Ka'anapali Dreamin' Blog

Sunday Photo: Napili Beach

2009-07-12T13:12:00.001-05:00

Taken by Kris Nelson on February 25th, 2009
Location: Napili Beach, Kapalua, Maui

Can you believe it’s already July and I'm still going through my photos from February! :)

This shot was taken during our visit to Napili Beach in West Maui. It actually was a little tricky for us to find (but I get lost pretty easily sometimes), but once we made it, the beach was pretty nice. Well, the beach was nice, but the wind was a little gusty and there was a slight nip in the air as far as Maui standards go. I even have a picture of Cindy sitting out on the beach reading … in a sweatshirt. Not her favorite beach attire, believe me.

This photo came out better because it was taken during a break in the clouds, of which there were a few of those moments. I read somewhere around the time we were planning to visit that beach that there is a local ordinance passed when the first resort was established that no building could be built taller than a palm tree. Not certain, but I think it was the Lonely Planet – Maui book. In any case, that’s a brilliant idea.

Wanna see more Napili Beach photos, or have stories to share? Well, I’m working on getting them uploaded and posted over at Maui by Photo this week as well as added to the Beaches section here as well. Although much of my attention has been reserved for the new site, there’s still work to be done around here, too. I’m just about finished with updates from Trip 4, and that Beaches section needs a mini-makeover to take advantage of the extra space I added a few months back.

Be sure to watch for updates on that, too.

Talk Story
Napili Beach is one of a few beaches in the Kapalua area. So, how does it compare? You tell us! Share your stories from this little crescent in West Maui.

Related Links

Book Review: Lonely Planet - Maui, 3rd Edition
“Wind”esday on Maui – Trip Journal Entry
Beaches Section
Travel Traditions: New Beaches

Sunday Photo: Hamoa Beach

2009-05-17T19:16:00.003-05:00

Taken by Kris Nelson on February 23rd, 2009
Location: Hamoa Beach, East Maui

Another weekend has passed, and I’m inching along through sorting and uploading photos from our more recent Maui trip. Most recently, I managed to get a few photos from Hana Bay and a few from Hamoa Beach like the one pictured above. It’s photos like this that make me miss Maui the most. It just looks so serene and peaceful. Ahhhh.

Anyway, I hope to have a special treat for next Sunday, as I ordered the full DVD of photos from our vacation portrait session with island photographer Natalie Brown. I’m anticipating it to arrive sometime this week, and will pick a few to feature next Sunday. I’m also planning on having some our favorites available as a slideshow and yet another post on Natalie’s great work and how choosing to have professional portraits taken while vacationing in paradise was such a wonderful idea for us.

Stay tuned for that, and have a nice week.

Mahalo,
- Kris

Sunday Photo: Tall Palm Trees

2009-05-03T10:14:00.003-05:00

Taken by Kris Nelson on February 22nd, 2009
Location: Kama’ole Beach Park II, Kihei

Sure, you see these palm trees and blue sky photos all over the place from postcards to guide books and travel brochures. But for whatever reason, I still like capturing them all over the island, from practically every beach we’ve visited over the years.

This one was taken on our beach hopping day last February, at our first stop that afternoon. Kama’ole Beach Park II is one of three beach parks that together make up Kama’ole Beach. Numbered I, II, and III, we visited Kama’ole Beach Park I last year, and had just as perfect weather as we did this time around.

Beach Park III is still further south of where we stopped this time, and of the three, it is the most popular with the locals. Not only does it have a nice stretch of sand like the other two, it has a large lawn and park area, volleyball nets, and a picnic/pavilion area ideal for large group gatherings.

It wasn’t until last year’s trip did we really start venturing down towards South Maui to go beach hopping. Since then, it has become a favorite place to go hunting for new beaches to visit, which as you know is one of our travel traditions each year.

Talk Story
Is any of your favorite beaches in South Maui? I still have some work to do in updating our Beaches section here on the site, but until then, feel free to share your favorite South Maui beaches with us.

Mahalo.

If you like this photo, you can see more in our Sunday Photos series here at the blog. Our website also features daily photos on the Today's Photos page, and you can also get a new photo from Maui everyday on your Google home page. Check out our Maui Photo Day Calendar for more details.

Suds Before Sand

2009-03-05T05:22:00.003-06:00

Trip Journal entry for Sunday, February 22nd.

The second week of our trip and we finally make it to the beach!

Awake Before Dawn
Sunday was another early start for me, and this time, I was attempting to do more than just catching up on my journal entries. My goal was to put together another time lapse sequence like I did last year. While the one last year was of the sunset, this year's goal was to capture daybreak in action.

You might think it'd make sense to try and shoot the sunrise as a time lapse. Well, the problem with that, in my situation anyway, is that we were staying in West Maui and the sun rises in the east. I could have tried to get a shot of the sun breaking over the West Maui mountains, but I couldn't find a good place to set that up and it's also hit or miss because of the makua clouds, too. Besides, the best place to shoot the sunrise as a time lapse would be from Haleakala, as one of my fellow bloggers demonstrated last month.

The only real oversight I came across was trying to nail down the manual focus and leveling the horizon with the tripod in almost pure darkness. Note to self for future attempts, set those two settings the night before or sleep in a little later. I ended up with 3 different sequences of photos, mainly because I couldn't find a set of exposure settings that would cover the span of dark to light very well. I'll share the results here once I get time to process them into video clips.

