Hey man, can't thank you enough for creating such a great time for us. After speaking with the Alamo car rental guy he said mention to as many people as you can that you're here for your honeymoon and they'll treat you pretty good. " you might get a free wine bottle at a restaurant" was one of his exact quotes. Easy check in process, and we were on our way to the resort.
First day checked in to the hotel, (mentioned we were on honeymoon) got a free upgrade to a different higher floored room that was still ocean view and boy was it awesome. They also cut the $30 a day resort fee, but did keep the $30 a day valet parking fee. Couldn't see just the ocean but there were plenty of palm trees on the grounds of the hotel that still made it amazing. The grand Wailea was awesome, if normally out of our price range for a usual vacation. We sure did take advantage of it. Room service was amazing and quicker than I imagined. Breakfast was $35 each for the buffet, we did that 2x and it was great both times. That evening we went to Humuhumunukunukuapua'a ( state fish, also had to look up spelling lol) Restaurant and it was one of the best dinners I've ever had in my life. The waitress was amazing and helped explain the menu and made us feel like we were immersed in hawaii and its culture already on the first day.
Second day we just chilled at the resort. Lots of kids and families running around at the lower pool so we moved up the steps to the adults only pool and that was much more relaxing. After doing some research it sounds like Hawaii in general is very kid-friendly, and I know all the travel agents we talked to said there are no adults only resorts in Hawaii. Once we figured out how to navigate around all the youngin's it was fine.
The parasailing experience on the third day was great and would highly recommend them, it was UFO parasail if i remember correctly. Easy check in process, and right outside the main "mall shopping" area on the beach. Could get confusing if you didn't know where you were going, but we found it just fine. Rained in the afternoon which sucked because the Luau got cancelled at the Sheraton, so we had to figure out what to do for dinner on the fly. We found a restaurant, Roy's, close to that area of Hawaii and it was good, but not great. Came as a recommendation from a friend who had been to Maui before.
25th, tuesday we got to the beach early (still on east coast body clock times) which I highly recommend if other people choose this Resort. Pool, beach and chairs/umbrellas fill up quick and we got there around 7am and there were already chairs set up and pool deck spots reserved. Not sure how much cabana or casabella reservations cost, but figure it was out of our price range so we never bothered. In the afternoon we went to Maui Brewing Company, which I highly recommend as well. Great beer selection and the tour guide was awesome. They don't have a restaurant yet but it's currently in the building process. Will definitely be back there if we ever get back to maui.
26th, road to Hana tour was amazing and everything we wanted. Little hiccup in the morning as they got to our hotel 20 minutes late and I started to get worried at about 6:50 when they said 6:40 pickup time. There was another side of the resort we had to get to where valet said tours usually pick people up and "they didn't have a number to call us" which i actually could have sworn i gave to them when i called a few days in advance to reconfirm pickup time and lunch. Picked up a few more people on the way and ended up getting breakfast at a golf course (weird right?) ha but the food was actually really good, i recommend the ham breakfast sandwich over the quesadilla. Our tour guide Brannon, was amazing and so informative (former professor and publisher of two books). He knew so much and all the good stops and even took us on a little side journey to a freshwater cave that is closed to the public after it used to be a tourist attraction previously. Highly recommend doing this for first time Road to Hana tour or we would have been completely lost. He actually said on the tour "sometimes they call it the road to divorce" because newlyweds do it and fight so much over where to go and what to do and directions, etc. It was an all day event so tell people to be ready for that. Pickup at 7am, dropoff around 6:40 pm i think. But we had a blast. Next time we go back we'd do it on our own and do some hiking.
27th, breakfast buffet again, then signed up for a couples massage at Grand Wailea in the afternoon. Whew! expensive! but it was awesome. They have this thing called the "healing waters of Maui" which was fun and different for us both. Massages were great and then at the end they take you out to the Lanai which has an amazing view of the outside landscape of the hotel. Speaking of landscape, walking around the Grand Wailea itself is amazing, so many different paths to walk around and check out the place. That evening we signed up for the luau at the hotel which was a lot of fun. The food was alright, but the entertainment was really good. Not sure what you get with other Luaus, but some google searching led to better reviews of other Luaus in maui.
28th, another beach day, then we went back to Humu... for dinner because it was so good the first time. Luckily it's right on the grounds of the Grand Wailea so we could just walk there. Food again was amazing, we split the big steak dinner if anyone ever asks for recommendations. Seriously one of the best restaurants and two sets of meals we've ever had. expensive but so worth it!
29th, snorkel in the morning- Maui Reef adventures is a newer company and the signage and breakfast points to that. They only had a little table set up with some snacks, and even based on reviews from others I thought we were going to be getting more for breakfast. Little tough to find, but the Tour and captain more than made up for it. We left after one of the big boats headed out to the crater itself and we ended up passing them on the way to Molokini crater. We got to hop out of the boat on the outside of the crater whereas everyone else pretty much only heads to the inside. It was awesome doing the snorkeling, we then went inside the crater and left before EVERYONE got there, because by the time we were leaving a ton more boats showed up. That was the really nice thing about them as well, we never got overcrowded and were kind of in and out before tons of people showed up to get in the way. we then headed back to "turtle town" and got to swim off the coast in a little less clear waters but got to see sea turtles. I would highly recommend this company if people want to get in and out and don't want to waste all day feeling overcrowded the whole time. Lunch with them was small but good as well. Would just recommend that people seriously show up about 30-45 minutes early to be able to find parking place fills up super quick.
Sunset cruise at night on the 29th was awesome too. 3 free drinks and a good dinner with a guy playing guitar on the top deck was a great last evening dinner in Maui. Couldn't have asked for a nicer evening. Definitely recommend this as well, although if you get there late, parking could be a bitch.
30th, before we left to fly home we stopped at Mama's fish house for lunch, which was awesome food as well, but also a little pricey (just like everything in Maui). would definitely recommend this place as well, and a friend said try to go during sunset hours, but a local said I wouldn't really waste my money on that amount of food for that price and the views are just alright. then we flew back to reality.
Sorry if this was along and winded but would think you want more info to pass along to anyone else who might be going to hawaii for anything.
Can't thank you enough, and if we ever plan a big long vacation with lots of excursions I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again.
Thanks and let me know if you need anything else.
Jesse & Nicole K.