Maui: Our 7 Day itinerary in Paradise

That, my friends, is no exaggeration!! From the mesmerizing sunrises, glories sunsets, sandy beaches, warm temperatures and friendly people Maui truly is a paradise.

If you have been reading my blog, you know before planning any holiday we like to figure out the intent of the holidays. The world has so much to offer that knowing what ignites our spirit helps to plan and make the trips unforgettable.

For Maui our intent was not only to celebrate 37th years of togetherness but to reminisce the past, indulge in the present and plan the future. We wanted an opportunity to be able to connect with ourselves, with each other and with the amazing universe that we live in. Our itinerary also had to include new places and new experiences. Maui was the perfect place to offer an opportunity for all of the above.

Stay:

We chose to stay on Ka’anapali Beach on the west side of Maui. We booked our hotel through HOTWIRE (curtesy our older daughter). The Westin Maui Resort & Spa a beautiful, conveniently located beach front property provided the perfect location, service and ambience.

Transportation:

Our research told us that to fully enjoy the island one needs their own mode of transportation. We decided to rent a car. Oh wait, it wasn’t a car it was an open jeep (curtesy our younger daughter’s suggestion). And what fun that was adding a brand new experience to our list. An open jeep, timeless music, beautiful weather and great company – what a dream it was. We rented our jeep from Alamo through Costco. It was seamless.

Day 1: Travel Day

The first day was pretty much spent in travel with the flight being late by a couple of hours. We were concerned about the car rental as their website said they closed at 11:00 p.m. Our flight was now to get in at 11:30 p.m We ended up calling them from the airport and a friendly voice told us they were aware of the flight delay and someone will wait for us. What a relief.

We got off the plane around 12:00 mid night and the cutest tram transported us in literally 5 minutes from the airport to the car rental office. We picked up our vehicle around 12:30 p.m. and drove approximately 45 minutes to our hotel.

Day 2: Getting our bearings, Lahaina and more

We typically are not early risers but both of us jumped out of bed and were ready to head to the beach and explore our hotel at 6:00 a.m. An early morning walk on the beach and sitting down to watch the sunrise was such an incredible start to our day.

After exploring and getting to know the hotel and its facilities we headed out in our open jeep. Our first stop was the cute little town of Lahaina, that at one time, was the capital of Hawaii. Literally everything in this town is located on and around Front Street. The best feature of this town is the beautiful banyan tree in the city centre followed by the little shops and eateries

Food trucks are big in Maui and our first stop was at Baya Bowls truck for the most delicious and nutritious Acia Bowls. We felt like teenagers on a first date sitting in a small parking lot enjoying our acia bowls.

Our next stop came from the wisdom of our years. Everyone we had spoken to had also suggested making a trip to Costco. Food in Maui tends to be expensive and we also did not want to be eating out every meal for our health sake. Besides, my man is the biggest Costco advocate and we had to experience what they claim is the busiest Costco in the U.S.

Needless to say Costco did not fail us. We picked up healthy breakfast and snack options including yogurt, fruit cheese and crackers. We also bought Spicy Ahi Poke (diced raw fish, one of the main dishes of Native Hawaiian cuisine). It was delicious and lasted us well into dinner. Yes, I was very proud of myself for daring to eat raw fish. The last time I did this was in Japan when we had Sashimi. Look at me expanding my taste buds!!

The drive back to the hotel was beautiful. After spending some time by the pool side we had a picnic for dinner in our room on the patio overlooking the ocean. Then we headed over to Whalers Village ,next to the Westin, for dessert. The Hula pie at the Hula Grill was the perfect dessert for the day.

Day 3: Helicopter Tour, Photography and Sunset Stroll

Again an early start to our day but this time it was yoga by the beach. Wow, what a way to start the day. An hour of yoga session followed by a nice cup of coffee on the beach we were ready for our adventure of the day Staying true to our commitment of creating new experiences for ourselves we booked with the Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tour Company. I had never been on a helicopter before. Ravi had been on an army helicopter. The two of us together had never experienced this before. This will always be one of the highlights of our trip. We got to see and witness wonders of nature like never before. Our pilot was awesome and the helicopter ride was an amazing experience. There were three couples on this plane newly married, first anniversary and 37th anniversary.