The Laundry
Perhaps one of the few downsides to a two week vacation, you either have to pack two weeks worth of clothes (no way) or do laundry. We've always made a tradition out of doing laundry on vacation (future topic for our Travel Traditions), but this year was a little different than in the past.

Previously, we'd save the laundry for the weekend (no change there) and we'd be able to do it right there at the resort. The Sheraton didn't have a large laundry facility, but it was enough to get the job done. Cindy would spend the time down by the pool while I hung around the machines and switched the loads, hammering away at something or other on the laptop. All was good.

As it turns out, part of the spa renovation at the Sheraton Maui Resort this winter replaced where the laundry facilities used to be. Bummer. So we had to pack things up and head to the laundromat. We found one in Kahana not too far north, and while we still finished in about the same about of time, Cindy missed out on her pool time. No biggie as today was our beach day anyway.

Going South
Just like last year's beach hopping, we were headed down to South Maui to do some exploring and finding new stretches of sand to visit (another one of our traditions). We had gotten a later start on the laundry than we had hoped, which sort of threw off our other plans for the day. For example, we didn't make it to lunch until almost 2pm, which should have been the 2nd hour of our beach and sun time.

Anyway, we ended up at another great local place for lunch, Da Kitchen Express in Kihei. Just like the deli tip from the night before, this one came in from another one of my Maui Twitter friends, and he was right on (no surprise there). Shortly after finishing our plate lunches, we hadn't far to go for our first beach of the day, Kama'ole Beach II.

Kama'ole Beach II

Kama'ole Beach II is one of 3 different beaches in Kihei that make up the Kama'ole Beach trifecta. We visited Kama'ole Beach I last year, and found beach II to be even better. If memory serves, beach II is just a little smaller than its predecessor, yet we found it was much less crowded. There wasn't an abundance of parking, but we managed to find a spot nearby on S. Kihei Rd. If there's one thing I hate more than driving over-sized rental cars on vacation, it's trying to parallel park them. :)

Our beach hopping is usually comprised of about 60-90 minutes at each beach, and consists of Cindy getting her towel, water, and book all setup in the sand while I wander off and take a crazy amount of photos. Almost on cue, we were packing things up again after about an hour or so and we were movin' on. Next up, Ulua Beach.

Ulua Beach

Up until last year, the majority of the beaches we visited were popular spots in West Maui. But after we found Maluaka Beach in Makena, we fell in love with these tiny little crescent treasures. Ulua Beach was just the ticket this year. Located in Wailea and one of at least four beaches along the Wailea boardwalk (also a first for us this year), Ulua had all the charm for us as Maluaka did last year. The skies were perfect, the sun was still pretty nice for later in the afternoon, and I had more than enough places to walk, climb, and photograph. So nice.

By now, we had pretty much lost all track of time. Next up on our beach hoping list, the popular Wailea Beach.

Wailea Beach

This beauty was one of those nice, long stretches of sand that you can also find at Ka'anapali Beach or Big Beach. And while we love the charm of the small, hidden beaches like Ulua and Maluaka, the shutterbug in me simply can't pass up the opportunity to spend hours strolling up and down the bigger beaches on Maui, filling up my memory card faster than a visitor piling on the poi at their first luau. :)

Although we were pretty unaware of the time at this point, it was late enough in the afternoon where the sun wasn't going to be burning us very fast. By now, a fairly brisk wind was picking up, which sort of spoiled Cindy's chance for stretching out and enjoying the sun here, but it didn't stop me from snapping a bunch of photos.

It was our first time visiting Wailea Beach, and the first time I really got to see just how huge the Grand Wailea was, other than driving passed it on the way to the Shops at Wailea. From the beach, you can see the towering buildings (which we were able to see from our helicopter tour), the chapel they have on the grounds of the resort, and the giant cabanas they have facing the ocean. It was pretty impressive to say the least.

On the Boardwalk
During our tweetup the day before, one of our new Maui friends had mentioned the Wailea Boardwalk that was down where we ended up Sunday evening. While it wasn't part of our original plans for the day, we found ourselves checking it out shortly before the sunset. Boy, that sure was nice. Not only did we see a few whales having fun away from all the boats that stalk them in West Maui, some of the houses and views along the walkway were breathtaking.

Had it not been so late and already into the evening, we probably would have walked the entire path. Something certainly to save for the next trip, for sure. We did stick around for the sunset, which, as you'd expect, was just as spectacular as some of the homes we were standing next to.

Where Did The Time Go?
Crap, it was 6:30pm already? This is where getting that late start on the laundry I mentioned earlier really came back to bite us. You see, the day before at our tweetup, Liza had extended an invitation to Cindy and I to stop by her place Sunday evening. I had gotten to know Liza and her ohana online via Twitter (@AMauiBlog) and her blog, A Maui Blog, and we were very excited to say Aloha to all of them in real life.

It's always a big deal when a local resident on the islands invites you to their home, and needless to say, we were really, really bummed that we had to take a rain check. Had we not gotten the late start on the laundry that morning, we would have already been packed for our Hana trip the next morning, done with our beach hopping 2 hours earlier, and toasting the sunset with Liza and her family. Mahalo, Liza, for the invitation and for accepting our rain check at the last minute. I promise we'll make time for a visit on our next trip!

