Maui is our family’s happy place and my saving grace! Every year we go to Maui for Christmas. “Santa” delivers stockings there and we completely turn into noodles until we almost can’t do anything except stumble down to the beach in the morning.
However, after a few days of unwinding we’ve found that it’s fun to let the kids pick an activity to plan and do. The last two times they have picked zip lining in upcountry Maui. Our favorite so far is Skyline Zipline Adventures. They have multiple locations but the one we’ve gone twice to is the location on the slopes of the volcano, Haleakala.
It’s fun, the guides are hilarious, especially “Brown Sugar”, if you can request we highly recommend it, and there are five lines to try.
They also have a strong focus on conservation of the indigenous trees and birds on Maui. It is fun, educational, and a true adventure! They say you go as fast as 45miles per hour!
My husband is quite the foodie and has definitely rubbed off on me so we do have some favorite spots that run the gamut from top Michelin rated restaurants to a Shave Ice spot as well as some surf watching locations and a great beach to see the turtles. There really is too many places to count so we’ll have to do some future posts to cover all the places. For now here’s the top few.
We’ll start with MORIMOTO MAUI:
I can’t say enough about the excellence of the food here. Everything is fresh, creative, and so amazingly yummy. We have all of our kids, including my daughers’ boyfriend, who doesn’t usually prefer raw fish eating raw here. The atmosphere is so special, with a great view of the healing Maui sunset and the outdoor patio area sits right by the lower pool of the Andaz Hotel. It’s amazing!
Some of our favorite dishes are the Angry Chicken, Ishi Yaki Buri Bop, Rock Shrimp Tempura, Pork Gyoza (or potstickers) with bacon foam, hamachi tartare with wasabi, nori paste, and sour cream, tuna pizza, and more. I think it’s safe to say EVERYTHING is our favorite!
For a full menu, check out their website here.
I picked this one because between my daugher, myself, and Derek we went there three times in a span of ten days for their OISHI SUSHI roll. It is to die for.
Their food is also fresh and well prepared, plated beautifully and the atmosphere is open air and looks out over the adult pool at the Kea Lani with the ocean view in the distance. Their drinks are special too, very fresh, garnished with beautiful Maui flowers, so fun! Our youngest daughter likes their smoothies.
The first two are pretty pricey so we love this when we want a little reprieve on the spending but very good and tasty fresh fish. The tacos are what we all get. They come in orders of two with a slaw and mango salsa. They are simple, good sized and filling, and so good! Sometimes the kids will order a basket of fries that I will then have to sample and those are pretty great too. It also has an open air, busy atmosphere with amazing surf videos playing on big screens all around. It’s a great family spot. For their full menu click here.
A must do for our family. We have a couple sugar fiends and we don’t let them over sugar at home! So…we usually hit the Ululani’s Shave Ice Paia. They also have locations in Lahaina and Kihei. It’s fast, inexpensive and they have so many fun flavors.
We love to get Mochi, the Japanese rice balls in it. Some of us get ice cream under the shave ice or sweet cream drizzled on top. My husband and I looooove the Li Hing Mui tangy powder sprinkled on top. So good! A fun family outing.
NALU’S MAUI GRILL FOR BREAKFAST:
Usually on a day we are headed to Paia or on an adventure ( we did this before our zip line day), we head to Nalu’s for breakfast. It is also open air tucked into a strip mall with lots of palms and chickens running around.
There is something for everyone and it’s so healthy! Here is their Cornflake Crusted French Toast description: Hawaiian sweet bread stuffed with lilikoi marmalade cream, topped with Maui Gold pineapple, bananas, toasted macnuts, served with organic maple syrup and a devonshire cream. Could you say no to that?
the smoothie bowls are wonderful with all kinds of fresh fruit.
I love the breakfast salad. Listen to this description! A farm fresh 145 degree egg nestled in organic kale, Molokai black lava salt, spiral beets & carrots, tomatoes, garden basil, raw cashews, and a tarragon vinaigrette. I dream about this salad, especially with the healing process I am in!
One of their featured dishes that they serve all day is the Fried Chicken and Waffle. Our youngest loves this one. It is served with a brown butter sage organic maple syrup. The whole place is filled with delights for all different foodie preferences.
They always have three flavors of fruit water available while you wait. We all love it here and usually have to go back two or three times before our trip is done. It’s making my mouth water just talking about it!
There’s one more place that you must go!
This is one of the most beautiful and powerful beaches on Maui. The waves make for great surf watching.
What you think are rocks at first glance are really dozens of sea turtles seeking respite on an area of protected beach. Sea turtles are protected on the Hawaiian islands and this spot is great for viewing them getting a little rest! I could stare at them for hours!
Honestly, I have at least 10 more places I want to tell you about so watch for future posts on visiting the island of Maui. Sharing about it will help me get through to the next time I get to go. I would love to move there!
The link to Ho’okipa Beach is also the Maui County website. You can watch for high surf advisories there. If traveling to Maui for the first time, take some time to educate yourself about the surf and the ocean. The surf is strong and I’ve had a couple run ins with strong currents and waves that I don’t want to repeat!
That doesn’t change my total love for this island and it’s healing environment, in fact it makes me love and respect nature more.
ALOHA!