Destination: Hawaii

Diane K. of St. Charles, MN
Destination: Oahu, Maui and Kauai, Hawaii
Resorts: Maui-Kaanapali Beach Hotel,
Kauai-Kauai Beach Resort, Oahu-Hale Koa Hotel
Date: April 2011

The Hawaii trip went very well and we had a great time. Oahu was a good intro to Hawaii for us and we were very impressed with the Hale Koa hotel. We did the Stars and Stripes Pearl Harbor Tour, did a little walking GeoCaching around Honolulu, and used the Trolley Green/Pink line one day to get a nice self-guided tour.

Kauai was the first island for us to have a car and we were given a free upgrade to a Sebring convertible. We went up the east side all the way to Haena on the Kuhio Highway (56 & 560) and hiked over a mile on the Kalalau Trail but with the slippery rocks, we chose to call it good. Next day included a trip to Waimea Canyon for some great views and west-side sun.

Following the two driving days, we GeoCached to nice sights in and around Wailua, Kapaa, Lihue, Poipu, and Shipwreck Coast. The GeoCaching trips took us to places not normally advertised in the brochures and the hiking + views compete with many of the highly-advertised “must-do’s. We liked our hotel, Kauai Beach Hotel and were happy with that choice.

Maui was very nice also. On the first day, we weren’t very excited about our room at the Kaanapali Hotel, being on the floor next to the stairs. It was a bit noisey and we asked to be moved. The rest of our stay was in room 577 and a very good room with a balcony and view of the beach. A very nice adjustment by the hotel staff. Their housekeeping staff is to be commended for the friendliness. The complex nicely satisfies a traveler’s needs with a variety of things to do on the site along with the option of walking up and down the beach to visit other resorts.

While on Maui, we struggled with a few major decisions. Not sure whether to bike Haleakala Mt or not, we took a drive to the top to check it out with our little Chevy Aveo. The car did well all the way up to 10,000 ft. With the cloudy rainy climate in that area, we’re glad we chose the car trip. We also took the goat trail from Honolua to Kahului and later realized it was restricted by Alamo. It was very scenic and a bit of a white-knuckle drive. The second difficult decision was whether to drive the road to Hana. This is the single item I’d change if ever going back and at one point wanted to call you to ask for a change. Since one of us suffers from motion sickness, we realized it would be a long day of not feeling well, so chose not to go. However, I considered asking you if we could move to a hotel in Hana for a few nights so we could break up the drive. But after we were moved to 577, we liked the room a lot more and dropped that idea. With the drive up the mountain and the goat-trail drive, we felt we did justice to scenic drives, but also realize that we left some sights behind by not going to Hana. We can live with that.

A few of our days were spent going up Hwy 30 to Kahana and the beaches. The waves were great and we enjoyed relaxing while watching the surfers. We took a self guided tour of the coffee plantation and spoke with the workers which was interesting. We took a morning to walk the streets of Lahaina, checked out the shopping district, had a good meal at the Cool Cats restaurant and saw the old Banyan tree. On our last day, we took a ride up to the Iao Valley for a little sightseeing and spent some time GeoCaching in Kahului. That pretty much wrapped up the visit except for a fish sandwich at McDonalds in the Queen’s Mall.
Here are a few of our favorite views: