nowhere better visible than from our wonderful room on the top floor of the Westin Maui. Very high style digs.
Oh yeah, our travel to get there was typical Beaumark wonderful. Little boxes of chocolates in hand, his pal at American got us into the Admiral’s Club for a nosh before take-off.
Our exit row seats provided comfy leg room for us tall gents, and close-up relations to get friendly with the flight crew during take-off. My enthusiasm for my first trip to Hawaii got me a free cocktail “voucher” - which actually turned into two rounds of gratis libations for both Beaumark and me.
A few well-placed chocolates shared among the flight crew also got us our choice of second movie feature and a bottle of champagne for the road ... which we hit running in our rented Mustang convertible.
It was all a perfect prelude to our stunning hotel. The Westin Maui is a throwback to an earlier era of Hawaiian Grandeur. They just don’t do it like this any more. And though newer luxury hotels are very nice, they lack the glitz and kitsch of earlier times. The curvy Ocean Tower and newer Beach Tower are perfect mid-century beach resort buildings.
The tropical wonderland created between them is a Hawaiian Fantasy World of waterfalls, grotto pools, koi ponds, flamingo lakes, and tiki huts that reeks of the 80’s - but I’d hate to have it any other way.
Best of all, Starwood has not let the place go to seed. The grounds and public spaces are lovingly maintained. The rooms are overdue for a little freshening up (and are scheduled for that soon) ... but we couldn’t have been happier with our clever advance arrangements for a top-floor room with a Hawaiian view to die for.
Beachcombing was the first order of the day - and before we were lulled into pretty much sticking with the best beach on the island which just happened to be four footsteps from our hotel - we ventured a little further afield to the shores of South Maui - which also has beautiful beaches, but the ocean’s reputation is a little rougher there.
There are about a dozen cool beaches down south, but we narrowed it down to four we’d personally comb. Makena Landing is a craggy little bay with lots of character. Tiny beach, but picturesque as you could hope to find.
The teeny beach was not a beachcombing fail. We were both happy with our first “beach.”
Keawakapu Beach. is a lovely spot. One of the most rad things about Maui shores is other Hawaiian islands on the horizon for beautifying the ocean views. Lanai and Molokai from our home base in West Maui. And here in the south, Kaho’olawe and - most graundeuristically, West Maui itself - not really another Island, but part of our same one, yet rising gloriously out of the sea as viewed from the south shores.
Maui, you see, is formed by two rising sea volcanoes separated by a narrow peninsula. Pu’u Kukui is the older one, rising in the west. Haleakala - (House of the Sun) - is the newer and - in our age - far more massive peak dominating all of East Maui. But the volcano and the eastern island are goals for later. Now for more beach.
Big Beach is, as the name implies, the biggest beach on Maui. Also the most crowded beach we saw, and with the most beautiful water.
There were some really rad trick boogie boarders and a fun shaggy dog. I was too slow to catch the boogie action on video, but Beaumark never misses a beat to whisper to a canine pal.
We were running low on juice by then, so we never made it further south. And it will have to wait till next time to check out Little Beach - reportedly popular with nudists and gays, and gay nudists. Also Ahihi Keanu, one of the best snorkeling spots. I narrowed it down from about 15 great snorkel places to 3 or 4 I’d like to explore, but we never even managed that many. And we could not manage to go on for another moment without refueling - so it was off to the Monkeypod Kitchen in Wailea for a lunch break.
My foodie research started to pay off immediately. I’d been told not to expect great dining on Maui, but that was clearly not the case if you do your homework. A terrific Hamakua wild mushroom pizza and an awesomely yummy Saimin noodle dish with Kalua pork in a Dashi soy broth were ravenously enjoyed in the fun and funky environment of the Monkeypod.
Afterwards, we had time for one more south shore beach, and it’s a beauty. Wailea Bay is as dandy a beach as you could ever wish for, folks.
Surfboards at the ready, loungers perfectly positioned, palm trees properly swaying and stunning views make for an idyllic beach experience to be sure. And already I started to notice one great boon Hawaii’s tropical paradise had over the one I happen to live in ... Dramatic Cloud Skies at all hours of the day and night.
