Slice of Life 23: 9 things to do in Maui
Hi friends! Happy Saturday! Today I’m sharing some highlights of my recent family vacation to Maui. If you happen to be planning a trip, these 9 things to do in Maui are a must! (I’ll talk about all the FOOD in another post.)
1. Watch the sunset every night (preferably from your own hotel room!)
We are a Marriott family. Mel travels (a lot) and he’s just always stayed at Marriott so he has lots of points. When researching where to stay on Maui, we kept coming back to the Maui Ocean Club. It’s a timeshare property (we don’t own one) but you can stay there as a regular hotel guest as well. We’ve always enjoyed staying at the resorts because they always have so much to offer (the Palm Springs and South Lake Tahoe ones are pretty nice too!)
It was a bit of a splurge to have an “0cean front” room, but it was worth it. (FYI: “Ocean FRONT” is different than “Ocean VIEW” One you are facing the beach, one you have to crane your neck to see it!) We watched the sunsets every night (and every night was different!) Wherever you stay, try and make sure you get to see the sunset at least once or twice!
2. Have a nice pool at your resort.
One of the reasons we love the Marriott Vacation Clubs is that they often have a water slide. From the time it opens at 9am, I always know where to find Jordan (Mel too!)
Wherever you choose to stay, be sure to pick a place with a nice pool. We went to the ocean a few times but it’s really nice on a relaxing day to just walk out of your room and take up residence at the pool. Two of the days we were at the pool for 8 hours!
If you happen to be going in the summer months, know that (wherever you stay) the prime pool seating fills up fast. We’d read reviews of the Marriott saying that people put towels out as early as 5am to block seats, so we were a little worried. We were always down there by 8am and found good spots, but that’s because they now patrol it. They have a pool monitor who marks absent chairs so people can’t reserve them too early, which makes it better for the rest of us!
It was so relaxing, I did a lot of this:
3. Walk on the beach.
This is obvious, right? Because Hawaii is 3 hours earlier, we were awake by 6am every day. We took that as an excuse to walk on the beach each morning. Kaanapali beach is so pretty – you can see Lanai right across the way! There is a path that runs along the beach you can walk (or run) on, or just take off your shoes and get your feet in the sand. You’re in Hawaii!
4. See the Banyan Tree and shopping in Lahaina.
Lahaina is a touristy little town that is the main city in the Kaanapali Beach area. It’s worth a stop for some shopping and lunch or dinner. Beware it gets really warm on summer afternoons, so dress accordingly (and bring lots of sunscreen!)
A must-see in Lahaina is the Banyan Tree in Courthouse Square. It’s one tree that takes up the entire square, at least that’s what it looks like. Branches come off the center tree and meet with trees all over the square. Fascinating, and fun to photograph.
Otherwise, there’s really only shopping and eating to do in downtown Lahaina. There are lots of art galleries and clothing stores but after awhile it all looks the same. It’s also not the greatest if your kids hate shopping! We did find some fun souvenirs at the ABC Store (really, the only affordable stuff) and they even have stores selling Hawaiian clothing for American Girl Dolls. (They know how to reel us in!)
5. Take a Snorkeling Catamaran Cruise.
The best day of the trip was, by far, the day we took a catamaran snorkeling cruise with Trilogy. 14 years ago on our honeymoon, Mel and I sailed to Lanai on the Trilogy “Discover Lanai” tour. That was a lot of fun (and I totally recommend it for couples) but this trip we wanted something shorter that Jordan would enjoy. We decided on their Kaanapali Snorkel tour. BEST. DECISION. EVER!
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