Welcoming another trip around the sun.
Throughout my travels, this trip was the very first time I “escaped the cold.”
I’ve celebrated Christmas in New York, Rome, and Kyoto.
Why have I only traveled to other cold cities during our very own cold season?
I have declared that we are now snowbirds who will winter in warm destinations come every December.
For my birthday this year, JT and I spent six days on Maui at the Andaz in Wailea.
Hands down, Wailea is the place to be to enjoy plentiful sunshine while it rains on other parts of the island.
We loved our stay at the Andaz. The service was excellent and it was a great base for our daily explorations. Everyone was always offering to help related to dining, housekeeping, and valet.
The foyer into the reception area was also so pretty and inviting.
Considering the two-hour time difference between NorCal and Maui, we hit the ground running and opted to do the Road to Hana our first morning on the island. I’ll always get to fondly think back on my actual birthday of having done the RTH!
We were deciding between a convertible and a Jeep, and were both happy with our decision to rent a Jeep Wrangler. Having been in a convertible before, removing the freedom panels allowed for a breeze and expansive view from the front while minimizing our sun exposure.
It was also both of our first time driving a Jeep, which made the experience more memorable.
If you choose to drive the RTH, I highly recommend getting the Shaka Guide from your phone’s app store! It’s a self-guided audio tour and explains all of the spots as you drive.
We purchased the Classic Road to Hana Itinerary, and found it worth the cost. On the way to Hana, the guide pointed out popular spots we can stop at as well as the history behind them. I love that it was GPS-activated and always knew exactly where we were on the road.
On the way back from Hana, being a history nerd I mean buff, that JT is, he thoroughly enjoyed listening to Maui’s history and its previous ruler, Kamehameha the Great.
Note that there is no cell service for about 2 hours, so download your music playlist and podcasts if you don’t plan to buy the audio tour guide.
One of our stops was at Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread. It was fresh out of the oven, and the warm, crunchy crust was delicious!
While the drive was fun, Hana was a sleepy town. We both agreed that it was definitely the journey that made the trip, not the destination.
My original plan was to spend at least one night in Hana, and I’m thankful I decided against it last minute. The town vibe wasn’t for us, and we looked forward to getting back to Wailea.
We spent a day exploring the west shore at Kaanapali and Lahaina. The beach vibes were right up my alley and reminded me a lot of California.
We shopped at Whalers Village and then went on a cacao farm tour at Maui Ku’ia Estate Chocolate. It is heavily shaded so you don’t have to worry about a day tour in the heat!
We got to learn about their chocolate making process and sample different flavors (JT’s favorite part of the tour).
The maturation of the cacaos are depicted in their color as they ripen.
We had never seen a cacao fruit before so it was interesting to see the trees. The fruits grow quite low so are easily viewable and accessible. If you’re already planning to spend some time on the west shore, it’s a unique experience worth checking out!
If there were only one recommendation I could make, it would be to go eat Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice. There are multiple locations and we visited the one in Kihei twice (both times on the way back to our resort)!
The ice texture was so soft and melts in your mouth. It makes California’s shave ice so inferior, there’s literally no comparison to be had.
Add some Li Hing powder as a topping. It’s free, and you won’t regret it.
We went to catch the sunset at Haleakalā National Park.
At over 10,000 feet elevation gain, this drive was one of my favorites. I drove us up and JT drove us home.
This was another one of those “it’s about the journey” trips.
I found it so cool to see the clouds below us as we made our ascent to the top for the viewing spot, and the beautiful color contrast with the sunset on the drive down.
The sunset itself was meh. It gets super windy and chilly up there so be sure to bundle up!
You can also catch the sunrise here as long as you make a reservation in advance.
We watched The White Lotus S1 about a month before our Maui trip, and were excited to learn that it was filmed at the Four Seasons Resort.
We enjoy the show and were looking forward to checking out the film location. It helped that our resort was just down the street since it offers a free shuttle service to anywhere within Wailea.
The Four Seasons offers a tour for TWL fans, but only to their guests. We still had a great time walking around their resort nonetheless.
On our last night, we took a stroll along the Wailea Beach Path.
Maui was such a wonderful stay amid our California winter. I was beyond excited to be wearing shorts and sundresses in the middle of December.
This was my third Hawaiian island visit, and we got to experience the warmest Aloha.
Mahalo.