We booked our flight and car through Pleasant Hawaiian using AAA Travel Agency, which saved us a lot of money, and included nice pluses like a flower lei greeting. Of course, nothing says "I'm a tourist" like an orchid lei around your neck. If we were to do it again, we would change to a different car rental place, as Dollar was very slow in picking us up from the airport, and their GPS units are sub-standard. Also, United's planes are the most crowded seats we had ever seen. You could not get out from the window without the other two passengers getting completely into the aisle. Two drinks and a bag of pretzels for a 5 hour flight is also not exactly "showing any love" to your customers.We started today (our first full day on the island) with an orientation and welcome breakfast from Pleasant Hawaiian. I thought that this would be a waste of time, but they gave us a nice overview of various activity options, and they had discounts on most of them. Because we booked through AAA, we also had two coupons for $30 off an activity. We had a couple of activities already booked, as we had heard that the ziplines and the Molokini trips sell out. We were glad we had done that, as some nice people we met at the orientation tried to book the same zipline trip we were on but it was full. That being said, they were a very nice couple (we did another activity with them today and will likely do others). We did add a few activities this morning through Pleasant Hawaiian, including a trip to Lanai with Trilogy, which is very well reviewed on tripadvisor.com.
After the orientation, we went snorkeling in Wailea beach, which had lots of fish in a protected cove. We brought a book on snorkeling in Maui (Snorkel Maui and Lana'i by Judy and Mel Malinoswski), which has all kinds of information about the best snorkel spots, so we were able to find a good one right near our place. So far, the guidance from this book seems spot on, and we really like the detailed maps and directions to the out of the way locations.
After a shower and lunch, we met our new friends (from the orientation) for the Atlantis submarine cruise. That looked like it could be really fun, but we were very disappointed. I realize that they can't control how many fish you see, but they must know that there really aren't any good fish anywhere unless there is reef or at least rocks on the bottom. My main problem with that trip is that they don't tell you how much time you will spend in a boat - on the way out to the submarine, then waiting for the people on the submarine to disembark, then getting everyone on the sub and waiting to submerge. All they would need to do is say, "people who get seasick might want to take something." But they give no warning, so several of us were feeling a little queasy (or a lot). Once the sub goes under, it's smooth, but there is quite a bit of time before and after that are shaky. Luckily, we were the last trip of the day, so the end was not too bad as we did not have to wait to unload the next group onto the sub while we left. All in all, it just didn't seem worth the money. Parking in Lahaina can also be tricky, as several "public parking" areas are not free, and have strange pricing structures. There is ample free parking to be found, but you will need to look, and check all posted signs as most free parking has a three hour limit. The only redeeming thing about the sub trip was the amazing rainbow we saw strectched across the mountain while we were on the boat waiting for the sub to surface:
After the sub trip, we walked around Lahaina, which has the largest Banyan tree in the Hawaiian islands. Late in the day, the tree is filled with what sounds like a thousand birds all chirping to create a cacophony. Next to the Banyan tree is the Old Lahaina courthouse, which we really wanted to see, as we received an original drawing of it from a friend who used to live in Maui as a wedding gift. There are also a ton of shops, which I enjoyed browsing, despite the fact that Bill really doesn't like shopping. There are also some really amazing galleries, which we had fun looking around in and dreaming about being rich enough to afford.
This was only the first day, and we can't wait to explore more. We were planning to do the sunrise at the top of Haleakala on Thursday, but it was suggested to us that we should do it sooner in the trip, while we're still on California time. Because we need to leave two and a half hours before sunrise to do that, we thought it would be best to do it when 3:35 a.m still feels like 6:35, so tomorrow is sunrise at Haleakala and then the road to Hana. We have heard that will be an ambitious day, but since this is our first real vacation together in 12 years, we're up for anything. If we have the energy, we'll post again tomorrow night.
Aloha!
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