2019 Maui---solo trip

2019 Maui  --- solo trip

Can't believe I'm back!  Can't believe I'm here by myself!   

2018 Maui

2018-1-25  through 2-22  Maui trip:

4 weeks in Maui!!!!  Longest we've ever vacationed in one spot.  I'm so anxious, I'm starting my blog a couple days early.  I'll get all the mundane stuff stuff out of the way:

Flights:  ATL-OGG
We're using award miles again.  This time we're using Alaska Airlines for our flights to OGG and AA for our flights back.  I booked the flights about 300 days out, knowing there would probably be changes before Jan. 25.  First one came while we were on vacation in S. Florida in May.  AA decided to eliminate our red eye flight out of OGG to LAX.  So they moved us up to a 2:30pm flight and changed our LAX - ATL flight to LAX - Charlotte (CLT) - ATL.  With an 8 hour layover in CLT!  I had to call twice before I got someone who could or would change the CLT flight to one with "just" a 1 1/2 hour layover.  Then in Nov.---while on an 11 night Caribbean cruise---our Alaska Airlines flight ATL - SEA got eliminated and we got an email telling us to call them.   So I called and they put us on a flight to SEA a day earlier and said they'll put us up in a hotel that night.  Then we would take our 10:30am SEA - OGG flight on the 25th.  So our really LONG travel day becomes 2 long travel days, but at least we don't have to get to the Atlanta airport by 4am!  As always, I kept checking our flights for better itineraries and/or seats.  On Jan. 20 AA put their non-stop LAX-ATL red eye on mile-saver award travel, so I was able to called and got us switched to that flight instead of LAX-CLT-ATL.  Now we'll get back into ATL about 7:30 am instead of noonish----just in time for the lovely Atlantic rush hour traffic!  As we're driving through the city to get to the north side I'll just keep reminding myself it's better then sitting in the Charlotte airport waiting for another flight!

Click on links below for photos and individual blog posts:

Accommodations --- Kahana Villas Resort and Worldmark Kihei

Car rental --- Nissan Pathfinder

Cameras this trip:  My Canon 60D DSLR with a Tamron 17-300mm zoom lens and a Tamron 150-600zoom lens (which I hoped to use for whale watching, but couldn't on the boat tours due to wet rides and the whales were too far from the beach to use it.  Only ended up using it to take pictures of the lunar eclipse.); and a TG-4 Olympus underwater camera. 

My Daily posts:

1-24-2018  Day -1 --- off to Seattle:

1-25-2-18  Day 2---SEA - OGG and settling in: 

1-26-2018  Day 3---snorkel Kahekili and Lahaina for sunset: 

1-27-2018  Day 4---snorkel Kapalua and Lahaina for sunset

1-28-2018  Day 5---Sea House breakfast, Napili bay, Kapalua snorkel, Kahana sunset, Lahaina 

1-29-2018  Day 6---the Fischers arrive!

1-30-2018  Day 7---trip up to the North/West side and the Super Blue Blood Moon:

1-31-2018  Day 8---snorkeling Kapalua with newbies

2-1-2018  Day 9---whale watching tour out of Lahaina 

2-2-2018  Day 10---move to the South side by way of Haleakala:  

2-3-2018  Day 11---checking out the high surf on the South side 

2-4-2018  Day 12---half the road to Hana

2-5-2018  Day 13---RAIN and Fischers leave

2-6-2018  Day 14---Oneuli whale watching and walking the Hoapili trail

2-7-2018  Day 15---a walk along the Wailea Walking Path 

2-8-2018  Day 16---snorkeling!  Kapalua and MM14

2-9-2018  Day 17---snorkeling Makena Landing 

2-10-2018 Day 18---snorkeling Ahihi and a walk along the path by Maluaka

2-11-2018 Day 19---snorkeling MM14 and sunset at Kam 1-2 

2-12-2018 Day 20---snorkeling Kam 3 and Po'olenalena

2-13-2018  Day 21---snorkeling Po'olenalena and The Dumps!

2-14-2018  Day 22---Valentine's Day Trilogy whale watching tour 

2-15-2018  Day 23---A rainy day, but a great sunset  

2-16-2018  Day 24---Kula Gardens, Hookipa turtles, Kam 1 sunset 

2-17-2018 Day 25---Snorkel Honolua!!!  and Kapalua, then off to Lahaina 

2-18-2018 Day 26---Water spout!  walking north of Kam 1 

2-19-2018 Day 27---Walk along the Kam beaches and disappearing ring

2-20-2018 Day 28---Snorkel Maluaka and Wailea

2-21-2018  Day 29---last day!!! So sad!

