Hanalei Bay & Beach

When I'm sitting at work and daydreaming about Hawaii, there's a good chance it's Hanalei I'm dreaming about. It's difficult to explain why.

On paper, there are certainly better beaches. Much of the year, Hanalei Bay is wavy & rough. It's unremarkable (or unsafe) to be in the water unless you're an expert surfer. The calmer summer months are good for swimming, but it's a huge rather flat, featureless sand bottom. Add to it the fact that it frequently rains and you have a recipe for so-so beach by Hawaiian standards.

Why daydream about it, then?

Hanalei provokes an emotional response in people. Water, land, and sky - everything in nature just seems to come together perfectly there. The steep mountains, with their cascading waterfalls, provide a beautiful backdrop. There's lush foliage, an aquamarine bay, and gentle orange sand. It hasn't been ruined by human development - the small, sleepy town with its one-land bridges and 20 mph speed limit are sedate enough not to detract from the overall feel.

My top recommendation for a visit is to walk out to the end of the pier. This is the astounding tropical scenery you came to Hawaii for. Bring your camera. Of course the pictures don't come close to doing it justice, but when you're back at work they can at least be a reminder of how it looked (and how you felt) when you were there.

Travel Tools: Vacation Rentals

When you go the vacation rental route, you're not staying at a hotel; instead, you rent a residential property (house, condo, apartment) owned by someone just like you or me.

For leisure trips that are longer than a couple of days, this is my preferred method for finding lodging - especially when I'm not traveling last minute. Here's my take on the pros & cons of this method:

Benefits:

• You get a larger and, with a little research, more comfortable place than you would at a hotel - usually for a far cheaper price.
  
• You usually get a full kitchen, allowing you to save money. Don't get me wrong - I really like to eat out. But when I'm skiing or on a beach vacation, I tend to want to eat breakfast and have afternoon drinks at "home" anyway. It's nice not to have to go out for everything.
  
• If you're traveling to a city, you get a view of what it's like to be a local - rather than just seeing what the central commercial area is like. In the States at least, most downtowns are pretty much the same these days - it's the neighborhoods that make a city great.
  

Drawbacks:

• Since you're booking an individual unit or house, you need to do more research to make sure you're getting a good place. It takes about 2 minutes to go to Expedia, book a room at the Ritz or Four Seasons, and know you're going stay somewhere nice. Finding & booking a great vacation rental will take more time up front - but if you get a place that's 5-star quality but twice the size and half the price, you time time will have been worth it.
• You probably won't get daily maid service, room service, valet parking, and all the other goodies exclusive to hotels. But you won't be paying for those things, either.
• You need to plan a little further ahead. Because of the turnaround time in booking, you need a few days' advance notice to book a vacation rental. City & ski destinations usually have more availability, but for Hawaii I'd plan to book 3-4 months in advance at least. Some of the best places book up 6 months in advance or more for holiday periods.

For me, the benefits certainly outweigh the drawbacks for some kinds of trips.

Here's how you do it:

• Check out available vacation rental options on these sites: airbnb.com, vrbo.com, homeaway.com, and clearstay.com. Tripadvisor has some reviews and contact info too.
• Rule out immediately any listings that look suspicious: ones that don't have plenty of pictures, haven't updated their calendar in months, or otherwise look shady. These will be obvious, and these sites seem to do a good job of policing that kind of thing.
• Carefully examine the pictures they post. Did they include pics of the bathroom(s)? Kitchen? If not, you don't necessarily know what you're getting.
  
• Read the user reviews of any places you're considering. If it's a new listing, there might not be any...I don't automatically disqualify those, but I approach them with more skepticism.
• The most legitimate owners will post the exact street address (or at least the precise unit number) of their place. I don't necessarily disqualify ones that don't, but the more info they provide, the better.
  
• Contact the owner to inquire about availability and payment method. If that particular house/unit has their own dedicated website and live online calendar, even better. If they accept immediate bookings through a site like Clearstay, even better!
  
• Pay with a credit card, if you can. Some places will only accept paypal or personal checks, though. I usually do a little extra googling on those places to make sure there are no reports of scams.
  

Since there aren't necessarily brand names and thousands of online reviews associated with a vacation rental, you are gambling a bit vs. staying at a hotel. With a little bit of diligence and common sense, though, I've never felt even remotely ripped off.

In many cases I have, however, felt sorry for the suckers crammed into cattle-class hotel rooms while I was sprawled on the couch of a luxury condo with a view of the ocean, mountains, or both.

