Ultimate Air Maui

September 28, 2018 Maui to-do

A few weeks ago we were invited to a birthday party at Ultimate Air Maui. In light of yesterday’s island-wide rainstorms I thought this would be a great place to spend some time on a rainy day with kids.

Ultimate Air Maui opened this past spring. There aren’t many indoor activities to do with kids on Maui, so their opening has been eagerly anticipated by many kids and parents alike. It is located in a large open warehouse in Maui Lani/Wailuku. The facility is new and clean and not air-conditioned (just in case you were wondering).

The evening of the birthday party was fun. The kids bounced around, there was a very attentive birthday party attendant who helped the party run incredibly smooth.

The website doesn’t mention this, but there are certain specials and special events. For instance right now Wednesdays are Ohana Night – come as a family and jump $10/hour per person. They have times reserved for toddlers, Friday night teen nights and even host fitness classes. For more information check the website, for specials check out their Facebook page.

Tickets are $22/hour, $32/two hours, $40/three hours plus $2 jump socks. They do not allow outside food or drink (they do have a concession). And most importantly for those non-jumping parents or family members, there are comfy leather couches and even massage chairs.

I’m sure we’ll be back at some point!

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A few Maui things to do in September 2018

September 17, 2018 Maui to-do

Coming up on Maui this weekend and in the weeks beyond….

The Maui Lilikoi Festival

Have you had lilikoi? It’s a passion fruit – I’ve written about it in the past, see here. This weekend Saturday September 22, the Napili Farmer’s Market is hosting the Maui Lilikoi Festival from 8AM to 2PM. I have it on good authority that my new favorite bread bakery will be selling their bread there also…

Kula Festival

On the same day, Saturday September 22 from 9AM to 4PM St John’s Episcopalian Church hosts their 36th Annual Kula Festival. We went last year to cheer on a few musicians in the Chop Suey Jazz Orchestra. Not sure if they will be performing this year again, but it is a cute upcountry local festival to check out.

Maui Ukulele Festival

Sunday September 28th between 1-6PM come for a free Maui Ukulele Festival of concerts at the MACC. Bring a blanket/chairs to sit, ukuleles, a game or two and your wallet for some ono grinds (good food from the food trucks) and relax to the ukulele music. Note this festival usually takes place in October – this year it’s end of September instead.

Oktoberfest in paradise

Yes, Oktoberfest reaches even to Maui. There are several Oktoberfest happenings here.

On Friday September 28th the Rotary Club is hosting their 7th annual Oktoberfest at the Pioneer Inn in Lahaina (see here for tickets).
On September 29th the Maui Brewing Company in Kihei hosts their Oktoberfest from 2:30-7:30PM.
Brigit & Bernard’s, the Swiss/German restaurant in Kahului, always hosts Oktoberfest four weekends in October complete with German beer, good food and oompah-band. I am not finding their information off hand, but give them a call for details.

Maui Sunday Market

Sunday evenings in Kahului from 4-8pm check out the Maui Sunday Market. This is a new event, just started this July.

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Pueo Premier Card

August 29, 2018 Maui to-do

It’s the beginning of a new school year and Kamalii Elementary School has issued their new Pueo Premier Card for the year. We have one of these at each of our four condos, so please do use the card to get discounts (similar or better to kama’aina) at local restaurants and stores. If you are not staying at our condos, swing by the school office at Kamalii Elementary School. They sell them as a school fundraiser for $10 cash. Mahalo for supporting local schools.

What’s on this year’s cards? Here are some of the restaurants/stores represented. Check out the picture of the cards to see them all.

