Aloha! While it's fresh in my mind, I've got to tell you about our trip to Maui. WOW. I'm moving. Seriously. I've never been somewhere so alive and wonderful feeling in all my life.

We started our vacation by grabbing an amazing rental. I booked through airbnb but I'll direct you here through the main website. We stayed at the Maui Eco Retreat in the Bamboo Temple, near Haiku, and it was fantastic if you're looking for an authentic Maui stay. If you want a resort, this isn't for you. It's comfortable and private and that's what we wanted, so it was great for us! The retreat is just that, a retreat. If you need to getaway and unplug this will do the trick. They offer yoga, meditation space, and more to help you unwind. We didn't take advantage of the offerings on the retreat grounds as we wanted to explore the island and use the bamboo temple as only a resting place away from the hustle and bustle of the day, but the options are there if you want them. We did hike the trails on the grounds and that was very fun. Bring hiking shoes!! And "feel your feet"! The trails are steep but there is rope to help you. There are pools and falls and even a pyramid off the shoreline which we could never find but I'm sure Raphael can help you. He's your host! He's full of knowledge of the area. He drew us maps of where to go on the property and the island alike and we used those maps a lot on our stay. We were so appreciative!

The Bamboo Temple is a bamboo structure. The whole retreat is self-sustainable, solar power, and green. I loved it. Even if you've never recycled or composted before you'll be able to do it easily so don't worry. They have bins clearly labeled for you. Everything for the most part either goes to the chickens, the worms, the earth, or recycling. There were several geckos with us on our stay and I was glad to have them there eating the bugs. We only saw one giant spider! There are stone statues and island touches everywhere. It's beautiful. And the morning sunrise view is to die for! I would highly recommend this stay at least once in your life!

So now you know my where to stay recommendation. How about we move on to my favorite beaches? Because that's probably the main reason you're thinking of going to Maui!

Makena Beach (big beach)

Gorgeous. and dangerous. If you don't believe me you can listen to the lifeguard yelling over the intercom that if you aren't used to the waves to stay out of the water or be paralyzed. Great surfing area. Not great swimming. I like to lay in the sand so I was fine with it. Watch the surfers, get some sun. My husband still swam a bit. He's been there before and knew how to time the waves and not get smashed. I only got in for a bit during a lull in the wave sequence. 

Oneuli Beach (black sand beach)

Stunning. Just down the road from Makena Beach but tucked down an unmarked road keeps it from being overly populated. Look for the taco trucks and then look across the street for a yellow road gate that's open. Go down there. Tiny parking lot at the end. My maps app got us to Makena beach but not Oneuli, so just watch for the road. It's in the State Park. This may have been my favorite beach overall. The sand is much more coarse so wear flip flops. Both my husband and I cut our foot open on separate occasions on this beach. You can find a good amount of sea glass here! (not what we cut our feet on) A Sea Turtle swam right into the little rock pool I was sitting in! My husband caught an amazing picture of the turtle in mid-wave... palm tree in the background and everything. Pretty awesome! Good beach for snorkeling and shore exploration!

Near Lahaina... Great beach for families. Gentle waves while we were there. Nice sand. Shell and coral hunting would be fun for the kids! The beaches in Kihei also looked great for families. There were a lot of park areas with restrooms and picnic tables. We stopped but it was very windy that day so we ended up back at Oneuli beach where there was some shelter.

Where to eat. Maui has great food. Overall I was happy everywhere we went but there were a couple places that really stood out!

Although I didn't love the city of Kihei there is a restaurant there called Ohana. Get the seafood Risotto. Go at lunch and split it! Soooooooo good. It pairs great with the Albarino they have. Oh my God. I want to go back right now! When we got there there was a mama chicken with her clutch of chicks outside. Too adorable.

In Lahaina if you want to have a romantic night out go to Kimo's. We had dinner at sunset. Amazing view. Exceptional service. I highly recommend it there! Everything we ate was delicious. I don't think you'll go wrong with any seafood selection.

