(Written by Alex)
What a really fun day in Maui! Because Lahaina (and all of Maui) doesn’t have a deep water port, Ovation of the Seas has to take passengers in via tender boats. They have six life boats that they can also use as tender boats. We got in line a little before 7 to get tickets and wound up on Tender #3.
The ride in is a bit rocky and hot (we are all inside) but we eventually got over to Lahaina and unloaded. Once there we ordered an Uber to the rental car agency and got our car.
Nakalele Blow Hole
The blow hole is located north of Lahaina and Kapalua. We drove up the Honoapiilani Highway and could see there were lots of spots to pull over and get great coastline photos. We chose to not venture all the way down to the blow hole (it’s a hike) but got some nice shots from up top. On the ride out and back we stopped for some amazing coastline shots.
Whalers Village
Back in Ka’anapali, we stopped here for a bit of shopping and some lunch. We ate at Monkeypod Kitchen and had some yummy fresh fish sandwiches. Then after Kim decided to get a necklace she really liked – ALOHA!!
Royal Ka’anapali Golf Course
After lunch it was time for one of my two rounds of golf on this big trip (the other will be in Australia). I wanted to play Kapalua, but the Plantation course is under renovation. Royal Ka’anapali was a pretty decent substitute.
Rental clubs made it interesting, as did some breeze, rain showers and grainy/sloping greens. The first hole was a par 5 and unbelievably I birdied it. That would be my only birdie on the round. Many more bogeys with some pars and doubles sprinkled in had me card an 85. It was still lots of fun!! Even saw a rainbow after a shower!
Old Lahaina Luau
We basically left the golf course and drove directly to the Luau. It was really nice and we had very good seats. They had a ceremonial pig roasting that they uncovered, lots of other traditional food, lots of yummy drinks (included) and some great dancing. It was pretty hot (with no breeze), but we still both really enjoyed it!
The show ended around 8:30, but we then had to find a parking spot for our rental car, get in the long line to get a tender and ride the very hot tender back. It was like a sauna in the boat and we were tucked in the back corner. But we made it by a little after 10 and crashed when we got back because tomorrow is our road trip out to Hana and we have to get up at 4!!
(Full disclosure – this didn’t get posted until after that trip so more to come…)
Aloha!!