5 Palms Restaurant
Amigo’s
Cold Stone Creamery
Cow Pig Bun
Dina’s Sandwitch (sandwich store at Sugar Beach Resort)
Duo Steak & Seafood
Fat Daddy’s Smokehouse
Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods
Matteo’s Osteria
Maui Brick Oven
Maui Taco
Roasted Chiles
Round Table Pizza
Ruby Tuesday
Scuba Shack
Shearwater Tavern
Three’s Bar & Grill
Wailea Pharmacy

Cards are good for 1 use per day per offer and must be presented at time of purchase/order. Only 1 free item (unless specified) may be received on each visit. 2 for 1s are for equal or lesser value. Offers cannot be combined with any other offer or discount. Discounts at participating locations only.

kamaaina rate — picture of this year’s Pueo card – lots of discounts at local stores and restaurants

Kama’aina discounts

Speaking of discounts – what does ‘kama’aina’ discount mean? Kama’aina is the Hawaiian word for native born or ‘child of the land’. Here is an article about the meaning of kama’aina. Businesses in Hawaii are much more liberal with the application of the term when they offer kama’aina discounts to residents. Typically you need to show your Hawaii State ID or driver’s license to get the discount.

Note that though I have lived on Maui for 8+ years now, I am not considered a local. To be local, I would need to have lived here much longer.

The specials offered on this Pueo Premier Card are similar to these stores’ kama’aina discounts. In some cases these are instead of kama’aina discounts.

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Island Art Party

July 28, 2018 Maui to-do

Last night was girls’ night out with a few friends. The activity of choice was an art party at Kihei’s own Island Art Party. Confession – I haven’t painted since art class in high school with exception of a finger painting ‘mom and me’ event with our youngest child a few years ago. I used to be pretty decent in art class, and at the art party they give you step by step instructions, so how hard could it be?

It was the fourth Friday of the month, which means it’s Kihei’s monthly town party in central Kihei at the Azeka Shopping Plaza. I haven’t been to one of these in years. It was fun – a good number of local artisans selling t-shirts, soaps, jewelry, honey and even Maui-made candy. There were several musician areas with a variety of music being played and then of course a food-truck alley. We arrived early (around 5) to ensure good parking and enjoyed happy hour at Shearwater Tavern.

Island Paint Party — sneak picture during one of our breaks

Island Art Party is located right in Azeka, so that worked out perfectly. With it being Fourth Friday, they had a special on – $45/person or $25 for kama’aina (with State of Hawaii or military ID). The class was full, so it was a good thing we had made reservations. If you go on their website, they have a monthly calendar and you see exactly what the class will be painting each evening (and some daytime slots). Honestly, I didn’t like the project selected for last night. It was called ‘mystic jellyfish’ and, in my opinion, looked pretty awful. But, it was a night out with friends, so my attitude became ‘modify as needed and toss it out when I get home’. Plus it was a sale night, so whatever!

We arrived, were ID’ed (for the kama’aina discount and to purchase a drink from the bar) and ushered to our reserved seat. Everything was ready, except we needed to get our paint from the paint station (the instructions told us how many squirts of each paint).

We all started with a blank canvas, a few brushes and a plate of acrylic paint.

The Partista (party artist) gave us step by step instructions on what to do. I did modify mine a bit and honestly, ended up pleasantly surprised.

My slightly modified background (I added blue).

Island Art Party — My finished jellyfish painting

It was fun! We’ve already checked out next month’s calendar. I think we’ll try a sunset painting next time around.

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Train at the Mill House Bar

July 14, 2018 Maui to-do

I’ve written about the Maui Tropical Plantation‘s transformation the past few years. I’ve even posted pictures of the very cool historic train inside the Mill House Bar. I finally got to eat there!

lahaina — A train in a bar? Yep! Only on Maui 🙂

When we first started coming to Maui on vacation, the Maui Tropical Plantation was always on our ‘things to do’ list. The main attraction was their duck pond for our kids. After a number of years it unfortunately closed to the public, only to have been reopened a few years ago under new ownership. The new owners have done an amazing job of the place. I love how they’ve taken old sugar cane factory parts and converted them into lawn art and garden decor. An homage to Waikapu’s rich sugar cane history. Admission to the grounds is free, and I highly recommend you go check it out. And yes, the gift shop (which is large and good) also sells $2 duck food baggies.

The Tropical Plantation also features the Mill House which is a high-end farm-to-table restaurant and bar. I’ve always admired the bar from outside – particularly checking out the historic train inside the bar (how cool is that!). The other day I finally got to eat there – happy hour and pupu (appetizers). The food was great, service good, the ambiance amazing. Specifically we had a squash pizza, ceviche and bao bun tacos.

mill house bar — pupu at the Mill House Bar

What’s up with the train in the bar?

