Arrival

You’ve just finished a long plane ride and have finally arrived in Maui. You might be a bit frazzled and tired after your journey. You’re in a new timezone and have to adjust your clock. Perhaps you have lots of extra time before you can check into the condo at 4pm. May we offer some suggestions to make your first day better?

Cyndi

Current time in Maui

Take a minute to relax

Just minutes from the Kahului Airport is Kanaha Beach Park. It's a sandy (often windy) beach with picnic tables, canoes, wind surfers, and kites — a great place to take a walk on the beach, decompress, and relax. Understanding that you have a car full of baggage, you still might find that a quick stop at this park to stretch your legs helps to regenerate before the first day activities of getting to the condo on the other side of the island (about a 45 minute drive) and grocery shopping.

Grab something to eat -- here are some first day suggestions:

• Minutes away from the Kahului Airport is the Tin Roof owned by Top Chef contestant Sheldon Simeon. It is take-out food only and it's recommended to order your food online before you arrive. A great place to eat is at the Kanaha Beach picnic tables behind the airport. The mochiko chicken over garlic noodles is highly recommended. Make sure to include utensils in your order.
• About 15 minutes away (headed toward the condo) is one of our favorite places to eat on island, Cafe o Lei at the Millhouse. The grounds are beautiful, you can eat outside by a pond, look at the mountains, and watch the occasional zipliner go by. We usually get our rental car, head to Cafe o Lei for a lunch plate special, backtrack to Costco for shopping, then head over to West Maui.
• The food trucks by Costco in Kahului are known for good food.
• Sometimes we are frazzled by the time we get to the condo and unpack. There are several great casual places to eat (with happy hours) right close to Kahana Sunset. Check out Kitchen 5315, Captain Jack's, and Amigo's Lahaina. Another great place for happy hour is the Sea House which is a bit more upscale.

Grocery shopping decisions

How much are you going to cook vs going out to dinner? This dictates how many groceries you need to buy for your vacation. While the condo offers a "starter pack", you'll probably want to stock up the kitchen for essentials. Here are some options for you:

• If you plan on eating much of the time at the condo (and saving money), there is a Costco close to the Kahului airport. The barbecues at Kahana Sunset are awesome, so you might want to stock up on meat and other staples. You'll also find specialty items at Costco, like Hawaiian shirts, POG (Passion Orange Guava) juice which makes a great rum cocktail, macadamia nuts and Maui Gold pineapples. My husband always insists on getting a pack of poppy seed muffins from the bakery which we compliment with fresh fruit every morning on the lanai. If you have room in your baggage, bring an insulated thermal food bag for the cold/frozen goods on the drive to the condo — it can also be useful when visiting the beaches later in your trip. The Costco gas station is a good place to fill up your rental car before you return to the airport.
• Kahana Sunset is committed to eliminating the use of single use plastics, especially bottled water. Please consider bringing your own reusable water bottles from home rather than buying a case of water from the grocery store. There is a filtered water station by the pool for refills. Thank you for helping save our ocean.
• Lahaina has a huge Safeway grocery store, located about 15 minutes away from the condo. Even if you've done a Costco run, this is the place for things like small containers of condiments, salad dressings, coffee and butter. If you're not planning on doing much cooking, this is the store for you. The condo has a coffee grinder and Kona coffee beans are sold everywhere.
• About 7 minutes south of the condo is the Times supermarket in Honokowai. It's a large local grocery store and is well stocked with everything you need.
• Just up the road from the condo (walking distance) is the Napili Plaza and a small grocery store for those last-minute grocery items. There is a coffee place in the shopping center in case you can't do without your morning espresso or latte. Dining options at the plaza include Joey's Kitchen, Mama's Ribs 'n Rotisserie, A'A Roots Maui (vegetarian/vegan) and Amigo's Lahaina.

Drive to the condo

Take your time driving to the other side of the island. You'll pass by the Maui Ocean Center which is an incredible aquarium. It's worth a visit on another day, especially for the 3-D whale experience. Past the Kihei turnoff is a scenic pull-out on the left before you enter the tunnel. Be very careful of traffic. If it's whale watching season (January-March), you'll probably see whales spouting here as it's one of their favorite places. In all probability, you'll see whales everywhere during the season -- just look for spouts. Approaching Lahaina, there are many beaches to visit.

And welcome to Kahana Sunset C7...

When you get to the condo and have unpacked, go down to the Keone Nui observation area and see if the turtles are there. They come in to eat the algae off the rocks and are quite entertaining. You may see the occasional turtle in the evening coming up on the beach to rest. Please be respectful of turtles and stay a minimum of 10 feet from them at all times (even when you swim with them) — if they are harassed they will leave our resort. Take a swim in the pool or ocean! And in the evening, sit in a lounge chair by the beach and watch the beautiful sunset.