Two Weeks in Hawaii: Maui and Big Island (Island of Hawai’i)

We just got back from a two week trip to Hawaii. It was me, my wife, our two kids, and my parents. It was my kids’ and my parents’ first time in Hawaii. We had a great time, but the experience was much different than our honeymoon experience back in 2012.

Maui vs. Big Island: Which is better? – It really depends. When we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon in 2012, my wife and I both agreed that we enjoyed Big Island more. This time, we definitely enjoyed Maui more. The difference was that this time we went with our kids. Big Island really is much bigger, and you will be spending a lot more time driving. Hours of driving with young children isn’t ideal. Also, with young children, we chose to pass on things like the Road to Hana (winding roads), biking down the volcano, and getting to the Green Sand Beach – all things we did during our honeymoon, and we tried to limit long drives. We did make some long drives (national parks), but we were very selective on what was worth driving to. We also stayed at a resort in Maui, while we stayed at a house on Big Island. The resort in Maui had an ideal location and awesome amenities while the house on Big Island was large and spacious, but the location wasn’t ideal.

Hawaii is different. Here are a few things that I noticed that were quite different from where I live in Virginia or differed from my expectations.
1. Hawaii is very expensive. Many things are as much as 2-5x the price on the mainland. Except maybe Costco. Gas at Costco was 50 cents to a dollar cheaper than nearby gas stations. Groceries were still reasonably priced there. The food court prices were the same. $1.50 for a hot dog. $9.95 for a whole pizza.
2. Hawaii is very hilly. Hawaii is made up of volcanoes, so you are pretty driving on mountains, some well over 10,000 ft. tall. There are steep slopes everywhere.
3. Hawaii is very environmentally conscious. Plastic bags and plastic take-out containers were nowhere to be found. Restaurants even use paper to package soup. You bring your own bags to grocery stores or use their paper bags. You have to pay a deposit (per container) if you buy beverages in plastic containers.
4. All beaches are open to the public. Hawaii state law requires all beaches to have public access. No one owns a private beach in Hawaii.
5. The scenery is beautiful. There are beautiful trees, flowers, and plants everywhere. The sunrises and sunsets are amazing.
6. Hawaii can be super windy and rainy. At slightly higher elevations, it can start downpouring out of nowhere. The wind can be super strong even if it is calm at sea level.
7. There is snow in Hawaii. As we were driving in 70-80 degree weather, we could see snow atop Mauna Kea.
8. There are free range chickens everywhere. In the parking lots at Costco, while you’re eating at a restaurant, along the beaches, you’ll find chickens roaming wild everywhere. You’ll hear roosters crow almost every morning.
9. Most places are open-air. Most places, including the airports and many restaurants, are open-air. The weather is so consistently comfortable that walls and windows aren’t as necessary.
10. There are a lot of rainbows in Hawaii. We saw a rainbow almost every day in Hawaii. I guess it makes sense that there is a rainbow on the license plates in Hawaii.

We flew in and out of Maui. We spent the first 7 nights in Maui, the next 6 nights on Big Island, and one last night in Maui.

Here are some highlights from our trip (January 7-21, 2020):
January 7 – Arrived in Maui and checked in to Worldmark Kihei. Got dinner at the Food Trucks.
January 8 – Farmers Market in Kihei, Resort Expedia Orientation (won BOGO to luau), Paia Fish Market Southside, Kalepolepo Beach
January 9 – Maui Tropical Plantation, Costco, Iao Valley State Park, Resort pool
January 10 – Maui Ocean Center, Mama’s Fish House
January 11- Chill at resort, Big Beach (Makena State Park)
January 12 – Church at Kihei Baptist, Lahaina, Banyan Tree, Front Street
January 13 – Resort pool, Kula Botanical Gardens, Haleakala National Park
January 14 – Kihei Caffe, Flight to Kona, check in to Airbnb
January 15 – Farmers Market in Keauhou, Da Poke Shack, Costco, early rest for long day tomorrow
January 16 – Rainbow Falls (Hilo), Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Punalu’u Beach Park, Punalu’u Bake Shop
January 17 – Kahulu’u Beach Park (snorkeling), Marathon Expo
January 18 – Revel Kulia Marathon, rest, Kahulu’u Beach Park (more snorkeling)
January 19 – Kona Farmers Market, Church at Kona Korean Church, Lunch at Sam Choys
January 20 – Greenwell Farms, Flight to Maui, Drums of the Pacific Luau (my parents and son), Whalers Village / Kaanapali Beachwalk (me, my wife, and daughter, during luau)
January 21 – Pack up, long travel day with a red-eye back home
January 22 – Arrive back home jetlagged

Tuesday, Jan. 7 – Today was mostly a travel day. We got up early to catch the first leg of our trip from Baltimore to Chicago O’Hare. We had a 2 hour layover there. Then, we boarded a Boeing 777 headed to Maui. This was a super long flight, scheduled for 9h 38m. Luckily, there were 140 empty seats and we got to spread out quite a bit. The descent was awfully choppy and we all got motion sickness (except the kids) as we hit a rough patch of turbulence for about 20 minutes before landing. We picked up a rental minivan relatively quickly and headed to Worldmark Kihei, where we would be staying for a week. We settled in, got some dinner from the food trucks out front, and washed the kids up. I took the kids out for a brief walk across the street to the beach and stopped by the ABC store to pick up some water.