The Mad Dash
So there we were, all the way down in Wailea just before 7pm and we were leaving for Hana in less than 12 hours. While we actually made good time driving back up to Lahaina, the evening was far from over. We made a stop at Barnes and Noble at the Lahaina Gateway to grab a guidebook for our Hana trip, and then Safeway for a few groceries and things to pack for a picnic lunch on Monday. It wasn't until 8:45pm when we finally made it back to our room, and we still had to pack! We didn't even have time to eat dinner, either.

When it was all said and done, after packing for our overnight in Hana and all my techie preparations (camera batteries, memory cards, etc.) it wasn't lights out for us until after 10pm. That 5:30am alarm for a 7am start to Hana sure was approaching fast.

Sunday Photo: Front Row Seats

2009-01-11T17:53:00.003-06:00

Front Row Seats
Taken by Kris Nelson on September 19th, 2007
Location: Ka'anapali Beach, Maui

A simple, warm, and inviting photo this week. These are a few of the beach chairs and cabanas that you'll find outside of resorts along Ka'anapali Beach. The ones pictured here are out front of the Ka'anapali Ali'i, and while accommodations vary by resort, many have some form of rentals for you to use to enjoy the sun. Some resorts, like our favorite Sheraton Maui, have full fledged beach cabanas. Those are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so you need to get to the beach early to snatch one up.

5 More Weeks
We're down to only five weeks before we're off to Maui again. Count down the Sundays with us here in the Sunday Photos series and we look forward to taking more great photos to feature for many more Sundays to come.

Mahalo.

If you'd like to see more photos, you can check out our Sunday Photos category here at the blog, featuring a new photo every week. Our website also features daily photos on the Today's Photos page, and if you're Flickr fans like us, you can check out our Ka'anapali Dreamin' collection.

What to own or use any of our photos? Check out our photo store, Maui Wall Candy, for purchase info and ideas on what you can do with them. Both print and digital formats are available.

Also, subscribe to our blog to get the latest updates throughout the week.

Travel Tradition: New Beaches

2009-01-08T11:59:00.003-06:00

For some reason, one of the few phrases from high school Spanish class that I remember is "vamos a la playa," which translates to "let's go to the beach." And that's where this week's Travel Tradition is taking us.

Growing up playing ice hockey in Chicago, I never thought of myself as much of a beach person. Yet, like many other things, that perception changed after our first trip to Maui. Maybe it has to do with the mystique of being on a small island in the middle of a giant ocean, but for whatever reason, I'm hooked now. Cindy, on the other hand, has always been a sun worshiper, so there's no twisting her arm to head out for a beach day.

New Beach Tradition

We have a beach tradition of looking for at least 3 new beaches to visit on each trip. Obviously, it was easy the first time, since everything was new to us. Nowadays, however, it takes a some effort, and a little bit more driving.

While our Beaches page lists the different stretches of sand that we've already been to on the Valley Isle, there are even more out there just waiting for us. We've been to beaches all across the island; West, South, and East. We've seen white sandy beaches, golden crescents, black and red sand beaches. All on this tiny little island. How sweet is that?

By this point in our travels, we've hit most of the well known spots, so it's time to discover some of the hidden gems. While we've been to beaches big and small, I'm not in the habit of comparing one beach against another and claiming one the very best. In our eyes, each beach has it's own offerings, and challenges, so that no two are really alike. Depending on what you like to do, or want to do on a given day, there's probably a beach for you.

Past Trips

Here's a quick recap of beaches we've visited on our different trips. There's usually no rhyme or reason for picking which beaches we want to see when making our plans, and it really comes down to deciding the day before, or the morning of one of our beach days.

Our First Beaches - June '06

Ka'anapali Beach
Waianapanapa State Park - Black Sand Beach

Beach Hopping, Part Two - September '07

D.T. Fleming Beach Park
Kahekili Beach - North side of Black Rock
Kapalua Beach

The Most Recent Trip - April '08

Koki Beach - Red Sand Beach
Kama'ole Beach Park I
Maluaka Beach
Big Beach - Makena State Park

What's Next?

As I mentioned, we haven't spent too much time selecting the beaches for our February trip, but a few ideas are out there. I'd like to, at some point, visit the other two Kama'ole Beach Parks, and go back up to Napili Bay. Then there's the overnight trip to Hana, which will give us more than enough time to stop at Hamoa beach, Hana Bay, and even some of the beaches near Paia as well. You can see where this is going.

Talk Story

By the looks of it, this doesn't seem to be a tradition that will be ending anytime soon. While it's hard for us to choose, but maybe you have a favorite beach that you wanted to mention? Are you a repeat Maui visitor that has similar beach going habits, or maybe you stick to a select few? Jump on in and talk story.

Mahalo.

The Travel Traditions Series here at the blog features our habits and rituals that we have for various aspects of our frequent trips to the island of Maui. Getting to know the island so well after all these years, having a few traditions adds a little continuity to our visits, while still giving us so much flexibility to enjoy many new things each trip.

To follow along with future editions of our Travel Traditions Series, be sure to subscribe to our blog feed to get the latest posts and updates.

