Ali'i Nui style

The goal of our trip to Hawaii was relaxing and enjoying our time together.  While there were many things we could sign up to do, there were just two things that the Big Guy Lowe and I actually scheduled before arriving in Maui.  We wanted to make sure we weren't being tied to a schedule.  Imagine that--life without a schedule!  We wanted to enjoy the beauty and freedom of a relaxing trip.  We were so wise in this regard!

During our time in Maui, we had the opportunity to snorkel from many beach sites.  Today was going to be different though--we were looking forward to sailing, snorkeling, and good food, all wrapped into one trip!  There were many companies to choose from, but I believe we chose the best!  We sailed the Ali'i Nui.  What a beautiful boat!

We were picked up in the morning and and enjoyed a short drive to the marina where our boat was docked.  We were told we wouldn't need to bring anything with us other than our sunglasses, as everything else that would be needed would be supplied on the boat.  It was kind of crazy leaving our room without our wallet or keys or anything else, but we found they were right.  They had everything for us--snorkeling gear, towels, sun screen, food, drinks.  Nice!   When we were planning this trip, we had a few different options for destination.  We didn't want to go to a location where lots of people and boats were going to be so we chose the sailing cruise that took us to a secluded reef that was a turtle cleaning station--meaning it was a natural stopping area for turtles as fish would swim and eat their shells clean.  Interesting!  Because the reef wasn't easily accessible from the beach, we were told it would be in beautiful condition. 

We were very excited!

First we enjoyed a leisurly sail out to our location.

We started in the front of the boat, but decided to head back to the rear of the boat where there were fewer people.  Look at this hottie I found!!  :)

The crew was great and kept us laughing throughout the trip.  Once we reached our 'destination reef ', we donned our snorkeling gear and headed in.  Just a side note, we had been doing so much snorkeling up to this point on our vacation that I had open sores on both feet where my rented fins had rubbed blisters raw.  I became very proficient at bandaging my feet to keep the sand out while providing some buffering.  Both the Big Guy Lowe and I were impressed with the quality of gear that was provided.  My feet were happy too!  And the snorkeling was great!

 

We enjoyed a wonderful day of snorkeling on a beautiful boat.  I would definitely recommend people taking a trip to a reef that is more protected.  Pristine coral, beautiful fish, the love of your life and good food make for an amazing day!

Our day on the Ali'i Nui came to a close, but we enjoyed a surprise treat that helped us remember the beauty of that day.  While driving down the coast heading to the airport, I noticed it was about the same time as our trip on the Ali'i Nui.  I was curious if we might see the boat.  We did!

We were so happy to see it that we decided to pull off the road at a scenic turn-off.

Ahhh, the memories...

Bird's eye view

After much reassurance, our oldest son reluctantly accepted that his parents were going to see Maui from way up high in the air.  It seems that he was very concerned about us falling out of the helicopter.  He had envisioned a helicopter without door/windows, seatbelts or any other type of protection.  I was touched when I saw the sincerity of his fear.  We talked about everything that would be done to make sure that we would be safe.  As I mentioned earlier, he reluctantly accepted that we were going on a helicopter before our trip, but was so excited to hear about it after we returned...I bet he would love trying it!  I bet all our boys would!!

Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tours showed us views that everyone should see at least once in their lives. 
I snapped a quick shot of the monitor that just happened to be focused on The Big Guy Lowe and I!

The Lowe girl with pilot Jason in the background.

The Big Guy Lowe, sitting to my right.

You might not be able to tell from these calm, albeit happy pictures, but when we didn't think we were being recorded we had the biggest, toothy grins on our faces--we found that out when we watched the cd of the trip!  Haha!  We were just so excited to be on a real helicopter!  I'm smiling just thinking of it.  We were even able to sit in the front next to the pilot.  We were told it was because we were the lightest in the group.  NICE!!  I guess P90X really did it's job!  Yahoo!!

Here are a few shots from the sky.  For the full hour-long trip see the cd.

Views of Haleakala at over 10,000 feet.

East Maui

Northeast Shoreline

Central Maui coastline accented by fields of sugarcane.

Giddy riders after their trip.  Our Eco Star helicopter in the background.

What an awesome trip!  We loved every minute and still smile thinking about it.

To celebrate, we could only go to one place for lunch...Mama's Fish House in Paia.

Our food choices are as follows:

Drinks:

The house juice blend and mango-collatas--because we don't drink alcohol all our choices fall into the "virgin" category.  That being said, they were so good!

Appetizers: 

Hood Canal Clams, Kalua pork and Kimchee--this was truly one of the best dishes of the entire trip!

Entre:

Mahimahi caught by Shawn Boneza along the north shore of Maui Stuffed with lobster, crab, Maui onion and baked in a macadamia nut crust--another winner by far!

This isn't an inexpensive restaurant, but it was worth the price.  And then there was the view from our table...

Such a satisfying day.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Snorkeling Maui

Our first full day in Maui was perfect!  But, come on, it's Hawaii and things would have to be pretty bad for it not to be good.  So like I said, perfect!

Ka'anapali beach is known for beautiful white sand, friendly swimming and great snorkeling up by black rock.  Our friends, Russ and Karen, had given us a great travel guide with many of their favorite places and activities.  This was one of them and we were not disappointed!!  (Thanks Karen!!)

We set up on the beach with our towels and just soaked in the beautiful sun!  After a short time, we decided to splurge and rent a cabana for the day--again, spendy, but hey, we're in Hawaii!!  The cabana was perfect for a comfortable crash in the sun with the option of pulling the back up to provide shade once we'd had enough beautiful, glorious, warming sun for a bit.