So, as you can see and must certainly have imagined, there’s no shortage of lovely beach settings and beautiful bays on Maui. The south shore is the island’s other big resort zone, and is less removed from such real civilization as exists on Maui than the very isolated West shore, where we were staying. “Real” is a subjective term, since - with the sugarcane industry on its last legs - 90% of the citizenry of Maui work in the tourist trade. But South Maui is near the real towns of Kihea and Kahului, and is pretty centrally located to all the touring adventures you’d want to have. West Maui is very isolated and relatively remote. A lone road, the beautifully named Honoapalini Highway, stretches out past half an hour of lovely ocean views before it reaches the only town on that part of the Island, historic Lahaina Town - and only then reaches the first-ever Maui resort area of Ka’anapali before heading off to the newer and grander resort zone at Kapalua - as the coastline gets rough and rocky around the northern headlands.
And along that rugged coast are another series of beautiful bays.
Here at Kapalua, another resort area has grown ... and just as with Wailea and Makena in the south, these new resorts zones are dotted with hi-brow joints like the Four Seasons and Ritz Carleton. The thing I noticed about these new resorts though, while they are gorgeously landscaped and serenely lovely - they are also tropically generic - and could be in the Caribbean or along the coast of Java or a dozen other vacation hot spots.
I much preferred Ka’anapali. There’s a reason this was Maui’s first resort area - it’s the best beach on the island. The hotels are older, and some showing their age a bit. But the vibe is a slightly more cheeky Hawaiian style that I guess has duly gone out of style - but as long as it hasn’t gone sour, THAT’S the kind of style I want on my Hawaiian Fantasy Vacation.
Tropical jungle birds? We got ‘em.
Flamingos? We got plenty.
Black Swan and Koi Fish? Yep, those, too.
Grottos and waterfalls? Of course.
Tiki Huts? ‘Natch.
Tourists in tacky Hawaiian shirts and lei’s? Yep, we’ve got ‘em.
Somehow the grounds managed to be beautiful instead of just kitchy. Cascading waters and swaying palm trees, tropical flowers and greenery, lots of animal statues and living animals, and the requisite touches of tiki.
And a beautiful series of swimming pools overlooking the ocean just a few yards away, with waterfalls to play in and grotto caves to swim through, and a really killer water slide to careen down again and again.
Perhaps my favorite thing about the hotel was the lack of anything truly “Indoors.” The lobby and public spaces seemed like normal hotel stuff by looking in one direction. But in the other, everything is open to the outdoor ponds and waterfall rocks and garden walks. You never actually went “inside” to get to the elevators or the gym or the concierge. It was a very Hawaiian feeling of open.
And the meandering walkway lining the beach led to many other local pleasures. Down south, more tiki fun ....
.... and as the beach grows narrow, the lawns stretch almost to the sea. Very relaxifying.
In fact, hammocks beckon for mandatory Hawaiian relaxation
Up at the north end of the beach, the beautiful Black Rock harbors a protected coral ledge of undersea delights. Beautiful snorkeling within easy walking distance. Fantastic.
Oh, and every night at sunset, the traditional cliff dive still happens here - handed down from the days of King Kehekili, the last king of Maui.
Right next door to our hotel is the Whaler’s Village, a nice collection of shops and restaurants. In fact, we never ate at our hotel - but ventured five steps further to the shoreline lounges at the next-door Village. The Barefoot Bar is a fun place with real sand floors and beautiful drinks, but the food was meh. We much preferred Leilani’s - which had delicious mai tai’s, live music enjoyed by an enthusiastic crowd, and amazingly delicious Happy Hour crab cake sliders and pulled pork sliders. Droool.
As the sun began to fall, the beauty of the island rose to meet it.
Boats came in to land right on the beach.
Tiki torches were lit.
Chairs were set for sunset shore dining.
Romance was in the air.
Lovers waded into the surf.
And the sun dips into the Pacific between island gems set in a tranquil sea amidst glowing orange clouds.
I am happy with Hawaii.
More to come ....
It’s hard to believe Kelly and I never managed to get to Hawaii when we were together - we dreamed about it endlessly - but by coincidence or not, she finally made it there this past December. I heard such great tales and saw such fun photos of her time on Kauai that I wanted to go there, too - - except that I saw and heard so much, I felt as if I’d practically been there. So instead I chose Maui for my first Hawaiian adventure ... and now I have to wonder if I didn’t similarly over-plan and over-imagine things to death.
Because I researched and planned and infamously concocted an actual tabbed book of places to see, things to do, whats to eat, and more. In this case, the best laid plans turned out to be a fantastic boon - and I don’t really think I spoiled myself in looking too close at Maui before I got there.
