Surf's Up in Maui

After a lazy two days in Lanai, it was onto the next island: Maui! Jana and I opted to take the Expeditions ferry instead of another small plane. Expeditions is the only ferry that runs out of Lanai and it costs $30 one way. It took about 45 minutes and was very pretty, but you may want to skip this if you're prone to getting seasick. It was definitely rocky the day we went over.

The ferry drops you off in Lahaina, which is busy town with lots of restaurants, bars and shopping. We were planning to take the bus down to our resort in Wailea, since cabs were $90, but Jana wasn't allowed to board the bus because of her huge suitcase. While we were debating our next move, we saw surfing lessons being advertised and decided to take one right then and there. Before we tried riding the waves, we figured we should eat and opted for this little Thai restaurant in Old Lahaina Center called Pad Thai. It was a total hole in the wall but the food was delicious and very reasonably priced. The owner is from Thailand so it was authentic as well.

After getting our fill of chicken Pad Thai, we headed over to Maui Waveriders to get our gear. We paid $50 for a two hour lesson, which included boards, rash guards and boots. I'd tried surfing before in San Diego and wasn't exactly awesome at it, but I'd heard Hawaii was easier to learn at because of the small waves. Fun fact: the people from TLC's Little People, Big World also took lessons with this surf school and were able to get up.

They took us out by the cove in Lahaina to learn. I wasn't crazy about the fact that we were in shallow waters on a rocky reef, but they assured me it was safe. Jana went first and got up on her first try. I think I got up too, but for not as long. She was definitely better than me but everyone in our group managed to ride a wave at least once. One of our instructors even did a headstand while Jana was riding!

After our lesson, I wasn't ready for the Pipeline but I felt like I sort of knew what I was doing. Once we dried off, we decided we'd have to take a cab down to our resort in Wailea. You can negogiate with the cab drivers in Maui. We were able to talk one cabbie into taking us for $65, which is still pricey, but way better than the $90 the first driver quoted us. A lot of people rent cars in Maui so they can see the whole island. Unfortunately, they were out of compacts and small cars in Lahaina and had limited availability. If you're thinking of booking a car, do it in advance.

After about a 45 minute ride, we arrived at the Grand Wailea where we greeted with lovely orchid leis. This resort is a favorite with many celebrities. Britney Spears stayed here with her boyfriend Jason Trawick in September, and Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler shot Just Go With It on the premises as well. Check in was quick, and they had complimentary fresh fruit and yummy juice. The Grand Wailea is definitely grand. The lobby is gorgeous, and is all open-air. This resort is massive and you'll do your fair share of walking if you stay there. They have tons of swimming pools, including ones with a swim up bar, water slides and a lazy river. If you have kids, they'll be in heaven.

I'd heard the Wailea was popular for conferences and corporate events because it can accomodate such large groups, and as were exploring the property, we stumbled upon a private event some company was holding. Participants just so happened to be getting leis as they entered and since we had ours on from arriving, we decided to try and crash the party. It was really easy and we helped ourselves to some free drinks and apps. Once we noticed everyone had name tags, we decided not to push our luck and headed to our room to get ready. The rooms are the Grand are pretty nice, but we were bummed that they didn't have minifridges. We made do by using the ice bucket but a fridge would be nice. We loved picking up a bottle of wine at the ABC store and having happy hour on our balcony while watching the sunset.

All of the hotel restaurants were way overpriced (although there's reasonable options right next door at the Shops at Wailea) and there's not a ton to do to in town, so we opted to explore Kihei, the next town over. We were told by one local that there was some nightlife there, too. A cab to Kihei from Wailea is about $15 one way, but we decided to try the bus (even though the concierge tried to discourage us, saying it would drop us off really far away from the main area). There's a stop fairly close to the hotel, and it actually dropped us off exactly where we wanted to go! Bonus: it only costs $1.

The bus drops you off right in front of Sansei, a local sushi chain in Hawaii. We ate there one night and it was well-priced and delicious, too. They also have late-night karaoke as well, if you're in the mood to sing after your spicy tuna rolls. The nightlife in Kihei is pretty limited to one area called "The Triangle". I'm not sure why, since it's really more of a square, but the main bars are The Dog and Duck, Life's A Beach and Ambrosia. The Dog and Duck has nightly live music and Life's A Beach is a karaoke bar. While we were at The Dog and Duck, we met a local who offered to take us surfing and show us around...which ended up with us at Maui's only naked beach. Seriously. Video of that will be up later this week...check back!