Hawaii - Part 2

As Covid shut down the world in March 2020, our Hawaii trip was cut short. Due to timing (and a little luck), we got a chance to go back to Hawaii in 2021 for a do-over! This is Hawaii Part 2.

Traveling to Hawaii in 2021 was much different than in 2020. We had to take Covid tests to get into Hawaii, test to travel within the islands, and test to get back home. With 4 adults and 6 kids who had been remote learning and working for most of the year, we were so excited to go back and explore the Big Island and Maui.

Maui

We started the trip in Maui at the Fairmont Kea Lani resort in Wailea. Since Hawaii was difficult to get to, flights and lodging were way more reasonable than was typical for March. The resort is beautiful and has a great pool for kids with a slide and zero depth access for little ones. The road to Hana was flooded, so we were unable to experience it while we were there.

Haleakala Sunrise Bike Tour: A guided tour picked us up at the hotel at 2am and drove us to the summit of Haleakala for the sunrise, and then the bike ride started just outside of the National Park at 6500 ft elevation for a 26 mile ride back to sea level. The tour provided bicycles, helmets, gloves, and jackets (it's cold up there!). Link to bike tour

Our resort had amazing restaurant, KO, that we loved. We also went to Monkeypod Kitchen which was a fun, casual restaurant in Wailea. We visited Kaanapali for the day and spent time jumping off Black Rock (on the north end of the beach). Kids loved it and there was a Mai Tai bar at the Kaanapali resort right on the beach.

Big Island We flew to the Big Island for the second part of our trip (after Covid testing on Maui) and stayed on the Auberge property in a rental home. There was a black sand beach about a mile from our house, so we snorkeled there each day (49 Black Sand beach). One day we drove into Waipi'o Valley - it was an adventure to say the least! We saw wild horses, waterfalls, drove through a river (!) and spent most of the day stopping at different lookouts and beaches.

One of the coolest things we have ever done was the Manta Ray nighttime snorkeling. We got on a boat at sunset to head to the feeding spot and gear up in wetsuits, masks, etc. We held onto surfboards outfitted with huge flashlights facing down into the water, and waited for the manta rays to arrive. They are HUGE. They would swim almost to the surface while we watched them approach from underneath us. Some divers were at the bottom holding flashlights facing up, so the water was illuminated from the top and the bottom. The manta rays swam right up to us as they were feeding, and seemed to not care that there were 40 of us in the water. It was the most incredible experience we've ever had. The company we used was called Manta Ray Dives of Hawaii We highly recommend this when you're on the Big Island!

Our favorite restaurants on the Big Island were Brown's Beach House, Merriman's, and Canoe House.