Why Everything is Better in Hawaii

Okay, maybe not everything, but so far I've only been able to come up with a few things that AREN'T better in Hawaii:

1.  Skiing.  Skiing is not better in Hawaii (although they do get snow on the volcano sometimes)
2.  Ummm...

Okay, so ONE thing that is not better in Hawaii.

And here's why...

We arrived on Maui about mid-day thanks to the time difference.  After wasting time at Costco (don't ask me why we needed to shop there for only 3 people), we made our way over to the Ka'anapali area of West Maui to our condo.  This was a new property for us since there were no vacancies at our regular Marriott timeshare.  I had my fingers crossed that the photos and reviews on the internet were accurate and luckily, they were.

This is a view of the island of Lana'i looking a bit to the right from our balcony.

And this is the island of Kaho'olawe looking a bit to the left from our balcony.

The property also had a gorgeous koi pond complete with a cute little bridge.  The nearby grassy areas were great places to watch doves, mynah birds and an occasional stork every day.

Here's a photo of the kid sitting by the koi pond patiently waiting for the SLOW adults to get their act together and get him to the beach already.

And boy did he have fun when we finally made it there.  Just down the beachfront path that winds in front of all the hotels in Ka'anapali is an area known as Black Rock.  It's located in front of the Sheraton hotel and is perfect for snorkeling, paddleboarding, boogie boarding or just enjoying a swim.

The white building in the background is the Sheraton hotel.

After a little bit of time on the beach, it was time to get cleaned up and head for dinner.  Here's a shot of our first sunset taken from the koi pond bridge.

And another shot of sunset (with boats) taken from the Hula Grill restaurant (best Lava Flow drinks on the island!) located right next to our condo in Whaler's Village.

 

That was our first day.  We spent most of the next day getting our snorkel and camera gear rented, hitting up the local grocery store for gluten-free food options for my mom, and exploring downtown Lahaina.

After that, it was on to snorkeling!  Ryan had never done it before and I had never had the advantage of an underwater camera so we were excited to play at being Jacques Cousteau.  Stay tuned to see what we found!

KJ