Still, the island took a while to get under my skin. When going from one bucolic tropic region to another bucolic tropic region, the differences can be a little vague to pin down. Was the atmosphere more golden? The beaches more silky? The sunsets more pure?
I dunno. I live in L.A. We have beaches and warm temperatures and palm trees and pretty sunsets.
Ok, but - it was undeniable from the outset the ocean was a rare and wonderful color. A series of colors in fact, shifting from shades of green and blue and even lavender. The ocean was gorgeous. And perhaps nowhere better visible than from our wonderful room on the top floor of the Westin Maui. Very high style digs.
Oh yeah, our travel to get there was typical Beaumark wonderful. Little boxes of chocolates in hand, his pal at American got us into the Admiral’s Club for a nosh before take-off.
Our exit row seats provided comfy leg room for us tall gents, and close-up relations to get friendly with the flight crew during take-off. My enthusiasm for my first trip to Hawaii got me a free cocktail “voucher” - which actually turned into two rounds of gratis libations for both Beaumark and me.
A few well-placed chocolates shared among the flight crew also got us our choice of second movie feature and a bottle of champagne for the road ... which we hit running in our rented Mustang convertible.
It was all a perfect prelude to our stunning hotel. The Westin Maui is a throwback to an earlier era of Hawaiian Grandeur. They just don’t do it like this any more. And though newer luxury hotels are very nice, they lack the glitz and kitsch of earlier times. The curvy Ocean Tower and newer Beach Tower are perfect mid-century beach resort buildings.
The tropical wonderland created between them is a Hawaiian Fantasy World of waterfalls, grotto pools, koi ponds, flamingo lakes, and tiki huts that reeks of the 80’s - but I’d hate to have it any other way.
Best of all, Starwood has not let the place go to seed. The grounds and public spaces are lovingly maintained. The rooms are overdue for a little freshening up (and are scheduled for that soon) ... but we couldn’t have been happier with our clever advance arrangements for a top-floor room with a Hawaiian view to die for.
Beachcombing was the first order of the day - and before we were lulled into pretty much sticking with the best beach on the island which just happened to be four footsteps from our hotel - we ventured a little further afield to the shores of South Maui - which also has beautiful beaches, but the ocean’s reputation is a little rougher there.
There are about a dozen cool beaches down south, but we narrowed it down to four we’d personally comb. Makena Landing is a craggy little bay with lots of character. Tiny beach, but picturesque as you could hope to find.
The teeny beach was not a beachcombing fail. We were both happy with our first “beach.”
Keawakapu Beach. is a lovely spot. One of the most rad things about Maui shores is other Hawaiian islands on the horizon for beautifying the ocean views. Lanai and Molokai from our home base in West Maui. And here in the south, Kaho’olawe and - most graundeuristically, West Maui itself - not really another Island, but part of our same one, yet rising gloriously out of the sea as viewed from the south shores.
Maui, you see, is formed by two rising sea volcanoes separated by a narrow peninsula. Pu’u Kukui is the older one, rising in the west. Haleakala - (House of the Sun) - is the newer and - in our age - far more massive peak dominating all of East Maui. But the volcano and the eastern island are goals for later. Now for more beach.
Big Beach is, as the name implies, the biggest beach on Maui. Also the most crowded beach we saw, and with the most beautiful water.
There were some really rad trick boogie boarders and a fun shaggy dog. I was too slow to catch the boogie action on video, but Beaumark never misses a beat to whisper to a canine pal.
We were running low on juice by then, so we never made it further south. And it will have to wait till next time to check out Little Beach - reportedly popular with nudists and gays, and gay nudists. Also Ahihi Keanu, one of the best snorkeling spots. I narrowed it down from about 15 great snorkel places to 3 or 4 I’d like to explore, but we never even managed that many. And we could not manage to go on for another moment without refueling - so it was off to the Monkeypod Kitchen in Wailea for a lunch break.
My foodie research started to pay off immediately. I’d been told not to expect great dining on Maui, but that was clearly not the case if you do your homework. A terrific Hamakua wild mushroom pizza and an awesomely yummy Saimin noodle dish with Kalua pork in a Dashi soy broth were ravenously enjoyed in the fun and funky environment of the Monkeypod.
