Ray and Traci's Guide to Maui

We would like to present our list of favorites from one of the world’s most beautiful places. Every visit brings new places to see and new adventures to enjoy.

When to visit: The best time to visit Hawaii is when the crowds are small, prices are (relatively) low and the weather is good. The period between early October and mid-November bring the best deals – obviously you will save money on airline tickets and hotel bills but other bonuses like free room upgrades, easy access to popular restaurants and especially deep discounts for tourist activities will be enjoyed. Weather isn’t a problem although it can be a bit toasty early in October.

How to make a reservation: Hawaii is one of the most popular destinations for the tourism packaging industry. Virtually every airline that flies to Hawaii sells packages including airfares, hotel and rentals. You can also book flights, hotels and cars separately on individual company websites. Some hotels have lodging packages that include car rentals. I’ve found the internet tourism companies (pleasantholidays.com, expedia.com, etc…) have the best rates – We have booked our recent trips to Maui with pleasantholidays.com. You don’t get frequent flyer miles or frequent hotel stay miles with many of the discount packages – it pays to check to see if there is a significant price difference between booking a flight on the airline website and booking the car/hotel package with pleasantholidays.com separately (we have done that before) so you can pick out your seats and get frequent flyer miles. Also be aware that many hotels don’t add taxes to their quoted prices but many travel packagers give you a total price including tax. Costco’s travel service also has some good deals, especially for certain condo rentals – but you may have to wait for a long time (30-60 minutes) on the phone to get to an agent. Basically, you could go crazy checking all the permutations of discount travel reservations but at least take a look at the pleasantholidays.com website as in our experience have been the cheapest with the widest range of hotel options (total dive to five star resorts) to fit all tastes and budgets.

Where to Stay: There are two major tourist areas on Maui – Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina/Kapalua (West side of Maui) and Wailea/Makena which are toward the southern tip of the island. In addition, the Travel Channel has named Kihei which is a town on the way from the airport to Wailea as the place to find the best condo rental deals in Hawaii. We always stay in the Wailea area because it tends to be less windy, has great beaches, and is less congested. Advantages of the Kaanapali/Kapalua area include more tourist activities, more shopping and more restaurants. Halloween is a big deal in Lahaina and be prepared for gridlock if you want to drive around on that day. If you want to play golf, the 3 courses at Wailea and 2 courses at Makena are hard to beat. If you want to do a lot of activities/shopping it makes a lot of sense to stay in the Lahaina area to reduce driving.

A word about accommodations – There are a huge number of places to stay on Maui and one can find great deals if you do a little research. For adults guests where price is no object, Kapalua has the Ritz-Carlton and Wailea has the Four Seasons Maui. Whether staying or just strolling through the grounds, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort on Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina is one of the most beautiful resorts anywhere and boasts a rich variety of animals in an artificial tropical zoo. We like staying at the Grand Wailea Resort with its water park including a collection of interconnected pools and water slides. Families may want to stay at the classic Wailea Ekahi Village, a collection of comfortable condos next to the beautiful Wailea Beach. It pays to figure out what activities you want to do before deciding on a hotel – it makes no sense to spend lots of money on the Grand Wailea if you want to spend most of your time windsurfing on the other side of the island. For the most part, all the beaches on Maui are great for most vacationers who want to lie on the sand and play in the surf. Specific activities like surfing and windsurfing require going to beaches away from the tourist areas for the best conditions and teaching. Also keep in mind people who stay in the hotels of a resort area tend to get better tee times and preferential greens fees. When looking for a place to stay on Maui its helpful to start at a travel website like pleasantholidays.com, expedia.com or hotels.com to get lists of hotels, price ranges and amenities available. From a list of potentials you can look at various internet sites like yahoo travel and the travel channel to look at specific comments by past patrons.

Ray and Traci’s Favorite Places to Eat

1. Azeka’s Ribs & Snack Shop – Many places sell marinated beef ribs – “Kal-bi Ribs”, “Korean Ribs,” but Azeka’s Ribs are world famous since 1976 and are found in Azeka’s snack shop in Kihei. You can buy complete prepared meals with ribs or better yet, buy 1 pound of marinated uncooked ribs per person and have your own barbecue! If you eat at one place during your visit to Maui, make it Azeka’s Ribs!