On our way to the helipad (which is close to the air-port and again approximately 45 drive from Kaanapali Beach) we fell in love this one gorgeous beach with a beautiful loner tree. It was the perfect photo spot. Over the next few days we made it a point to spend different parts of the day on this beach.

In case you haven’t noticed one of the things we both love about travel is the opportunity to capture the moments on camera. We find this to be a creative and beautiful activity that we both enjoy.

Back at the hotel it was some quiet time watching the glorious sunset in our own backyard and some photography. We called it an early night with dinner at the Monkeypod and a stroll on the beach and through Whalers Village.

Day 4 : Road to Hana and the Gorgeous Sunset

It was an early start to Road to Hana. With a telephone App for this journey download we were on the road at 7:00 a.m. We had heard a lot about this drive and were very excited. Here is my full disclosure we live in Vancouver where nature has its finest gifts bestowed upon us. Our experience and opinion of Road to Hana may not be similar to everyone else’s. We found this narrow road difficult to navigate (with some 650 turns), and the scenery for us was not what we had anticipated. It was a round trip drive of approximately 5 and 1/2 hours for us.

We would have enjoyed more simply by sitting and reading by the beach. This was our personal opinion. Nevertheless, it was time spent together in nature in a beautiful land.

On our way back we decided to stop at our favourite beach to soak our feet and watch the sunset. It was a refreshing end to an otherwise tiring day. We had dinner in our hotel as we had to have an early start the next morning.

Day 5: Sunrise at Summit Haleakala

This was our anniversary day and we wanted to begin the day with the most epic and new experience. We were up at 2:00 am. for our Haleakala Sunrise Tour. I have dreamt about this experience for a long time.

We booked a tour with Viator Tours simply because we did not want to be driving this early in the morning. We were at the Haleakala Summit by 5:30 a.m. along with 498 other people lined up and excited to see the unforgettable siting of the rising sun above the clouds.

No words or photos can do justice to the splendour of this moment in time. The vibrant, magnificent colours of the sky before the sun came out; glimpse of the glorious sun through the clouds and then the rising. It was wondrous moment that truly fills you to the core with gratitude and wonder for this universe and its creator. To be able to experience the magic of this moment together on our anniversary was an experience we will cherish forever.

Now a few pointers.

• Dress warm as it gets cold here. The summit from the bottom of the sea to the top is actually higher than Mount Everest. We layered and put a jacket on top along with toques and gloves. To our surprise it was not very cold this morning but we were told it was unusually warm.
• If you want to drive up on your own, its doable. Just remember to make your reservation at least 60 days prior. Only a few last-minute tickets are released on line two days beforehand at 7:00 am.
• If you book a tour your reservation is part of the tour.
• If you are driving go early as its a beautiful place for stargazing.

Next time we go to Maui I would go to Haleakala Summit for sunrise, sunset and star gazing. That is how much I loved it.

In the evening our concierge had graciously managed to book us an anniversary dinner at the famous Lahaina Grill. It was a delightful experience. The food, service and ambience was impeccable. The owner came out to wish us happy anniversary and ask about our experience. This small gesture made our evening so special.

Day 6: Time out

One can not go to a place like Maui and give themselves a day to just be. That is what we did on this day. No plan, no agenda just a day to be with ourselves in the most magnificent surrounding.

Day 7: Discovering Wailea and Makena Beach

On the last day our flight was not till late night and we wanted to discover a different part of Maui. We checked out of our hotel and headed to Wailea at the South end of Maui. What a gorgeous neighbourhood. A luxurious resort community with nice shopping, beaches, restaurants and more. The Shops at Wailea were a joy to wonder through. We booked our dinner at the Humble Market Kitchin by Roy Yamaguchi and enjoyed the local Wailea Beach Resort as well as the beach. The whole area is simply beautiful.

After this wonderful dinner we headed to the airport for our flight back.

While planning this trip to Maui we had no idea how beautiful our time here would be. It seems like we were able to do and experience so much simply because we were in the moment every moment. This was the only way to be in this paradise. We have come back with abundance of unforgettable experiences and moments. More importantly we have come back with uplifted spirits.

With love,

Devinder 💖

Photography: Ravi Maan