Afterwards, we had time for one more south shore beach, and it’s a beauty. Wailea Bay is as dandy a beach as you could ever wish for, folks.
Surfboards at the ready, loungers perfectly positioned, palm trees properly swaying and stunning views make for an idyllic beach experience to be sure. And already I started to notice one great boon Hawaii’s tropical paradise had over the one I happen to live in ... Dramatic Cloud Skies at all hours of the day and night.
So, as you can see and must certainly have imagined, there’s no shortage of lovely beach settings and beautiful bays on Maui. The south shore is the island’s other big resort zone, and is less removed from such real civilization as exists on Maui than the very isolated West shore, where we were staying. “Real” is a subjective term, since - with the sugarcane industry on its last legs - 90% of the citizenry of Maui work in the tourist trade. But South Maui is near the real towns of Kihea and Kahului, and is pretty centrally located to all the touring adventures you’d want to have. West Maui is very isolated and relatively remote. A lone road, the beautifully named Honoapalini Highway, stretches out past half an hour of lovely ocean views before it reaches the only town on that part of the Island, historic Lahaina Town - and only then reaches the first-ever Maui resort area of Ka’anapali before heading off to the newer and grander resort zone at Kapalua - as the coastline gets rough and rocky around the northern headlands.
And along that rugged coast are another series of beautiful bays.
Here at Kapalua, another resort area has grown ... and just as with Wailea and Makena in the south, these new resorts zones are dotted with hi-brow joints like the Four Seasons and Ritz Carleton. The thing I noticed about these new resorts though, while they are gorgeously landscaped and serenely lovely - they are also tropically generic - and could be in the Caribbean or along the coast of Java or a dozen other vacation hot spots.
I much preferred Ka’anapali. There’s a reason this was Maui’s first resort area - it’s the best beach on the island. The hotels are older, and some showing their age a bit. But the vibe is a slightly more cheeky Hawaiian style that I guess has duly gone out of style - but as long as it hasn’t gone sour, THAT’S the kind of style I want on my Hawaiian Fantasy Vacation.
Tropical jungle birds? We got ‘em.
Flamingos? We got plenty.
Black Swan and Koi Fish? Yep, those, too.
Grottos and waterfalls? Of course.
Tiki Huts? ‘Natch.
Tourists in tacky Hawaiian shirts and lei’s? Yep, we’ve got ‘em.
Somehow the grounds managed to be beautiful instead of just kitchy. Cascading waters and swaying palm trees, tropical flowers and greenery, lots of animal statues and living animals, and the requisite touches of tiki.
And a beautiful series of swimming pools overlooking the ocean just a few yards away, with waterfalls to play in and grotto caves to swim through, and a really killer water slide to careen down again and again.
Perhaps my favorite thing about the hotel was the lack of anything truly “Indoors.” The lobby and public spaces seemed like normal hotel stuff by looking in one direction. But in the other, everything is open to the outdoor ponds and waterfall rocks and garden walks. You never actually went “inside” to get to the elevators or the gym or the concierge. It was a very Hawaiian feeling of open.
And the meandering walkway lining the beach led to many other local pleasures. Down south, more tiki fun ....
.... and as the beach grows narrow, the lawns stretch almost to the sea. Very relaxifying.
In fact, hammocks beckon for mandatory Hawaiian relaxation
Up at the north end of the beach, the beautiful Black Rock harbors a protected coral ledge of undersea delights. Beautiful snorkeling within easy walking distance. Fantastic.
Oh, and every night at sunset, the traditional cliff dive still happens here - handed down from the days of King Kehekili, the last king of Maui.
Right next door to our hotel is the Whaler’s Village, a nice collection of shops and restaurants. In fact, we never ate at our hotel - but ventured five steps further to the shoreline lounges at the next-door Village. The Barefoot Bar is a fun place with real sand floors and beautiful drinks, but the food was meh. We much preferred Leilani’s - which had delicious mai tai’s, live music enjoyed by an enthusiastic crowd, and amazingly delicious Happy Hour crab cake sliders and pulled pork sliders. Droool.
As the sun began to fall, the beauty of the island rose to meet it.
Boats came in to land right on the beach.
Tiki torches were lit.
Chairs were set for sunset shore dining.
Romance was in the air.
Lovers waded into the surf.
And the sun dips into the Pacific between island gems set in a tranquil sea amidst glowing orange clouds.
I am happy with Hawaii.
More to come ....