Maui Wowie! An Island-Hopping Roundup

Throughout our many visits to Hawaii Cody and I have had a lot of time to wander… exploring new sights, new restaurants, new beaches, and new hotels, and we’ve had even more time to settle into a routine, to re-visit some of our favorite locations, and to stop by our favorite restaurants more than a few times.

With each new visit, we try to create a delicate balance of exploration and adventure combined with relaxation and rejuvenation. And this last visit was no exception.

In total, we spent 11 blissful days in Hawaii; we kicked off the trip with four adventurous days exploring our favorite island in the Pacific — Kauai — where we swam with sea turtles, sailed along the most incredible place in the world, chased waterfalls, relaxed on the beach, and tried new restaurants. After island hopping over to Maui we went all-in for the next seven days — we went whale watching, explored the Road to Hana, went to a Luau, relaxed pool-side, went scuba diving, shopped at Whaler’s Village, snorkeled at Black Rock, and of course, enjoyed a few happy hours next door at Leilani’s.

We created life-long memories together and my dream of traveling to Hawaii with my family finally came true. Thanks family, for putting up with us and our shenanigans! 😉

As this is the last post in our Annual Christmas trip to Hawaii I wanted to wrap it all up with my regular “Roundup” post. I know that we’ll get back to Maui sooner than later and there’s still a few things I want to see on our next visit:

LODGING

While we loved every moment of our time at the Westin Maui, I’m curious to check out the other hotels along Ka’anapali Beach to see how they compare. Depending on the length of our stay, I’m also eager to go back to our favorite Jungle Paradise — this little cottage in the middle of the jungle is still one of my favorite travel finds, and I can’t wait to go back.

SCUBA DIVING

Still relatively new to the sport, I have had the opportunity to dive four times in Maui — I’ve explored the sunken crater of Molokini (twice) and have also explored two other dive sites along Maui’s west coast — so on our next visit I’d love to check out the back wall of Molokini, swim with Maui’s manta rays, or take a day trip over to Lanai to swim with the hammerheads.

DRINK UP!

I mentioned a brewery tour on my last Maui Roundup and on this last visit we didn’t have enough time to make that happen. Hopefully one day soon I’ll be able to quench my thirst on a tour of Maui Ocean Vodka or the Maui Brewing Company.

Source

ADVENTURE

Depending on how long we stay over in Nahiku, I’d love to hit the skies and soar like a bird over Maui’s east side with Hang Gliding Maui. We also have a long list of hikes that we’re hoping to complete at some point in the near future.

I’ve mentioned it before, and I’m sure I’ll mention it again, but we love that Hawaii is our happy place. We look forward to our visits each and every year and I hope that our annual Christmas Trip tradition continues well into the future.

What other adventures should I add for our next visit? Do you have a favorite restaurant I should try? I’ll meet you in the comments below!

A Hui Hou Maui! Aloha!