The Aloha09 Project

This post is participating in the Aloha09 project, aimed at spreading the Aloha Spirit throughout the world. Read more about our participation and at the official website.

Weekly Website: Maui Beach Guide

2009-01-07T11:51:00.003-06:00

Welcome to another installment of our Weekly Website series.

We're heading to the beach with this week's website, which looks to be one of the most complete beach guides devoted solely to the island of Maui.

Maui Beach Guide

http://www.mauibeachguide.com

Maui Beach Guide aims to do one thing, and one thing well, beaches on Maui. We've been using their site for our last two trips, and it has come in handy for letting us know what to expect when we visit beaches for the first time.

Because of it's narrowed focus, the site itself isn't that large and doesn't change very often. In that respect, this review isn't going to seem that exhaustive, but trust us, this site is worth knowing about.

Features

The focus of Maui Beach Guide is to cover all the beaches on Maui, which seems like a large feat to undertake. Although their home page has a listing of close to 40 beaches, not all of them have information. For the bigger known beaches, however, you'll find quite a bit of info.

What can you expect to find when looking up a beach on the Maui Beach Guide? Well, let's take a look. The page for Kahekili Beach Park, the sister beach to Ka'anapali Beach, features:

An overview about the beach itself,
Other names that this beach is often referred to (which happens more than you'd think),
Hours of Operation,
Weather forecasts (albeit from 2 years ago),
Sunrise/sunset times (again, a little outdated),
Webcams, if available,
Directions and a map on where to go,
Facility information,
and details on nearby hotels, etc.

That's a lot of good information, even if some of the weather and sunset times are updated. Things like weather and sunset times you can find elsewhere, so those don't bother us that much.

I think it's a really great idea, and as mentioned previously, has helped us plan some of our beach hopping in the past. The webcams and photos have to be our favorites, and seeing the views online (with links to the main sites) are always fun to view. From that perspective, Maui Beach Guide seems to have really done their homework.

Talk Story

We welcome you to talk story if you have thoughts on this review or on Maui Beach Guide. If you have used this site before, or have ideas on how the site can be improved (besides being updated), feel free to share them here, too.

Stay tuned next week for another edition in our Weekly Websites series, and if you have a blog or site you'd like us to feature, read below.

Mahalo.

The Weekly Website Series here at our blog showcases various websites and blogs that we like to frequent, as well as recommend to others. There are so many Maui and Hawaii focused sites out there, it might seem a little intimidating at first. By featuring sites that we us ourselves and have found very helpful and engaging, we hope to introduce others to the very best out there.

To follow along with future editions of our Weekly Website Series, be sure to subscribe to our blog feed to get the latest posts and updates. We already have a bit of a queue, but if you haven't seen one of your favorites yet, you can contact us or send me a note on Twitter.

Favorite Maui Moments from 2008

2008-12-30T12:00:00.006-06:00

Usually about this time of year, people start reflecting back on everything that has happened in the last 12 months. Actually, they probably started doing that a week ago and I'm just a little behind. :)

Anyway, it's been a pretty good year for us, and with all this hype and excitement about our upcoming Maui trip in February, I thought I'd take a moment to relive some of our favorite memories of our trip in April, 2008. From the looks of the last post of our '08 Trip Journal, I think I meant to do this months ago. Oh well, better late than never.

Our Favorite Maui '08 Moments

So here's the list of our favorites from 2008. I thought about putting then in order, but that's too hard to decide. Honestly, they're all so memorable.

Meeting the Whales

We can't describe what an amazing experience it was to finally see the whales in Maui for the first time. We came into this trip knowing that April was the tail end (pardon the pun) of whale watching season, which I think made seeing quite a few still around that much more special.

Spending the morning whale watching on my birthday was pretty nice, but if I really had to choose, I'd have to say this view of the whales 3 days later was my favorite. Going back in February is going to be such a larger whale watching experience, these first encounters may seem pale in comparison. However, seeing the whales for the first time will always be special to us.

HAPA in Concert

Seeing one of our favorite Hawaiian music artists live in concert had to be one of our all-time favorite moments on Maui. The HAPA concert at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center on Maui in 2008 was such an amazing experience, and just like seeing the whales on our next trip, we're overjoyed to see HAPA again in February.

South Maui Beach Hopping

While the skies weren't cloudless the entire day, we had a blast beach hopping on South Maui during our second week. We make a point each trip to visit at least 3 new beaches, but not before this year did we decide to do it all in one day!!!

It felt like heaven for both Cindy and I, for different reasons. Cindy had yet another day in the sun, that is when she wasn't dodging the passing cloud cover. Me, well, I probably walked close to 3 miles of sandy beaches that day, including the aptly named Big Beach in Makena. In just one afternoon, I probably shot over 500 photos of all three beaches we visited, and had a blast doing it.

The Best Birthday Cake

Actually, it wasn't really a cake, it was much better. Having a nice slice of Hula Pie at Leilani's on my birthday was probably the best birthday celebration that I could have wished for. I mean, there was no candles to blow out, but when you're already on the beautiful island of Maui, do you really need to make a wish?

I think another part of my birthday celebration that made it extra special was the fact that I was sharing it with the two most important people in my life, my loving wife Cindy and my wonderful mom. Being able to take her along this trip and give her a first-hand look at why we love Maui as much as we do was very rewarding for us. She enjoyed it, too. :)

Our Return to Hana

It was nice to make it back to Hana this trip, and the tour we chose this time was so much better. Not only was lunch at the Hotel Hana Maui very nice, we had so much more time to spend seeing the sights and getting closer to everything than we did the first time.

