Well….It’s been a minute, but I’m back!
I took a break from social and blogging. It wasn’t planned, but it was needed. Between planning events for work, planning my wedding, planning a honeymoon and trying to have a life in there somewhere as well, I had to cut something out. Sadly, my hobbies and passions took a back seat. During that time I did have the opportunity to develop some AWESOME content, especially when it comes to planning a low key wedding and how to honeymoon in Hawaii!
So, if you’re interested in that kinda stuff–here we go!
We did things a bit differently for our wedding–surprise, surprise–I like non-convention. It ended up being an incredible way of, in my opinion, having the best of both worlds. I am going to focus on how we did our honeymoon in this post—i’ll do another on the wedding.
We decided to do a non-traditional registry–much to the dismay of some of my family members. We have lived in our house for five years, been together for 11, and felt that we already had all of the “stuff” that we needed. Though we are incredibly appreciative of our friends and family for wanting to spoil us with all of the goodies, we were more interested in experiences. Instead we created a Honeyfund (and used Honeyfund.com). For us, we are much more focused on experiencing life together via travel–give me a plane ticket over a blender any day. So thanks to our generous friends and family we donated to our fund, we were able to go to Maui, HI. And when I tell y’all it was INCREDIBLE, I mean that so literally. It was honestly one of the best trips I have ever taken (and the fact that I got to take it with my new hubby was just icing on the cake!).
I had lots of people give me the greatest recommendations of what to do and where to eat and stay, which was so helpful. However, if I were to give some advice, it would be to do it however works best for you! We didn’t end up seeing all of the sites and spent a few nights relaxing, watching TV while listening to the ocean outside our door. So, here are a few of my favorite things to get started, but in the end, the best honeymoon is one spent making memories–regardless of what those memories look like.
Honeymoonin’ Hawaii Style
Where to Stay:
This was a great option for us. It was right on the beach and included a spa (The Spa at Black Rock) where we had an incredible massage in one of the cabanas near the beach, restaurants, pool, lazy river, bar, gift shop and Starbucks all on property. It sat right next to Ka’anapali Golf Course (where the greens and fairways looked out over the ocean) and was a short walk on the beach away from Whaler’s Village which offered more restaurant options as well as some shopping.
Where to Eat
Maui has so many great options for fresh seafood as well as some seriously good steaks!
Leilani’s in Whaler’s Village is right on the water and haeis a beautiful view, especially around sunset. A romantic spot with really great food–especially the chowder! Also, DO NOT LEAVE until you have a piece of Hula Pie, your sweet tooth will thank you! We had to wait a bit for our table, but the great part was that we had some time to shop and watch the hula dancers perform in the center of Whaler’s Village.
Cane & Canoe $$$$
Cane & Canoe was our spurge of the Honeymoon. It is a pricey restaurant in the Montague hotel, but 100% worth it. It was honestly one of the best meals I’ve ever had (and I’m not kidding). He had steak and I had salmon and both were perfectly prepared and absolutely delicious. The service was outstanding and we had a beautiful sunset as the perfect way to end our wonderful week.
If you stay at the Sheraton Maui, make sure you catch the cliff dive ceremony! We decided to have dinner at the Cliff Dive Bar our first night so that we could watch the sunset and partake in the ceremony!
If you’re looking for a laid back atmosphere with incredible burgers, I would highly recommend Cheeseburger in Paradise in Lahaina. After a particularly long day of adventuring, it was nice to have an ocean view, listen to some music, drink a cold beer and enjoy some of their innovative cheeseburgers!
We had breakfast here almost every morning. Since it was at the hotel it was convenient for us, but the food was great and with a setting next to the coy pond just steps from the beach, it made a perfect way to enjoy coffee and eggs.
This was a great place for breakfast, especially for kids! There are tables with griddles in the middle to make your own pancakes! They also have an artist creating pancake faces of disney characters to entertain while you wait.
For one of our nights, we decided to stay in, eat pizza and drink beer on the balcony. Round table delivered to the hotel and was great pizza.
What To Do
Besides golf, spa, and shopping which I mentioned above, we had a great time exploring the island! We did rent a car, which is pretty essential in Maui in order to see the great things that the cities have to offer. Here are a few of our favorite adventures:
The Road to Hana was a great way to see some of local life on Maui including some awesome waterfalls, delicious banana bread and beautiful arboretums. Fair warning though, make sure you schedule a whole day for this excursion and if you’re driving, be ready for the over 600 hairpin turns that the road has. Bring a picnic, your bathing suit and some downloaded playlists since cell service is spotty.
Pacific Whale Foundation Dinner Sail
One of the things I was adamant about, was that if we did any tours on the island, that we did them through a company that gives back. We took a sunset dinner cruise through PWF, it was a beautiful evening on a catamaran with passed appetizers, drinks and great company! The crew was wonderful that also included a musician who graced our ears with music on the ukulele. PWF focuses on education, research and conservation as a way to to contribute to the scientific understanding of marine life and marine ecosystems.
Hawaii Ocean Project Lani Snorkel Trip
Hawaii Ocean Project was another organization that uses the funds from these excursions to educate about Hawaii’s marine life, ecosystem, and endangered species while delivering a unique and memorable ocean excursion. Our captain and crew was absolutely fantastic on this adventure, taking us to areas where we saw a pod of 500 dolphins, sea turtles, and snorkeled off the coast of Lanai with the clearest water i have ever witnessed. It was absolutely incredible to see the coral reefs and marine life while snorkeling in this beautiful area. Definitely the best part of our entire trip.
This was a great trail to take an easy hike along the coastline of Kapalua. The blue water against the blue sky and green palms and grass made for the most incredible pictures and a great way to spend a Tuesday morning.
Myths of Maui: The Royal Lahaina Luau
If you go to Hawaii, you MUST go to a luau. It is a great way to learn about the history of the islands while having a delicious meal, drinks and an entertaining evening! We went to the Royal Lahaina but there are many throughout Maui that are must-sees!
Lahaina Town offered a look into what I would consider a bit more of the local atmosphere. There are great Maui specific shops along with street artists, the harbor where we watched alot of surfing, some great local restaurants and some historical locations including the Banyan Tree that was planted in 1873!
The only thing that we didn’t do that was on our list was Haleakalā, but that is definitely on our list for our next trip (and there will definitely be a next trip!)
Hope these suggestions help to make your Maui trip absolutely amazing like ours was!
Love,
American Beautiful
Love, American Beautiful 