2. Sansei Restaurant & Sushi Bar – Two locations are found on Maui, one in Kihei and one in Kapalua and this restaurant was featured on Rachael Ray’s $40 show on Maui. Food is half price as a late night special!


3. Stella Blues – Looking for a “regular” restaurant to take a break from plate lunches and delicious ribs? Try Stella Blues in Kihei which has a nice selection of breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Seafood, vegetarian dishes, pancakes and desserts – they are all available.


4. Hakone Restaurant at the Maui Prince Hotel (Makena) – On Saturday nights (we found that the date changed from Monday to Saturday nights on our last visit), Hakone has an all you can eat Japanese buffet including sushi and all sorts of Japanese foods. The buffet is pricy ~ $50, but the amazing spread of all you can eat delicious foods can’t be beat.


5. Humuhumunukunukuapua’a – Named after Hawaii’s state fish, Humu’s is a floating restaurant at the Grand Wailea Hotel. Below the restaurant swims a variety of hungry fish that love to munch on pieces of bread diners throw into the water. Besides the fish show, you can find a delicious $50 steak and lobster entrée found among choices of fish and meat entrees with Hawaiian influences. To keep the meal somewhat economical, stay away from the drinks!


6. Aloha Mixed Plate – The plate lunch is a Hawaiian institution: it includes a main fish or meat entrée, rice, and macaroni salad. Aloha Mixed Plate has been a favorite on the  and is located in Lahaina behind the Cannery Mall.


7. Da Kitchen – Looking for a cheap and filling meal in Kihei? Look no farther than Da Kitchen! (A location in Kahului also exists). Salads, Burgers, Steaks, Ribs – its all here and cheap, cheap, cheap! Warning – do not have lunch here before a big dinner – the huge meals will ruin your appetite.


8. Longhi’s (Locations in the Shops at Wailea mall and the original location in Lahaina) – Looking for a place for a great breakfast? Longhi’s fits the bill – fresh fruit, French Toast, Pancakes, etc…Good food!

Fun on Maui

Maui is full of tourist activities, many of which we recommend. Popular attractions are often offered by multiple businesses with wide ranges of prices. Taking the absolute cheapest tour on a mountain bike down Haleakula is probably not the way to go. On the other hand it is easy to overpay for many activities. There are many tourist activity shops that offer “discounted” rates for many businesses (and they also want to try and sell you time shares at the same time). Many businesses have websites that offer web discounts for reservations, something to think about especially for expensive tours like helicopter rides. Finally, travel packagers like Expedia and pleasantholidays.com have activities as options to their Hawaii packages at significant discounts. Buying in advance often saves money but limits your choices of which company to patronize.

1. Snorkeling at Molokini – Want to see schools and schools of colorful fish? Several different companies offer the Snorkeling at Molokini tour. We signed up for the Prince Kuhio boat – A tour typically includes an early morning boat ride to the Molokini Marine Reserve (about 1 hour off Maui), snorkel equipment, a barbecue lunch and a return trip which passes by some giant turtle areas. Once you reach the reef, an amazing number of colorful fish inhabit the area. Some tours offer a Snuba option which is basically scuba diving with the air supply based on the ship, but you are probably better off swimming around with snorkel equipment to see the various fish. Flotation devices provided by the tour company make the snorkeling relatively easy and you can spend as little or as much time in the water.


2. Mountain Biking down Haleakala – Like the Molokini snorkel tours, several companies offer a bike excursion down the Maui volcano. We took the Cruiser Bob tour which emphasizes the safety of the bikes. If you want to bike down Haleakala, be careful to pick a tour with safe bicycles and one where the tour van follows the biking party down. You do not want to take a tour that just dumps you off the top of the volcano and leaves you on your own to make your way down. This tour is more physically demanding than any other – people have died on the mountain, mostly by colliding into an oncoming bus. It is also easy to fall off the road and fall down the mountain. The scenery is spectacular and the downhill bike ride is quite fun but be aware of the dangers.


3. Jet Skiing at Lahaina – Unlike the mountain bike tours, the jet skiing offered in Lahaina is much safer than jet skiing almost anywhere else. You take the tour from Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina, in front of the Hyatt Regency Maui – a rubber raft takes you to a platform just offshore where you ride a jet ski in a specially marked area. The ocean surf provides waves for jumping on and you don’t need to worry about running into boats. If you enjoy jet skiing or want it try it for the first time, this is the place to go.


4. Helicopter tour of Maui – We took the Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour of Maui and enjoyed it. Much of the island is only accessible from the air and the beauty of Maui is magnified by a helicopter tour. You will see the road to Hana and see first hand why you don’t want to drive it – going to Hana in the air is so much more enjoyable. Gorgeous waterfalls inaccessible by ground are seen although we took the ride after an unusual dry period and many of the water features were dry. Since everything in Maui is expensive (especially gasoline) the Maui tours are not cheap but for those looking to see all of the beautiful island might consider splurging on a flight.


5. Scuba Diving – Several companies offer scuba diving tours and classes. One can take a 1-2 hour introduction class/tour or enroll in a several day long class leading to full certification. I took an introductory class at the Grand Wailea which takes place in a special 12 foot deep scuba pool. After completing the swimming pool class he took a 1 hour dive off the beach around a reef. The reef tour included an introduction to a small octopus as well as a drive by of a giant sea turtle. Scuba diving is interesting but getting used to the dry compressed air as well as the uneasy sensation of breathing under the surface is difficult. In general, scuba is somewhat more difficult than it appears leading to my conclusion that snorkeling off Molikini is the best way to see pretty fish.


6. Shopping - The main airport is in Kahului and a Costco can be found just outside the airport. Kahului also has the stores like Home Depot and Wal-Mart. The main shopping center for Maui residents is Ka'ahumanu Center. Inside this large shopping center are most of the chain stores you’d find at home including a Sears store. Maui has four main shopping areas that cater to the tourists. The Shops at Wailea is a collection of upscale shops and boutiques. In Lahaina, two main areas of shopping attract tourists. The Cannery Mall which is on the main highway thru the town has a food court, a Safeway, a Starbucks and various T-shirt and souvenir shops in a fully enclosed shopping area. Lahaina’s Front Street is the main tourist trap with a strip mall, collection of shops selling souvenirs of every kind, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurant, and the Wharf Cinema Center with more shops and restaurants. The fourth and largest tourist shopping area is Whaler’s Village in Kaanapali with restaurants, shops and boutiques.


7. Luaus – A visit to Maui isn’t complete without attending one of the luaus available both in the Wailea and Lahaina areas. Luaus are all you can eat extravaganzas including a whole pig which is cooked underground in a pit. Beef, Chicken and fish entrees are also available. Luaus also include beverages like Mai Tais and entertainment including hula dancing, music, drums and fire dancers twirling torches to the amazement of stuffed patrons.


8. Parasailing was available at the Lahaina harbor and we decided to try it out. While flying along the Maui Beach at 800 feet was quite exciting, the parasailing experience is probably not much different (and probably less interesting) than doing the same thing along the Seattle waterfront in the middle of summer.

Pictures from Maui

A beautiful Maui sunset

Colorful fish of Molokini

Mountain bike down this volcano

Scuba diving in an Octopus' Garden

Here is the end of the road to Hana

Pictures from Holidays in New York

View of Wall Street from the Empire State Building

Radio City Music Hall's Holiday Show

Stars and Music on Fifth Avenue by Saks

Holiday Skating at the Rock

Empire State Building's Christmas Lights

Holidays in the Big Apple

Inspired by scenes in movies such as Home Alone and Miracle on 34th Street, Ray and Traci decided to brave the cold temperatures and visit New York City during the December holiday season. Every December, an international medical conference is held in Washington DC and on this occasion a three day post conference was planned for our second visit to the Big Apple.

Before traveling to NYC in December, it is important to remember two things – it is cold and very expensive. Ray typically spends a lot of time studying travel sites looking for good deals at higher end hotels. On this occasion, the strategy backfired as prices did not appreciably fall despite planning 6 months prior to the trip so were forced to pay - uggh -the dreaded rack rate for the first time ever. Interesting enough, the USA Today ran an article about the high prices of hotels in NYC this December – even bare bones discount chains were getting $370 for Times Square area rooms.

In December, New York has beautiful holiday decorations but also cold weather. The 27 degree temperature made packing lots of winter clothing mandatory and discouraged some traditional tourist activities like the ferry to Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty.

