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<p>We stayed at Kapalua, a resort area, which is about ten miles north of Lahaina. We rented a two-bedroom villa with water views. We needed to walk to the beach, but we had three beaches to choose from on the property. If you want more information on Kapalua, let me know; and yes, BB is correct; we were there for about ten days, including Christmas.</p>
<p>^ Ahhhh…terriwt…I have a condo at Kapalua on a 24 hour hold right now for a really really really good deal-- But after I started getting feedback about the West Maui weather yesterday, I got cold feet. Plus, it wasn’t clear to me how much trouble it was going to be to get to the beaches. Yes, please tell me your winter-weather experiences at Kapalua.</p>
<p>Our weather was fine. We were there for nine days. I think we had one partial day of rain. H encountered some rain one day when he went for a bike ride further up north and east of Kapalua, in an area that is more ‘rainforesty’ and expects more rain. We did a Christmas Eve sunset ‘booze cruise’ - basically it was about ten of us on a private sailboat - we had Mai Tais and saw a lot of whales. We also did a day of snorkeling where they take you off shore, close to another island; it was spectacular and plenty warm enough to do so. We also did the infamous ‘bike down Haleakala’ where we left our place around 2:30AM, to be transported up to the top of the mountain and be there at sunrise and ride down on provided bikes. On Christmas Day, we did the Road To Hana; thought we’d avoid some tourist traffic by doing it that day, but obviously others had the same idea! At one of our stops, H ran into a guy he works with in the parking lot. D2 and I also did a horseback ride in the mountains and along the beach north and west of Kahalui (I think this is the day H went for a 60-mile bike ride). We were plenty busy doing enough stuff that we only had about four or so real beach days, where all we did was hang out at the beach.</p>
<p>So the weather cooperated enough that we were able to squeeze in everything we wanted to do. Like I said, I only remember one partial day of rain… perhaps we got lucky?</p>
<p>One of the best pieces of information someone gave me about going to Maui, was, after landing in Kahului, stop at the Costco right there by the airport on the way to your destination (if you’re renting a condo/villa/townhouse, etc.), which is what we did. We didn’t eat out that much while we were there… maybe just a handful of times.</p>
<p>We almost went back to Maui again this year for Thanksgiving. D1’s alma mater, Syracuse is playing in a basketball tournament over the holiday in Lahaina. At the time when we checked into it, though, the only way you could get tickets to the tournament was if you stayed in one of the participating hotels in Lahaina. I got so spoiled by our experience at Kapalua (the beauty/remoteness, and kitchen in our place) that I voted the trip down (H kind of agreed with me). If I went back to Maui again, it would only be to stay at Kapalua. Well, I also saw no point in going to Hawaii over a holiday and spending a certain portion of it indoors watching basketball, even if it IS Syracuse!</p>
<p>^Thank you! Sounds like you did a lot of activities on the island. But, we’re hoping to spend most of our time in the water–snorkeling and maybe a little diving if I’m lucky. How was the beach and the surf? Did you guys get in the water much?</p>
<p>And to those of you Kihei fans–I’ve got probably 20 emails out to condo owners in that area now! There is more that satisfies our needs–2 bedrooms, a pool, AND a decent beach where I don’t have to walk across a busy road–than I thought there was. Thanks for all the suggestions.</p>
<p>^^ There are three different beaches to choose from (I forgot to mention the trails on resort available for hiking, too) and I know they were sort of rated from pretty smooth, to some really decent waves… but I can’t remember which beach was which. I’ll have to ask H when I see him tonight. H’s 50th birthday was in January after we returned, so I made a photo book (using my MacBook) of our trip from the pictures we took, captions and all and he loved it. I have to go out tonight, but tomorrow when I have time, I’ll look through that book and see what memories the pictures trigger for me and hopefully I will be able to give you some more information.</p>
<p>OK… I may have gotten the beach thing wrong… looks like there are two beaches and two bays. Will still ask H tonight when I get home, but in the meantime, if you haven’t already looked at this, it might explain them better:</p>
<p>[Beaches</a> | Kapalua Resort](<a href=“http://kapalua.com/activities/beaches]Beaches”>http://kapalua.com/activities/beaches)</p>
<p>Well I am also Maui bound in December, an island I have not yet been to, as lucky for me DH has a conference… and so we will be at the Hyatt Regency for about 5-6 days. I am hoping for good weather. Several years ago we attended same conference on the Big Island and there was a storm with torrential downpours and gale force winds so strong that people were advised to stay in their rooms away from the windows for several hours when the storm hit. We went again but the next time was in early January and had ideal weather so hard to know what to expect.<br>
