The Ohrns

Maui, April 2025

Angela and I recently returned from a trip to the island of Maui in Hawaii. We hiked, snorkeled, watched a beautiful sunrise, and spent time exploring the unique natural landscape.

This was our first time on Maui and, while we enjoyed our time on the island, we didn’t feel like it lived up to its reputation. While undoubtedly beautiful, we greatly preferred our trips to Kauai and the Big Island.

Bookings

We have wanted to visit Maui for some time. When Alaska Airlines made Hawaiian Airlines flights bookable via their award program, I figured it was time to make the trip a reality. I was pleasantly surprised to find several days with saver level award availability in business class on the direct flight from Las Vegas to Maui and, knowing that the seats wouldn’t last long, I booked nine nights with the intention of figuring out an itinerary later.

Flights

  • Angela and Nicholas
    • 80,000 Alaska Airlines MileagePlan miles + 11.20USD per person
      • LAS-OGG on HA J
      • OGG-LAS on HA J

Hotels

Transportation

  • One economy car for nine days from Avis for 531.54USD

Activities

April 20, 2025

We had an early morning flight and left the house around 0500 to reach the airport and clear security in time for boarding. Luckily, we had a few moments to stop in the Capital One Lounge prior to our flight. There, I ordered a delicious cappuccino and we each enjoyed a few small dishes before heading to our gate. Before leaving the lounge, I made sure to grab a couple of pieces of zucchini bread in case we got hungry in the air.

Our flight boarded forty minutes before departure and the cabin crew was warm and friendly throughout our flight. The cabin was comfortable and seats in business class were spacious. We enjoyed a glass of Passion-Orange-Guava juice before takeoff, had a relatively tasty in-flight meal, and delicious coffee. WiFi on our flight was fast and free, a nice change from other domestic carriers.

After landing, we walked to Avis where we secured our rental for our time on Maui. I opted for an economy car (Chevy Spark) for this trip because we’ve found that the right car is generally the smallest one that you can fit all your belongings in. Unlike most of our trips, I handled the driving on this one.

Our first stop was the Ho’okipa Beach View Lookout where we parked and scrambled around on some rocks to take some awesome shots of the ocean and coastline.

Afterwards, we drove a mile to Mama’s Fish House, a Maui institution. To start, we each ordered a mocktail (the Blue Bee for me and the Guava Fizz Soda for Angela) and shared the diver caught octopus as an appetizer. For our entrees, Angela opted for the Hawaiian Kanpachi while I chose the Antarctic Toothfish. Everything we ordered was delicious, although the portions were relatively small for the price we paid, in my opinion.

Our next stop was the ʻĪao Valley State Monument. We made a reservation for the park, but there was no check for reservations when we arrived and the parking lot was relatively full. I’m not sure what percentage of people present had made a prior reservation, but it still seems like a good idea to do so in order to support the Hawaii State Parks system.

The trail to the viewpoint was much shorter than we were led to believe – it took us about five minutes to reach the top when all the signage indicates a much longer walk. We enjoyed the vistas before exploring the rest of the small park.

I received a notification that our room was ready, so we headed to the hotel after leaving the park. Our check-in experience was friendly and welcoming, we were provided with wristbands that acted as our keys for our stay, and we headed to our room. As you might expect, the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort is exactly what it sounds like: a mega-resort catering to families firmly in the middle of the luxury scale for Western hotel brands. It is extremely family friendly with a bevy of amenities that children will go wild for. For us, the most important parts were the comfortable bed, varied evening spreads at the Club Lounge, and nicely appointed fitness room.

After a bit of relaxing, we headed to the lounge for some light bites. Every night of our stay featured a decent spread, including different salads and proteins. If you’re looking to save some money, which we were, it is reasonable to eat a large lunch and go to the lounge for dinner. Before we returned to our room to get some rest, we stopped at the gym to see what we’d be working with, finding a large collection of free weights, weight machines, and cardio equipment.

April 21

After a quick workout, we headed to the Club Lounge for a filling breakfast featuring hard-boiled eggs, chia pudding, and sausages. The eggs were prepared in-house, which is a nice change from the pre-packaged boiled eggs that many lounges offer.

We headed out to do some hiking. On the way, we stopped at the Coffee Store Napili. I ordered the Mainline Mocha, featuring sweetened condensed milk, and Angela chose the Coconut Mocha. We also picked up a couple of muffins for later in the day. The coffees were delicious and the muffins ended up being equally scrumptious when we got around to eating them.