We decided to travel from Washington DC to NYC’s Penn Station on the heavily taxpayer subsidized Amtrak (and given the number of empty seats on our train we can see why it is not profitable). Train travel, while not nearly as exciting as riding the Japanese bullet trains, was a nice change – viewing rural areas along with big cities was both interesting and humbling. Our train ride took 3 hours and 20 minutes – note the Acela trains are 20 minutes faster and make the same stops (so the extra 50% fare isn’t worth it).

After arriving at Penn Station we tried to get a cab to take us to the Sheraton at Times Square. Lesson #1: It is hard to get a cab in NYC when you need one! Study the subway maps ahead of time and plan ahead. After waiting in 30 degree weather at the Penn Station cab stand we decided to lug our bags back down into the subway and rode past 4 stops to get to Times Square and the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers. Fortunately our rack rate room was ready when we arrived shortly after 12pm. Lesson #2: New York has its own standards for hotel rooms. Stories about tiny rooms abound – beds placed at angles so the door can open, poor heating, inconsistent water temperature, complete ignorance of the word “complimentary” – Our room was small but navigable, cold but not frigid, and clean so I guess we should feel fortunate even though we had to pay the “rack rate.”

From the Sheraton which is located on the north part of Times Square we sauntered down to the famous “TKTS” office where ½ price show tickets are sold the day of performances. Given our on time arrival in NYC we tried to see a Wednesday matinee show of “Mamma Mia” but they only had obstructed seating so we chose to get tickets to see the Holiday Spectacular by the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Having a few hours before the show, we decided to eat at Maxie’s Delicatessen in Times Square. Traci had a bowl of soup but Ray was quite hungry and had a tasty $15.95 steak. We found that reasonably priced food is quite available even in the Times Square area and suggest looking at menus (most are available on the internet) for good food values. From Maxie’s we wandered up legendary 5th Avenue. Christmas decorations abound in New York’s shopping district as stores try to out decorate each other. Ray stopped in the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral – quite an amazing architectural sight (both inside and out). Next, we went inside New York’s monument to egomania – Trump Tower. Within the halls of fired apprentices reside establishments devoted to the Donald, all boasting the world’s best something or another. Interestingly enough no high end jeweler has opened shop in Trump Tower – instead is a rather conspicuous costume jewelry store. Ray did sample some strawberry ice cream at Trump’s shop and found it good but hardly the world’s best. Next we saw the Christmas Spectacular. As expected the show consisted of musical numbers, dancing, and several Santa Clauses. After 1 hour 10 minutes, the Rockettes and Santa left the stage and on came a rather mundane performance of the traditional nativity scenes. The holiday show is a New York institution but think about getting ½ price tickets and skipping the nativity scene.After leaving Radio City Musical Hall we wandered around the Rockefeller Center and found a nice Soup/Salad/Sandwich place called Bocca where Traci had more soup and Ray had a custom tossed Caesar Salad. Time seems to pass especially fast in New York and we returned to the Sheraton to rest up for a very busy day.

We started Thursday by purchasing tickets for the Grey Line Tour Bus (basically you buy a ticket that gives you 48 hours to travel any of their 4 major NYC tours and the ability to hop on and off at various stops). We started by taking the tour bus to Macy’s (claims to be the largest store in the world). It didn’t look much different than the Seattle Macy’s but it has several eateries and a really cool gingerbread replica of the store. A block from Macy’s is the famous Empire State Building and we ascended to the 86th floor observation deck to view New York on a cold but clear day. The view was quite amazing – Statue of Liberty, Central Park, New Jersey – all from a 360 degree outdoor viewing platform. From the Empire State Building we took the subway to Chelsea where Traci’s favorite TV channel (The Food Network) originates from. We found the Chelsea Market in a rather non-descript building – many different eateries and a high end grocery store occupy the first floor. Chelsea Market is certainly no Pike Place market but Ray found a good slice of NY pizza (in New York carnivore pizza is similar to meat lovers) as well as good gelato. Unfortunately the Food Channel studios were on upper floors and Traci wasn’t able to score tickets to an Emeril taping. We hopped back on the subway and decided to get on an uptown tour bus which headed to Harlem. Other than the Harlem Globetrotters neither of us have heard too many positive things about the neighborhood so it was quite illuminating to see how much change has occurred – lots of new development (even President Clinton has his office in Harlem), renovated brownstones and lots of stores mix in with historic landmarks such as the Apollo theatre. On the way to Harlem we passed by the Dakota apartments where John Lennon was being remembered on the 25th anniversary of his tragic death. On the return loop we passed by the Upper East side where we learned that 90201 is not the wealthiest zip code in the world – New York holds the title. Large apartment buildings line the eastern border of Central Park most of which have 7 or 8 figure values. After a brief stop at the Sheraton, we walked to the St. James theatre for one of the highlights of the trip – seeing The Producers. Thanks to purchasing tickets 6 months in advance we sat in the second row center stage and both found the show extremely enjoyable. Sitting so close to the actors really added an exclamation point to live theatre. From the Producers we went to a restaurant very near the Sheraton called the Eatery. Ray enjoyed a Macaroni and Cheese dish while Traci had a delicious udon noodle salad. The Eatery had a nice après broadway show atmosphere. After dinner (now close to 1AM) we returned to the Sheraton and collapsed.

