Yet another vacation destination question: Maui

[misskitty100]

I have already planned a trip to Kona in October and then decided against it. Next I looked into Phoenix and surrounding areas and that is still looking like the top choice at this point. But then yesterday I thought about Maui so.....could you all give me your .02 cents?

In October, DS will be 4 and DD will almost be 2. We are not into water sports but enjoy a nice pool and maybe some beach time assuming we don't have to lug a bunch of stuff 2 miles thru sand to find a nice spot. We typically enjoy staying in a hotel/resort over a condo but since we are talking Maui would consider a nice condo.

So given the above parameters, what is there to do in Maui with kids our age? I haven't been to Maui in about 30 years and remember there used to be a Sugar Cane Train and the big Banyan tree.

Any /condos you can recomend? There seems to be about 500 hotels on the island so I really don't know where to start other than the Grand Wailea looks nice:D but NOT in our budget.

Please help!

[MaryMac]

Maui is great for kids!! It's been about five years since we were there, but the Sugar Cane Train is still there, they have a beautiful aquarium, lots of hiking. My kids mostly had fun just being at the pool in the warm weather.

We have stayed at the Grand Wailea and not only was it really pricey, but we felt like we had to walk 2 miles from our room to the beach/pools and we were in a room considered "ocean front". The Marriott has a good pool system and just made it a "Marriott Resort", so you could get a condo type room and still have a great pool. That was always our dilemma, we could find a nice condo but it didn't have a great pool and that's what the kids love. The Embassy Suites also has some two bedroom suites, however the pool isn't as good and the last time we were there it was looking like it needed an overhaul.

The Marriott is on Kaanapaali (sp?) Beach and that's a great place since there is a walkway for all of the hotels that lead to the little shopping area. When we were at the Grand Wailea there didn't seem to be anywhere to walk, but that's been a few years.

Good luck!!!

[Hoodone]

I just got back from Hawaii 3 days ago with my kids aged 4 and 2. We did not go to Maui, but I have some thoughts that I think will help you nonetheless. I'm getting ready to go workout, but will type up my thoughts later today if possible!

[misskitty100]

I just got back from Hawaii 3 days ago with my kids aged 4 and 2. We did not go to Maui, but I have some thoughts that I think will help you nonetheless. I'm getting ready to go workout, but will type up my thoughts later today if possible!

Yes, please do!

[Kevlar]

We spent Jan 31 - Feb 6 in Maui at the Renaissance Resort (Mariott property) in Wailea. There were many families there with lots of tiny children, who seemed to be having a great time. The pool area is lovely, as is the entire resort. There is another Mariott right next to this one, but we chose the R. because the room had a refrigerator. There is a small beach area in front of the hotel.
Maui is lovely. There is a large aquarium in the center of the island as well as whale watching expeditions. The sugar cane train still runs out of Lahaina. There is a huge variety of restaurants, from 5 start to McDonald's.
It is very expensive there, but I haven't found a vacation place yet that isn't. Our trip there would have been perfect if my husband hadn't broken his foot, but that's another story.:)

[ClaraB]

I guess I'll have to be the dissenting opinion here - I don't think it's worth it to go to Maui with children that young. We just came back from Oahu last weekend with our ds's, who are 12 and 9, and while we enjoyed it (we were heavily susidized by my DH's business conference), I don't think I would do it if we had to foot the entire bill ourselves. I was often frustrated that the boys weren't very enthusiastic about going sightseeing (even the kid-friendly sights) - I think they would have been as happy in any mainland hotel with a swimming pool. Two and four year olds won't have any real memory of the trip, and probably won't appreciate it any more than a trip to a hotel in the next state over. Just MHO :o ...

[zackaboo]

I guess I'll have to be the dissenting opinion here - I don't think it's worth it to go to Maui with children that young.

I would agree with you. We went to Maui a few ago before our son was born and had a fabulous trip. Thinking back though, everything that we loved about Maui were things that our 4 year wouldn't enjoy. If I wanted to take him to a beach with a nice pool I certainly wouldn't spend the money to go all the way to Maui...unless money is no object...and then hey, I would love to go back!