Our plan for the day was to drive to the furthest hike we’d be doing and then make our way back to the hotel. As such, we drove to the ʻŌhai Trail Loop and walked it anti-clockwise. The scenery was quite beautiful and the weather was perfect.

After finishing that short hike, we drove to the Nakalele Blowhole to observe the awesome interaction between the waves and the shoreline. There are a few signs warning of the dangers. We watched the blowhole do its thing for a bit before continuing our hike and exploring the Acid Warzone Trail.

With the blowhole exploration complete, we stopped for a brief photo opportunity at Lipoa Ridge.

Angela directed me to free parking by the Dragon’s Teeth Access Trail near the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. From there, we explored the small outcropping featuring the aforementioned teeth before walking the Kapalua Coastal Trail. In fact, we walked past the end of the trail to check out Napili Bay and Honokeana Bay. At the latter, we saw our first turtle of the trip.

After returning to the car, we made our way to Whaler’s Village where we stopped at Maui Poke for a late lunch. While not cheap, the fish and toppings were both high-quality and delicious. I would definitely recommend a stop here if you’re in the mood for some poke.

We returned to the hotel to chill for a little bit, enjoying some time on our balcony before heading down to bob around in the ocean.

Afterwards, we headed back to the lounge for dinner snacks before returning to our balcony and enjoying the muffins we purchased earlier in the day.

April 22

After another good gym session and tasty breakfast, we headed to Honolua Bay to snorkel. The path to the beach features several handwritten signs requesting people stay on the trail. The beach adjoining the bay is very rocky with a bunch of uneven footing. However, the ability to swim out to some prime snorkeling spots from the shore makes the bay worth the visit. We saw a large number of fish and some uniquely colored corral.

When we departed, we unfortunately had a run-in with a squatter living in an encampment along the beach. He yelled at me for five minutes as we walked up to our car and, while there was no lasting harm, it definitely dampened our spirits a bit.

After leaving Honolua Bay, we briefly stopped at Slaughterhouse Beach. We considered snorkeling here, but the surf was rough and we decided to chill on the beach for a few minutes before continuing on our way.

We returned to the hotel and, after dropping some stuff off in our room, took a walk down Kāʻanapali Beach. At the end, we did some snorkeling near Black Rock Beach and then spent some time watching the people brave enough to jump from the surrounding cliffs. After snorkeling for a bit, we stood in the ocean near the shore and were lucky enough to have a huge sea turtle pass within two feet of us.

It was at this point that I sincerely regretted not being better with my sunscreen application on our first day in Hawaii.

We decided to return to Maui Poke which, conveniently, was located on our walk back to our hotel. On the way there, we got to see a sea turtle sleeping on the beach. What a sight!

After dinner, we relaxed on our balcony until dinner started in the lounge. We grabbed a few snacks before returning to our room to rest.

April 23

At breakfast, I was surrounded by birds like some type of Disney princess.

We packed up and started on our way to Hana. Our first stop was Luxe Latte where we procured some absolutely delicious drinks.

Afterwards, we stopped at Target to pick up some sunscreen and then made a detour to the Costco gas station to fill up. Finally, we were ready for the famous Road to Hana. Our first stop was the Waikamoi Nature Trail. To be honest, the hike was a little underwhelming. We even made sure to explore every branch available to us, going so far past the picnic area that the trail closed up with crisscrossing bamboo. It is my understanding that there used to be access via this trail to a waterfall, but that no longer exists.

Next, we stopped at the Garden of Eden Arboretum. This small park advertises a Jurassic Park filming location as one of its main selling points. Little did we know, that the advertisement was only indicating you could see the filming location off in the distance from within the park. Neither Angela nor I would recommend a stop here, especially given how expensive it is.

We stopped briefly at the Kaumahina State Wayside Park. This small turnoff features a few picnic tables and great views of the coast.

I almost missed our next stop, the Ke’anae Arboretum. The sign indicating the location is concealed behind vegetation and there is a very small parking lot. Luckily, I was able to reverse course so we could explore the small garden. We stopped specifically to see the rainbow eucalyptus trees which were quite beautiful.

Next, we made a very important stop, parking at Waialohe Park and walking to Aunty Sandy’s Banana Bread. We embraced our Ohrn-ness and ate an entire loaf as we walked to the next viewpoint, Keanae Park.

We stopped at the Wailua Valley State Wayside and took a picture of the inland valley.

Our attempted stop at Pua’a Ka’a Falls was thwarted as the entire area was blocked off by caution tape. As such, we continued on to Coconut Glen’s for some ice cream. Angela and I split scoops of Original Coconut and Macadamia-Honey. I didn’t love the dessert, but Angela really liked it.