2-22 and 23-2018---heading home to ATL

Highlights and lowlights of this trip:  The biggest highlight was sharing vacation time with good friends for a week.  Biggest lowlight is apparently having my wedding ring stolen!  Another lowlight is my glasses disappearing in the ocean and having to get new ones made at LensCrafters.  Speaking of things disappearing---so did my hat!  Definitely too many lowlights!  Our trip ended with another highlight!---finding my assumed "stolen" ring! 

2016 Maui and Kauai

2016---Aug. 18 - Sept. 14 Maui and Kauai trip

This was our 3rd time to Maui (my 5th, but Ken's and my 3rd together); followed by our 15th trip to Kauai.  Originally I booked award travel for the usual time we go to Hawaii---Feb.  It's a nice escape from the St. Louis winters.  But little did I know when I made the reservations that in Feb. 2016 we'd be living in South Florida!  No need to escape that weather!!!  So I paid the exchange fee and changed it to Aug/Sept out of Miami.  Again, little did I know that when Aug. 2016 rolled around, we would be living in Atlanta!  Another exchange fee and rebooking (loosing a day of our Maui vacation in order to get the award travel again)!  This time we left from Atlanta.  And this time we spent 2 weeks on Maui, then another 2 weeks on Kauai!

Instead of making this a super long blog, I'm going to put a link to each day.

Aug. 18, 2016----travel day!


Aug. 19, 2016---snorkeling the Dumps and another great sunset!
 

Aug. 20, 2016---snorkel Keawakapu; kite surfing at Kanaha; Kealia boardwalk


Aug. 21, 2016---snorkel slaughterhouse, honolua, and kapalua


Aug. 22, 2016---Clouds, Clouds, go away!


Aug. 23, 2016---Snorkel Maluaka


Aug. 24, 2016---Snorkel Kahekili and dinner in Lahaina


Aug. 25, 2016---Ahihi and search for a new camera!


Aug. 26, 2016---snorkel Po'olenalena and Keawakapu, sunset at Wailea


Aug. 27, 2016---snorkel Kapalua 


Aug. 28, 2016---Maui Tropical Plantation and Kealia wildlife refuge


Aug. 29, 2016---Kahekili, Kapalua, and Lahaina sunset


Aug. 30, 2016 Kamaole 1 and Kealia Ponds


Aug. 31, 2016 on to Kauai


Sept. 1, 2016  Waimea Canyon and the West side 


Sept. 2, 2016 Snorkel Lydgate and head South for a bit


Sept. 3, 2016 Moving to The Cliffs 


Sept. 4, 2016 Snorkeling Anini and looking at St. Regis for sunset


Sept. 5, 2016 Labor Day---and more snorkeling at Anini.


Sept. 6, 2016 Tunnels --- and Wyndham Shearwater


Sept. 7, 2016 Kee snorkel and tunnels sunset


Sept. 8, 2016 Kee again, sunset near Princeville


Sept. 9, 2016 Tunnels snorkel and TA M&G


Sept. 10, 2016  back to Kauai Beach Villas on the East side


Sept. 11, 2016 Snorkel Poipu, wander Moir gardens, dinner at Olympic Cafe


Sept. 12, 2016  Frogfish!!!!


Sept. 13, 2016 Car troubles! 


Sept. 14---our loooong trip home


Just a few other things for me to remember:

Car rental on Maui:  Through Costco, I rented a premium car from Enterprise for the first 2 weeks (on Maui) for about $430--ended up with a Buick Lacrosse---nice car.  Only problem we had with it was when I tried to leave my Tervis glass in there with Hawaiian Sun drink in it and it would get covered with tiny ants.  Had to use a thermos in this car. 

Car rental on Kauai:  On Kauai I rented a premium car from Costco for about $420 total for the 2 weeks and received 2 free $30 Costco gift cards as a promotional bonus---we were upgraded to a Cadillac xts---another nice car, although we had a problem with the battery near the end of our trip.  But I could use my Tervis in this car and never saw a bug.

Maui Accommodations:  Our accommodations on Maui were at the Worldmark Kihei.  I had to book it 13 month out as soon as reservations opened---if you aren't lucky enough to get in the second they go on line exactly 13 months out, you loose.  My mistake was booking a 2 bedroom  with a queen bed in the 2nd bedroom instead of 2 twins. The 2 bedroom/queens' locations within the resort aren't as good as the 2 bedroom/twins.  We ended up in the building 8 (last building all the way up the hill)--2nd condo from the end in building 8, and on the 2nd level)---inconvenient to the pool and elevator, as well as the ocean.  Supposedly the farther out you book your condo, the better condo you get (subject to available that day).  They said the 2 bedrooms with the queens were all up the hill.  We got our share of stairs the whole trip.  But the unit was newly renovated and looked great.  Plus I did a lot of walking from that unit to anywhere.

