West Maui

Our stay at the Westin Villas in Ka'anapali has been fabulous. The resort is beautiful and a great place to stay. The resort is situated right on Kahekili Beach - a perfect beach for frolicking in the water and snorkeling. There are tons of fish to be seen here and at least one resident turtle. We spent quite a bit of time here at different times of the day. The morning snorkeling seemed to have the most fish, but don't get me wrong there are lots of fish at all times of the day.

The resort has a go green option which allows you to cancel daily cleaning service and they give you a voucher for the breakfast buffet instead. We opted to go green and took advantage of the yummy breakfast buffet twice. The other mornings, we enjoyed "home" made breakfasts in our room. With the full sized kitchen, it was easy to go shopping and not worry about food spoiling.

Another great snorkeling spot was at the Sheraton Maui and Pu'u Keka'a (Black Rock). The beach was very nice and sandy. The current was a little stronger, but the water was extremely clear. There are tons of fish around Black Rock and again I got to see a turtle.

We also drove up north to Honolua Bay, another good snorkeling spot. To access the beach here, you have a short walk along a lush tropical pathway with "wild" chickens running around everywhere. The beach here is rocky and can be rather slippery when wet, but it's a nice spot. I recommend water shoes here to help with the rocky bottom at the water's edge. The day we were there, visibility was not at its prime in some areas, but it's still a great spot to head to.

Afterwards we continued north to Nakalele Point and blowhole. This is the northern most point of Maui. The views from here are incredible. The blowhole can spout water over 100 feet in the air. On our way back, we stopped in at a relatively secluded beach near the Ritz-Carlton Hotel called Oneloa Bay. There were maybe ten other people at this beach while we were there. A great little find.