Looking for restaurant recommendations for Lahaina?</p>
<p>Am glad you’re not considering Kailua!!!</p>
<p>[Investing</a>, personal finance and news videos ? MSN Money](<a href=“MSN”>MSN)</p>
<p>bookmama: YES, please!</p>
<p>OK…nevermind…YOU are looking for recommendations, not offering them. Sorry.</p>
<p>We haven’t been to Maui in several years, but we cooked our own meals and ate at Maui Tacos in Kihei a few times. It’s a very casual place, kind of like a local and smaller Chipotle. The food was good and affordable compared to other restaurants there. Lots of people pick up carry-out and go eat somewhere with a view. Looks like reviews are mixed. If you’re looking for authentic local food or fine dining, this is not the place for you though.</p>
<p>Not in Lahaina, but well with the drive: Mama’s Fish House and Duke’s.</p>
<p>Bookmama, the Swan Court buffet breakfast is excellent, as is the dinner buffet that is part of the Old Lahaina Luau. Not inexpensive options though. We also liked the Sea House in Napili Bay for breakfast. There’s a teeny establishment on Front Street in Lahaina that sells fudge where I would stop in again if I had the opportunity. :)</p>
<p>Per H, the Kapalua Bay is the one near Merriman’s restaurant; we saw people snorkeling and paddle boarding there, so the water was quite smooth; it’s a well-protected beach. We also went to D.T. Fleming beach, which is a state park that is just north of Kapalua resort; that beach definitely had waves. The third beach we went to was Oneloa Beach… it’s a fairly well-protected beach with just small waves. </p>
<p>How well you can access each of those beaches depends on where on the property you’re staying; it’s quite large! Like I said, we had a water view (we could see whales from our lanai), but were on the golf course, so the closest beach to us was about a five-minute walk. Obviously, the closer you get to the beach, the pricier your accommodations are going to be. Each beach has a parking area; sometimes we’d walk, sometimes we’d drive. We also had a small complex pool basically right out our patio door.</p>
<p>H also just confirmed, we didn’t have any rain while we were there (the partial day I mentioned must have been a figment of my imagination!) except when he was on his bike ride. </p>
<p>We ate at Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar on the last night we were there; it’s on the property. It was one of the best meals we had while there.</p>
<p>Yes, thanks all… I am looking for restaurant recommendations, not offering them. I do know that we are scheduled for the Luau at the Hyatt Regency for the first night which is supposed to be quite good. I never took advantage of the opportunity to do so when we were on the Big Island or in Honolulu so looking forward. We are not limited budget wise however we don’t like to tremendously overdo and expect to be reimbursed if we consistently go to the most expensive restaurants there are. We are adding the weekend in SF to break up the flight back east and also we haven’t been there in about 15 years or so… time for a return visit.</p>
<p>The Hale Mahina in Honokawai…near Lahaina. Older complex, but you can’t beat the daily swims with the turtles, and the lovely small private beach. Love this hidden gem!! Check out this condo : <a href=“http://www.vrbo.com/136091[/url]”>http://www.vrbo.com/136091</a></p>
<p>Thanks for posting this, Shellz. It’s interesting to me because I’m learning something new. I’ve never contacted or stayed at a VRBO. Love B&Bs. For the Maui trip I got a great deal booking a combined flight/hotel/car package, and the Hyatt resort is really nice, so, not surprisingly, I was very happy with how that turned out. It’s great to learn about additional options in the world of travel.</p>
<p>Back from our trip to Maui, which I really enjoyed although I do like the Big Island better. We were at the Hyatt Regency for DH’s conference and so one night we did do the luau there as part of an event. We also had dinner at Japengo’s which was lovely and I would recommend. We also had dinner at Roy’s one night and another night at the Hula Grill which was quite good. Enjoyed the Swan Court for breakfast especially when ordering ala carte as opposed to buffet. I took myself to breakfast one morning at Maui Fish & Pasta and we had another breakfast at Lulu’s in the Lahaina Cannery Mall. We did see all the restaurants in Lahaina that I had looked at but we never made it to Lahaina to dinner, nice to be able to walk to Hula Grill and to Roy’s after being out and about touring and doing a lot of driving. Only disappointment for me was the Road to Hana which I thought was pretty over-rated and took a really long time. We did see Mama’s Fish House on the way there and liked that area also. Mama’s Fish House was on the news as the #2 restaurant in the U.S.A for Open Table so not likely to be easy to get there anytime soon.</p>