Kauai Accommodations:  On Kauai, we had a menagerie  of accommodations!  I wanted to spend a week on the north side since the beaches are suppose to be great there in the summer.  So when I saw an exchange through Trading Places for The Cliffs, I took it.  It was starting 4 days after we got there, so the first 3 nights we spent at Wyndham Kauai Beach Villas in unit F3 (2nd floor ocean view).  I was able to cancel and rebook the unit within 60 days for half the normal points due to our Wyndham VIP Platinum status.  I had also booked 2 nights at Wyndham Shearwater in Princeville just to check it out during the week we had The Cliffs. Wyndham touts the Shearwater as their flagship resort here, but won't let you see them.  So I got 2 nights for 50% off and a free upgrade to a 2 bedroom presidential suite (313--3rd floor with high ceilings) from a 2 bedroom deluxe.  It was really nice and even building 3 had good views of Anini contrary to what I had heard.  Our unit at The Cliffs (4308)  was really nice, too.  Another 3rd floor unit with high ceilings.  It's listed as a 1 bedroom, but has a loft with 2 double beds in it.  They charge a $75 activity fee in addition to the hotel/condo taxes and fees, but they seemed to have a lot of activities to choose from.  We didn't do many---did go to the managers greeting with free mai tais, wine and pupus.  Planned to go to the wine and beer tasting and live music, but it was canceled.  The unit is really nicely furnished and decorated.  No ac in either unit on the north side and the lack of tradewinds made the first 3 or 4 days there pretty hot!  The last 4 nights we went back to Wyndham Kauai Beach Villas in a 2 bedroom oceanview unit (G12).  Again I was able to rebook this unit for 50% off points within 60 days of arrival due to our VIP status with Wyndham.  They even upgraded us to a 3rd floor level instead of the ground level we were expecting.  Great views--- and air conditioned---the best unit we've stayed in for views! 

 Weather:  Our weather the first 2 weeks on Maui was fantastic.  Made up for not being able to snorkel in Feb. 2015 due to all the south swells.  There were days we didn't snorkel when we could have just because we were exhausted from snorkeling 3-6 hours a day when we did go snorkeling.  The day we flew from Maui to Kauai hurricane Madelaine hit the Big Island.  Also messed up the weather and surf on the other islands.  A couple days later hurricane Lester went just to the East of us and caused more surf problems.  Snorkeling was a bit trying on Kauai---went to protected areas and still fought the currents.  By the time we were leaving the North side, it was calming down up north for a few days until the first of their winter swells appeared, but it was still rough everywhere else.  But we still had plenty of sun and fun. 

Cameras:  This year I'm using my Canon 60D dslr with a 16-300mm lens.  I also brought my 1 1/2 year old Nikon Coolpix AW120 underwater camera.  I've not been happy with it every since I got it, so when it died at Ahihi, I originally wasn't too upset.  Finding a replacement proved not too easy!  I bought a Fuji finpix90 from Costco, but was unhappy with it's photo review.  The Fuji screen shows you very clearly what you're trying to take a picture of, but the review is so dark I have no idea if the picture actually turned out.  The Nikon screen was so dark I couldn't see what I was trying to take a picture of or what I got, but the photoshopped pictures usually turned out better than the Fuji.  So I had to decide whether to keep the cheap Fuji or get a better camera back in Atlanta,  since it'll probably only last about 1 1/2 years!

Activities:  As far as activities, we didn't do any paid activities.  We like to bring company with us sometimes and let them choose where they want to go, so we've been to many of the activities on other trips.  Our main activity is snorkeling.  Ken kept track of all the time we spent snorkeling and it came up to 48.5 hours.  We also hit a few free gardens and nature preserves:  Kealia Nature Preserve and Maui Plantation on Maui and Moir Gardens and Waimea Canyon on Kauai.  



This was the longest "vacation" we've taken to Hawaii.  I think it went amazingly well!  The snorkeling on Kauai wasn't as good as I'd hoped for, but at least we got as much of it as we wanted on Maui.   Time to start planning our next Hawaiian vacation!

2015 Maui

2015 Maui

 Usually we spend our whole vacation on one island, but this time I took advantage of good award travel itinerary to Kauai and from Maui.   We did have to pay $90@ plus $15 for one checked bag on Hawaiian for our flight between LIH and OGG, but I felt it well worth it to get to see Kauai for a few days, too.  But the 6 nights flew by and before we knew it, it was time to head to Maui. 

Note about cameras: above ground-60D; underwater-Olympus tg-830

Feb.12, 2015--on to Maui from Kauai:

Feb. 13, 2015: to Kahului and the Maui Tropical Plantation:

Feb.14, 2015--Valentine's day and Whale Day:

Feb. 15, Sunday: Whale Tales, West shore sights.