[Hoodone]

Okay, here is my trip report. We went to the Kohala coast on the Big Island, which is just north of Kona. We stayed in an Outrigger condo property and it was just great (www.outrigger.com). Outrigger has several properties on Maui. What I like about staying in a condo with young children is that you have a kitchen, washer/dryer and a separate kid room. Having a separate room is important to us because our youngest (2 1/2) still takes long afternoon naps and the older one (4 1/2) sleeps later than everyone else in the morning. Plus, once you put kids to bed at 7:30 or so, are the adults just supposed to sit in a dark hotel room? I guess in Hawaii you can sit out on the lanai, but still... I also like being able to eat at least breakfast in our unit. We also grilled dinner 3 or 4 times (get fresh fish at Costco) and that was a very cost effective thing to do as Hawaii can be quite expensive.

Our condo property had a nice pool. It was not as extravagant as the large resort properties, but it was a nice infinity pool and had a lava rock-lined hot tub. All this was essentially right outside our door, maybe a 100-200 yard walk from our unit. It was also walking distance (5 minutes) from a swanky shopping area that had restaurants and shops. The beach was walkable and we did walk a couple of times, but most people would probably drive as it was probably a 10-minute walk. One evening we just walked down and watched the beautiful sunset. I mention all this because really, the condo was a great set-up. Also, it did have AC and it was warm for us coming from Canada and in the afternoon the AC was appreciated although not strictly necessary.

As for activities, we tried to alternate kid-friendly with adult-friendly activities. The kids loved just going to the beach and letting the waves lap on their feet. We rented beach toys ($15 a week for a large bag of shovels, pails, etc.) and dug a lot in the sand. We also went to the condo pool several times. I just liked to sit in the hot tub as I found the pool a bit cold, but DH took the kids into the pool. They also liked the hot tub. We did a whale-watching cruise that was excellent, really a trip highlight. The younger one didn’t get into it that much, but the 4 year old LOVED it. She liked the dolphins better than the whales and would shout, “dolphin!” any time she saw one. We also did a glass-bottom boat tour that I likened to snorkeling without getting wet. The kids liked it, but it made me pretty queasy as the boat stayed in the surge zone most of the trip. We also enjoyed watched sea turtles playing in the ocean.

One day we drove to the volcanoes. I loved that as I am a geologist, but it was a long day for the kids and the younger had to nap in the car. We were going to go to the far side of the island another time to see the observatory museum and tropical gardens, but decided it would be too much for the kids a second time. We toured a coffee plantation and did some other shopping, too. We did a really excellent hike into a spectacular canyon with a black sand beach at the bottom. Our kids are good hikers. I wanted to do some snorkeling and would have loved to kayak, but did not end up getting to do those things. DH played a round of golf. We went out to either lunch or dinner most days. The restaurants were almost all extremely kid friendly. A welcome change from Calgary, but I digress. Roys was particularly good. They brought the kids some quesadillas before we even ordered and brought what had to have been full portions (definitely the dessert) even though we asked them to split one kids meal.

I think all in all you can see that we did a lot. We even rested as each afternoon someone had to stay back with the 2-yr-old during her nap. I would usually take the 4-yr-old to the pool, beach or sight-seeing. But sometimes we would let her watch a video while we just sat on the lanai enjoying the warm weather. I also loved to just sit out there in the morning drinking my tea and having breakfast. I’m sure that Maui would have a similar variety of fun activities for all ages, perhaps even more than the big island.

One other thing we did was rent a crib from a local place. Our 2-yr-old sleeps well in a crib but is too big for a pack ‘n’ play. That was $100 or so well spent as she slept well most of the trip and took her normal 2-3 hour naps. We did pony up extra money to keep our room an extra half day. Many flights leave for the mainland late at night. Ours left at 11 p.m. Since check-out time was normally noon, what would we have done all afternoon? I recommend doing that if you have a late flight.