Our last stop before our hotel was the Hana Lava Tube. This was, by far, our favorite stop along the way. The cave is very interesting with informative (and sometimes funny) signage.

 

Shortly after leaving the cave, we arrived at the Hana Maui Resort. I used a Suite Upgrade Award to book us into a bungalow and we were further upgraded to an ocean view room. We loved our time at this property – it was comfortable, peaceful, and quiet.

After unpacking and relaxing for a bit, we walked to one of the two food truck locations nearby the hotel. For dinner, we chose to have a couple of poke bowls from Poke Bobs. The bowls were full of flavor and the fish was extremely fresh with an excellent texture.

To finish the day, we spent some time sitting near the coast as the sun set.

April 24

In the morning, Angela and I spent a few minutes relaxing on the patio as the sun rose. We were joined by a cat who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

 

I headed to the gym to run on the best treadmill I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. If you ever see a Woodway treadmill, be sure to use it.

Angela met me when I was done and we headed to breakfast. The dishes on offer were good and portions were generous, but my steak was overcooked both times I ordered it. Service was a little slow, so if you’re planning on an early start, make sure you get to the restaurant when it opens.

We drove to the Kipahulu Visitor Center at Haleakalā National Park and did two hikes. The first was the Pipiwai Trail which features two beautiful waterfalls (Makahiku Falls and Waimoku Falls), a bamboo forest, and a huge banyan tree.

The second was the Ohe’o Gulch Hike featuring the Seven Sacred Pools. This was a much shorter coastal hike featuring some unreal scenery. Unfortunately, the paths down to the water have recently been blocked off for safety reasons.

On the way back to the resort, we stopped at Koki Beach Park, a red sand beach. It was quite beautiful and striking.

On our return to Hana, we walked to the Hana Store, established in 1830. This is the one-stop shop for anything you need in Hana (and one of only two options, realistically). We picked up some light snacks.

For dinner, we walked to a different food truck park than the night before and visited Da Fish Shack. I ordered a poke bowl while Angela opted for steamed fish. She loved her dish, but I didn’t care for mine. The fish had an odd texture and wasn’t very flavorful.

We returned to our room. The power was off, but it didn’t really matter to us as we spent the rest of the evening relaxing on our balcony while listening to the waves.

April 25

After breakfast, we stopped to peruse some of the artifacts on exhibit at the hotel. One of the most interesting was a dog teeth anklet made entirely of canines from the (now extinct) native dog.

 

We then walked to Hana Bay Beach, a short distance from the hotel. It features a large statue of Queen Ka’ahumanu.

After leaving the beach, we walked in the direction of the hotel and eventually made our way towards the Kaihalulu Red Sand Beach. Access is via a cliffside trail.

Upon returning to the hotel, we departed for Wai’anapanapa State Park. There is actually someone checking reservations at the entry to this park, so make sure you get one. At the park, we walked along the Piliani Trail. First, we headed southeast to Paina. There was almost no one else on this trail after the boardwalked area and we really enjoyed ourselves.

We then walked northwest to Pukaulua Point. While there were lots of people at the beach along the trail, few of them seemed to continue on past that point even though the hiking was very good.

We left the park and stopped at Hana Farms for lunch. We ordered a Hawaiian Caesar salad and a Pine Kine pizza feature pancetta, pineapple, and cilantro pesto. Both dishes were excellent and Angela enjoyed her first ever experience with pineapple on pizza.

When we returned to the hotel, we spent the afternoon doing laundry, playing cornhole, and relaxing.

April 26

For my last breakfast, I ordered the absolutely delicious Hawaiian Toast. I recommend this dish as an alternative to overcooked steak and eggs.

We spent a few minutes on our patio before we had to leave, admiring the views and enjoying the sounds of the ocean.

On the drive back to the west side of Maui, we stopped once at an overlook for some pictures.

Before heading to our hotel, we stopped at Maui Coffee Roasters where I had a delicious flat white and Angela enjoyed a rose Thai coffee. We also split a delicious banana-nut muffin.

We stopped at Costco for fuel and then proceeded to a food truck lot across the street for a late lunch. We picked up poke bowls from Havens. They were very tasty and this might have been my favorite dish from our entire trip.

Our plan for the following day was to do a long hike adjacent to the summit at Haleakalā National Park. As such, we stopped at 808 Deli and picked up some sandwiches to bring with us. I ordered a cold Reuben and Angela opted for the chicken pesto sandwich.

