Oceanfront Condos

At the

Valley Isle Resort in Kahana

Vacation

Rentals
Text Box: Dennis & Karen Garlock 5377 Aster St NW Salem, OR 97304 503-364-1502 Text Box: Tips and stuff we like To get to Valley Isle Resort from Kahului Airport follow the signs to Lahaina. Kahana is about 5 or 6 miles beyond Lahaina. You may take the highway all the way, in which case you continue on Honoapiilani Highway to the stoplight right after the West Maui Airport turnoff (where there is also a stoplight). There is the Gateway Shopping Center with a McDonalds there. Turn left on Hoohui Road, go half block to the end, turn left then immediately turn right into the Valley Isle parking lot. If you want to take the lower road, which we like to do, look for the car rental places on the right side of the highway just after Kaanapali. There is a light there. Go to the next light and turn left and you will be on lower Honoapiilani Road. Times Market is in the little shopping center on the right, just after you turn off the highway. This is a convenient place to shop and stock up on goodies. Valley Isle is a couple of miles down the lower road. Also click on “Map”. Stuff that is close by The Gateway shopping center is a block away, and has a brew pub, a coffee shop, plus McDonalds among other shops. There is a Snorkel Bobs where you can rent all you need for the beach. There is also a Boss Frog’s across the street from Valley Isle where you can rent stand up paddle boards. There is a pizza joint, Dollies, which has a lot of local flavor directly across the street. There’s a bar in there too. Locals hang out there. Farmers Market We like to go to the farmers market and get fresh Maui fruit & vegetables. There is one close by. It is held in a store parking lot Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 until noon about half way down Lower Honoapiilani road toward Times Market. It’s on the left, across from Honokawai Beach Park. There is a nice natural foods store there too. We park in the park’s parking lot. (We always buy the apple bananas - a little smaller but much tastier. For a romantic evening, at least the beginning of one, Karen and I get in the car and go over to Napili beach, park in the Sea house Restaurant lot, and wander through the condos to the beach. We find a place to sit on the beach and then go to the bar and get a couple of mai tais to go and watch the sunset. They light the tiki torches when it begins to get dark. We like to have lunch outside under the umbrella tables every so often. Sometimes we’ll have dinner in the bar and watch the sunset. Still, we think, one of the best mai tais on the island. Luaus There are quite a few luaus on the island. We have heard from many folks that the Old Lahaina Luau is considered to be the most authentic. Karen and I went to it before it moved to it’s new location in Lahaina. Any one of them would be a great first-time experience though. Adventures The trip to Hana is a neat experience. If you do it, get an early start and plan to make stops along the way. You can rent an audio which gives you an idea of what you can do and see along the way. Hana isn’t much. It’s the journey that’s exciting. Two interesting places, and it’s interesting how you get to them, are the Blue Pool and Red Sand Beach. Blue Pool is just outside Hana, not too far from the airport, and Red Sand Beach is right in town. Recently, though, some locals on the private road to Blue Pool have been rather unfriendly to tourists. Seven Pools beyond Hana is also fun to see & hike around. And a hike in the bamboo forest nearby is awesome. You might want to get up early (like 2 or 3 in the morning) and take a trip to Haleakala crater for the sunrise. Or go later if you like. It’s cool up there, take something warm to wear. Many times it’s cloudy. You can hike down into the crater if you like that sort of thing. It’s really awesome! Like a moonscape. There are tour outfits that will drive you up the crater and you can bike down, if you like that sort of thing. Text Box: Email & Web Access There is a coffee house (internet café) in the little shopping center. If you have your laptop, the condo has free WI-FI. Food Good food all over the island. Nearby we have Dolly’s Pizza & Pub across the street. In the little shopping mall a half block away there is a coffee house that serves food & ice cream, McDonalds and a brew put. Also across the street is a sushi restaurant—great reviews! Chinese restaurant down the street north. Looks dumpy on the outside but good food. Fresh Fish Go north on the lower road a couple of blocks or so. Sometimes you will see on the makai side (ocean side) a sign advertising fresh fish. It’s at a private place right after the little bridge. These are local fishermen. They quite often have a cooler of fish that they just caught. These are the same guys you sometimes see out there in the ocean in front of Valley Isle. Note: They’re not always selling. There’s a fish market on the lower road in a small shopping mall about half way to the highway. Expensive. Safeway and Times usually have a good fresh selection. More Adventures My daughter tells me that parasailing is a must. I haven’t done it, but she does it every trip. You can go out of Kaanapali or Lahaina. Oh, but I have been on the zip lines at Kapalua—what a rush! Expensive, but well worth it. Whale Watching In season (December thru April) you can watch the whales from your lanai. If you really want to get up close you must take a whale watching cruise. It’s really awesome to see those creatures up close. Check out Captain Steves Night Life The night life is in Lahaina. We don’t do that sort of thing ourselves, but I hear that Lahaina rocks. I’ve also heard that it closes down by 10 oclock Our idea of nightlife is to watch the sunset between Lanai and Molokai either from our lanai or from the beach, then fix a little supper which we eat on the lanai. Peaceful and relaxing after a day’s play. Walks There are several nice ocean side walks Kapalua Bay to Ironwood along the beach and along ocean side cliffs ending at the North end of the beach at ironwood. Kaanapali beginning at the new park at the south end of Lower Honoapiilani all the way to Black Rock. Kahekili Beach Park (Old Airport Beach) is about midway. Just north of lower road (Front St.) Lahaina all the way to the south end of Black Rock. . A fun little walk is to Dragon’s Teeth. Park at the end of Lower Honoapiilani Rd in a little lot beyond the stop sign which is at the point you must turn right toward The Ritz and Kapalua. The Kapalua activity center has little “busses” which will take you way up to the top of the hills where you can hike. They’ll pick you up or you can walk all the way down if you like. Touristy stuff The Maui Ocean Center is a neat place to go to view many of the ocean critters you’ll find in the waters of Maui. Here, I was able to show Karen many of the things I’ve seen while diving or snorkeling. It’s really fabulous…..and expensive! It cost us $25 apiece when we went.. More now I’ll bet. The Maui Tropical Plantation is a great place to go on your first trip to Maui. There is a little ride through the fields of pineapple, bananas, papaya trees, etc, and they explain a little about it. They have a gift shop and local artists sometimes show their wares. Karen and I sometimes go for lunch. There are some milkweed bushes directly across the little pond that you can see from the dining room. Once we saw the whole life cycle of Monarch butterflies on and around these bushes. There is an art fair under the banyan tree in Lahaina most Saturdays and also when a cruise ship is in. There is usually some local entertainment and sometimes they have Hawaiian food. Things change so you can ask in the info center there. There’s a million brochures on activities that you pay for available just about everywhere, including the desk at Valley Isle. There’s lots of stuff you can do. Notice I didn’t say anything about golf. That’s because I don’t do it. It’s close by and it’s expensive! That’s all for now