What The Owners Love About Maui

We, the owners, keep coming back to Maui and after more than a dozen visits, we still love it. Our friends ask what is so special about Maui to us, after you've done all the Must Do activities, so here is our list.

1. Year-round good weather and temperature. We love the sun and the warm weather and Maui offers that year-round. With the warm weather, it isn't like the southern states of the mainland where it is humid and the A/C is a must, and the trade winds do their job. When tropical rain comes through it still doesn't get cold and it doesn't last long anyway.


2. Sunsets. Before every trip we check online the sunset times and make a point not to miss a single one - they are magical. 


3. Kamaole Beach Parks. We are directly opposite Kamaole Beach Park II, which means to the left is Kamaole III and to the right is Kamaole I. "Our" sandy beaches have excellent snorkeling in the morning, boogie-boarding in the afternoon, sandy-bottom sea, lifeguards, showers, and benches to eat our food in the grassy parks behind the beaches.


4. Waves. Did we mention boogie-boarding? Kamaole III is the place to start learning! We have boogie-boarding and surfing books in our condo if you are a newbie...


5. Underwater life. Did we mention snorkeling... Between the Kamaole beaches there is great snorkeling, and at every trip at least once we swim from one beach to the next, and the next... and back. Truthfully though, snorkeling is our consolation prize for when we are not following our passion of SCUBA diving. We have a book in the condo on the Hawaiian underwater life, so you can identify all the fish you'll see when you go back to the condo with your underwater photos...


6. Birds. We love the colorful birds on Maui. Beyond enjoying them visually, they are nature's alarm clock and how we like rising to the mornings on Maui. We have a book on Hawaiian birds in our condo should this be of interest to you, and also see Kealia Pond under Nature.


7. Flowers. We love the flowers on Maui. Beyond enjoying them visually, their scent is all around in the air, and after we disembark the plane it is the way Maui welcomes us and we instantly switch to relaxation mode. We have a book on Hawaiian flowers in the condo, so you can learn about all the flowers you'll see around the lush Akahi grounds and the rest of the island.


8. Local food and drink. We try the expensive restaurants occasionally, but what we enjoy most is fresh fish (especially mahi mahi and shrimp) from the food trucks or any other non-pretentious place. For more see our Food list. We are also partial to alcoholic beverages (who doesn't drink a bit more when on vacation?), see our Beer/Alcohol list. If you don't drink alcohol, you'll enjoy the mocktails (virgin cocktails) with local flavors.


9. Hawaiian language. Every time we visit we try to learn some new words, either in Hawaiian or in Hawaiian Pidgin English, and then mix those words in our sentences as we communicate with each other... just some geeky fun :-). You'll find in the condo a Hawaiian dictionary.


10. Hawaiian music. We love listening to Hawaiian music and in particular the ukulele or slack-key guitar, the classic of course being Brudda Iz. We also like local artist Uncle Willie K... You'll find in the condo CDs with Hawaiian artists, and an ukulele on the wall. One day Daniel hopes to spend more time on ukulele lessons... In the meantime, we look for free local events where invariably there is local music and dance, see the last few pointers on our Shows and Events list.


11. Upcountry. You can see part of upcountry and the mountain from the entrance to our Kihei Akahi D-211 condo. Even though the beaches were the main reason we chose Maui, there is something majestic about Haleakala and upcountry in general. The views from up there are amazing... Also see Maui Towns and Areas.


12. Relax and do nothing, or pack your schedule with activities. Some days, we relax doing absolutely nothing, as if we are on a tiny little tropical island in the middle of the ocean. Other days, we are so busy with Water activities and Non-Water Activities that we start needing a vacation from the vacation. There are a few places in the world which inspire us and enable us to switch between those two modes.


13. Tropical Polynesian paradise, but in the Western world. Having visited other exotic places in the world, we have come to appreciate the fact that Hawaii is still part of the USA. While still exotic, our phone and data plan works the same way, the health care system is the same, the currency is the same (and you can easily compare prices with the mainland), the driving license/rules are the same, the electricity system (outlets) the same, everyone speaks English, the water is super safe and drinkable... It is as if you are in a different country and culture, but when you need to you can flip back to being "home"... assuming home is the USA (or Canada from a practical perspective)...

Looking for more stuff to do? Why not check out all of our recommendation  lists for Maui:  Maui Towns And Areas,  Must Do,  Road To Hana,  Beaches,  Nature,  Food,  Beer/Alcohol,  Water Activities,  Non-Water Activities,  Shows and Events,  Souvenirs,  Grocery Shopping, and  What The Owners Still Love About Maui.