After a full day of travel we were finally starting our first full day of Maui adventure (today is Friday June 3, 2022). Our AirB&B is located in Kihei (2965 S Kihei Rd). We decided to stay in Kihei due to its central location (close to East and West Maui) and its dryer climate.
We would start our day in Kihei Caffe, then head to Iao Valley State Monument for a short hike. After visiting the Monument, we would head to old town Lahaina for some Shave Ice then end our day at a 4:30 pm dinner reservation at Leilani's at Kaanapali.
We took Grandma's ability into consideration so all the hikes and explorations were planned with moderate walking distance in mind.
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| Woke up to this view of the West Maui Mountain |
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| Living like a local for a week |
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| Ready to start the day |
Kihei Caffe
We got there shortly before 8:30 am and there was already a 25 minute wait. I waited in line while rest of the party went next door to get some coffee. The vibe of the restaurant was extremely chill. Chickens were running around in the parking lot. We ordered the loco moco, pork fried rice and eggs, breakfast slam, pancakes, and the cinnamon roll. The flavor of the crushed macadamia nuts on the pancakes really helped us acclimatize to the island air.
After the big meal, we took a walk at Kalama Park across the street to take in the view before heading to Iao Valley.
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| Made it to Kihei Caffe, a much needed meal after a traveling day |
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| MM picking up the giant cinnamon roll |
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| GG is satisfied with the quantity of food ordered |
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| Off to a good start with the brunch |
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| After the big breakfast, we took a walk to Kalama Park just across the street to take in the view |
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| View of the west Maui mountain and surfers catching breaks |
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| GG seeing a ribbon in the sky |
Iao Valley State Monument
The Iao Valley State Monument is located in the Valley between the west Maui mountain and the east Maui mountain. The drive from Kihei would take about 30 minutes and we would pass the historic town of Wailuku. Overall, the drive from Kihei to Iao Valley was scenic and pleasant with gradual change of scenery from beach to cloud covered valley.
This state park has a distinct different microclimate than Kihei. It sees significantly more rainfall and light rain peppered us during the entire visit.
Our goal was to complete the 0.4 mile Iao Valley Lookout Trail which would take us from the parking lot to the Iao Valley Needle view point. This was a nice walk and Grandma did just fine.
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| Learning a bit about the Iao Valley State Monument at the trail head |
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| Short trail but big reward |
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| A spiritual place for the Hawaiians |
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| Crossing the footbridge before the short ascent to the view point |
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| Looking back at the Valley |
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| Before we know it, we were at the view point, one of the most photographed places in Maui |
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| Selfie at the Hut by the view point |
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| Taro roots offering at the Hawaiian Garden |
After we completed the walk which was about 11:00 am, we headed to Lahaina in search of Shave Ice on the much dryer side of west Maui.
Lahaina
The drive from Iao Valley to Lahaina took us close to an hour. After leaving the town of Wailuku, we drove on Highway 30 all the way to Lahaina. The climate started to go from wet to dry. We passed by the big wind turbines at the southern tip of the west Maui mountain and winded our way through the freeway to Lahaina. We saw many beaches along the drive and too bad we could not hit them all.
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| Front Street at Old Town Lahaina |
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| Target located |
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| A serious commitment to quality |
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| Checking out the swag shop while waiting for the shave ice |
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| Got our shave ice after about a 20 minute wait in line |
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| MM approves |
After accomplishing the very important daily task of getting shave ice, we shopped around Front Street for a bit and made it back to the Banyan Tree area where we parked.
Our next stop was the 4:30 pm dinner reservation at Leilani's at Kaanapali.
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| Old Town Lahaina, we would be back here in a few days |
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| The Baldwin Home Museum by Front Street |
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| Saying hello to the old Banyan Tree |
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| The Wo Hing Museum & CookHouse, its root can be traced to 19th century Chinese immigrants to the Island |
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| Poke at the nearby Foodland |
Leilani's and Kaanapali
After visiting Front Street in Old Town Lahaina, we headed to Kaanapali area for our 4:30 pm dinner reservation at Leilani's. Leilani's is located at the Whalers Village Shopping Mall and right by the Kaanapali Beach. We did some more window and some actual shopping at Whalers Village and headed for our dinner reservation shortly before 4:30 pm.
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