Feb.16, 2015---Kapalua and TripAdvisor Meet and Greet:

Feb. 17, 2015--Ulua and Kapalua;

Feb.18, 2015---Maluaka Beach:

Feb. 19, 2015---Road to Hana and beyond:

Feb.20---Maui Ocean Center:

Feb. 21, 2015---Wailea Coastal Walkway:

Feb.22, 2015---Olowalu:

Feb. 23, 2015---The Dumps and Kameole 3---
 
Feb. 24, 2015---Back to the Dumps and a visit from Elvis:

Feb. 25, 2015--Maluaka, Ioa Valley:

Feb.26,2015--Depression setting in!  Time to go home:

I'm finally getting Ken to stay in Hawaii longer and longer.  Sure makes for a welcome break from midwest winters!!!!

To see my blog from Kauai, click here---   2015 Kauai

2013 Wowwie Maui!!!!

  After years of trying to get Ken to go to Maui, he finally agreed to go.  I had been there twice before, first with my Dad and another time with my sister, but neither of them are snorkelers.  Maui has a reputation for much better snorkeling then Kauai.  I was anxious to see if that was really true!  Ken thought it would be more crowded and more of a party island.  

Note about my cameras:  above ground-Canon 60D; underwater-Canon D20
 

Feb. 18, 2013--STL-DFW-OGG; the long travel day---

Feb. 19, 2013:  Makena Landing snorkeling---

Feb. 20, 2013: Honolua snorkeling---

Feb. 21, 2013: Just another windy Thursday and snorkeling Maluaka---

Feb. 22, 2013:  "A" is for Ahihi!

Feb. 23, 2013: Kapalua  snorkeling---

Feb. 24, 2013: Po'olenalena and Makena Landing--

Feb. 25, 2013: Po'olenalena and Drums of the Pacific luau---

Feb. 26, 2013: snorkel Olowalu (MM14) and Baileys arrive from PDX---

Feb. 28, 2013:  Kapalua snorkeling and Lahaina---

March 1, 2013:  Ahini and Mama's Fish House---

March 2, 2013: Ulua, peggy sue's, kameole and more----

March 3, 2013: Oneuli Beach, Whale watching tour, Bubba Gumps:

March 4, 2013: Kula Garden, Haleakala---

March 5, 2013:Maluaka---

March 6, 2013: time to leave!---

I'm pretty sure we will be returning to Maui.  I wasn't sure if hubby would like Maui because it's busier then Kauai, but he really did.   In fact, he seems to like it more then Kauai.  He liked that there were more snorkel beaches right next to each other so if one was full, we could quickly go to another one.  As for the snorkeling being better then Kauai, that would be a yes.  But Kauai has the edge on being prettier on land.

We were fortunate to have the trade winds with it's low humidity the whole time we were there.  Kona winds were expected soon after we left.  I had planned on going to Lanai, but the snorkeling was so good on  Maui that we didn't bother going there (this time)---plus there were small boat warnings much of the time we were there.  Next year when we're in Kauai we'll probably be missing Maui!

2012 Maui Sisters' trip:

May 28-June 4, 2012:

When my sister suggested we take another sister's trip, I immediately thought of where we should go----Maui!  I had Hawaiian airlines miles which were about to expire and  I had lots of Wyndham points left over after getting our Kauai weeks this past Feb. for half off.   So I called Wyndham and had them place a Wyndham week into Trading Places for me in exchange for a 2 bedroom condo in Maui from May 28 - June 4th.   All I had to do was pay for my flights to/from STL-PDX. 
The day finally came and I was on my way to PDX.  My sister, Carolyn, picked me up and we headed back to Dallas, Oregon, for a couple days.  Then we spent the night before our Maui flight in a hotel by the airport.  On the 28th (Memorial Day), we were on our way bright and early (to me!) to catch our 10:30 flight to OGG.  Since Ken and I usually travel to Hawaii from STL all in one day with a couple stops and long layovers, this travel day seemed to go fairly quickly.  Only long part was the 2 1/2 hour layover in Honolulu.  Originally we were suppose to fly non-stop to Maui---one of the big reasons why we picked Maui over Kauai, but Hawaiian decided to eliminate that flight and keep an extra 8000 of my miles that I used to book the non-stop instead of a connector flight---I was not too happy about that, but Hawaiian was!  The only good things about it were the views of Honolulu and Maui county as we flew over them.

2012-5-28 PDX-HNL-OGG and Maui Hill Resort:

2012-5-29--to Iao Valley and riding around S. Maui

 2012-5-30  Kapalua:

2012-5-31  to the up country:

2012-6-1  Ulua beach and Lahaina:

2012-6-2  Molokini and sunset at Kameoli:

2012-6-3 Maluaka beach and sunset cruise:

2012-6-4 time to go home:

 It was a great trip.  Possibly the best "sisters'" trip we've done yet!  Wonder where our next sisters' trip will be?!