Wailea Elua Village

If you're going to Maui because you want to hang out on beaches and frolic in the water, Wailea is the best place to stay. Wailea Elua Village is one of the places I'd encourage you to check out when booking any trip to Maui. It's one of the best values in Wailea if you're willing to do the vacation rental thing (for more, see my post about Vacation Rentals under the Travel Tools label).

This is a quiet village of 2- and 3-story buildings set amid gorgeous tropical grounds. It sits at the northern end of the Wailea beach path, right on Ulua Beach and a short walk from Mokapu Beach (which I highly recommend). Via the beach path you can also walk to Keawakapu Beach (north), or Wailea beach (south). You can also use the path in the evening to visit the bars or restaurants at the resorts nearby - the Four Seasons being the most recommended. It's also very close to the Shops at Wailea for more dining/drinking options, ice cream, and supplies.

Elua isn't a hotel or resort; everything is individually owned, so each unit is going to be different. The entire thing was built ~30 years ago, so quality will definitely vary. The unit we stayed in had been fully updated and was great. If you can get into one like that, this becomes easily one of the best places to stay in Wailea - in my opinion, better than (and at a fraction of the price of) the Four Seasons or Fairmont.

Mokapu Beach

Mokapu is my favorite beach along the Wailea beach path, and one of my favorites anywhere! As you can tell from above, it's a beautiful crescent of fine sand and gorgeous (clear, calm) water. The view of the West Maui mountains is spectacular. The swimming in the middle of the beach is awesome - the bottom is nice & sandy. If you have a snorkel, head to the rocks on the far left side and follow them out to a spectacular reef. This is the first place I ever got to swim alongside a sea turtle...an awesome experience!

The resort that's behind Mokapu closed a few years ago and is being redeveloped. In the meantime, this beach is underused and uncrowded. I recommend staying within walking distance; parking is limited and fills up quickly.

The only real downside to Mokapu is that in the morning it's busy with a lot of walkers & joggers. The Wailea beach path ends here, and people funnel onto the beach to continue heading north to Keawakapu Beach. I recommend sticking to the very south (left) end of the beach - there the traffic mostly passes behind you. In the afternoon there's less foot traffic but a better chance for wind that can make the water choppy. Don't bother bringing your boogie board; you probably won't be able to use it.

Palauea Beach

Palauea is amongst my favorite Maui beaches! It's a gorgeous crescent of great sand, great water (just wade out past where the gentle shore break kick up the sand), and a nice amount of natural shade. The snorkeling is worthwhile on both ends, and it's usually relatively calm.

Palauea is just south of the main resort area of Wailea, and it's backed by only a few large houses. That makes it quieter than beaches further north, although you shouldn't expect complete privacy. If you're staying in Wailea but want to branch out past the more popular beaches along the beach path, Palauea would be a great place to start.

Ulua Beach

As I've pointed out in other posts, South Maui has so many great beaches. Ulua is probably one of my least favorite. Don't get me wrong - it's better than probably 99% of the beaches in the world (just look at the picture above!). Ulua just isn't at the top of the heap when it comes to beach-going in Wailea, which is kinda like saying that Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough isn't the best flavor of ice cream. There might be better options, but if you're starving you're not going to say no.

The two main drawbacks of Ulua are crowds (especially on the north end, where they teach scuba lessons), and somewhat cloudy water (especially on the south end). Again, both of these are relative - and easily remedied by walking North around the small point to Mokapu Beach, which I much prefer.

Wailea Elua Village, a recommended place to stay and subject of a separate post, fronts Ulua Beach. Mokapu Beach is a 30-second walk North. Wailea Beach is a 5-minute walk South. Ulua sometimes gets wavy enough for some easy body surfing or beginner boogie boarding, but don't count on it. Snorkeling at the north end is good, however, if you can avoid the scuba lessons.

Po'olenalena Beach

South Maui has tons of great beaches, but Po'olenalena is easily amongst my favorites. It never seems crowded, probably because there's only one (small) resort on it, way at the south end.
Instead, climb over the rocks to the hidden northern part of the beach. It's a dreamily secluded place, especially for Maui. There are a couple of large, black volcanic rock bands that partially obstruct the sand and create a few separate sections of beach here - which makes it feel even more remote. If you're lucky, you might have one of these sections all to yourself.

Swimming has been good every time I've been there; don't expect much in the way of body surfing or boogie boarding. Snorkeling was so-so on the north end of the beach. Mostly this is a serene, beautiful place to hang on the beach and do a little swimming to cool off. There might be nudists at the northern end. At sunset expect small weddings, especially at the (relatively) busier south half where the parking lot is.