Climbing down the rocks at Wailua Falls to get shots like this were fun, but I don't think much compared to my excitement shooting at the lava tubes Waianapanapa State Park this time. Actually going into the lava tubes was another thing we didn't do last time. I seriously felt like I was a kid again. After going in first with my digital camera (and taking photos like the one of the left), I literally ran up the rock stairs to where Cindy was using the video camera and ran all the way back down to shoot video of it, too. What a great time!

Honorable Mention

While the above are the big moments from this year's trip, there were a few smaller ones that we'll always remember, too. One of the two that come to mind right away are the little baby kittens that we saw near the walkway at our building at the Sheraton. They were four of the cutest little black cats that we've ever seen, and while we'd seen the mother cat on the property for years now, we didn't know she was starting a family. It became a ritual near the end of the trip to stop and look for them whenever we walked past.

What do cats at a Maui resort eat, you might be thinking? That sort of leads to the second quick moment I wanted to share. Beside from other guests leaving leftover mahi mahi and various scraps, I had a run-in with the mother cat of my own. A friend of mine had just become a grandfather while we were away on Maui, and I decided to call and congratulate him (he and his wife are Maui fans, too).

I was standing in the open air lobby on the 8th floor of the Sheraton (here's the view, by the way) talking to him on my cell phone, when out of the blue, I see the mother black cat racing up the palm tree not 10 feet away from me. Now, the palm trees outside this view aren't the giant palms that you see along the coast, but smaller ones planted alongside the cliff at Black Rock. In any case, not sure what the cat was doing, I kept an eye on her while talking on the phone.

Just a few moments later, the cat came back down the tree with, of all things, a green gecko in her mouth! Of all the times not to have my camera. Needless to say, I had a hard time keeping a straight face when replaying the story for Cindy. It was too funny.

Such Great Memories

While it isn't possible to say that one of our trips was the best out of all of them, our visit to Maui in '08 definitely created some of the most wonderful memories we've had. There were a few rough moments at the end when the thought of having to leave started to settle in, but that's expected on these trips that are so amazing.

Did you get a chance to visit Maui in '08? Tell us some of your favorite moments this year.

Sunday Photo: Footsteps in the Sand

2008-11-09T19:30:00.003-06:00

Footsteps in the Sand
Taken by Kris Nelson on April 22, 2008
Location: Maluaka Beach, South Maui
Buy This Photo

We're going back to Maluaka Beach this week with this simple little snapshot of footprints in the sand. As I mentioned last time, there weren't too many people enjoying this stretch of sand when we were there. That allowed me to set up this little shot of my footsteps in the sand just before they were washed out by the waves. Sure, there are beaches all over the world and there isn't necessarily anything "Maui" about this photo, but I and anyone else that have visited the beaches on Maui understand.

I actually stumbled onto this photo when looking for a new photo for my Facebook profile. A few other past Sunday Photos that have made it into the final round of consideration include the Grumpy Honu and, of course, a Maui Sunset. If you're on Facebook and want to talk story, be sure to look us up or send us a note. :)

Mahalo.

If you'd like to see more photos, you can check out our Sunday Photos category here at the blog, featuring a new photo every week. Our website also features daily photos on the Today's Photos page, and if you're Flickr fans like us, you can check out our Ka'anapali Dreamin' collection.

What to own or use any of our photos? Check out our new photo store, Maui Wall Candy, for purchase info and ideas on what you can do with them. Both print and digital formats are available.

Also, subscribe to our blog to get the latest updates throughout the week.

Sunday Photo: Big Beach

2008-11-02T11:06:00.003-06:00

Big Beach
Taken by Kris Nelson on April 22, 2008
Location: Big Beach in Makena State Park
Buy This Photo

There's always enough room on the golden sands of Big Beach in Makena State Park, located near almost the very end of South Maui. According to some guides, this beach is a whopping 2/3 mile long from end to end, and while I was taking photos, it took me a good 20 minutes to walk it just one way!

It truly is a lovely beach, especially if you're looking to get away from the crowds of the high-end resort areas or downtown Lahaina. No matter what you're looking to do, whether it's throwing around the frisbee, playing volleyball, body-boarding, you name it, you'll be able to enjoy it until your heart's content without worrying about tripping over someone else or getting in somebody's way.

Big Beach is kind of a drive if you're staying in Kapalua or Ka'anapali, so you should plan for spending a good part of your day in South Maui. Which isn't that big of a concern because you have Wailea and Kihei nearby, so your shopping and dining needs will be well met. There are also concerns and advisories about thefts and break-ins occurring in the different parking lots at Makena State Park, so it requires you to be a little bit smarter about what you're bringing with you and don't leave anything in the car that is valuable to you or someone else.

You can follow these tips from our friends at Go Visit Hawaii and you should be okay.

Mahalo.

If you'd like to see more photos, you can check out our Sunday Photos category here at the blog, featuring a new photo every week. Our website also features daily photos on the Today's Photos page, and if you're Flickr fans like us, you can check out our Ka'anapali Dreamin' collection.