While lying on the beach was one of our goals, another was snorkeling--and we were successful in that regard too.  On Ka'anapali Beach our snorkeling took place by the black rock seen the in the background. 

So much fun!

Part human, part frog.

The Big Guy Lowe is in the background as we look back on Ka'anapali beach.  The spray of water is coming from a turtle that had surfaced right by us!

We followed him for a while as he, or she for all I know, casually meandered back towards the ocean floor.  It was exciting and peaceful all at the same time as we observed how graceful they were swimming.  A little later in the day we swam with four more turtles.  Not a bad way to begin our snorkeling experience!  Just amazing!

After a full day of snorkeling, we headed to explore Whaler's Village, also known as the barefoot mall.  The nick name makes sense as the outdoor mall is located just up from the beach.  We had dinner at Leilani's and quickly fell in love with virgin mago-collatas!  We made a habit of ordering one as often as we could from that night on!

There were many other beaches we visited in West Maui.  Others that made the top of our list are as follows:  *Honolua Bay*

To get to the bay you have to hike down a trail through lush, jungle-like foilage.  The Big Guy Lowe and I kept saying we felt like we were on the show "Lost".

Gratefully, no smoke monsters were spotted, but we couldn't help but make those noises.  We're a couple of goof-balls when we're together...but that was probably already obvious.  Oh well!

The beach here is definitely not a sun-tanning beach.  Rocks are everywhere.  But people don't come here to get a tan.  In the summer it's to snorkel and in the winter it's to surf.

Beautiful corals

and fish.

Tons of them!

 *Mokule'ia Bay* (also known as slaughterhouse bay)

To get to this bay, you have to walk down stairs and over rocks before getting to the secluded white sand beach.  This is a view from the road above--you can't even see that a sandy beach exists.  That might explain why there weren't many people enjoying it with us.

More turtles,

and fish.

*Napili beach*

No pictures but perfect for swimming.

*Mile marker 14 (-ish)*

I'm sure there's a name for this beach, but we just pulled off the road when we thought we saw an area that might be good to snorkel.  How awesome is that?!

All beaches are free to use, if you can find public access to them.  Nice.

So fun!!

 

And guess what we saw here?  Yep, more fish.  It might sound redundant on paper, but I don't think we ever got borded of seeing those beautiful fish!

 

In addition to West Maui, we also headed down to South Maui around Wailea for a day and had a great time too.  During our next trip to Maui we will most likely try to stay in this area so we can explore more!!  We were pretty impressed with the locals at Big Beach--you could sure tell the locals from the visitors by the way boards were handled in the waves.  Made for great entertainment!!  We did choose to stay away from Little Beach after it was explained that "clothing was optional".  How about that for a shocker?!  

Snorkeling in Maui was all we hoped it would be.  Now that The big Guy Lowe and I have had such wonderful adventures together, we're excited to head back to the islands with our snorkeling boys!!  August seems so far away, but I think we can stand it...YAHOO!!

Maui on the horizon!

The day was really here!!  After a busy evening the night before, all was set for The Big Guy Lowe and I to head out on our trip to Hawaii--a trip we had been planning for over six months!  All had been thoroughly organized the weeks leading up to this day.  Each of the boys were given a Father's blessing.  Grammy and Grandpa HB arrived and it was time for us to leave.

I have to say, I was extremely calm about our decision to go.  I felt a peace that all would be well with our boys and that we would be fine too.  I had been feeling that peace since the evening before as The Big Guy Lowe and I discussed what we should do regarding our trip and our family.  I am so grateful for that blessing of peaceful heart.

We said our good-byes, and Grandpa HB drove us to the airport.  It was really happening!

After a quick bite in the terminal, we headed to our gate and were soon on our way!

After about 5 hours and 19 minutes we touched down in Maui!  That put us at the perfect time to talk with all our boys as G had just returned home from school!  It was fun describing the palm trees and ocean and reassuring our boys that we would be taking many pictures to show them.  They were excited about the package they had received from us just that day, and that made me happy.  I had prepared a package and letter for them to get each of the days that we were gone.  The packages included fun toys, candy and hawaiian-type things just to let them know we were thinking of them and loved them.  I had brought the completed packages over to our neighbor Sue, and she was planning on delivering them daily.  Thank you for your friendship and wonderful help Sue and Gary!  We are so grateful we get to be your neighbors and friends!! 

After getting our rental car, a convertible Ford Mustang, we headed to our Bed and Breakfast, the Ho'oilo House which was located just south of Lahaina.

The Ho'oilo House was beautiful!!  The grounds were amazing and the view was even better!  We parked and unloaded our luggage so we could explore our room.

The main room and common room for guests.

Walking to the right, we headed to our room.

The Big Guy Lowe is sitting outside our doors.

The views from our room were spectacular!  We looked out onto the Pacific Ocean.

To see other views of our room, click here.  The flowers on the grounds were amazing and so fragrant!

After getting situated, we decided to explore the nearby town of Lahaina.  We had a serene lunch on the waterfront at Kimo's and then walked through the town.  We stopped in a few art galleries that were on Front Street.  Something that we enjoy doing is getting pieces of art when we travel.  We happened to find two original pieces of art that we both fell in love with.  We knew they had to be expensive, but $39,000 and $45,000 were a bit more than we were prepared to spend.  We did enjoy looking at them though!!  :)

After walking around town for a bit longer and then picking up a few lunch items at the Safeway grocery store (we literally picked up a few things and spent over $120.00--spendy food!!), we headed back to our house.

How could we resist a quick dip in the pool before collapsing into our bed?  We were exhausted!!

We enjoyed the sunset from our room and then enjoyed an early night.

What a beautiful first day!  So wonderful!!