Just a few days before leaving for leaving for Costa Rica (early December) I got home late at night and had just picked up the mail on my way to the house. Inside was a mint green envelope with “Westin Vacations” in the upper left corner. We used to get Westin invitations at least a few times a year, but it had been at least a year or two since we’d received anything. When we were planning a trip for our 20th anniversary we were hoping to get a Westin offer to Hawaii and when nothing came we went ahead with Bali (which of course was awesome). Anyhow, Justin was on the couch when I walked in the house and when I told him what I was holding he jumped up and ran over to see what the offer would be. We’ve seen offers for Sedona, Palm Springs, etc… but what we really wanted was Hawaii and Hawaii we got! We took advantage of a Westin deal at the Westin Villas in Maui back in 2012 – this current offer was for their newest resort – the Westin Nanea also in Maui. We were pumped! The reservation line was already closed for the night, but I called first thing in the morning and we had our trip booked. An added bonus was that we had an Alaska Airlines companion fare expiring soon so it worked out perfectly. A sweet resort in a prime location at a fraction of the cost and pretty much a BOGO flight over there.
A little farewell from Katie
We took a late afternoon flight out of Seattle and arrived in Maui late. So late that we had to leave our suitcases at the baggage area in order to rush to the car rental place before they closed at 11pm. We got a call from a airport agent just after 11pm asking if we could come get our bags so she could go home for the night. That would only happen in a small little airport.
We didn’t want to waste one of our nights at the resort with a late arrival so we booked a hotel near the airport with points and stayed there tonight. Nothing fancy, but it helped us maximize our time on the island.
We’ve been to Maui four other times and have never experienced the Road to Hana. Neither Justin nor I like to drive and the Road to Hana has 620 curves and some rough roads. I’m so glad we decided to do it this trip because it was AMAZING! We decided to drive the entire loop so it was a FULL day, but SO worth it!
We were up early and tried to get come malasadas (can’t believe I hadn’t had these on any previous trips!)at Zippy‘s nearby; however, they had a 30 minute wait so instead we got a couple donuts and an omelet for Justin and then our next stop was in Paia to pick up some sandwiches for lunch to eat later in the day along the Road to Hana. We also picked up some motion sickness medication as a preventative measure. Our first stop along the Road to Hana was Twin Falls which was a relatively short, and easy hike from the parking lot. The falls itself weren’t that impressive but the setting was pretty cool with a cave-like area behind the falls. When we got to the falls we were the only ones there which was kind of cool. Overall a worthwhile stop.
We stopped along the side of the road to check out the rainbow eucalyptus trees. Unreal!
The Ke’anae Peninsula was a short little detour off the main road to a beautiful spot where we watched the waves crashing against the lava rocks. We also picked up some famous banana bread at Aunty Sandy’s.
Three Bear Falls (Waikani Falls)
We stopped along the road to hike to the Wailua Iki Falls tucked back off the main road. Technically it’s private property but it’s a popular hike so we felt justified passing through the gate.
Justin was brave enough to swim in one pond which was apparently very cold.
We had downloaded the Shaka guide to help us determine what stops we should make. It let us know of a small lava cave that we would have otherwise just driven straight past. It was a short stop but fun to venture down into the cave and take a few pictures.
We stopped for lunch at Wai’anapanapa State Park which is home to Hana’s black sand beach -stunning! It is known throughout the world as one of the most beautiful places in all Hawaii. We were impressed!
We took a short hike around the coast line and checked out the blowhole and the powerful waves crashing into the lava rock shore. It was absolutely beautiful!
If a black sand beach wasn’t cool enough (which it was!) our next stop introduced us to our first red sand beach which was pretty incredible!
Alau Island in the distance with a single coconut tree at the top.
We stopped at a few other waterfalls along the way…
Our next big stop was the Pipiwai Trail in the Haleakala National Park. This was a 4 mile hike with a 650 elevation gain, ending at the 400 ft Waimoku Falls at the end of the valley. This was my favorite hike of the day and was really interesting because we went through several different landscapes as we followed the Oheo stream up into the mountains including a bamboo forest and a banyan tree grove.
I thought these naked trees were pretty cool
The second little hike in that same area of the Haleakalā National Park is the Pools of Oheo (7 Sacred Pools). It’s a short trail that circles around the falls and pools that lead to the ocean. We happened to come on a day in which the pools were closed and the water was pretty muddy but it was still impressive though. I can’t imagine what it would look like on an ideal day.
Justin was pretty set on driving the entire road to Hana loop instead of doubling back the way that we came which meant we had some rough roads ahead of us. Thankfully we had plenty of light left in the day and so we are able to take our time and enjoy the views along the way.
We had several cow and goat encounters along the backroad and a fun little road block of little piggies which we found thoroughly entertaining.
We got back to Kahului around 7pm which meant we had been on our little excursion for 12 hours. I was pretty set on having dinner at Leoda's Kitchen & Pie Shop that we discovered on our last trip here. They closed at 8pm and we made it just in time and were the last people in the shop as they were locking up the doors. I ordered both a potato and macaroni and cheese dish with a chocolate macadamia pie to go. Justin had a burger which he thought was very good.
We also were able to make it Ululani’s shaved ice in Lahaina before they closed at 9pm and enjoyed revisiting a Hawaii favorite treat for the first of many times this trip.
We checked into our hotel pretty late and when we went up to our room we were surprised to find that they had upgraded us to a two bedroom/two bath villa which meant we had two separate king size bedrooms, two large bathrooms, a full kitchen, a large balcony and laundry services. Impressive!
