Friday in Maui paradise dawned beautifully. We awoke knowing today was going to be a chilled beach day, relaxing and enjoying the raw sublime beauty surrounding us. The sun was brightly shining, the birds chirping, and the pounding surf right outside our porch/window.
We sprayed on a thick layer of sunblock, packed up our beach bags, and without further ado, were beachbound.
The Makena resort has a private beach with chairs, umbrellas, and attendants who walk around pouring guests ice cold water. Seriously, this is the life.
From our beach we have a clear view of the Lanai island in the distance, as well as the Molokini Crater, about 3 miles away. The water is crystal clear, when the waves aren't throwing around the sand, you can see straight down to the bottom. It's truly a paradise on earth. When people describe Maui this way, they really aren't kidding. The crater is a small sacred untouched island which is a natural bird sanctuary. People aren't allowed on it to ensure the preservation of the natural beauty. Apparently the water around Molokini is so clear, you can see between 100-200 feet down. The snorkeling and diving out there has a legendary reputation.
From the shore, you can just look out and see whales breeching and blowing air out through their snouts. There are so many, you just see them over and over during whale season, Dec-May. Lots of boats go out on whale watching tours, our hotel's tour drops off and picks people up right from the beach, no harbor. It's really funny to see the passengers try to jump on and off the boat between bouts of strong waves.
We had some company on Fri, a friend I encountered thru the Dan deal, who actually knows some mutual friends is also here in Hawai'i, and the 2 of them joined us to chill on the beach.
As it was getting closer to Shabbos, we wrapped up beach time, said goodbye to our new friends, and took a short drive to the local Safeway. As we were debating which plastic leis to purchase, a man with a kippa started talking to us. Turns out he's the rabbi of the not so small (do you blame them for wanting to live in Maui), Maui dati leumi community and shul. Too bad we hadn't considered this earlier, we could've spent shabbos in that neighborhood. I'm personally happy with chilled hotel shabbats. He showed us the "kosher section", which consisted of grape juice, Manischewitz wine, and gefilte fish. No thanks.
Armed with our leis and hair flowers, (making sure to put them on the right for unattached), lots of cucumbers, and a few other Shabbos necessities, we made our way back to our hotel. As we prepared, we peeked over our balcony to see the glorious sunset.
Friday night was our schnitzel, vegetables, chummus and a meal mart precooked meat slab. Just pop in micro for a few mins, and you're good to go. Not my taste, but my friends seemed to enjoy it. We knew we had to leave our porch door open as closing it triggers the AC, so we got to enjoy the Maui island air. Exhausted, we all fell asleep pretty quickly.
Shabbos morning we awoke to the sound of a lawnmower. Coming from NYC we have plenty of our own noise and do not need to hear a lawnmower in Maui. We tried to complain but it didn't cease. Deciding to deal with the consequences of that later, we ate lunch and went down to the beach to soak up the Maui sun. It wasn't as sunny and hot as Fri, but not too bad despite the few clouds.
The afternoon was very relaxing, we watched a wedding of an Alaskan couple, whale watched, and then walked to the shores of the Makena golf course to get as close as possible to the sunset. Absolutely breathtaking.
After shabbos we called the hotel and got some credit for the disturbance, and then drove out to our new friends in Lahaina (45 mins away) for pizza night :)
Unlike us, they cook on vacation so we enjoyed pas Yisrael, cholov Yisrael pizza and fries. A real treat, felt just like home.
Another 2 perfect, relaxing days in Maui. Will we ever want to leave?!
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