And Maui makes three. We were hoping for the best, but expected to not be blown away because of all the hype. Many of our friends kept saying that Maui was their favorite island and in a lot of ways it lived up to expectations (relaxing, beautiful water + beaches, livin' the resort life), but maybe it was a little bit of a let down because those expectations were so high. Also, it was wayyy hotter than we expected (highs in the 90s, which is totally not normal for them this time of year), so that also put a damper on things. The weather here in Arizona was better than it was in Hawaii!

Our trip started off a little rocky since our flight was delayed by a day because of maintenance issues. This threw off our schedule and we lost a whole day on the island. We also were not able to recoup the rental car fee for the day, but the Westin refunded us for the missed night and even gave us a room upgrade. This is why we love Westins so much. Their customer service is top notch and their heavenly beds are...well, heavenly.

Beach days are the best days. We spent two straight days lounging on the beach under an umbrella (you can rent an umbrella and chairs from the Westin, they will even set it up for you where you want it on the beach). Nick tried unsuccessfully to not get sunburned (he came home a lobster - good thing I packed that Aloe) while we watched the giant waves from the shore.




We are early risers, so we were able to wake up every morning and watch the sunrise from the beach. We had breakfast either at the hotel or at Island Vintage Coffee next door at Whaler's Village. The location of the Westin was so convenient to Lahaina (the closest town) and Whaler's Village that we didn't feel like we were confined to eating resort food the entire time (our biggest complaint about the Big Island trip).



We had to make a stop at the iconic Mama's Fish House. The food was spectacular, but I have to admit that the best fish I had in Maui was the Misoyaki Sea Bass at Roy's Ka'anapali (this was legit, I'm trying to find a recipe for the sauce).


We went zip-lining with Kapalua Ziplines, but I didn't bring a camera so I have no photos from that. Nick also went scuba diving (he said it was meh) and for the first time I did not go snorkeling (good thing because a day after we left there was a fatal shark attack on Ka'anapali beach). So overall, our trip to Maui was good, but it's probably not our favorite Hawaiian island.