Wednesday, Jan. 8 – I’m up early (3:30am) because of the time zone change. I missed a few training runs prepping for this trip, but I have time before the kids wake up to go now. I went for a 6 mile run at 4am that ended at Foodland, which opened at 5am. I bought some food for breakfast and carried it almost a mile back to the resort. It was heavy. We went to a local farmers market at 8am and attended the Expedia orientation at the resort. We won a BOGO to a luau, which was perfect because we were going to send my parents with my son to this particular one anyway. My wife and I already went to a luau last time we were here and didn’t feel the need to go to another one. We had lunch at Paia Fish Market Southside. Then, we got some coffee at Lava Java Coffee and got a Hawaiian Shave Ice for my son, which he barely ate. We headed back to the resort to pick up a few things, then headed to Kalepolepo Beach, which is known for its quiet waters and sea turtles. We did see a few sea turtles along the wall of the fish pond. On the way back to the resort, we stopped by Foodland to pick up poke and some other things for dinner. We washed up the kids and had dinner at home today. The kids passed out early. Success!

Thursday, Jan. 9 – We went to the Maui Tropical Plantation. This was great for kids. We did pay for the tour, which wasn’t cheap, but it was well worth it. You get to see how all different kinds of fruits and plants grow. They do a coconut husking presentation (very cool), and they prepare a fruit cup for you at the end. We also made a visit to Iao Valley State Park, where we were hit hard by the rain and wind. Once we got back to sea level, it was warm and sunny. We spent the rest of the day at the resort pool and hot tub.

Friday, Jan. 10 – We went to the Maui Ocean Center (aquarium) during the day and ate at Mama’s Fish House for dinner. The Maui Ocean Center was recently rated one of the top 10 aquariums in the world. It was a really cool aquarium, and you see a lot more tropical/colorful fish than you do at most aquariums on the mainland. We had lunch at the Seascape restaurant there, which had great views of the ocean. Mama’s Fish House was a great experience and the food was good, but it was a bit difficult with the kids. It is a bit pricey, but it is also probably one of the most highly recommended restaurants in Hawaii. We didn’t go during our honeymoon, so we decided to give it a try this time.

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Saturday, Jan. 11 – Today was a chill day at the resort. I went for a long run from Kihei to Big Beach and back to scope it out. That night, the whole family went to Big Beach.

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Sunday, Jan. 12 – We went to church at Kihei Baptist. Later, we drove to Lahaina to see the world’s 2nd biggest Banyan Tree and check out Front Street. We had originally scheduled a luau for my parents and son, but it got canceled because of the rain. They would eventually do this luau on the last night of our trip because the one we wanted to schedule for them on Big Island got sold out. The resort honored the BOGO I won during the Expedia Orientation (thanks!).

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Monday, Jan. 13 – We chilled at the pool in the morning, then made our way upcountry to Kula Botanical Gardens and Haleakala National Park for sunset. This was one of the longer drives, but we split it up by stopping at Kula Botanical Gardens on the way up. It was about an hour drive to the entrance of Haleakala and almost another hour up toward the ~10,000+ ft. summit of Haleakala.

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Tuesday, Jan. 14 – We finally made it to Kihei Caffe for breakfast. There are always lines there, but they move fairly quickly. The food was well worth it and very reasonably priced. I would highly recommend this place. We flew to Kona and checked in to our Airbnb. We had a layover in Honolulu. On the flight to Kona, we got a great view of Moloka’i, Lanai, and Kaho’olawe from above.

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Wednesday, Jan. 15 – We went to the Farmers Market in Keauhou. There was a musician there. He was singing and playing multiple instruments. His daughter, who had noticed me guiding my dad (who is legally blind), approached us and told us her dad is the musician and is also legally blind and hard of hearing as well. My dad also plays a little guitar. It was a pretty cool moment. We took the rest of the day easy, as the next day we would have a lot of driving to do.

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Thursday, Jan. 16 – Today, we got up early and drove to Hilo and back, making a few stops along the way. We stopped at Rainbow Falls, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Punalu’u Beach Park, and Punalu’u Bake Shop. We took the northern route there, and the southern route back.

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Friday, Jan. 17 – We went to Kahulu’u Beach Park for some snorkeling. My son snorkeled for the first time here. He was afraid to stick his head under water for the first 15 minutes or so. After much convincing, he gave it a try and eventually learned to enjoy it. I was even able to take him out to the deeper areas. It was a proud moment for me as a dad, watching him get over his fear and enjoying an experience after it. My wife and I went up to the Hilton Waikoloa Beach to pick up our packets for the marathon the next day. The Waikoloa Beach area was very nice. Maybe we should stay there next time!

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Saturday, Jan. 18 – Got up super early to run the Revel Kulia Marathon. My wife ran the half marathon. You can see my race report here. After the race, we rested for a couple hours while my mom watched the kids. Then, we headed back to Kahulu’u Beach Park for more beach play and snorkeling. It was my mom’s first time snorkeling, and she picked it up quickly and enjoyed it.

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Sunday, Jan. 19 – We went to a Farmers Market in Kona where we tried some fresh coconut water and coconut “meat”. Then, we went to a Korean church in Kona. We had lunch at Sam Choys, where we ran into the blind musician again as we were leaving. He plays there during dinner on Sundays.

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Monday, Jan. 20 – We did a coffee tour at Greenwell Farms in the morning to see how coffee is grown and processed. My wife and I did this same tour 8 years ago. My parents enjoyed it and bought some Kona coffee there (expensive!). We flew to Maui in the afternoon and drove over to Lahaina, where my parents and son went to their first luau while my wife, daughter, and I did the Kaanapali Beach Walk and had dinner at Whalers Village.

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Tuesday, Jan. 21 – This was a long travel day. We took it easy in the morning and got ready for our flights. We flew from Maui to LAX, then LAX to BWI on a red-eye. Then, we drove back to Virginia. No pics here, and I’m ready to wrap up this long post.

We had a great time in Hawaii and would love to go back when the kids get a little older.