The locomotive is known as the Claus Spreckels – the second locomotive purchased for the Kahului-Wailuku railroad in 1881. It transported passengers and freight on a 13 mile (!) line. It is on long-term loan from Maui’s A&B Sugar Cane Museum. Be sure also to check out King Kalakaua’s train car (also on display in the bar)

Other things to check out at the Maui Tropical Plantation: a coffee roaster, ice cream, several smaller shops, a tour of the property. Do note that most of these places close at 4pm. The Mill House also hosts it’s weekly Chef’s Table event. At $150/person my friend tells me it’s an amazing culinary event.

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Sunset picnic

June 19, 2018 Maui to-do

It was another beautiful day today. After a day at the office I headed over to our Kihei Surfside condo to prepare it for tomorrow’s guests’ check-in. It was much too beautiful a day to go home, so I headed over to the Island Market at the Shops at Wailea to pick up some dinner.

I sampled some of the poke and picked up two types of poke and an ocean salad. Poke is raw marinated fish – often ahi (tuna). Ocean salad is strips of kelp and sea weed with a slightly sweet salad dressing. This may not be your idea of a picnic dinner – but if not, they have a great deli section with many take-out options.

sunset picnic — The Island Gourmet Market is an ABC store with a great deli section.

I then headed back to our Kihei Surfside condo and had an ocean-front picnic.

You honestly can’t beat this view.

My picnic dinner was delicious.

And sunset was beautiful.

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Maui Brewing Company

March 24, 2018 Maui to-do

The Maui Brewing Company opened their Kihei production facility a few years ago. I took a tour of it a while ago – it was really quite interesting to see and learn more about beer. And, it included a flight of their flagship beers. Tours are offered several times daily.

Maui Brewing Company started in 2005 in Lahaina. They moved to their Kihei facility I think in 2016 (their Kahana brewpub is still open and popular also). The owners, Garrett and Melanie, were awarded the US National Small Business Person of the Year award in 2017. Quite an honor for a craft brewery in Hawaii. If you like beer, do check this place out and try a sample.

The brewing company has a tasting room where you can sample their 30+ beers on tap and their very own (non-alcoholic) rootbeer. The tasting room is popular, they have board games and a giant tic tac toe game to encourage patrons to hang out and have fun.

Until recently they had a rotation of food trucks parked outside the tasting room. This past February they opened their own on-site restaurant. The other day I stopped in to take a few pictures. I really like the way it turned out with a view into the brewery itself.

The Maui Brewing Company – brewery and restaurant is located in Central Kihei. To get there from the Piilani Highway, you turn up the mountain (mauka) on Lipoa. Drive past the Maui Nui golf course to the Maui Research and Technology Park. You will see the facility on the left hand side, across from another popular hangout – Cow Pig Bun (located in the black glass building).

looking up at the restaurant at the Maui Brewing Company

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A few pre-Christmas happenings on Maui

December 3, 2017 Maui to-do

I still remember my first Christmas here on Maui. Having lived with seasons all my life, I admit it was strange not having cold weather and snow in December. But eventually you get used to ‘no snow’, poinsettias growing in flower beds, fresh tree-ripened fruit year-round and year-round beach weather. And just because we don’t have miserable weather this time of year, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the pre-Christmas spirit of things.

Here are a few pre-Christmas events you may enjoy

December 3 – Maui Pops Orchestra concert. 3pm at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center

December 9 – Lighting of the Ulupalakua Christmas Tree at Maui’s own upcountry winery – Maui Wine. 4:30-8:30pm. Enjoy family fun activities, live music, an outdoor movie (The Grinch) in the cool crisp air of Haleakala. They will also be hosting a wine tasting. On a side note, wine tastings are no longer complimentary at Maui Wine – however, I’m told the quality and servings have improved.

December 10 – 6th Annual Maui Mompreneur Showcase & Supply Drive – craft fair held 9am-2pm at the Maui Seaside Hotel ballroom. They will also be collecting school supplies for Kahului Elementary School which last week had a fire destroying five classrooms.

