hawaii
4 kid-friendly Maui hotels and resorts your family will love
One of the advantages of winning a trip to Maui was staying at four resorts. It was also the disadvantage. But despite being on-the-go every two nights, our nomadic lifestyle gave us the opportunity to visit various parts of the island and discover what properties worked best for us. Each was family-friendly but that was where the similarities stopped. Napili Kai Beach Resort was the most budget-friendly and had our favorite views. All of the accommodations at the Honua Kai Resort & Spa are luxury suites overlooking the world-famous North Kaanapali Beach. Travaasa’s experiential resort in remote Hana was dripping with beauty, relaxation and on-site activities. The Fairmont Kea Lani’s only all-suite and villa luxury oceanfront resort on the white sands of Wailea’s Polo Beach looked like...
Maui Family Travel: Day 7’s “Sunny” Wailea and a Luau Farewell
We spent our two final days playing in the pool and beach at the luxurious Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea. Located on the sun-kissed south shore of Maui, this unapologetically upscale resort community is famous for their crescent-shaped beaches and for having the most sunshine on Maui with less than 10 inches of annual rainfall. Of course, it rained much of the time we were there. Wailea Coastal Walk. On our final morning, I went on a sunrise run on this popular boardwalk past five white sand beaches, eight world-class resorts and three islands (Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Molokini, the tiny, partially sunken volcanic crater between Maui and Kahoolawe). This 1.5-mile trail was well-maintained and the scenery stunned. Hawaiian Canoe Experience. While the boys snorkeled in Polo Beach’s cle...
Maui Family Travel: Days 5 & 6 The Road to Hana and Maui’s best secret
Day 5—The Road to Hana Me: “My goal on the road to Hana is to hike to a waterfall and eat a lot of fruit from the fruit stands.” Jamie (driver): “My goal is to not throw up or kill anyone.” Driving the 52-mile serpentine road along Maui’s rugged northeastern coastline to Hana was a divisive issue. Some told us “it’s pretty but after you’ve seen one waterfall you’ve seen them all” while others touted Hana as the last of Hawaii’s unspoiled frontiers. Our conclusion: if you love the remote and don’t mind hairpin turns and one-lane bridges, you will love Hwy. 36’s stunning seascapes, taro patches waterfalls, botanical gardens and verdant rainforests. With our guidebook Maui Revealed in hand, we had our route mapped out and planned to hike to a few lesser-known waterfalls. We quickly real...
Maui Family Travel–Your guide to 7 days in paradise!
Shortly after touching down at the Kahului, Maui airport, my 7-year-old son Bode squealed, “Pinch me. Is this a dream?” It sure felt like one. A few months prior, I had won our trip to paradise through the Maui Convention and Visitor’s Bureau in what they deemed was “the best reaction we’ve ever received” (think: the next contestant on the Price is Right). As the second largest in the Hawaiian Islands, Maui’s geography is a lesson in diversity. High-altitude mountains topping out at over 10,000 feet, dazzling white, black and red sand beaches, the gloriously remote Hana and the famous road to get there are a few reasons why Maui was voted the “Best Island” by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler for 19 years. Upon arriving at our hotel Napili Kai Beach Resort at dusk, we hit the beach. The 3...
“I’M GOING TO MAUI!”–When you win your dream vacation
A funny thing happened four years ago when I was selected as the grand prize winner of Microsoft Office’s nationwide contest to be their accredited blogger at the 2010 Vancouver Games: I started to think like a winner. B.O. (Before Olympics), my contest batting average stunk. When I’d enter to win something, I’d just assume I wouldn’t win and I never did. A.O. (Après Olympics) when I’d enter to win something, I’d assume I would win. I’d like to call this a winning mentality but here’s the thing: I haven’t won anything since then so I have been more of a one-hit wonder, “I-think-I’m-a-winner-but-have-loser-tendencies-type person.” Until last week.
Snorkeling Through the Unexpected Waves of Panic
Yes, it’s March in Colorado, which means we’re in the midst of what is typically our snowiest month of the year. But, because it’s Colorado, it may be in the 60s and Sunny! Or not! Either way, I keep thinking back to our trip to Hawaii in October and dreaming a little. I just can’t help myself. Photo of me, snorkeling. We brought our new fancy-schmancy underwater camera on this trip, and we had a ton of fun playing with it! I’ll spare you the hundreds of snorkeling photos and videos. You’re welcome. As you can see by that photo, one of the things I couldn’t wait to do while in Hawaii was go snorkeling. I’ve never gone before, and it sounded like so much fun! Because the name of the game was Relaxation, we were pretty chill about when we were ...