What to own or use any of our photos? Check out our new photo store, Maui Wall Candy, for purchase info and ideas on what you can do with them. Both print and digital formats are available.

Also, subscribe to our blog to get the latest updates throughout the week.

Sunday Photo: Maluaka Beach

2008-10-26T22:55:00.004-05:00

Maluaka Beach
Originally uploaded by webnelly

Continuing on with our showcase of Maui beaches, we head further down South of Kihei to the northern part of Makena in a little secluded spot known as Maluaka Beach. Now, by secluded I mean it's not on a main roadway or across of tons of shops like Kama'ole or Ka'anapali. Nor is it nestled near large and glitzy resorts like Kapalua or Napili. Maluaka is a little off the normal route and calls the Maui Prince Hotel it's only large-scale neighbor.

You'll find this one in a few of the guide books and on a handful of websites that cover Maui beaches, but otherwise you don't normally hear many people talking about Maluaka Beach unless they've stayed at the Maui Prince Hotel. As mentioned, it's located in South Maui, but it's not that crowded when compared to Big Beach or the resorts in Wailea nearby. It still has a nice view of Molokini off in the distance, and Cindy and my mom caught a glimpse of a whale breach just off shore when we were there in April. I, unfortunately was off taking photos and missed it, but I give them the benefit of the doubt. They're good people. :)

You'll probably read elsewhere that this beach is one that is referred to as a "turtle town", something that attracts snorkelers and scuba divers which we did see in the hour or so that we stayed there. Being small and quiet, there were also a few families out in the water together, which is always fun to see.

If you're on your way to Wailea or Big Beach, try to squeeze in sometime to check out Maluaka Beach for yourself. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as we did.

Mahalo.

Sunday Photo: Kama'ole Beach I

2008-10-05T12:20:00.004-05:00

Kama'ole Beach I
Taken by Kris Nelson on April 22, 2008
Location: Kama'ole Beach I in Kihei
Buy This Photo

Who's up for a little beach hopping? I'm starting a beach theme for the next few Sundays and the first in that series is the above photo of Kama'ole Beach I taken this past April. Although it was a partly cloudy day for a good amount of the time we spent there that day, one of the things I like about this photo is the details in the water right at the bottom. I just love walking along the shoreline and snapping photos, but when you can look down and the water is so crystal clear as it washes over your feet, it's pretty neat.

Kama'ole Beach I was the first stop on our beach hopping day during our '08 Trip, and it was a great way to start the day. For us, coming from the Lahaina/Ka'anapali area, it is a little bit of a drive, so to get the most out of your trip down to South Maui, be sure to make a day out of it and plan to stay awhile. Kama'ole Beach I is actually the northern most of a series of 3 beaches that share the Kama'ole name. Beaches II and III each offer something a little different, and are more popular with the local residents than Beach I. Still, with a view of Molokini, parking nearby (that fills up fast), lifeguard, restrooms and showers and a mini mall across the street for a quick snack, you pretty much have everything you need for a day in the sun.

What I thought was neat about this particular beach in the chain of 3 was that there were a few hours along the north end right up against the sand, with only a small line of bushes separating them. The one below, for example, looks like it would be a blast to live in, having full sized windows and stunning views of the ocean. The sunsets alone will probably make you weep with joy. I can only imagine, though, that buying a house like that comes with a pretty hefty price tag. Oh well.

Mahalo.

If you'd like to see more photos, you can check out our Sunday Photos category here at the blog, featuring a new photo every week. Our website also features daily photos on the Today's Photos page, and if you're Flickr fans like us, you can check out our Ka'anapali Dreamin' collection.

What to own or use any of our photos? Check out our new photo store, Maui Wall Candy, for purchase info and ideas on what you can do with them. Both print and digital formats are available.

Also, subscribe to our blog to get the latest updates throughout the week.

New Maui Beaches Added

2008-05-26T16:59:00.004-05:00

This week's site updates feature new additions to our Beaches section, bringing the total of beaches we've been to and have covered to nine.

Our trip this year was the first time we headed down to the beaches down in South Maui, as we wrote about in our beach hopping post. We also added more details from the places we stopped at along the Road to Hana, including more coverage of the black sand beach at Waianapanapa State Park and our first encounter with the red sand variety, Koki Beach near Hana.

Each beach includes an overview and highlights, photos we've taken of each beach, a few links here and there, and aerial satellite views courtesy of Google Maps. We're always finding great new links and articles about these beaches, so we try to keep them current. We also have a few videos of some of these beaches that we hope to have added soon.

So check out the Beaches section and see if your favorite beach is listed. If it is, let us know about it and tell us why you love it. If you don't see your favorite, let us know!!! We're always looking for ideas and places to visit on our future trips.

Mahalo.

Sunday Photo: Ka'anapali Beach

2008-05-25T00:30:00.006-05:00

Ka'anapali Beach
Originally uploaded by webnelly

This is actually one of the first photos we took from our first trip to Maui back in 2006. It's still one of our favorites to this date. And if you think it looks familiar, it's the photo currently used in the header of our website and blog. :)

While the truth is there is really so much you can do on Ka'anapali Beach, this picture truly captures one of our favorite pastimes, just relaxing on the beach and enjoying a gorgeous day on Maui. That's the island of Lanai out in the distance, topped with the only clouds in the sky (aside from Molokai off to the right out of frame).

