Hawaiian Honeymoon Biography
Before you leave
Vacation involved east coast direct flight to Honolulu, six nights at Hyatt Regency Maui and four nights at Grand Hyatt Kauai. Inter island flights were with Hawaiian Airlines.
Before you leave, it is highly recommend that you take out membership with the resort, so that points for your stay can be assigned at checkout. From experience, they tend to resist applying credits to members after you have checked out. If you choose Hyatt, they have a Gold Passport you can sign up for.
Investing in some good guidebooks is always a smart idea. The series of choice for the Hawaiian islands are published by Wizard. Maui Revealed and The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook are updated regularly and are referred to in the following text.
You may find it beneficial to use an AAA travel agent to organize and book flights and accommodation. The itinerary becomes complex when staying on more than one island when considering inter-island flights. Even if you require to take out AAA membership, the overall cost of the vacation can be less than attempting to book it online.
Continental offer a direct flight to Honolulu from Newark. This is ideal when flying from the east coast, as eliminating a stop on the west coast makes the journey about 10.5 hours. You may want to consider upgrading to business/first for the return night flight in order to get some sleep and it’s also a way of prolonging the vacation experience. Continental don’t offer near horizontal seating in business/first, but the service is excellent and who can refuse a drink every five minutes.
It is highly recommended to include car rental for your entire stay in Hawaii when making your initial booking. Traveling around the islands by car is easy and in fact, it is essential to have a car, as there are no shuttle services between airports and resorts. Many of the sights you will want to visit by car and the vehicle of choice is a ford mustang convertible. Another vehicle choice is a four wheel drive Jeep. This vehicle will give you elevated height for better sightseeing and more off-road options. A disadvantage is the manual soft top, which can be irritating to operate in the mountains where the weather can be very unpredictable.
Staying on Maui
The Hyatt Regency Maui has an ideal location in Lahaina, surrounded by a number of other resorts, manicured golf courses and ocean beachfront. The resort itself offers great outdoor water facilities and the resorts are linked for easy access to walking and running routes. Paths also lead to an outdoor mall and ocean front restaurants. The resort grounds are maintained like a nature preserve, with exotic plants and animals.
It seems the majority of the hotel rooms at this resort are similar in size and layout. Upgrade options are limited to the view from the room or splash out on a suite. It’s not recommended to pay more for the view, unless you want an ocean view, but then again you will not want to spend much time in your room. The hotel disappointed with a 3 star bathroom in a supposedly 4 star room.
Dining on Maui
It’s essential that you include breakfast in your initial resort booking, as you will want the convenience of wandering down to breakfast in the morning and otherwise, the additional surcharge is extremely high if paid for separately. If spending the afternoon by the pool, taking advantage of drinks and food service is the way to go. Food offering for lunch is very good and there is nothing like having an alcoholic smoothie before noon!
For evening dinner at the resort, Cascades Grill is recommended for Asian style cooking. Within walking distance, there is Hula Grill which offers both upscale and relaxed dining. The restaurant offer spectacular sunset views. Roy’s is a short drive away and offers some good dining options although the restaurant décor could be greatly improved. When ordering, try the fish with the unusual names, they are local and usually caught fresh that day. If you need more reassurance, ask your server to describe and rate the dish.
Try the Whaler’s Village outdoor mall, again within walking distance of the resort, for some bar options and don’t forget to try the local Bikini Beer – very tasty! For an expanded restaurant selection, refer to the dining selection in the Maui guidebook.
Road to Hana
This refers to the scenic drive on the Hana highway, which is a must if you visit Maui. So, plan to set aside a full day for this road trip. The guidebook does an excellent job of pointing you to important places of interest and places to skip. Some additional advice from those who have traveled before; start early, as it is a long drive on narrow winding roads, which is also your return route and it is better you complete the journey before nightfall. Bring some food along, there are limited places to stop for breakfast/lunch until you reach Hana. Don’t miss Wai’anapanapa black sand beach, it is one of the highlights of the journey. There are occasional places to stop to purchase local produce (fruit and nuts) and the ever present, but very tasty banana bread. Stop at the larger manned roadside stalls for better service and selection.
