For those of us coming from the east coast of the U.S., Hawai’i is a loooong way. Not as far as Japan, or Australia, but further than most European destinations.
However, here’s my main takeaway: it’s 1000% worth the journey. Do not hesitate to put this remarkable destination near the top of your travel bucket list.
Other high level notes:
– Food and lodging tend to be expensive (with exceptions to both if you want less luxury and more adventure)
– Rental car is highly recommended
– Winter season = whale sightings, high surf
– Summer season = low surf, good for swimming
– Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa is a fantastic home base in Oahu for families and/or Disney fans
– Visiting more than one island is a game changer, if you can swing it
Our family adventure (two adults, two teens) began the day after the school year ended. We first visited the island of Oahu and spent several nights at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, a combination hotel and Disney Vacation Club property. The jet lag coming from 6 hours ahead is no joke. On the plus side, the first few days we were up *early* and enjoyed beautiful views from the balcony of our ocean view one-bedroom villa which included a sofa bed and a chair bed (opens into a twin) for the kids in the combined living room/kitchen space.
Aulani is a gorgeous property in which much care is taken to educate guests on native Hawaiian art, architecture, plants, music, language, and food. [Tip: Don’t miss the free daily tours on the art and the natural wonders at the resort.] The pool area features a lazy river and several pools, one of which has recently been re-instated as adults-only (alas, after our visit). There are impressive water slides as well, one of which takes a two-person raft. There’s also a well-kept beach on a quiet lagoon just beyond the pools with lots of rental equipment and a Dole Whip stand (of course!!).
Children ages 4-12 can participate in various activities at Aunty’s Beach House, freeing up parents to explore a bit on their own. This kids club is very popular and reservations should be made in advance. Other activities that can be pre-booked include amazing spa services, luau dinner show, fitness classes, ukulele lessons, stargazing with astronomers, t-shirt printing, private photo sessions, and more. (Note: Activities booking is included for clients who reserve their Aulani adventure through me!)
Using Aulani as a base, we took our rental car one day to explore the North Shore of the island where we hiked to a waterfall and had a delicious lunch. Another day my husband drove to the start of a powered hang glider adventure and had an amazing experience. There are several excursions available at Aulani for guests who do not want to drive themselves, ranging from tours of Pearl Harbor to hiking up Diamond Head.
The food at Aulani is delicious! Our kids loved the poke bowls at the quick service restaurant and the fish & chips window by the pool. I loved the ‘Olelo Lounge which has wonderful sushi and creative drinks, plus cast members who all speak Hawaiian. Across the street from the resort is a shopping complex with three good restaurants and a country store where it’s easy to pick up a few groceries if you don’t have transportation or just want something quick. If you are accustomed to “Disney prices” for food at the theme parks, then you will be ready for food prices in Hawai’i ;-).
It’s tough to quickly summarize how much we appreciated our time at Aulani. From the incredibly warm cast members to the gorgeous grounds, villa, and ocean views … only thing we can think about now is when will we be back?
Fall and Winter 2024 Offer at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa:
Get up to 25% off select rooms or villas when you book a 4-night stay or up to 30% off select rooms or villas when you book a 5-night stay or longer at Aulani. Offer available for stays most nights August 21 – November 23, 2024 and November 30 – December 20, 2024. Travel must be complete by December 21, 2024. Offer subject to end at any time.
Part Two: Maui
For the second part of our adventure we flew from Oahu to Maui on Southwest Airlines, a quick hop. Visitors are once again welcome and encouraged to explore Maui, following the incredibly tragic fires in and around the town of Lahaina in August 2023. Some portions of Lahaina are still closed to visitors, and all visitors are asked to be respectful of the island’s tremendous losses during the course of their visit.
We stayed in a lovely condo in sunny and dry Kihei, on the southwest shore, and used a rental car to see many sights all around the island. Haleakala National Park is one of most unique destinations on the island and the summit of the extinct volcano is other-worldly. The Road to Hana isn’t something I can ride along very well (motion sickness — it’s very curvy), but we took it a short distance to check out a couple sights.
We also visited the Kaanapali Beach area where many resorts are located and took the Kapalua Coastal Trail hike (highly recommend!).
The food on Maui is just as delicious as the food on Oahu. Food trucks are a big part of the scene on both islands: there’s such delicious food to be found from world cuisines, and everyone in the family can choose what they want. We really enjoyed the food truck park in Kihei!
One of our favorite activities of this vacation was snorkeling, which is great in many different spots around the island. It’s easy and inexpensive to rent clean and new snorkel equipment for the week (or for a day) and get expert advice from the dive shop on where to go. Make sure to abide by the flags on lifeguard stations and do not enter the water if the currents are strong. Snorkeling is best in the morning before the trade winds pick up. It was amazing seeing so many varieties of fish and the Honu (green sea turtles) in their natural habitat. What spectacular animals they are.
While it was SO hard to say goodbye to our unforgettable Hawai’ian visit, our visit to Disneyland on the way home made it a tiny bit easier. Would also recommend that if you’re coming from the Midwest or East Coast that you work in a couple days at Disneyland coming or going, if you can! More on Disneyland in a future post.
In the meantime, let me know if you would like my help in planning an amazing Hawai’ian vacation! I can help you with a package or we can piece together the separate components and put together something very special just for you. Aloha!
For more photos, check out the Hawai’i highlight on MagicPathTravel’s Instagram account.