Sure, you could probably find days like this on other islands, back on the mainland, or even other parts of the world. For us, its just what we equate to being on Maui, and there's really nothing that can compare, nor is there really a compelling reason for us to look elsewhere for such magnificent beauty and magical memories of the happiest days of our lives.

Beach Hopping in South Maui

2008-04-23T01:57:00.003-05:00

Boy, today was quite a long day, so forgive me for not going in way too much detail right now. Bear in mind, though, that I will be adding each of these to our Beaches section in the coming weeks.

The day started off about 11am heading down to South Maui for the first time this trip. First on our list today was Kama'ole Beach Park I.

Kama'ole is actually made up of 3 different beach parks in Kihei, and we started off with the first one. Of the three beaches we visited today, the sun and clouds cooperated the most. It was a pretty nice beach, and there was plenty of room for us to spread out. The facilities were pretty nice, too, as there was showers, restrooms and a lifeguard. Parking was a little tight, though, luckily we pulled in just as someone was leaving.

After spending almost two hours here, we went on a little "adventure" (as we like to call it) and tracked down a little beach called Malu'aka Beach near Makena.

It was the smallest we stopped at on Tuesday, but it was still nice. I was able to walk around for a while, and just like Kapalua, there was a little walking trail at one end of the beach where I could go through a few rocks and take photos like the one above. The guidebook said there were are normally a lot of turtles in the area, and there seemed to be a small family with their snorkel gear trying to track them down.

Aside from the beach itself, Cindy and mom spotted a whale out in the distance with the help of a few folks nearby. They said they whale was active for a little bit and then breached, coming out of the water and making an audible splash when it hit the water. Unfortunately, I missed it and didn't even to think to bring the binoculars to get a better look.

The last stop on our beach tour of South Maui this year was Makena State Park, also known as Big Beach.

This is a very known beach in South Maui as was evident by the two parking lots full of cars and the largest crowd that we saw all day. Also, as the name implies, this was the biggest beach we stopped at all day. Big Beach is almost 2/3 mile long, and walking all the way to the end and back taking photos took quite a bit out of me. At this point, the sky was mostly overcast, so the heat didn't get to me as much and Cindy was a little disappointed from a tanning perspective. It was still quite a sight, though, and with so much room and big waves, it's no wonder that it's a popular spot for people doing everything from boogie boarding, playing frisbee and hitting around the volleyball. Aside from the drive all the way from Ka'anapali, it was a great spot.

Three beaches in one day, so much for R&R. :)

Sunday Photo: Black Sand Beach

2008-02-17T11:31:00.003-06:00

Black Sand Beach from Above
Originally uploaded by webnelly

As a reminder of, and almost a tribute to, how the magical islands of Hawaii were created, the black sand beaches found on her islands are made up of harden lava that has entered the ocean and has been eroded over hundreds and thousands of years into tiny grains of sand.

This black sand beach is from Wai'anapanapa State Park, which can be found along the Road to Hana. It is also accompanied by a series of caves along the shore of the beach, which as legend has it, was where the Hawaiian Princess Popoalaea would come to hide. She was hiding from her cruel husband, Chief Kakae, who eventually discovered her hiding spot and took her life. As a result, there are certain times of the year where the water here turns an eerie red color due to tiny red shrimp that wash up towards the beach. The red water is said to symbolize the blood of Princess Popoalaea.

The beach itself is rather amazing. While we were only there for about 15 minutes as part of a guided tour, I remember the look and the feel of the sand to be almost like a regular beach (maybe a little coarser), with footprints being washed away by the waves and the usual. There was just some part of my mind that still had a hard time grasping that this was actually a beach, and the sand was black. We'd seen pictures and read about it, but now that we were standing there, it seemed surreal.

Be sure to check it out if you haven't yet seen one. And if you've been, let us know your thoughts.

Sunday Photo: Waves at the Beach

2008-02-10T18:18:00.003-06:00

Waves at the Beach
Originally uploaded by webnelly

Interesting enough, not as crowded and popular as Kapalua Beach is, just a litte further north on Hwy 30 you'll find the D.T. Fleming Beach Park. You might miss the turn if you're not looking for it (we did), but once you find it, you have practically the entire beach to yourself.

The first thing we noticed when we went was that it was rather windy. I'm not entirely sure if it was because it was slightly overcast or if that's just the normal for this area. In any case, it's a nice stretch of sand and great for enjoying the sun (like my wife) and just walking along the shore taking photos (like me). We're not sure if this beach is actually larger than Kapalua or just felt that way because there was hardly anyone there. It was still nice and quiet and offered some great time to relax.

Check out more photos from D.T. Fleming Beach Park in our Flickr set.

Mahalo.

Sunday Photo: View Behind Black Rock

2008-01-27T13:07:00.001-06:00

Behind Black Rock
Originally uploaded by webnelly

Most people that frequent the Ka'anapali area can recognize Black Rock from the beach, looking North from Whalers Village, or even from an aerial photo (bottom of page). Put in this photo, we actually are looking East towards Black Rock from a Pacific Whale Foundation sunset cruise. We hadn't been able to get this close to the beach from the water up until last year, and had the opportunity to snap a few photos from this view. We didn't, however, get to see the cliff dive ceremony from the cruise, which would have been neat to see.