I received a notification that our room was ready and we proceeded to the Andaz Maui Resort. While this property was another huge resort, it felt more upscale than the Hyatt Regency we’d stayed at earlier in the trip. Check-in was friendly and our room was nice with an ocean view.

After settling in, we went for a walk along the beach past the Grand Wailea Hotel. The coast is quite beautiful and plays host to a fair number of very nice properties.

When we returned to our room, we found ourselves staring at a very unfortunate forecast for the following day. While sunrise at Haleakalā Summit was slated to be clear, there was a 90% chance of thunderstorms appearing right as we were scheduled to be in the middle of our hike. With our safety and well-being in mind, we decided to cancel our hiking plans. The one benefit of this is that I got to eat my previously procured sandwich for dinner as we enjoyed the sunset.

April 27

We woke up at 0200 and departed the hotel around 0245 for the drive to Haleakalā Summit.

The drive was easy as the roads up to the summit are wide and well marked. The scariest part was probably passing ten police cars sitting on a mile stretch of road featuring a twenty mile-per-hour speed limit and then being tailgated by an unmarked police officer to try to force me to speed. I didn’t fall into that trap, though!

Our names were checked against the reservation list when we reached the park entrance and we reached the Red Hill parking lot at 0425. After eating a snack, we got out of the car and secured an amazing spot to watch the sun rise. While we were waiting for the first hints of daylight, I took some photos of the beautiful night sky. We had a view of the stars that I’ve never seen before.

Before long, the sun started making its way over the horizon. We shivered from the cold as we enjoyed the wondrous sight.

We particularly enjoyed the chant that a park ranger performed as the sun rose.

On our way down the summit, we stopped at the Kalahaku Overlook which features a very pretty view over the crater floor.

We skipped the rest of the lookouts and headed back to the hotel to have breakfast. We both enjoyed the breakfast offering at the Andaz. The spread was delicious and varied, although they could use a better selection of fresh breads.

After slathering ourselves in sunscreen, we spent three hours relaxing by the pool. One of my favorite parts was when they handed out free ice cream treats.

We showered and headed to the well-equipped gym. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Andaz had dumbbells up to one-hundred pounds. After the gym, we walked to Aloha Prime Eatery for yet another poke bowl. The one-way distance was 3.2 miles, so we effectively walked a 10k round-trip for dinner. The fish was tasty but the dish was a little overpriced for the portion size, in my opinion.

After all that walking in the heat and a very early morning, we were more than ready to turn in when we made it back to the hotel.

April 28

Our final full day on Maui started with another early morning. We slept in until 0500 and were picked up by Kai Kanani for our snorkel tour at 0540. After picking up two other couples on the way, we arrived at a beach from which our boat would launch. From there, we enjoyed a snorkel tour that stopped at Molokini Crater and Turtle Town with some food and drinks during our time motoring.

We spent about 45 minutes at each spot and were treated to the best snorkeling we’ve personally done outside of Fiji. Turtle Town was a particular highlight for me. I loved being so close to so many of the exceptional sea creatures. I also loved that both of us got to jump off the boat into the water.

We returned to the hotel in time for breakfast. Angela and I headed to the gym after I did some brief client work. After working out, we drove to public beach parking along the coast and then walked to Lava Java for decent, but not great, coffee.

Our time at the coffee shop was marred by some weird dude butting into our conversation and me being unable to figure out how to separate us from the situation. Eventually we departed and headed back to 808 Deli for dinner. We split a hot Reuben sandwich and pasta salad before having one of the best desserts we’ve ever enjoyed, the shop’s world-famous lilikoi pudding.

We walked back to our car and returned to the hotel to read on the balcony and enjoy the last sunset of our trip.

April 29

After breakfast, we drove to Maui Coffee Roasters to grab a pair of delicious drinks before stopping at Costco to fill our tank. From there, it was a short drive to the airport to return our rental car.

After clearing security, we stopped briefly at the Hawaiian Airlines lounge. It was lackluster, even by domestic US lounge standards. We headed to the gate, boarded, and headed home. The flight wasn’t exactly peaceful, but the service was good and the food was decent. An extremely long six hours later, we were back in Las Vegas.

We enjoyed our time on Maui, but there’s nothing pulling us back. In the future, we will likely return to another one of the Hawaiian Islands but, with so much of the world left to explore, it may be a while before that happens.

Even with our reserved feelings about the destination, though, Angela and I had another wonderful trip. We made memories that we’ll always treasure and got to enjoy our time together free of any real responsibilities.

Nicholas Ohrn

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