Now that the Maui is trip is over – how did it go? It was great, the entire family travelled and relaxed on the island, adding some adventures to the itinerary 🙂 The beaches were not as good as those on Turks and Caicos (in my opinion), but we had a ton of other things to do, which was nice!
So, what did the trip involve?
Dates:
– Apr 11th to Apr 19th, 2022
Itinerary:
– Fly Southwest to OGG and back
– Stay eight nights at a condo in Kihei rented through Airbnb
– Rent a minivan (to fit all 6 people in it) for the duration of the trip
Costs:
– Accommodations: $2,805
– Restaurants/Food: $1,182 (mostly groceries since we cooked at our condo, but we also had one dinner at a restaurant
– Transportation costs (including car rental, gas, airline fees): $1,222 (had a surprise with Rental agency closed by the time we arrived, had to pay for another day of rental with another rental agency, even if we paid for the entire trip already)
– Entertainment/Other (includes snorkeling trip, purchased gifts, etc.): $553 (mostly the snorkeling trip for three)
– Total out of pocket: $5,762
– CC travel award savings: $3,075 (35% of the total costs)
Getting there and back
We flew Southwest, which did not have direct flights from Seattle to Maui. Instead, we had a layover in San Jose, CA on the way there, and in Oakland, CA on the way back. Unfortunately, our original selected flights had been changed by Southwest, which resulted in a five hour layover on the way to Maui (instead of the original two). San Jose is the airport where I was going to take advantage of my husband’s new credit card, Capital One Venture X, which include Priority Pass with access to many lounges around the world. I really wanted him to take his parents (two guests) with him to the lounge in San Jose. To my surprise and annoyance, he refused! He did not feel like walking to the lounge, and since it would have been the first experience at a lounge ever, he did not feel comfortable doing that. I was floored! If I was the Venture X card owner (which I wasn’t), I would have GLADLY take advantage of that perk, so that at least some of us had been more comfortable. I know what to do next though: open a Venture X card for myself and cancel his after one year (no need to pay $395 annual fee for both of us)…
On the way back we did not have any drama, two hour layover is pretty doable, and we got home in decent time.
I feel that we got a good value out of SW miles and companion pass. The main disadvantage was that the flights weren’t direct. But if I were to buy direct flights for the party of six, it would have cost us around $5-6K. Instead, I paid $68 and save us $2.5K on the connecting SW flights. Maybe later I will be more choosy when it comes to connecting flights, but right now I am happy to have a bunch of money and make the vacation more affordable for our extended family of six!
Another snafu that we experienced was related to the rental car. We got a Priceline offer, which was saving us at least $300-400 as compared to all other rental agency in the areas, and it was Hertz behind the Priceline offer! What we didn’t realize is that this Hertz agency wasn’t in the airport but rather 2.5 miles away, in the nearest town. Also that agency had wrong hours of work listed on Google, which confused into thinking that they are open when they already closed. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed, so by the time we got to the rental agency, they were already closed. So we had to rent a car from another agency for a day, which resulted in higher rental costs than we originally planned (but lower than not using Priceline). So we consider this as a learning experience, to always check the location of the rental car agency as well as triple verify their hours of operation.
Hawaii
We stayed at a two-bedroom condo in South Kihei, about half a mile away from the nearest beach. We were able to walk to the beach and the park easily, and spent there a few mornings, using boogie boards , trying to swim or just playing volleyball. That was nice.
We also visited Makena beach several times, which is very beautiful, but the waves there are back-breaking. So the beach wasn’t for swimming but for walking along the beach and watching sunsets.
We also drove the Road to Hana, and we’ve done it counter-clock wise, to complete the full loop. We did it because Google told us we can, so I had no idea that south segment of the road is for local only… oops! It was very scenic though! Lava fields, black sand beaches… Very different from the rainforest that we saw on the east side! We stopped by the Haleakala National park, walked the short loop of Seven Pools but did not hike the Pipiwai trail since our parents were with us and would be in no condition to complete that hike… Maybe next time! The windy road with single lane bridges is fun at the beginning but is getting old after about 5 hours of driving it 🙂 It was very beautiful though, with many waterfalls and all that greenery along the way!
We also explored the area near Kaanapali, walking along the coastal trail hugging the northwest coast of the island. The trail was developed for the people staying in the resorts in the area, but also had some volcanic areas and rugged coastline, which made the walk less tame than expected. It was very beautiful!
One other adventure (without the parents this time) was to hike down the Haleakala crater. We did not go complete that hike (absolutely not ready for 11 miles hike at that elevation!), but went down and then up for the total of about 3.5 miles. The landscape was surreal! Totally worth it and would highly recommend to anyone adventurous enough to add to the itinerary.
The day before the departure my kids and I went on a snorkeling trip. Paid $450 for the three of us and ended up being pretty disappointed. We were supposed to snorkel at Molokini crater and then go to another place and swim with green turtles. But on the way to Molokini crater the waves were pretty high – remember wondering how are we going to snorkel with the conditions like that when the boat suddenly started turning around. Turned out, all the boats were called off as the weather was pretty rough and no one was allowed to go to the crater. Instead, we came back to almost the same place where we started from and snorkeled in the coral gardens near the shore. Not as much fun as I expected, so felt somewhat cheated given the high price of the trip. Well, maybe some other time….
Summary
All in all, that was a good trip! I was a little disappointed that some members of my family (my kids especially) did not seem to be keen of getting as much out of this trip as possible (as I was doing!). However, I was trying to let it go and enjoy all the island had to offer with my husband to a maximum degree. We did have a lot of good time as a family, especially playing board games together every evening.
The beaches in my mind did not compare to what we experienced in Turks and Caicos. The waves were mostly rough, no white sand, no ability to swim out a little further out and enjoy the serenity. At least I haven’t experienced that on Maui. The diversity of other things to do, especially of the outdoorsy nature, is definitely a plus, and I would love to complete some of the hikes/see some sites that I didn’t have time for during this trip, at a more leisurely pace. So the return to Maui is in the cards.
What about you? Have you visited Maui before? What were your favorite sites, what did you enjoy the most?