Several previous posters have suggested that Hawaii is not that great a place to take kids. Of course, it would be more fun without them. ANY vacation anywhere would be more fun if you could do your own thing and not have to deal with the whining and other "kid stuff." But really, who is the vacation for? And where do you want to go? The kids might be just as happy at a local swimming pool, but what about me? Hawaii is an expensive place. We managed to spend over $1000 and my parents were paying for literally almost everything (how did THAT happen? a round of golf here, a few groceries and dinners there, some presents, a rental crib, it all adds up). Hawaii is EXACTLY the sort of place to take young kids if you can afford it. When ours get older we plan to take them places like Costa Rica and hopefully someday Africa. Good luck in planning your trip. I'm sure you'll have fun wherever you end up going. It's always great to be on vacation!!

[TKay]

I'm bumping this thread up to see if you decided anything about Maui, Misskitty? We're planning a trip in summer and I'm curious about you're going to do.

[misskitty100]

I am 90% sure are going to go to Kona. We love the Hilton there and that really was our #1 choice. That said, we don't have air tickets yet and I haven't cancelled my reservations at the Grand Canyon either.;)

Where are you staying on Maui?

[magdon]

We just got back from Maui with our 1 & 3 year old boys. We stayed in a condo in wailea which was great because we could have breakfast and other meals in and had a lot of space to hang out, especially once they were asleep. It would have been nice to have a fancy hotel pool (like the mariott's which was next door) but the beach was right across the lawn. The train was cheesy but those boys love trains. The aquarium is super cool. We also visited the Surfing Goat Dairy which was another hit-- we liked the cheese tasting, they liked feeding the goats. There are submarine rides too out of Laihaina but the kids have to be 36" tall. we generally hit the beach in the am, did some sort of activity/lunch midday, came home for naps, then did the pool late afternoon. i feel like we had a little something for everyone.

[misskitty100]

We just got back from Maui with our 1 & 3 year old boys. We stayed in a condo in wailea which was great because we could have breakfast and other meals in and had a lot of space to hang out, especially once they were asleep. It would have been nice to have a fancy hotel pool (like the mariott's which was next door) but the beach was right across the lawn. The train was cheesy but those boys love trains. The aquarium is super cool. We also visited the Surfing Goat Dairy which was another hit-- we liked the cheese tasting, they liked feeding the goats. There are submarine rides too out of Laihaina but the kids have to be 36" tall. we generally hit the beach in the am, did some sort of activity/lunch midday, came home for naps, then did the pool late afternoon. i feel like we had a little something for everyone.


What condo did you stay at?

[TKay]

I'm still researching places to stay. Dh does not want to do the condo thing even though it makes sense when you're taking kids (ours are 5 and 7). Plus, our 5-year-old is a picky eater, so he'd prefer something I could make anyway. But dh really wants a resort. And we love ordering room service, so I guess that's what we'll do.
I'd like to know which condo you chose too, magdon.
Thanks for your reply. :)

[breadmama]

We took a cruise in February and had a brief stay in Maui - brief enough for us to decide when we come back (:D ) we'd stay in a condo for a week! So, this thread is confirming that would be a great idea.

We took a cab to the Maui Ocean Center, and our group of kids really loved it. (two families, kids from 7-13). We spent several hours there, both inside at exhibits and outside at tide pools and other cool exhibits. My great excitement was seeing our first Hawaii whale breaching in the nearby harbor! It was a definite highlight of our trip.

The Ocean Center has audio guides that were fun to use, and our kids had fun listening to the info in English, then changing the language and listening again!

We loved it there.

[magdon]

wailea elua. this is our 3rd time there. my parents found it some years ago. they are all privately owned (i think) so the decor varies as do the locations. Ours was 3 bedroom oceanfront but not prime oceanfront although there was nothing between us and the ocean but a big lawn. some of the places are set back quite a bit from the ocean. 2 pools (but as i said no kiddie pool), hot tub, tennis. and the beach is great for snorkeling

http://www.drhmaui.com/wailea-elua-village.php