Tips for a stress-free trip to Hawaii
- Plan your activities: Unless you go there just to relax at the beach every single day, it pays to plan your activities ahead of time, especially those activities that have limited capacity (e.g. there are only so many seats available on the helicopter tours on a given day; and to make matters worse the weather god plays the trump card)
- Don’t overextend: If are traveling with kids (like we did), you can’t do much anyways. My rule of thumb (in hindsight) is 1 activity per day plus several hours exploring the beaches and restaurants.
- Some must-do activities (in Maui):
- Snorkeling (snuba, if you are feeling ambitious)
- I had a great experience with Maui Classic Charters (the operators of Four Winds II) even though they were a little pricey compared to others; they had great equipment, boat and staff.
- Helicopter tours
- Even though we tried AlexAir for our East Maui tour, I recommend Sunshine because they have newer crafts and they are recommended by Frommers.
- Look online for deals ahead of time instead of calling the companies directly or going through the hotel concierge
- Snorkeling (snuba, if you are feeling ambitious)
- Sneak peek at the grand resorts in Wailea:
- Four Seasons
- Marriott
- Grand Wailea Resort
- Explore all the beautiful beaches
- Wokstar International Noodle Cafe in Kehei – excellent Thai food in a great outdoorsy environment
- Pita Paradise – great Mediterranean food
- Cafe @ La Plage – some of the best Panini I ever ate!
- Santa Fe Cantina – delicious Mexican food in Lahaina