Sunday Photo: Kapalua Beach

2008-01-13T12:30:00.001-06:00

Kapalua Beach
Originally uploaded by webnelly

Kapalua Beach is a lovely beach in West Maui just north of Ka'anapali. It is a crescent beach that is isolated by two rock piers jetting out into the ocean on both sides. You can find an aerial view of the beach (courtesy of Google Maps) from our page here. When viewing that aerial image, this photo was taken from the North lawn area looking South towards the beach and water. When you're on the beach itself, this grassy area doesn't seem to be very accessible because of the construction of the Kapalua Bay resorts going on nearby, but after I saw a few workers taking their lunch break sitting out there (how nice is that) I decided to grab my cameras (photo and video) and went for a walk.

You can find more of our Kapalua Beach photos at our site here or in our Flickr set. You can also check out our Kapalua Beach videos on YouTube.

Sunday Photo: Ka'anapali at Night

2008-01-06T11:59:00.001-06:00

Ka'anapali at Night
Originally uploaded by webnelly

One of our favorite things to do (almost nightly) after having dinner or just making a trip to Whalers at night is to walk back to the Sheraton along the beach rather than on the walkway. After many walks, I decided I wanted to capture the view of Ka'anapali at night, so I grabbed my tripod and setup a few shots like this one. Between the stars above, the reflections in the water and the soft glow from the lights, it almost seems surreal.

As a point of reference as to the location, I took this right on the sands of Ka'anapali Beach, near the base of Black Rock at the Sheraton, looking south towards the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel, The Whaler, and Whalers Village.

Monk Seal visits Ka'anapali Beach

2008-01-04T23:48:00.000-06:00

Thought this was a cute story and wanted to share. It was reported by the Maui News website, which you can read here, Monk seal digs the sand at Kaanapali Beach.

I guess it's just not human visitors that are drawn to the beauty of the sandy beaches of Kaanapali, but some of the local animals as well. When you put it together, you've got whales that return every winter all the way from Alaska, monk seals that like to set up out front of Whalers Village, and sea turtles that swim all the way up to the shores where snorkelers can swim side-by-side with them.

It's just more proof that Maui is the place where everyone wants to be. :)

Google Maps - Function and Art

2007-12-02T22:40:00.000-06:00

I've added a few more Google Maps to the site, in both the Beaches and Restaurants sections. Each of these additions utilize Google Maps in different ways, for both art and functionality, respectively.

Beaches
As mentioned awhile back, Google Maps was recently updated with new satellite imagery in the Ka'anapali area and in other parts of West Maui. Looking for ways to share this new aerial beauty relatively easily, I was inspired to use this new imagery as a different art form to showcase some of the beauty of Maui's beaches.

What you're find on the various beach pages, such as Ka'anapali Beach here, is a full bird's eye view of each beach zoomed in to the best range to fit the page layout. From here, you can see from up above what Maui visitors see from the sandy shores, and gain a better appreciation for the true beauty of these popular spots.

Restaurants
For the restaurant side of things, I was also inspired to add a little functionality with Google Maps. This particular inspiration came from a local portal site near home that I stumbled across while searching for a Chinese restaurant (I can't remember the particular site at the moment). Among all the basics, it featured a little map inlet that showed about a 2-3 block radius of where the restaurant was located. I thought it'd be easy for the Maui restaurants featured here.

So that's what I did, and actually took it a step further by adding two map inlets. The first follows the original idea, having a 2-3 block radius around the restaurant location, just to get your bearings. The second map is more of an island-level view to get a better idea of what part of Maui the restaurant is located.

To get a better idea of what it looks like, check out the Cheeseburger in Paradise page in the restaurants section, which happens to be the first restaurant we stop at for dinner when we visit Maui.

New Google Maps Satellite Imagery for Ka'anapali

2007-10-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

When I started this website about three months ago, I was very interested (and still am) in adding aerial views of various parts of Maui using Google Maps, but was a little turned off by the quality of the satellite imagery in some of my favorite parts. You see, I use Flickr for all my photos and was using their geotagging feature to put those photos on their maps, which had much nicer looking satellite views.

But rejoice, because today I noticed that Google has updated some of their imagery and it's looking much better than it was before. Here's a shot of Ka'anapali Beach near the Sheraton.

View Larger Map

There are still a few places like Hana that look very poor, but we can only assume that Google is getting to that, too.

Galaxies and Stars above Ka'anapali Beach

2007-10-19T20:19:00.002-05:00

Galaxies and Stars above Ka'anapali Beach
Originally uploaded by webnelly

This is one of my favorite photos we took from our last trip to Maui.

We lucked out and had a moonless, cloudless night and I grabbed my tripod, Cindy grabbed the beach towels, and we setup right on Ka'anapali Beach next to Black Rock (on the right) and spent about an hour under the stars. It was a wonderful time that night. I had the tripod buried in the sand, set it to a 30 second exposure, and would start the photo. While the shutter was closed, I'd run back to the beach towel and sit with my wife looking skyward in awe of what we were seeing.

Since we always stay at the Sheraton when in Maui, we have gotten used to enjoying many lovely nights walking along Ka'anapali Beach. With this photo and the others we took that night, it takes us right back to those nighttime strolls along the water as if we were there yesterday.