A snowstorm hit NYC early Friday morning and we got a somewhat late start on our day. While 4 or so inches covered the city, NYC continued to move along – even the double decker tour buses kept operating although there weren’t many takers for the outdoor roof seats. We spent the snowy morning in the Museum of Natural History in Central Park. Our previous tour guide recommended the butterfly aviary and the dinosaur areas so we started there. The butterfly aviary is a greenhouse like area where butterflies fly around and on you. The dinosaur areas have both reconstructed skeletons and reproductions of prehistoric creatures in various activities of daily living. Besides those exhibits the massive museum has areas devoted to exhibits about the universe, minerals, and a huge collection of stuffed animals – from the mundane pigeons of Central Park to exotic and extinct animals. After the museum we went to the gorgeous brand new Time Warner Building in Columbus Circle. This new building contains an exclusive shopping area, a Whole Foods Market, an exhibition with Samsung’s latest and greatest electronics as well as the New York studios for CNN. In contrast to the NBC tour which we took on a previous trip to NYC, this experience brought to light the many people who report on the 24 hour news behind people like Anderson Cooper and Lou Dobbs. From CNN we met up with Ray’s cousin David at the Sheraton and took the subway to Chinatown where a scrumptious dinner at Joe’s Shanghai was enjoyed by all. Joe’s Shanghai has a location north of Times Square but we wanted to see Chinatown and made the journey on the subway. Little Italy is adjacent to Chinatown and was well decorated for the holiday season. We completed the evening by returning to Fifth Avenue and enjoying the holiday lights of this exclusive shopping district. Highlights included Rockefeller Center with its Christmas tree and skating rink and Saks Fifth Avenue with large lighted snowflakes which sparkled with choreographed holiday music. We also traveled to the “Top of the Rock” where a multilevel observation deck allowed stunning night views of New York including the holiday illumination of the Empire State Building. After another exhausting day we returned to the Sheraton.

Our final day in NYC started at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). MoMA is quite a place – the top floor has traveling exhibits; during our visit we saw lots of devices created to make people feel better. We saw tents designed to house homeless people over New York building vents, miniature helicopters for spying, even a riot suit to protect demonstrators confronting police. As you descend downward you go from exhibits of Van Gogh and Picasso to some really weird stuff – even exhibits where nothing is there (dark rooms, blank pieces of paper). MoMA definitely has art for every taste. From the museum we made a final trip thru Times Square and stopped at the most jammed packed Toys R Us you can imagine – complete with an indoor Ferris wheel that families stood in line to ride. After a few minutes in this toy store you become quite thankful for internet shopping. After our sojourn into Times Square we met our car service driver at the Sheraton (Lesson #3: arrange your airport transportation on the internet ahead of time – whole sites are set up just to compare car services and ratings). Our driver parked in front of the wrong Sheraton - The Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers is across the street from the Manhattan Sheraton so it probably happens a lot. As we departed NYC thru the Holland tunnel we got a quick view of the Garden State – New Jersey. After listening to our driver, I strongly urge everyone to never rent a car and drive in New Jersey. Poor roads, poor drivers, and widespread insurance fraud plague New Jersey drivers. Fortunately we only had one major near collision and reached Newark for an uneventful flight back to Seattle.