Hiking on Maui
Maui is a hiking paradise, so bring your hiking boots/trail shoes, as you will want to participate in at least a half day hike. Joining a hike with a professional guide is a great way to experience unique island scenery and learn about it’s flora and fauna. It’s also a way of getting spectacular photos of waterfalls, rainforest, diving pools and mountain vistas.
Another organized trip is Bike Mount Haelakea. This involves been taken up the volcanic mountain at an ungodly hour in the morning, witnessing sunrise on the mountain top and biking to the bottom for some well earned breakfast. Beware of the change of temperatures from bottom to top of the mountain where is can be a cold 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Pack some warm clothes if planning to make this trip. Witnessing sunrise is a unique experience from the vantage point of the mountain, the bike down can be a little constrictive due to safety concerns of the tour organizers.
Running on Maui
Early morning starts are recommended to avoid the heat and high humidity of the day. If you are able to rise before dawn, you will be rewarded with a sunrise that turns the ocean and neighboring island a light pink in the cool morning air. You can stay within the perimeter of the golf courses and road the links the major resorts without having to venture onto major roads. Plan your run to finish along the ocean front. The resort gym is located there, so bring along your room key as the facility offers air conditioning, cold drinks and towels to aide your cool down.
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Staying on Kauai
The Grand Hyatt Kauai is an wonderful resort nestled is a beautiful location on the island. It is a low rise hotel that fits into it’s natural surroundings. The resort offers a higher class of facilities than that of it’s counterpart on Maui. There is an outdoor lagoon and artificial beach within footsteps of the real beach. There is a feeling on seclusion which makes it an ideal place to relax and unwind. The bedrooms were spacious and modern.
There are opportunities for short hikes at either end of the beachfront. Going to the right will lead past the resort grounds and along ancient fishing grounds. There is also vantage points to watch giant turtles dive for food in the surf. The route also provides wonderful panoramic views of Keoniloa bay. This is a good short hike to do after breakfast. Taking the trail from the left edge of the beach leads you to sandstone cliffs, where you occasional see locals dive into the sea at high tide. The landscape is bare and rocky in stark contrast to the lush vegetation of the surrounding hills.
As mentioned above, this is a resort to take advantage of some downtime. A good tip is to rent a cabana; a double mattress type sun bed with a lagoon or ocean view. It comes with towel service and sun covers. It’s ideal for a day of lounging.
Road trip on Kauai
A road trip not to miss on the island is Waimea Canyon drive. It is a drive along the rim of a canyon that offers incredible valley views and a massive waterfall. This trip takes about a half day to complete depending on how often you want to stop. Don’t forget to start with a full tank of gas. The guidebook does a good job of directing you to the most important places of interest.
If you are staying in the south of the island and want to visit the north like Kileuea Lighthouse and beyond, this requires a full day. The lighthouse allows you to few some wildlife up close. There are remote beaches and marked hiking trails, if you travel further along the northern shore and again the guidebook will point your way. Take note of the lunch stand on the way to Kileuea Lighthouse. This is a popular stop that serves basic but good food. There is not much after, so if you miss this, turn around it’s worth your time.
Dining on Kauai
The resort offers a number of dining choices of which Tidepools was the most enjoyable. The food is excellent and the setting is wonderful. Ask for a table beside the open vista. You are suspended over water with hundreds of carp swimming in the illuminated water below. Dondero’s offers evening Italian dining. The restaurant décor is a little over the top, but the food is top quality. Poolside dining for lunch is ideal, service is prompt and the selection is good.Poipu is remote from any urban center, but there are a number of restaurants in the area to try if you want to venture beyond the resort.
Running on Kauai
From the resort, your choice of routes are limited for a decent 30-45 minute run. You will have to run on the street (Poipu Road) that links the resort to a main highway. There is a wide shoulder, so it is safe although not very scenic as your view of the ocean is obscured. After 1.5 miles there are ocean views and fear not, you will not be the only one running this route.
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