If you take the road to Hana or you are out near Paia it is definitely worth a trip to the roadside cart called Rustbuckets near mile marker 7.5 on the Hana Hwy. This will be your authentic Maui stop. Guaranteed. Everything here is green. I loved it! No waste! Your coffee comes in a glass mason jar so you can re-use it and it was delicious coffee. Your fresh coconut comes with a bamboo straw. I saved my straw and used it over and over again during my stay. Your lunch comes on a giant leaf with bamboo chopsticks. Get the plated lunch! It was great! Share it with a friend. It's huge. And you CAN maneuver those bamboo chopsticks, trust me! Make sure you go before 1pm or you may miss out. If the weather is warm or you just need a treat and not a full meal, treat yourself to an organic snow cone! This was my favorite food stop on the Island.

What else to do besides, shopping, eating, and the beach?

Well, if you go to Maui you'll hear about the road to Hana. Hell, I just mentioned it myself! If you ask a local about it chances are good they'll tell you not to do it. I heard it happen over and over again while I was there. I'm not going to tell you if you should or shouldn't but I'll post some video of the scary part and I'll walk you through the experience and you can decide for yourself.

Road to Hana. We started near mile marker 3 as that is where we were staying. Make sure you go to the bathroom before you head out. There is a rest stop but it's quite a while before you make it to it. The first half was not dangerous or scary. It was gorgeous and I couldn't figure out what all the fuss about danger was about. You'll want to make a few stops for sure. Here are my recommendations for stops. First, at mile marker 7, you'll see painted trees and bamboo sections with trails. Go explore! There are waterfalls in the bamboo trails and the painted trees are pretty. After exploring you'll stop at Rustbuckets to fuel up your body.

Next you'll definitely want to get out at the rest stop. There is some scenery so stretch your legs. There is a local market farther up that has amazing dried pineapple! It's called Hana Farms local market. You'll see it on your right. Stop. Buy some pineapple! Labeled as Catnapple with a cute little cat sleeping on the label.

After the farm you'll drive into Hana. Stop and get lunch or better yet have a packed lunch in your car. I didn't love the food we had in Hana and it was over priced. Probably because it's a huge tourist stop and in the middle of nowhere. After Hana you can stop at the actual Bamboo Forest which is in the Haleakala National Park. You'll need to pay $25 (per car) to get in (the pass lasts 3 days) and in all honesty the bamboo hiking you did for free early on in the day was more fun in my opinion. You'll still get some pretty sights here, but it costs ya and it's a long drive. The park is about 7 miles past the town of Hana.

After Hana the road gets sketchy and I totally got why I was hearing people say it was dangerous and they don't drive it. The road goes down to one lane in size but stays two way traffic, corners are blind, it turns to dirt and has pot holes, cliff side guardrails in disrepair, yuck! Then when you finally make it through that and come out to pavement again you think it'll be better, but quickly realize you have limited sight and the car sickness sets in. Ha! Here's some video.

So, would I do the Road to Hana again?? Maybe. There are some beautiful stops along the way. I especially loved this old church and cemetery. The vibes here were amazing!

e also stopped at the Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens Park on our way to the Ioa State Monument. The road to the monument was closed for land maintenance during our trip so we weren't able to see it but the public park was very cool, if not a little spooky as well. There are several different themed gardens honoring the culturally diverse people who contributed to making Maui what it is today. Some of the gardens are in need of maintenance which lent to the kind of spooky vibes, especially when you make it over to the old home site... you'll be looking for graves I guarantee it! I was at least. I didn't see any but it was major spooksville. 

Another landmark to hit is the island crater. We drove a very long, very windy road to the top only to find ourselves in a fog storm and unable to see anything. They charge you to get into the park, I think it's a 3 day pass... but of course we opted to just turn around since the weather was miserable up there. I do recommend the roadside stand on the road to the crater! We picked up a fresh flower bouquet that lasted our entire stay and a bunch of fresh fruit. If you can, definitely get the guava! 

Now I just have to save Every. Single. Penny. so that I can move my family there. I'm in love!

Mahalo!