Our Honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii

We stayed 2 nights at the Kapalua Villas in Kapalua with a golf course / ocean view and 3 nights at the Embassy Suites, Kaanapali in a deluxe ocean front suite.

May 1998 - On our first day in Maui, we took a sunset dinner cruise of Lahaina and of West Maui. The sailboat we were on was an average size boat, holding about 45 people. The cruise itself was about 2 hours and we had a buffet style dinner on board. We listened to live entertainment aboard and just enjoyed the beautiful sunset as we cruised around West Maui and over towards the Wailea area. The weather was warm but with a very cool breeze. Amazing enough, I didn't get seasick! <laugh> On the return trip back to the harbor, we passed by 2 very large Navy ships that were anchored off the coast of Lahaina. The town of Lahaina is a site in itself! People gather here nightly to go shopping, listen to street vendors play music, browse the many galleries and specialty shops and eat at some of the best restaurants. Our personal favorite restaurant was one right on the main street ( Front Street ) called Longhi's.  A family owned restaurant with the best views, food and service.

They served Italian dishes, as well as good ole American dishes. For breakfast we were amazed at the extra "large" bagels served with a 1/4 inch thick slice of cream cheese, a 1/4 inch thick sliced tomato and sweet Maui onion, and some of the best Kona coffee I've ever tasted! The view from Longhi's. was the view of Lahaina harbor and Front street. Parking was limited around there but once we found a place, we walked all up and down Front street and enjoyed the night life and shopping.

Haleakula Downhill Bike Tour

We decided we wanted to take this bike tour ( 28 miles downhill ) on Mt. Haleakula volcano crater. The tour started after we met at the companies headquarters about an hour from the crater at 3:00am. That's why they called it the "Sunrise" tour. By the time we got our gear ( plastic raincoats with the pants and jacket, gloves and helmet ) and got fitted for our mountain bikes, we drove up to the top of the crater in a van with about 8 people. Although it was way to foggy to see the sunrise ( now I know WHY they had us put on the rain gear, with all the fog and water it was lightly raining and very COLD too ) Then they explained a few safety features, and precautions, wished us all a good trip and led us the way down. Now I haven't ridden a bike in 15 years, going downhill at 45 miles an hour, winding back and forth through hairpin turns, overlooking a beautiful mountain with steep cliffs and narrow roads shared with oncoming traffic was pretty scary. Riding downhill so fast and keeping focused on the road and not hitting the "front" brakes was tricky. About half way down we decided to stop for breakfast, as many of the other riders had done the same. We had some delicious Portuguese sausages for breakfast in a charming lodge type of restaurant. Again, the view was spectacular. Haleakala National Park is Maui's main natural attraction. Just going up the mountain is quite an experience, let alone biking down! Nowhere else can you climb from sea level to 10,023' in less than an hour. At the summit, the 3,000' deep crater you peer down into is 7 miles long, 2 miles wide and 21 miles in circumference.  Big enough to contain all of Manhattan!

Again, the view from so far up was spectacular.  Not many places where you can say you rode down a volcano crater, and LIVED to tell about it.  Then we made a leisurely stroll back down ( about as leisurely as you can go at 45 miles an hour ) and passed a few towns, cows on the side of the road grazing and many shops.  All in all, it was definitely an experience.  We both made it down without any accidents!  <laugh> This is one of the number one attractions in Maui.  People come all over the world to bike downhill at Haleakula. 

Snorkeling @ Turtle Town in Kihei

We originally were supposed to go snorkeling at the Molokini crater, which is an underwater volcano crater with just parts of the crater showing above the water, but the winds were too rough and the waves too choppy so our boat tour guide took about 40 of us to an area outside of Kihei called Turtle Town.  There we swam and snorkeled with the large sea turtles that are habitants of the very warm waters there.  We saw quite a few of them and lots of brightly colored fishes swimming about.  The sea's were still a little choppy there but apparently not quite as bad as the Molokini crater.  We had lunch aboard the ship and ended the cruise by sailing towards West Maui and back to the harbor.

Royal Lahaina Luau

On the grounds of the Royal Lahaina Resort, Hawaiian royalty once came to relax and commune with their gods, feasting and dancing in a royal village named Kulana Kahiko, or "The Ancient Place." During the nightly luau, guests are transported to bygone days, when the great kings of Maui came to Kaanapali for renewal of body and spirit.  Each evening at sunset, they greet guests with a traditional shell lei and an open bar, which serves standard cocktails, beer, wine, soda and fruit punch from the opening of the gates until the conclusion of the show. Guests are invited to gather while our cooks present an authentic Imu (underground oven) ceremony, where the evening's main course, Kalua Pig, is unearthed. ( not quite how I imagined seeing my "dinner"   Following an all-you-can-eat buffet, their dynamic Polynesian revue features song and dance performances retelling the many stories of Hawaii, Tahiti and Samoa.  A heart-stopping fireknife dance highlights the celebration...  The food was plentiful and the entertainment was good, although it seemed more like a Las Vegas show than what we imagined a Hawaiian Luau to be.  But then again, I can imagine how difficult it can be to re-create one with Luau's being so much in demand for most first timers and seasoned Hawaii travelers.  There must have been at least 100 people in attendance.  From what we heard, the shows sell out pretty quick too!  For the most part, it was most entertaining and we had a good time.

We spent the rest of time driving around the island, looking at all the beautiful sights and enjoying the warm waters.   We saw a few waterfalls, a Red Cardinal bird, and enjoyed the worlds best sunsets.

Acknowledgements

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