On Christmas Eve the Grand Wailea welcomes Santa as he arrives by outrigger canoe. Get your picture and treats 9-11am

If that’s too early, he also arrives on Polo Beach in front of the Fairmont Kea Lani from 12-1pm on Christmas Eve.

A few other non-Christmas events

Whale Watching has begun – book a whale watch, or visit the Humpback Whale Sanctuary for information on how to spot whale activity right from the beach.

Maui Town Parties – every Friday check out a different town party. Wailuku (1st), Lahaina (2nd), Makawao (3rd), Kihei (4th) and Lanai (5th). Do check out the website for more information.

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Drowning on Maui

August 27, 2017 Maui to-do

Drowning on Maui – what an upbeat topic, I know. No, there is unfortunately no pun intended. This is just a public service announcement, reminding you about the dangers of snorkeling and water activities. Not just here on Maui – anywhere really.

This past week there were two instances of visitors drowning while snorkeling at the reef just off Keawakapu Beach in South Kihei. No, there weren’t any sharks involved (to my knowledge). From what I’ve read in the media, both victims were snorkeling with their spouses (having a buddy system is very good). In both instances, one spouse returned to shore safely, then realized their partner wasn’t with them. Both victims (one on Friday, another on Saturday) were brought to shore and received CPR from other beachgoers until emergency services got there. Our condolences to the families.

Here are the two articles, one happened Thursday, the second Friday. Both visitors were in their 50s, no mention of them having had pre-existing health conditions.

Is drowning common? Well…. yes this is paradise, but it’s not Disney, and unfortunately that means stuff does happen…. from what I see in the news, it’s usually people cliff diving or the more middle-aged (and I don’t mean that in a bad way at all) people snorkeling. Cliff diving, well, ’nuff said….. but many don’t realize that snorkeling is actually a strenuous activity, especially for those who aren’t good swimmers or maybe aren’t as healthy as they wish they were.

Should you avoid the water altogether? Probably not. But do be careful and know your limits. Please be cognizant of your ability. Never swim alone – always go with a buddy and stay with a buddy. What an awful way to end your vacation.

More ocean tips

Here is an ocean safety video released in 2015 by Maui County. I believe it is on a loop at the airport and also airs regularly on the Maui Visitor Channel (channel 7).

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Kapalua’s Dragon’s Teeth

August 24, 2017 Maui to-do

We recently went for a drive up to Lahaina and Kapalua. One of my favorite things to do there is to check out Dragon’s Teeth. It is also known as Makaluapuna Point. This is a rock formation formed by a lava flow on Maui. The rock has a somewhat different composition than say the lava flow at La Perousse, and has been weathered by the ocean.

I was commenting to my family that it looks like it’s had some additional weathering from the elements since we were there last a year ago or so. I was also disappointed that someone had etched their names into one of the teeth. Really? Why destroy the natural beauty of this place?

Please be aware that you pass a native Hawaiian burial ground on the way to the formation, so please do stay on the path (the burial ground is gated off on the right – please do not trespass).

To access Dragon’s Teeth, drive through Kapalua and turn left on Office Road (the exit for the Ritz Carlton). At the end of Office Road hang a right and park. Then head down the golf course (there is a marked path on the right side) towards the ocean. It leads you right to the rock formation, which, in case you were wondering, kind of looks like a mouth full of teeth when you first enter it. You will want to wear decent shoes for this walk and really watch your step.

Bring your beach gear

While you can’t access the ocean from the rock formation, popular DT Flemings Beach is just to the right of it in front of the Ritz. You can access it from the same parking lot by taking the trail in front of the Ritz, however there is better access if you head on back to the main road, turn left and take the next exit.

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Category: Maui to-do

The Maui Lilikoi Festival

Kula Festival

Maui Ukulele Festival

Oktoberfest in paradise

Maui Sunday Market

Kama’aina discounts

What’s up with the train in the bar?

Here are a few pre-Christmas events you may enjoy

A few other non-Christmas events

More ocean tips

Bring your beach gear